ROARING TWENTIES AMERICANS STRUGGLE WITH POSTWAR ISSUES We danced in the streets, embraced old women and pretty girls, swore blood brotherhood with soldiersand reeled through the streets. - Malcolm Cowley Post War Trends Demobilization - transition from war time to peace time production levels Social Strain 4.5 million soldiers return unemployment rises, wages fall women & minorities urged to give up jobs Cost of living doubles Consumers spending spree demand causes an increase in prices roughly double from 1914 to 1920 Economic Strain Trend reversesdeep recession struck in defense contracts end farmers & factory workers suffer Post War Trends American Public Exhausted Divided over the League of Nations Americans Response Fearful of outsiders Nativism prejudice against foreign-born people Isolationism policy of staying out of world affairs The Red Scare The Red Scare - period of anti- communist hysteria during 1919 and 1920 response to the Russian Revolution in 1917 resulted in communism government owns and controls all private property, including all industry and factory Idea that communism may take ahold in the U.S. frightens many Americans The Palmer Raids Series of bomb scares in 1919 postal workers found 36 bombs in the mail addressed to prominent citizens J.D. Rockefeller Supreme Court Justice Postmaster Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer The Palmer Raids - traids to capture alleged radicals thousands were arrestedthree pistols were found. most arrested were poor immigrants who had just moved here Sacco and Vanzetti Most sensational trials of the 1920 Two Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco (shoemaker) & Bartolomeo Vanzetti (fish peddler) Robbery outside of a shoe factorytwo were killed Judge dismissed any sort of defense for the two and were convicted of murder and sentenced to death Public splitsome were outraged and some thought they deserved it Return of the Ku Klux Klan Targeted African Americans, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, suspected radicals Kidnapping, lynching, beatings 1920 5 million members 1930 drops to 9,000 members economy boom in the late 20s, feared of radicalism was declining publicity of terrorism and violence corruption and scandals Immigration Restrictions 1920 nearly 25% of the nations population was foreign born or non- white after WWI, immigration was rising again Nativists believed Immigrants held radical views Were taking jobs from Americans Immigration Act of % for each nationality already in the country (population 1890) No Asian immigration Labor Strife Government wouldnt allow strikes during WWI 1919 sees more than 3000 strikes Workers demanded higher wages, shorter work hours, rights to unionize Boston Police Strike No raise since the beginning of WWI, officers fired for union activities 75% of force goes on strike Coolidge (Governor) calls National Guard There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime. Strike ends, new policemen hired Labor Strife Steel Mill Strike Want right to negotiate for shorter hours and a living wage 300,000 workers walked off their jobs Hire strikebreakers, strikers beaten Uses propaganda to link strikers to communism - report published exposes harsh working conditions Coal Miners Strike Low wages, long workdays Court order back to work, but mines remain closed President Wilson orders arbitratorreceive a wage increase. Labor Movement Loses Appeal Membership drops from 5 million to 3.5 million Reasons for decline Immigrants will work in poor conditions Many different languageshard to organize Farmers migrate to work in factoriesused to self reliance Exclude African Americans Decline of Union Membership 1920 4 million AFL members1929 2.5 million Company Unions Higher wages Suspicion of communism and anarchism Wanting to own luxury products Employers still Blacklisted, spied on union activity, pressured employees to sign anti union pledges Child Labor in textile mills in South Conditions is steel mills and coal mines still bad Seattle General Strike Read Strike! Labor Unites for Rights Research Questions in Pairs Meet in Groups Share out findings with class REPUBLICANS IN POWER Keep Warren [G. Harding] at home. Dont let him make any speeches. If he goes out on a tour somebodys sure to ask him questions, and Warrens just the sort offool that will try to answer them - Boies Penrose New Directions for Women Feminists womens rights activists After 19 th Amendment was passed, many women moved on to other causes and the unity dissolved Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction Introduced in 1923defeated Crash Course in Womens Suffrage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEMscZE 5dY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEMscZE 5dY Warren G. Harding Elected in 192031 st President outgoing personality, good natured manlooks like a president ought to look Pro-Business Administration less government in business; more business in government Main Goals reduce the national debt & promote economic growth increased mergers, less enforcement of antitrust laws workers and farmers struggle, union membership decreases Hardings Scandals Ohio Gang Hardings friends that followed him to D.C. Director of the Veterans Bureau pocketed millions of dollars through corrupt schemes Attorney General taking bribes. Teapot Dome Scandalbribery I have no trouble with my enemiesI can take care of my enemies all right. Its my friends that keep me walking the floor at nights Dies of a sudden heart attack while on a tour of the west https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHNN HvzjU74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHNN HvzjU74 THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA Calvin Coolidge Vice President takes over after Harding Restore offices reputation by firing Hardings posse Silent Cal contrasted Harding; stern, reserved nature Promotes pro-business agenda Elected in 1924doesnt run in Claims that the job is too burdensome Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover elected Reputation for administrative skill and efficiency Strongest asset is the nations prosperity Runs on the same pro-business policies as Harding and Coolidge Keep taxes down Business profits up More credit available for businesses to expand Henry Ford Assembly Line Speeds up production2P76gQUCo2P76gQUCo Except Workers feel alienated from the final product Only work on one small part Solution Pay the workers enough to become consumers too The five dollar day (standard was $1.50) Early Car Culture In 1929, 5 out of every 6 privately owned cars in the world belonged to Americans Early Car Culture One car for every five people in America Key object of desire for people Study done in Midwestsome people had cars, but no bathtubs or indoor plumbing Impact of the Automobile Changes American landscape Construction of paved roads Route 66 Chicago to California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84PHXdE5I V8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84PHXdE5I V8 Architectural changes Houses with driveways, garages, carports Businesses Gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps and shopping centers Holland Tunnel 1 st underwater tunnel (1927) New York City and Jersey City Impact of the Automobile Liberates the isolated rural familiestrips to the city for shopping and entertainment Family vacationsnew and faraway places Women and young people more independent Workers can live miles from work urban sprawl cities spread in all directions The Young Airplane Begins as a mail carrying service for U.S. Post Office 1918 first flight was a disaster Weather forecasting, radios, navigational instruments Transatlantic Flights Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart Founded in 1927 Pan American Airways inaugurates first transatlantic passenger flights THE CONSUMER ECONOMY 1920 to 1929 were prosperous years for the United States. 1920s Economy Good Times Economy healthy for a number of reasons Industrial production in Europe destroyed New techniques in production and pay Economy Transition began to transition from being driven by large industry (railroads and steel) to being driven by consumer dollars Welfare Capitalism Manufacturers see that factories are settings where men and women spend a large part of the day Happy workers are more productive Improved working conditions Lighting, ventilation Health plans, recreation centers, psychologists Even shortened work weeks Company unions replaced AFL The Consumer Economy 1920s America becomes the wealthiest nation in the world By 1921, economy on an upward surge Per capita income grows by 30% Industrial out put increases by 60% Unemployment under 5% Huge corporations dominated the economy Most people enjoy rising wages and higher standards of living The Consumer Economy Both uneven and unstable Farmers in the south and the west hit hard in 1921 Still lived in poverty Percentage of national wealth that went to the poorest 60% of the country fell by 13% Wealthy increasing their wealth at the expense of the poor Poverty affected New immigrants, Native Americans, and Latinos Electrical Conveniences People buying a wide assortment of labor-saving devices cars, refrigerators, toasters, radios, telephones, washing machines, vacuums, phonographs frees housewives for community and leisure activities growing trend of women working outside the home Most urban people have electric lighting and power for the first time Supermarkets Supermarkets are new! Used to ask clerk for over the counter things.now choose from products on shelves, put in a basket and pay for all at once! Nationally marketed foods, clothes, and cosmetics Advertisements Radio, billboards, magazines, newspapers, painted rocks and trees Nationwide advertising campaigns by companies Kellogg's Gillett Palmolive Nabisco Most money pays for advertising rather than the product Buying on Credit Decline in emphasis on thrift Buying on credit and having installment payments (people buy goods over an extended period of time without putting much down at the time of purchase) became an acceptable way to acquire goods By the end of the 1920s. Americans relied on credit to purchase nearly 90% of their durable goods Americans saved a smaller percentage of their monthly income. A NATION DIVIDED African Americans were encouraged to migrate from the South to the North. The tales of freedom and jobs in the North were a strong contrast to the harsh conditions in the South. African Americans Move Northward By 1930, the African American population in the North and Midwest had doubled Reasons A life free from discrimination Racial tension sometimes resulted in violence Defending Their Rights NAACP forms the Anti-lynching Committee to generate support for legislation Persuade law enforcement to investigate acts of violence Published The Crisis Other groups attempted to fight discrimination in the workplace Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters Black Nationalism Frustrated by lack of results from the NAACP and union groups, some African Americans believed that they needed a nation of their own Pan-Africanism unite people of African descent worldwide Black Nationalism Marcus Garvey Want to create a new political state for African Americans in Africa United Negro Improvement Association Economic independence Independent black homeland in Africa Mexican American Migration Employers in the Southwest eager to keep Mexicans immigrating in the country because of cheap labor Low wages Live in labor camps Move into urban areas for well- paying factory jobs Chicago and Detroit Men would move alone and then send for their families American Indian Life 1920s brings attention to difficulties Dawes Act fails Americanize by dividing tribal land into individual plots Board of Indian Commissioners admits policies had separated them from their land and cash Organized to fight for their land 1924 Congress grants citizenship to all American Indians Did not eliminate poverty that they continued to experience