1920’s the decade of the dichotomy. the 1920’s start with warren g. harding’s proclamation...
TRANSCRIPT
1920’s
The Decade of the Dichotomy
The 1920’s start with Warren G. Harding’s proclamation that the country was to “Return to Normalcy”.
This meant America turning it’s back away from European ideas it found hurt the country. Suspicion of radicalism, especially Bolshevism, Socialism, Communism and Anarchism led to deportations and America’s first Red Scare.
The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti illustrated the overzealous nature of the growing anti-foreign attitude sweeping the country.
Convicted of murdering a paymaster in Massachusetts, the judge was less than objective in his handling of the case having to rule on a motion that he was prejudiced against these men.
Judge Webster Thayer
Sacco and Vanzetti would pay with their lives. Decades later they would be pardoned by Governor Dukakis.
This anti-foreign feeling would spill over into other aspects of society.
The Ku Klux Klan would see a renewed interest in their organization as they proclaimed to be not only anti-black but also anti-Catholic, anti-Jew, anti-Asian and it was embracing the virtues of rural-white-conservative America.
Membership swelled in the South and North.
Better Dead than RED!
States like Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin witnessed meetings in which crosses were burned and fiery rhetoric induced acts of violence and white supremacy.
The KKK marched openly in Washington, DC in 1924.
Attacks based on racial hatred happened in many American cities in response to the overt racism.
Anti-foreign feeling was evident as well with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and finally the Immigration Act of 1924 that restricted immigration based on nationality (1890 census figures). The door was shut and America was focused on building prosperity for “Native Stock”.
Prohibition led to many Americans breaking the law and the creation of organized crime, bootleg booze, speakeasies and more. Al “Scarface” Capone became the poster child of this gangster mentality. He is eventually found guilty of Tax Evasion. The profits from gang activities in this time period was close to $12 Billion.
A face only a mother could love.
The return to conservative values also took aim at a variety of American institutions. The Scopes Trial was a showcase of “evolution” versus “creationism” and featured two of America’s best known legal minds: Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.
John Scopes
Dayton, TN
STATE OF TENNESSEE
PASSED BY THE
SIXTY - FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1925
________
CHAPTER NO. 27
House Bill No. 185
(By Mr. Butler)
AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.
Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed March 13, 1925
W. F. Barry,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
L. D. Hill,
Speaker of the Senate
Approved March 21, 1925.
Austin Peay,
Governor.
Scopes was fined $100 so the case could be appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. It was and the fine was reversed on a technicality. The court did not declare the law unconstitutional as was hoped by those opposed to the law.
Mass production of every day products begins during this decade. With new tax policies provided by Secretary Andrew Mellon it was clear, as Coolidge would say, “That the Business of America is Business!”
Henry Ford’s company was producing a car every ten seconds.
Other products would soon be available for consumers:
Radios
Sewing machines
Telephones
Phonographs
Cameras
Electric stoves
Sliced Bread
Scene from the hit movie
“The Slow and the Curious”
Consumerism was influenced by advertising. The airwaves are filled with the sounds of jazz and ads. Shoppers read magazines that revealed more than stories.
KDKA
Early form of martial
arts.
Is she a young fogy?
What was everything
before?
No guts….
Change is taking place in the 1920’s in all levels of society. In Harlem, African Americans find the opportunity to showcase their culture and Harlem becomes the center of entertainment and artistic expression. It is also the home of leaders like Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes and more.
Marcus GarveyThe night is beautiful,So the faces of my people,The stars are beautiful,So the eyes of my people,Beautiful also is the sun,Beautiful also are the souls of my people.
Langston Hughes
Excitement was also part of this time period. From movies in Hollywood to the adventures of Harry Houdini, America was discovering new forms of entertainment and new thrills.
Hey kids,Don’t try
this at home!
Hey kids,Don’t try
this at home!
But the ultimate risk taker was a young man from Minnesota who would fly solo from New York to Paris in a single engine airplane. Charles Lindbergh would become the symbol of America and a man who embodied the “Spirit of St. Louis”.
Page four of a document certifying Lindbergh’s flight.
His flight lasted 33 hours
30 minutes and 29.8 seconds.
Lindbergh estimates he had not slept for 55 hours when he lands in Paris May 21, 1927.
MarkHLogan
MarkHLogan
While women can vote there are attempts to allow women more choices in reproductive rights led by Margaret Sanger who champions birth-control.
Women also push for the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution that would give to them the same protections and privileges that men receive.
The Crash
While prosperity had been the norm for many Americans in the 1920’s there are signs of impending economic trouble.
Inventories by the Summer of 1929 are at all time highs and workers are being let go.
The Bull Market of the 1920’s seems to have everyone caught up in the get rich quick mentality as stock prices soar despite the shaky foundations of many companies.
Rampant speculation combines with EZ credit and poor lending practices to set up the country for a major economic catastrophe.
Black Tuesday October 29, 1929
CRASH!
"We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us."
Herbert Hoover 1928 Inaugural Address
“Oops! My bad.”
Hoover 12/29/29