ch_20_the roaring twenties

THE ROARING TWENTIES AND

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Chapter 20

Prosperity and its Limits

The business of America was business The automobile industry was the

backbone of American prosperityStimulated the expansion of steel, rubber,

and oilRoad construction; it virtually helped all

sectors of the economy Businessmen like Henry Ford and

engineers like Herbert Hoover were cultural heroes


A New SocietyConsumerism was rampant;

salespeople, advertisementsAny way to satisfy Americans’

psychological desires and everyday needs (do we still think this way)

Americans spending more money on leisure; vacations, movies, and sporting events (the rise of Baseball as the American pastime)


A New SocietyAmericans considered their standard of

living as a “sacred acquisition” (Pride always comes before a fall)

Rise of the middle class led to the disproportion of wealth; it’s no surprise this ended in a market crash; everyone has money to speculate with now


Limits of ProsperityIncreased production and wealth was

distributed unequally1929, over 40 percent of the population

still lived in poverty (almost a kickback to the Gilded Age, but with a focus on consumerism; these patterns keep repeating)

Prosperity and its Limits Limits of Prosperity

Farmers definitely didn’t share in the prosperity; California started to receive many of the displaced farmers; the “Dust Bowl” was beginning due to poor crop rotation and over farming

Prohibition led to a stellar increase in crime; youths in America became enamored with an obsessive interest in the mafia and bootleggers○ Prohibition could be seen as a monumental failure of

progressive reform; gangsters, racketeering, and bootlegging became an extremely profitable business and by 1933, FDR repealed the amendment


The Decline of LaborNativism, Americanism, and industrial

freedom were used as weapons against labor unions○ Propaganda linked unionism and socialism as

examples of the evil influence of foreigners of ‘pure, free’ American life

○ During the 1920s, labor unions lost around 2 million members


Women’s FreedomFemale liberation spread after the

passage of women’s suffrage○ They were greatly influenced by advertising

and mass entertainment○ Sex becomes a marketing tool○ This new freedom only lasted while the

woman was single; married life was still about the same as before

Prosperity and its Limits Women’s Freedom

“Flappers” – drank, smoked, and demanded sex with the same gusto that was traditionally reserved for men; these were single, young women○ The greatest change in family life was the discovery of

adolescence○ The automobile became a fear for parents as they worried

about their children having premarital sex and engaging in vice

○ Teenage sons and daughters no longer had to work and could engage in excitement of a consumer oriented lifestyle

○ Sex became the all-encompassing obsession for young men and women

Progressivism Gives Way to Republicanism Numerous publications such as Public Opinion and

The Phantom Public criticized progressives’ hope of applying intelligence to social problems in a mass democracy

Voter turnout declined dramatically in the 1920s; mostly due to people’s preoccupation with consumerism

Republicans quickly gained control and pro-business ethos ruled the 1920s (here’s the Gilded Age again) Lower taxes Higher tariffs Anti-Unionism Supreme Court remains very conservative

The Harding Scandals

Warren G. Harding’s administration quickly became one of the most corrupt in American history, however, most of the country liked him

Harding cared little for ethics and surrounded himself with cronies that used their office to further their own private gain


Teapot Dome ScandalBribery scandal during Harding’s

administrationHarding transferred the Naval oil reserves at

Teapot Dome, WY, Elk Hills, and Buena Vista, CA to the Department of the Interior in 1921

Dept. of Interior Secretary; Albert B. Fall leased (without competitive bidding) the Teapot Dome field to an oil operator named Sinclair and the field in Elk Hills to Edward L. Doheny


Teapot Dome ScandalThe Senate conducted an investigation

and found out that Doheny lent Fall $100k interest free and under the table; Sinclair lent Fall another large sum of money on his retirement; Senate indicted Fall for bribery and conspiracy to accept bribes

Oil fields returned to US Government property in 1927 after a SC decision

Economic Diplomacy

Foreign affairs were a reflection on the close relationship between business and government in the 1920s

Most foreign policy was conducted through private business exchange and relationships over governmental diplomacy in the twentiesBankers loaned Germany an enormous

amount of money

Economic Diplomacy

US Government acted similarly to the Gilded Age officials in the Spanish American war by dispatching soldiers to the Caribbean when a change in regime threatened American economic interestsLittle concern for legitimate government

in Latin America at this time

Civil Liberties in the 1920s Free Mob

As wartime repression continued after the war ended, Europeans quickly began to view America as a repressive cultural wasteland

Actors adopting the Hays code

Civil Liberties in the 1920s “Clear and Present Danger” Clause

SC Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes questioned this as the SC gave the concept of civil liberties a devastating blow when it ruled that situations such as “shouting fire in a theater” that does not have a fire is a danger to the safety of citizens and is not protected by the First Amendment (1919 Ruling)

Civil Liberties in the 1920s “Clear and Present Danger” Clause

Overall, this blurred the lines between what is considered appropriate communication, disorderly conduct, and seditious

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) was established in 1920

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

Civil Liberties in the 1920s “Clear and Present Danger” Clause Holmes began to speak out against

the infringement of civil libertiesWent beyond political expression;

became the “indispensible birthright of every free American”

Fundamentalist Backlash

Fundamentalism – literal interpretation of the Bible; rural people believing in this took their religion with them to the citiesEvangelical Protestants feeling threatened

by the decline of traditional values and increased visibility of Catholicism and Jews because of immigration (fueled by nativism)

This becomes the Klan’s official religious faction in Texas and in the South at large

Fundamentalist Backlash

Fundamentalists went on a campaign to rid Protestant denominations of modernism (evolution)

They supported prohibition, while most others viewed it as a denial of individual freedom

The press viewed them as backwards, backcountry bigots

The Scopes Trial

ACLU gets involved with the clash between fundamentalism and evolution (and the legality of it)

John Scopes, a biology teacher from Dayton, TN (who teaches evolution), agrees to be participate in this experiment (gets arrested) and tried for teaching evolution in public school (against TN statutes)

The Scopes Trial This became the hallmark case of the tensions

between fundamentalists and modernists (two very different definitions of freedom)

Clarence Darrow (a renowned labor lawyer defended Scopes)

William Jennings Bryan aided the state as an expert in the BibleClassic moment where Bryan talks of the inerrancy

of the Bible and Darrow questions him about the book of Joshua (stopping the sun and moon)

Everyone nationally realizes what a circus this has become and sees the fallacies with fundamentalists

John T. Scopes

The Scopes Trial Even though Scopes loses and is made to pay a

fine (paid by the ACLU), fundamentalists think they gain ground, but in reality, isolate a great part of the nation from their cause for many years

The connection between Republicans and fundamentalists helps lead to the decline of the Republican party during the Depression

Clarence Darrow William Jennings Bryan

A combination of the following: Progressivism Fundamentalism American Nationalism Nativism Lingering racial tensions

Millennialism and the Klan Remnants of World War I millennialism identified Germany with the

devil; victory would dawn a new and beautiful world○ When this Utopian hope did not appear, the Klan comes in saying

more work has to be done Klan millennialism identified a world of sin filled with Catholics,

Jews, and racial tensions that destroyed the “white Utopian dream”○ Another “dark side of Progressivism”

Why Does the Klan Return?

Resurrected in Stone Mountain, Georgia during the winter of 1915

Their goal: exist as a “patriotic, secret, social, benevolent order”

“Colonel” William Joseph Simmons is credited as the founderHis father was an officer in the Klan of the 1860sConverted to Christianity and became a Methodist

ministerVery influential public speaker and frequented

fraternal orders

The Return of the Klan

William Joseph Simmons

Klan IdeologyWhite supremacy100 percent “Americanism” and patriotismAnti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, anti-immigrationFor the “purity of womanhood”

○ However, a women’s order of the Klan develops ironically

Protestant, fundamentalist ideals○ Prohibition was key


Systematic recruitment“Kleagles” (recruiters) targeted upper class

citizens of importance firstMiddle class members readily joined because of

the prestige of belonging to an organization with the upper class

Lower class citizens were recruited to fill quotas and sell chapter memberships○ Membership gave these citizens some feeling of

superiority and importance


Membership RequirementsCaucasian ethnicityNative-born AmericanProtestantBelieve in 100 percent “Americanism”Pay a $10 initiation fee

Connection to the MasonsOften, recruiters were Masons alsoThey typically recruited lower class Masons who

shared anti-Catholic sentimentOfficially, Masons denied any connection


Key Biblical verse to their ideology: Romans 12:1“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Basically, they appealed to strict separation of justification and sanctification in the Holy Spirit

Klan Ritual

“Naturalization” into the Invisible EmpireThe inductee moves around various points

in the “Klavern” (meeting house) and listens to various Protestant infused Klan passages

The inductee swears allegiance to the KlanThe final ritual was very similar to a

Protestant baptismLastly, the inductee was ‘knighted’ into the

Invisible Empire

Klan Ritual

The Klan officially returns to Texas in 1920Establishment of the “Sam Houston Klan No. 1” in

Houston amidst fears of future race riots In less than 2 years, the Klan had roughly

90,000 members in TexasProvinces in Houston, San Antonio, Waco, Fort

Worth, and Dallas Dr. Hiram Wesley Evans, Grand Titan of the

Dallas Klan emerges as a key leader in the Texas KlanLater becomes the Imperial Wizard of the national

Klan

The Ku Klux Klan in Texas

Hiram Wesley EvansGrand Dragon of the Texas Klan

Waco Klan’s “Watermelon Social” for Friends and Supporters, 1923

In 1921, over 1000 recruits were initiated into Waco’s Saxet Klan no. 33

Prominent Waco Judge Edwin J. Clark formed the Waco chapter and declared himself Grand Titan in 1921

Membership included law enforcement, major businessmen, and members of the legal and judicial system Evans attempted to persuade legal officials to join their “national

law enforcement program” The Klan would often offer monetary assistance for fugitive

bounties Protestant ministers were often approached for membership

also Most in McLennan County did not officially join, but sometimes

supported their ideals in sermons

The Klan Comes to Waco

Klan Parade in Waco, 1923

13th Street at Bosque Boulevard: Site of the 1920s Waco Klan Klavern

In the fall of 1921, numerous Klan parades and events took place in Central Texas

The Waco Klan set out to parade in Lorena in October 1921Over 4000 citizens attended

The County Attorney and McLennan County Sheriff Bob Buchanan felt that law enforcement needed to present to prevent riots

The Lorena Riot

Origins of the RiotThe Sheriff wanted to know the identities of one of the

Klan leadersThe Klansmen refused to reveal their identitiesBuchanan attempts to unmask a KlansmenShots are firedThe Sheriff and his deputies are forced to defend

themselves Results

Buchanan is shot under the right armProminent laundryman Louis Crow is stabbed (later dies)Deputies and a Waco policeman receive knife wounds

The Lorena Riot

AftermathThe City of Lorena and disgruntled citizens

publish a reprimand against the sheriff in the Waco Times Herald

Sheriff Buchanan is charged with murder of Louis Crow○ It is later refused for prosecution by the County

Attorney

The Lorena Riot

AftermathBuchanan is later sued by the widow of Crow in

civil court○ The case is dropped because the court cannot

secure an impartial jury in McLennan CountyBuchanan and others who opposed the Klan

easily lose county elections of 1922 largely because of the event

The Lorena Riot

“Klan Candidates” in McLennan County, 1922

The “Waco Agreement”

Robert Lee Henry Earle Bradford Mayfield

Robert Henry, Sterling Strong, and Earle Mayfield were considered the Klan political triumvirate in 1922

Each were competing for the Democratic party bid for an open U.S. Senate seat

The Klan’s influence was growing at a rapid pace with the Democratic partyOver 100,000 Klan-influenced votes were at stake

The issue: Which candidate does the Klan pick to recognize as the “official” Klan candidate?


Raleigh Hotel, Waco, Texas

The Solution:Four of the Texas Klan’s Grand Titans meet at

the Raleigh Hotel in Waco (March 1922) to discuss which candidate will be officially recognized

Three of the four Titans believe Mayfield should be the candidate○ Prominent Waco Judge (and Titan) Erwin Clark

convinces the others to let the candidates run without interference of the Klan

○ This becomes known as the “Waco Agreement”○ Clark was biased towards Henry though


The agreement is later disregarded as it becomes apparent that Mayfield would draw better support from the Texas Klan in general

Henry goes on a rampage denouncing the Klan publically throughout the state He loses the Democratic bid and retires from public office

Mayfield wins the Senate seat by a landslide The Klan’s political influence reached its highest point

Erwin Clark renounces his membership in the Klan and moves to Houston He dies a few years later under mysterious circumstances


Hood or Bonnet?

Felix D. Robertson “Ma” Ferguson

Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson

Brig. Gen. Felix H. Robertson

Felix D. Robertson

After the election of Mayfield, the Texas Klan set its sights on the Governor’s office

Their goal: successfully elect Felix D. RobertsonHis father and grandfather were both Confederate

generalsHe was known as the no-compromising “Dollar-a-Mile”

judge in Dallas At this point, Klan membership in Texas rose to

170,000They were now a well-organized minority that had

significant influence and control of the Democratic party in Texas

Hood or Bonnet

Robertson’s Competition“Ma” FergusonShe and “Pa” ran a fierce anti-prohibitionist campaign

against Robertson and used growing discontent against the Klan effectively

By 1923, the Klan’s reign of violence was reaching its zenithUpper-class and middle-class citizenry who viewed the

organization as another social club began to leave at a rapid pace

The over-recruitment of lower-class citizenry was largely to blame for the surge in violence during the period

Hood or Bonnet

Pa Ferguson’s death blow to the Klan After the run-off Democratic primary began, Ferguson stepped

up his campaign against Robertson and the Klan He struck a decisive blow after news of Imperial Wizard Evans

and a black servant began to spread throughout the state○ Evans bought the servant a train ticket and allow him to occupy

a “white-only” train car Ferguson widely publicized the incident and it cost Robertson

between 50,000 and 100,000 votes As a result, Ma Ferguson decisively wins the primary

and the governor’s office This marks the decline of the Klan in Texas at large By 1930, the organization effectively went underground

Hood or Bonnet

Cultural Pluralism A society that gloried in ethnic diversity

rather than attempting to repress it New immigrants were the champions of this

ideal They asserted the validity of cultural diversity

and identified toleration of difference as a cornerstone of American freedom

The Supreme Court supported this by striking down laws against Americanization (100 percent)

The Harlem Renaissance 1920s led to a resurgence of self-

consciousness among black Americans; especially in northern ghettos (poorer areas)

Harlem gains a reputation for the “capital” of black America

Diverse music, art, and culture came out of this area during the 1920s

Pushed for the “New Negro” to reject established stereotypes and place new, renewed black values in its place

The Great Depression

Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover enjoyed wide popularity because of their appeal to traditional American valuesNews of Harding’s scandals did not come

out until after his deathCoolidge represented Americans reserve

and prominence (monetarily)Hoover represents a self-made man who

rises from adversity


Election of 1928Hoover exemplifies

the rise of a new era of American capitalism

He easily defeats Alfred Smith of NY due to remnants of nativism that worked against his Catholic background


Stock Market CrashDays before the crash, Hoover gives a

speech about American progress and attributes it to businessmen and scientists; limitless potential

The crash itself did not cause the DepressionThe global financial system was ill prepared

to deal with the crash, causing a world-wide recession that changes the political and economic landscape of the entire world

In 1932, the country hits rock bottom

The Great Depression Coping with the Depression

Hoover does virtually nothing; did not want to commit to anything; too afraid of losing his association with business

Businessmen strongly opposed federal aid to the unemployed (need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps)

When Hoover did act, it made the situation worse; he had no clue with how to deal with this problem

The situation gets so dire that Americans began to call the ramshackle tenements “Hoovervilles”

ch_20_the roaring twenties

Education

prosperity california

american pastime

american history

limitsthe business of

free american lifeduring

profitable business

teapot dome field

spanish american war