EQ

• What made the Roaring Twenties roar?• How were the Twenties a step back for

America in some senses and a step forward in others?

“A return to normalcy”. Warren G. Harding

The Roaring Twenties

The Early Years of the Decade

Normalcy

• 1920- President Warren Harding calls for a “return to normalcy”– isolationism the new (old) U.S. foreign policy• Foreign policy is less ambitious

– all progressive reform ends– Felt government interference of business would

only threaten prosperity and progress

Normalcy

• The U.S. did not join the League of Nations under his administration– Treaty defeated in the Senate in 1920

• Raised tariffs on foreign goods• Restricted Immigration into the U.S. • Refused to cancel war debts owed by allies

during the war• Harding died in office

Postwar Economic Problems

• American economy faced the following problems:– labor unions begin strikes– 400,000 returning soldiers needed jobs {rising

unemployment}– farm surplus caused by end of government

demand• farm prices declined

– cost of living greatly increased {inflation}

Postwar Economic Problems

• Europe’s industrial nations devastated by the war– made debt repayment to U.S. more difficult

Teapot Dome Scandal

• Secretary of the Interior accepted bribes to lease public oil reserves to private companies– Albert Fall convicted and imprisoned– President Harding now associated with

“corruption”

President CalvinCoolidge

“The business ofAmerica is business.” Calvin Coolidge

President Calvin Coolidge

• August 1923: Warren Harding dies– Calvin Coolidge becomes President

• Coolidge strongly favored big business:– felt government should encourage business

growth– favored laissez-faire economics– “the business of America is business”

President Calvin Coolidge

• Coolidge pro-business policies:– greatly increased tariffs• Protective tariffs

– lowered income taxes• More money to be spent to stimulate economy

– anti-trust laws ignored• Bye-bye Progressivism!

Stock Market Boom

• Stock prices rose rapidly during 1920’s– called “Bull Market”

• Many people borrowed money to buy stocks on margin– margin- paying for stock with “borrowed” money

from stock brokers in the hopes that stock prices stay high• If prices dropped, investor and broker took significant

losses

Sacco & Vanzetti Trial 1927

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

• Two men shot dead while carrying two boxes containing the payroll of a shoe factory– two robbers took the $15,000 – Several eyewitnesses claimed that the robbers

“looked Italian”– A large number of Italian immigrants were

questioned but eventually the authorities decided to charge Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco

– the two men did not have criminal records but were known anarchists

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

• The main evidence against the men was that they were both carrying a gun when arrested

• Some eyewitnesses identified Sacco and Vanzetti; others did not– Both men had solid alibis– Prosecutors disputed alibi witnesses because they

were Italian

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

• Sacco and Vanzetti eventually convicted and executed– Conviction largely based on their radical political

views and the refusal of the judge to accept the possibility that 2 anarchists could be innocent

Resurgence of the KKK• Showed hostility towards Immigrants, Catholics,

Jews and African Americans• Mass movement of African Americans in the

early 1920’s from the South– The Great Migration

• Had xenophobia- a strong opposition to and hatred of foreigners

• National Origins Act {1929}:– established quotas to limit immigration from Southern and

Eastern Europe

Ku Klux Klan

Scopes Monkey Trial1925

Scopes Monkey Trial

• John Scopes was a biology teacher in Tennessee in 1925

• Fundamentalist Christians wanted teaching of evolution stopped in public schools

• Scopes was arrested & convicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution

• William Jennings Bryan spoke on behalf of the fundamentalists

Scopes Monkey Trial

• The State said that Mr. Scopes should only be teaching the theory of creation

• This trial illustrated the clash between scientific theories and older religious beliefs– Old vs. new; traditional vs. conservative

Fundamentalism v.Evolution

Prohibition

“All I do is supply a demand”.

Al Capone

Prohibition

• 18th Amendment – Prohibition (January 1920)• 18th Amendment outlawed the manufacture,

sale and consumption of alcohol considered government control of moral behavior– Another attempt to preserve traditional moral

values in an ever-changing world

Herbert Hoover as President• His promise during his campaign was the U.S.

would end poverty• Hoover was influence by achievements of big

business• Believed in giving people equal opportunities &

free education. • He felt this individualism would be the backbone

of Americans• The Great Depression of 1929 destroyed his

Presidency

Changed Lifestyles • The Rise of the automobile– Henry Ford• Developed the idea of a gas-powered

automobile• Average cost of a car in 1924 was estimated at

$300.00 ($3,913.39 in 2012)• Built the first assembly line in 1914• The Model-T was introduced in 1908 • By 1925, 1 car was coming of the assembly line

every 10 seconds

Changed Lifestyles

• The Effect of the Automobile – In the 1920, there were 8 million cars on the road– By 1930 there were 24 million car– Automobiles allowed greater mobility– Created more job opportunities• building roads, gasoline stations and factories that

produced the car; travel industry starts to develop as well

Changed Lifestyles

• Industries in other areas, such as steel, glass and rubber grew because of this invention

• Trucking industries increased rapidly

Changed Lifestyles • How We Lived Changed– More people were able to live outside the cities • Suburbs developed

– School buses would allow better transportation of Children to schools

– Students in rural areas would now be able to attended school on a regular basis

– Education would benefit tremendously

Changed Lifestyles

• Vacations were now possible– Development of the motel

• Recreation time on weekends was possible• Builders built homes in the country• Employment increased

Changed Lifestyles

• More Efficient Production Techniques– Assembly Line– Standardized parts would be interchangeable– More production in less time– Fewer hours were required to complete daily

tasks– The ability to create mass market goods– Workers earning better wages with improved

hours

Changed Lifestyles

• Retailers Developing Credit Plans– The ability to put down a small or no down

payment towards goods for those who did not possess the required sum at the time

– Consumers would then be asked to pay in installments on a monthly basis

– Easy Credit– No background check like Credit Cards of today

Cultural Values of the 1920s

• Women– Women had the right to vote– Started to go to colleges– The ability to leave the home and attain a career• Marriage was no longer a guarantee

– Socially women were smoking and drinking in public

– Dress codes changed for many women, for example, short skirts

– Many felt threatened by many of these changes

Cultural Values of the 1920s

• Youth and the Lost Generation– Lost Generation: the young people of the 1920s

who had rejected the post-WWI values of the US– Flag pole sitting– Marathon dancing– Did not desire materialistic goods– No motivation

The Harlem Renaissance

• This was a period of re-awakening for African Americans

• African Americans took pride in their music, dance, art & literature– “Flowering of Negro literature”– Roughly, 1924 - 1929

The Harlem Renaissance

• Marcus Garvey – Stressed racial unity– Encouraged African Americans to set up their own

shops and business– Founded the Black Star Line which was a part of

the Back-to-Africa Movement• Promoted the return of the African Diaspora to

their ancestral lands

The Harlem Renaissance• Langston Hughes• Poet & writer who expressed pride in his

heritage, while attacking racism• Hughes took personal experiences and passed

them on through his poems• His writing showed promise for all African

Americans• He believed in the need to have great

determination to survive

What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore--

And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

A Dream Deferred

Duke Ellington, Take the A Train

Fats Waller, The Joint is Jumpin’

Josephine Baker, The Original Charleston