Unit 4: The Roaring 20s

Chapter 12Essential Question:

Explain how political, economic, cultural, and social changes in the 20s led to more

isolationism and cultural tension.

Roaring 20s

After World War I •A desire for normality after the war and a fear of communism and “foreigners” lead to postwar isolationism and nativism.

The Red Scare •The “Red Scare” of 1919-20 resulted in Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer using a series of raids to round up and arrest about 6000 suspected Communists

Roaring 20sThe Palmer Raids•The U.S. govt. hunted down suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists •They took away people’s civil rights, invaded homes, and jailed suspects without allowing them legal counsel•Raids failed to find evidence of conspiracy

•Causes that lead to the raids:– US Communist Party– Political Radicals– Bombs mailed to government

officials

Roaring 20s

The Sacco-Vanzetti Trial– 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti, Italian immigrants,

anarchist were arrested• Charged with robbery and murder • Trial does not prove guilt

– Jury finds them guilty, widespread protests in US and abroad• Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927

Roaring 20s

Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK •The new Ku Klux Klan was anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-pacifist, anti-Communist

•Motives of the KKK– Use anti-immigration to

harass groups not like them

Roaring 20sWarren G. Harding becomes president in 1921(Republican) "A return to normalcy"

– Pro-business/ limited government regulation of business and social reform

Fordney-McCumber Tariff–Raised tariffs really high to protect US businesses

Teapot Dome Scandal–Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall’s secret leasing of oil-rich public land to private companies in return for money and land

Roaring 20sCalvin Coolidge becomes president in 1923(Republican) “the chief business of the American people is

business.”

•Domestic Policy

–Favored minimal government interference in business

–Allowed private enterprise to flourish

•Foreign Policy

–High tariffs on foreign imports

Unit 4: The Roaring 20s

Chapter 13Essential Question:

Explain how political, economic, cultural, and social

changes in the 20s led to social unrest and greater freedom.

Roaring 20s

The 18th Amendment(Prohibition)•prohibited the sale of alcohol, but this law never was effectively enforced because so many people violated it.

Prohibition•Prohibition was particularly supported by women, but it posed problems from countries that produced alcohol and tried to ship it to the U.S.

Roaring 20sUnintended effects of Prohibition•Organized Crime•Prostitution, gambling, and narcotics

– Prohibition resulted in greater problems

Roaring 20sThe New Fad•Flappers

– Emancipated young women who wanted equal status with men

– They danced new dances like the “Charleston” and dressed more provocatively.

– Skirts were shorter and attitudes were bolder.

•Speakeasies– Drank alcohol and smoked in public

places

•Bootleggers– Alcohol smugglers

* All these things started because they did not agree with prohibition

Roaring 20s

Scopes Trial( debates evolution, role of science and religion in school)

– In 1925, Tennessee passes a law making it a crime to teach evolution– John T. Scopes, a high school teacher from

Dayton, Tennessee, was charged with teaching evolution – The ACLU( American Civil Liberties Union) send

Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes • ACLU is a union that fights for civil rights

legislation–William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor of the

case– The trial proved to be inconclusive, but Scopes

was found guilty

Roaring 20sHarlem Renaissance•A Black pride movement expressed in the culture through AA leaders in literary and artistic ways

W.E.B. Du Bois •leader of the NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) worked to end racial violence against AA

Marcus Garvey •founder of the UNIA(United Negro Improvement Association) encouraged his followers to own their own businesses and go back to Africa

Unit 4: The Great DepressionChapter 14

Essential Question:Explain how the excesses of

the 1920s eventually led to the economic depression of the

1930s?

The Great DepressionHerbert Hoover becomespresident in 1929 (Republican)

– President Hoover tells Americans economy is sound

– In October 1929 the Stock market crashes

– Hoover tells the American people to have Rugged Individualism Take care of their own families

and not to depend on the government

– Hoover believed that charities should care for the needy and not the government

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The Great Depression

Uneven Distribution of IncomeIn the 1920s the rich are getting

richer and the poor are getting poorer

70% of families earn less than minimum for the standard of living

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The Great Depression

Factors leading to the Great Depression:– Tariffs– War debts– Farm problems– Easy credit– Income disparity

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The Great Depression

Stock Market Crashes• In 1929 the stock market

crashes which causes people to panic and withdraw money from banks

• Between 1929 and 1932, 44%

(nearly half) of American banks closed and 90,000 businesses go bankrupt

• In 1933 the unemployment rate is 25%

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The Great Depression

The Depression in the cities• Urban dwellers that were

evicted from their homes formed shantytowns or Hoovervilles(named after president Hoover)

• Makeshift housing was formed from scrap materials on vacant land

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The Great Depression

The Urban Poor– Poor city dwellers had to

rummage through trash and beg for food

– They stood in long lines at Soup Kitchens and Bread Lines for free or low-cost food offered by charitable organizations

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The Great Depression

The Rural Poor– About 400,000 farms were

lost between 1929 and 1932

– However, many became tenant farmers

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The Great Depression

Effects on Race– African Americans had a 50%

unemployment rate in 1932, over twice as high as the national average

– Over 500,000 Mexican- Americans and Mexicans were deported back to Mexico during the 1930’s

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The Great Depression

The Dustbowl– Farmers exhaust the land

through over-production and left millions of acres unusable in the Midwest

– A prolonged drought happened during the 1930’s that caused horrific dust storms or winds

– Due to the storms many families had to leave the Midwest and migrate to California

– These migrants were called Okies and looked down by native Californians

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The Great Depression

Too Little, Too Late– Hoover reacted to the economic

collapse with direct intervention too late

– The two big reform projects were approved in 1932

– However, the economic collapse was too large to be fixed by the projects

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The Great DepressionThe Bonus Army March

– World War I veterans were promised a bonus payment due in 1945

– A group of World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington, D.C. in 1932 to support the Patman Bill that would pay the 1945 bonus immediately to veterans due to the Great Depression

– Hoover ordered the US Army to break up the Bonus Army and they used tear gas and bayonets to make them leave

– This added to Hoover’s unpopularity

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The Great Depression

The 1932 Election– Hoover and the Republican

Party’s inability to deal with the Depression led people to support the Democrats

– In 1932, the Democrats won both Houses and the Presidency

– Hoover is replaced by the Democratic candidate Franklin Roosevelt (FDR)

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Unit 4: New DealChapter 15

Essential Question:Explain how the New Deal

changed the role of the federal government.

New Deal

New Deal•Roosevelt assembled a team of advisors called the “Brain Trust” to help him develop ideas for the New Deal

•Three main goals of the New Deal:1. Relief for the needy2. Economic recovery3. Financial reform

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New Deal

Court Packing Plan•When the Supreme Court struck down New Deal programs Roosevelt wanted to appoint six new Supreme Court Justices so he could get his New Deal measures passed

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New Deal

Roosevelt’s immediate actions:

– Declared a bank holiday– Closed down all banks that

were insolvent (unable to pay their debts)

– Gave loans to banks that needed help

– FDR fireside chat inspired Americans to put their savings back in the banks

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New Deal

Agricultural Adjustment Act(AAA)•Paid farmers to destroy some crops and leave fields unplanted; raises food prices, lowers supply•Hog farmers slaughtered 6 million pigs•The policy upset many Americans

– Long term goal: raise crop prices and farm income

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New Deal

Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC)•Put young men aged 18-25 to work building roads and flood control projects

•Planted more than 200 million trees

– Long-term goals: reduce unemployment and prevent another Dust Bowl

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New Deal

Works Progress Administration(WPA)•Created more than 8 million jobs•Built over 125,000 public buildings•Made over 300 million garments for the needy•Hired teachers, writers, artists, and other professionals

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New Deal

Social Security Act•Old-age insurance for retirees 65 or older and their spouses•Unemployment compensation system•Aid to families with dependent children and the disabled

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New DealCritics of the New Deal•Business/Conservatives: felt personal rights and property were violated (too much federal regulation and debt was growing)

•Huey Long: a senator from Louisiana , was for the New Deal, then against it, he proposed “Share our Wealth”

•Father Charles Coughlin: Catholic Priest, did radio sermons to criticize Roosevelt and the New Deal; he felt it did not do enough help to elderly

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New Deal: Women

• Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor

• First female cabinet member ever

• Women still faced workplace discrimination

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New Deal: African Americans

• Mary McLeod Bethune appointed to administrative position in the NYA

• William H. Hastie and Robert C. Weaver appointed to Department of the Interior

• African Americans still faced widespread discrimination

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New Deal: Mexican and Native Americans

• Mexican Americans supported the New Deal even though only a few benefited

• Native American policy changed by John Collier from assimilation toward autonomy

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