www.buschistory.net Topic 19-1

“The so called roaring 1920’s”

The Second Industrial Revolution

• New advances in electricity led to mass production of factories

• In 1914 30% of factories had electricity• But in 1929 nearly 70% of factories had

electricity • A building boom occurred during the 1920’s• Creation of commercial banks, and insurance

companies.

The Modern Corporation

• This was a pretty good slide but Buscky removed the text so we could see the nice picture

The Modern Corporation• John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie paved the way for

entrepreneurs

• New entrepreneurs began to emerge such as Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors, and Owen D. Young of American Radio Stations

• They controlled their companies legally focused upon the concept of vertical integration

• New philosophies of industry became apparent such as the integration of production, distribution, product diversification, and the expansion of industrial research

• Grocery chains began to emerge such as the “Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company”

Anti-Union• Corporations became more against

the formation of labor unions• Corporations tried to promote

programs to improve worker well being known as “Welfare Capitalism”

• Corporations tried to appeal to workers with temptations in the stock market and granting insurance policies

• By 1928 6 million workers had insurance

• Large corporations had an “Anti-Campaign” program called the “American Plan”

“Built Ford Tough”

• In 1914 Henry Ford created the Ford Motor Company

• Roughly 2/3 of his labor force consisted of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe

• By the early 1920’s Ford employed nearly 5,000 African Americans. (more than any other corporation)

• Ford was a pioneer in the concept of the assembly line

• He help to cut work hours and to increase wages

• The auto industry created a market for steel, rubber, glass and petroleum

• It also stimulated public spending on roads and extended the housing boom into the suburbs.

Agriculture Begins To Fall

• Prices on crops began to fall rapidly in the 1920’s• Cotton went from 37 cents a pound in the mid 1920’s and

in the late 1920’s cotton was 14 cents a pound• The hog and cattle industry went down 50%• Farmers experienced a huge debt in the lack of demands

for crops• Although wheat production increased by 300% in the late

1920’s• The McNary-Haugen bills help to give farmers relief• The bill helped to stabilize farm prices• Farmers did not benefit from the bill at first• Labor Unions also began to fall• The AFL went from 500,000 members to 75,000 members

in 1928

New Culture

• New forms of Journalism became apparent such as gossip columns and sports sections

• After World War I advertisements became a huge media and industrial advancement

• The most creative advertisements were for cigarettes and medicine

• Baseball was very popular and became Americans greatest past time

• African American baseball players such as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige help to give many Africans hope for a time of equality

Prohibition

• With the growing cities came a greater demand for alcohol• The Volstead Act of 1919 established a Federal Prohibition Bureau to

ensure no alcohol sales• With alcohol being illegal and the demand was so high, breaking the

prohibition laws was very common• Almost all towns had an illegal “speakeasy”, which was an illegal

place where people could drink, dance, and use drugs (if they wanted to)

• With alcohol being illegal “bootlegging” became more and more common

• Prohibition led to high crimes and a powerful Mafia ran by Al “Scar face” Capone

• Al Capone led one of the largest alcohol rings and he was nearly impossible to arrest because of his universal support and power

• In 1933 Congress repealed the 18th Amendment with the passage of the 21st Amendment which made alcohol sales legal

The Corrupt Cabinet

• Warren Harding was president from 1921-1923• He was a very weak president so he appointed colleagues to

help his presidency called the “Ohio Gang”• The Harding administration was extremely corrupt• General Harry M. Daugherty received bribes from violators of

the prohibition laws• Charles R. Forbes pocketed money spent on improving

hospitals and hospital supplies• The worst scandal was the Teapot Dome Scandal• Albert Fall received hundreds of thousands of dollars in

payoffs by leasing naval oil reserves to two private developers• Harding died of a heart attack in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge

became president

The Republicans Press On

• Calvin Coolidge became president in 1923 after Warren Harding died

• He supported wealthy individuals and easily won the election of 1924

• Coolidge reduced federal spending, taxes, and blocked unfair initiatives

• He passed the Kellogg-Briand Pact that became significant for later developments in international law

• He passed the Immigration Act of 1924 which limited the amount of immigrant admissions to America

• He passed the Revenue Act of 1926 that lowered taxes

"A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage"

• Herbert Hoover was president from 1929-1933• He had a progressive initiative and wanted to create a favorable

climate for business and he wanted to assist in business• He wanted an “Associative State” which led to the Department of

Commerce• The Emergency Relief and Construction Act, passed by Congress in

July 1932, was the United States first major-relief legislation. It created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which released funds for public works projects across the country

• The Reconstruction Finance Act of 1932 was created to help the economy by lending money during the depression

• The Revenue Act of 1932: raised taxes on the highest incomes • He created standards for industrial machines and automobiles• He supported the expansion of trade associations• Hoover helped to stabilize the economy and manufacturing companies

became the center of wealth

War Debts, Reparations, and Keeping the Peace

• After World War I the United States emerged as the strongest economic power in the world

• European governments owed the U.S 10 billion dollars in 1919

• During the 1920’s war debts and reparations were the single most diverse issue

• Germans hated the U.S they owed 33 billion dollars because of the Treaty of Versailles

• The Dawes Plan reduced Germany’s debt

• In 1928 the U.S and 62 other nations signed the Pact of Paris which renounced the war

The Restriction of Immigration• After World War I there were many Anti-

Immigrant feelings• “New Immigrants” were mostly Catholic

and Jewish• Americans felt that the new immigrants

were inferior because of their appearance and economic status

• In 1921 Congress passed the Immigration Act which set a quota of 357,000 immigrants a year added to the United States

• The Johnson Reed Act of 1924 reduced the quota to 164,000 immigrants

• Mexicans began to immigrate into the U.S greatly

• In the years 1921-1930 nearly 459,000 Mexicans immigrated into the U.S

A New Age

• In the 1920’s Africans became more powerful figures• In 1930 nearly 200,000 African Americans made up

Harlem due to the great migration• With the high demand for housing came much corruption

of housing rent for Africans• Langston Hughes was a famous poet who spoke out

against racism and gave Africans a voice, which can be seen in his famous poem “Harlem”

• Marcus Garvey created the “Black Star Line” which was a fleet of ships to connect Africans together

• But in 1923 he was found guilty of fraud so his plan didn’t work