The Roaring 20’s An era of prosperity,

Republican power,

and conflict

■ 1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the "Jazz Age"

■ in sum, a period of great change in American Society - modern America is born at this time

■ for first time the census reflected an urban society - people had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard of living

Age of Prosperity■ Economic expansion ■ Mass Production ■ Assembly Line ■ Age of the Automobile

■ Ailing Agriculture…

■ an agri. depression in early 1920's contributed to this urban migration

■ U.S. farmers lost agri. markets in postwar Europe

■ at same time agri. efficiency increased so more food produced (more food = lower prices) and fewer labourers needed

■ so farming was no longer as prosperous, and bankers called in their loans (farms repossessed)

■ so American farmers enter the Depression in advance of the rest of society

■ Black Americans in this period continued to live in poverty

■ sharecropping kept them in de facto slavery

■ 1915 - boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop

■ white landowners went bankrupt & forced blacks off their land

■ Blacks moved north to take advantage of booming wartime industry (= Great Migration) - Black ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem

■ within these ghettoes a distinct Black culture flourished

■ But both blacks and whites wanted cultural interchange restricted

■ Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born immigrant) established the Universal Negro Improvement Association

■ believed in Black pride ■ advocated racial segregation b/c of

Black superiority ■ Garvey believed Blacks should

return to Africa ■ he purchased a ship to start the

Black Star line ■ attracted many investments: gov't

charged him with w/fraud ■ he was found guilty and eventually

deported to Jamaica, but his organization continued to exist

Republican Power■ President Harding ■ Elected 1920 ■ Legacy of

Scandals ■ “Teapot Dome” ■ Died in office

President Coolidge

“The business of America is business.”

■ Fordney-McCumber Tariff

■ Smoot-Hawley Tariff

■ No help for farmers ■ Foreign Policy

Consumer Economy

Culture of the Roaring 20’sRadio

KDKA Pittsburgh GE, Westinghouse,& RCA

form NBC

Silent MoviesCharlie Chaplin

“Talkies”The Jazz SingerStarring Al Jolson

Mary Pickford“America’s Sweetheart”

CelebritiesBabe Ruth &Ty Cobb

Jack Dempsey

Charles Lindbergh The Spirit of St. Louis

The 20’s is The Jazz AgeThe Flappers

make up cigarettes

short skirts

Musicians Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington

Writers F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway

■ 1920's also brought about great changes for women...

■ 1920 - 19th Amendment gave them the federal vote

■ after 1920, social circumstances changed too as more women worked outside the home

■ and more women went to college and clamoured to join the professions

■ women didn't want to sacrifice wartime gains - amounted to a social revolt

■ characterized by the FLAPPER/ "new woman" – (bobbed hair, short dresses,

smoked in public...)

A Society in Conflict■ Anti-immigrant

– National Origins Act – Discrimination Sacco-Vanzetti Trial – Italian immigrants – Unfair trial

■ for immigrants – the point of origin had shifted to S & E Europe and new religions appeared: Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic

■ N. European immigrants of early 19c. feared this shift and felt it would undermine Protestant values

■ this fear was known as NATIVISM ■ many wanted Congress to restrict

immigration, leading to a quota system that favoured n. areas of Europe

■ fear of immigrants (from SE Europe) led to a sentiment known as the Red Scare (fear of comm. post-Bolshevik Rev.)

■ basic comm. advocates a int'l revolution by the proletariat/workers - fears that this ideology could find its way into the U.S.

■ at this time, W. Wilson was gravely ill following a stroke

■ his Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, wanted to take a shot at the presidency - he used fears of both immigrants and communism to his advantage

■ he had J. Edgar Hoover round up suspected radicals, many of which were deported (Palmer Raids)

The Ku Klux Klan Great increase

In powerAnti-black

Anti-immigrant

Anti-women’s suffrage

Anti-bootleggers

Anti-Semitic

Anti-Catholic

Scopes “Monkey” TrialEvolution vs. Creationism

Dayton, TennesseeFamous Lawyers

Science vs. Religion

John Scopes High School Biology teacher

Prohibition18th Amendment Volstead Act

Gangstersuntouchables

Al Capone

■ PROHIBITION - on manuf. and sale of alcohol

■ adopted in 1919 - 18th AMENDMENT

■ an outgrowth of the longtime temperance movement

■ in WWI, temperance became a patriotic mvmt. - drunkenness caused low productivity & inefficiency, and alcohol needed to treat the wounded

■ a difficult law to enforce... organized crime, speakeasies, bootleggers were on the rise

■ Al Capone virtually controlled Chicago in this period - capitalism at its zenith…

■ Prohibition finally ended in 1933 w/ the 21st Amendment

■ forced organized crime to pursue other interests…