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Ch. 23: The 1920s. Booming Business, Ailing Agriculture. Recession hits when wartime defense contracts end But by 1922 business bounces back Age of electricity brings new consumer goods- by 1925 60% of households have electricity - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Ch. 23: The 1920s
Booming Business, Ailing Agriculture
Recession hits when wartime defense contracts end
But by 1922 business bounces backAge of electricity brings new consumer
goods- by 1925 60% of households have electricity
Automobile was the major industry- by 1930 60% of families have a car
Ford led in the beginning, then GM, back to Ford
Automobile industry accounts for 9% of all wages in manufacturing and stimulates many other industries
Rising stocks reflect the speculative nature of Wall Street
Business boom stimulates capitalist expansion overseas◦corporations built facilities abroad◦U.S. investors loaned European
nations money to repay WWI debt◦Private investment abroad
increases five-fold
Economic nationalism prevails- high protective tariffs◦Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)
and Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930)◦http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d
xPVyieptwA◦As a percent of GDP U.S. exports fell◦However, manufactured goods rose
to 61% of exports by 1920s
Even though wages did rise in the decade, workers benefitted unequally◦North faired better than the South◦Women, blacks, Mexicans, and recent
immigrants faired the worstFor farmers, grain prices plummet
◦Government purchases end, European agriculture is revived, farm exports slow
◦Farm income falls by 60%
New Modes of Producing, Managing, and Selling
The assembly line boosts output by 40%Managers discourage individuality, etc.
– “Fordization of the face”The assembly line doesn’t foster pride
in skill or provide opportunity for advancement
However, this created American industrial might
Business consolidation continues after the war
Giant corporations begin setting up divisions within the company, making day-to-day oversight highly complex
The gradual increase in wages came because leaders recognized that higher wages would improve production and consumer buying power◦Ford paid his workers $5 a day
New systems of delivering goods developed◦Dealer networks in the automobile industry;
Chain stores and department stores (air conditioning helps popularize these stores)
Advertising takes off
Buying on credit soars◦Installment plans with fixed payment
schedules◦Was mostly confined to big ticket
items◦Accounts for 75% of automobile
sales by 1929
Women in the New Economic EraCigarettes for women as “torches of
freedom”Cosmetics were “hope in a jar”Male workers dominated the
manufactoring plantsThe number of working women
increased to 2 million, but their number as a percent of the total female population hovered at 24%
Women went to work in corporate officesMedical schools even capped female
admissions
Struggling Labor Unions in a Business Age
Union membership fell from 5 – 3.4 million during the 20s
Why?◦Overall wage rates climbed◦Older craft-based unions were ill suited
for the new mass-produced factories◦Management hostility◦Anti-union campaign (employee
associations)◦Welfare capitalism
Stand Pat PoliticsRepublican dominance of the
1920s◦Northern farmers, corporate leaders,
businesspeople, native-born white-collar workers and some blue-collared workers
Warren G. Harding◦Bland with a soothing appeal◦Known for his womanizing and his
poor cabinet appointments
Scandals◦Charles Forbes (head of the
Veteran’s Bureau) – a draft dodger who stole funds fled the country
◦Harry Daugherty (Attorney General) – influence peddling; escaped two criminal trials
◦Albert Fall (Sec. of Interior) – leased government oil reserves for a $400,000 bribe. The Teapot Dome Scandal; went to jail
Republican Policymaking in a Probusiness Era
Congress lowers taxes and inheritance taxes for the wealthy (supported by Sec. of Treasury Andrew Mellon)
Supreme Court overturns business regulatory laws
Coolidge opposes government assistance to other groups – 1927 Mississippi flood victims or a price-support plan for farmers (McNary-Haugen bill)◦This does move some farmers to the
Democratic Party
Independent Internationalism
U.S. refuses to join the League or its International Court of Justice
Washington Naval Arms Conference◦Specific ratio of ships amongst the world
powers (reduced tonnage: U.S., GB, Japan, Italy, France)
Kellogg-Briand Pact- 60 nations and purely symbolic
Women and Politics in the 1920s: A Dream Deferred
Polling places shift from saloons to schools and churches Women’s Join Congressional committee lobbies for child-
labor laws, protection of women workers, and federal support for education
Sheppard-Towner Act (1921) – funded rural prenatal and baby care centers staffed by public health nurses
However, the 19th Amendment had little political effect Reformers could not go so far as to get an ERA- felt it
would undermine gender-based law protecting women Those who continued to “push buttons” were labeled
communist Women expressed their liberation through consumption
Immigration RestrictionNational Origins Act of 1924- 2% of each
nation’s 1890 representation in America“America must be kept American”The law excluded Asians and South
Asians as person ineligible for citizenship but place no restrictions on immigrants from the Western Hemisphere◦Need for large scale, low-paid migratory
workers in growing agribusiness sector◦Mexican American found little support from
the Catholic Church
Nativism, Anti-Radicalism, and The Sacco-Vanzetti Case
Red Scare and A. Mitchell Palmer“Those anarchist bastards”
Fundamentalism and the Scopes Trial
John T. ScopesDayton, TNACLUWilliam Jennings BryanClarence DarrowH.L. Menken of the American
Mercury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Kdc0LLSW8
KKK and the Garvey Movement1915 revival and Birth of a
Nation◦Membership drive- expansion to 5
million◦Dismal end
Garvey and the UNIA◦Unpopular with mainstream black
organizations◦He eventually served prison time
and was deported
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jAPdm9OU5k
ProhibitionRural vs. urban values; anti-
immigrant; impact of women’s movement; continuance of WWI conservation and anti-German sentiment
18th AmendmentVolstead ActBy 1929 alcohol consumption
was at about 70% of prewar era
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdKK6L8Z2o
Election of 1928Al Smith (D) – Catholic and a wet from
NY vs. Herbert Hoover (R) – brilliant, professional with wartime service
Business and conservatism winsThere is a fear of the popeElection began a new political
realignment◦Some in the Midwest abandon Republicans
due to Coolidge’s insensitivity; Democrats begin to carry the biggest cities
Herbert Hoover’s Social ThoughtHoover did not believe in cutthroat
capitalism; he sought a more rational approach, welcoming welfare capitalism
He encouraged corporate consolidation and cooperation- some 250 conferences◦Supported the 8-hr workday and higher
wages to increases purchasing power
◦However, his belief was that capitalists would embrace such policies because of ethics
Cities, Cars, and Consumer GoodsBy 1930, 40% of African
Americans lived in citiesElectricity meant women spent
less time on household choresFood prep declined and fresh food
was available all yearAutomobile and all its impact for
both city and farm life; pricingAdvertisingChain and department stores
Soaring Energy Consumption
Electrification and autos impact the nation’s natural resources
Electrical use triples; by 1929 20 million cars on the road
Need for oil◦ U.S. access to Mexican oil◦ Plays a role in Teapot Dome◦ Triggered wildcats
Did it help or hurt the conservation movement?◦ Sierra Club and Audubon Society kick in ◦ Hoover actually create a National Conference on
Outdoor Recreation to set national recreation policies
Mass-produced entertainment
Light reading for diversion◦Saturday Evening Post and Reader’s Digest◦Book of the Month Clubs and Literary Guilds
Radio◦NBC formed in 1926, followed by CBS a year
later- this is standardization of radio◦Amos ‘n’ Andy
Movies◦Chaplin, Pickford, Valentino, Jolson, Steamboat
Willy◦MGM, Warner Brothers, and Columbia
Celebrity Culture
The Jazz Age and Postwar Crisis of Values