The 1920sChapters 12/13

Republican Administrations

Warren G. Harding (1920) “Return to normalcy” “Ohio Gang”

Teapot Dome Scandal– involved the leasing of government-owned oil deposits to private companies

Dies in 1923 from food poisoning Death spared him from public disgrace (corruption & affairs/booze)

Calvin Coolidge Congress should lead the direction of the country Friend of business / Reelected in 1924

Herbert Hoover wins in 1928

Social Changes in 1920s

The decade of the 1920s was one of prosperity and optimism for some Americans, doubt and despair for some Americans, and frivolity and loosening of morals for others.

Youth Culture Majority of teenagers in high school for the first time Teenagers start to work less, spend more time with peers,

college enrollment increasesKnown as “the Roaring Twenties” the

“Jazz Age” – a revolution in manners and morals

The New Morality:the “flapper”

Revolution in the way women live, dress, and act. (Against Victorian morality)

Ex. Smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, profanity, heavy makeup, short skirts, driving cars, sexually active, sensuous dancing (Charleston), rebel against restraint.

Entertainment: Radio & Movies

Impact rises greatlyRadio becomes commercial (National

radio networks: ABC, CBS, etc.)Birth of a Nation (1915) 3 ½ hours,

silent, different camera anglesMovies are in full gear by 1920s

(sound in 1927)Weekly movie attendance 100 million

/ 120 million lived in U.S.

City

Becomes focal point of AmericaThe Booming Construction

EconomyMass Culture (national culture)

Nationally circulated magazines, chain stores, syndicated news features, motion pictures, brand names, and radio programs.

City culture shaped by Prohibition (1920) speakeasys, bootlegging, broad

disrespect for the law (Al Capone)

The Empire State Building

The Roaring Economy

Revolution in Production Manufacturing rose 64 percent The sale of electricity doubled Consumption of fuel oil doubled

Between 1922 and 1927 the economy grew by 7 percent a year– the largest peacetime rate ever.

Welfare capitalism Improved working conditions, increased pay,

softball leagues, cafeterias, etc.

The Roaring Economy

Technology and Consumer Spending Steam turbines and shovels, electric

motors, belt and bucket conveyors, and countless other new machines became commonplace at work sites.

Machines replaced 200,000 workers each year; however, demand for consumer goods kept the labor force growing.

The Roaring Economy: Spend! Spend!

More consumer products appeared on store shelves: Cigarette lighters, wristwatches, radios, film. Improvements in productivity helped keep prices

down.Goods once available only to the

wealthy were now made accessible to the general public washing machines, refrigerators, electric ranges,

vacuum cleaners, cameras.The purchasing power of wage

earners jumped by 20 percent.

The Roaring Economy: A Growing Consumer Culture

Average Americans went on a buying spree Consumption ethic replaces

Protestant work ethic Impulse buying was seen as

a positive Easy Consumer credit

By the late 1920s, Americans achieve highest standard of living in the world

The Roaring Economy:Warning Signs

For all the prosperity, a dangerous imbalance in the economy developed. Most Americans were putting very little of

their savings into the bank. Personal debt was rising two and a half

times faster than personal income. Business profits double/ workers’ wages

rise 30%

The Roaring Economy

The Booming Construction Industry Residential construction doubled as people

moved from cities to suburbs. Road construction made suburban life

possible and pumped millions of dollars in the economy. States began implementing taxes on gasoline.

Construction stimulated other businesses Steel, concrete, lumber, home mortgages, and

insurance.

The Automobile

Henry Ford “democratize the

automobile” by making it affordable.

1903 – Ford Motor Company founded

1916 – 1 million cars 1920 – 8 million cars 1925 – Model T ($290) 1929 – 23 million cars

(1 in 5 Americans)

Provided market for steel, glass, rubber, textiles, oil

Automakers change styles

Roadside economy (gas stations, motels)

Break in rural isolationHelps aid this new

freedom of youths Revolutionizes dating /

premarital sex increases

Advertising

1915 - $1.3 billion spent on advertising

1925 - $3.4 billion1920s – Advertisers

pushed lifestyle rather than product

New themes in advertising Diversity – new models, new look, color-

coordinated Association – new product = new

lifestyle Social fear – want to “fit in” consuming

things is good and will improve your life

Tension and Response

Tension: old rural culture (work ethic) vs. new city culture (consumer culture

Responses Acceptance – (young people and city dwellers) Opposition Division (most Americans)

Torn between new lifestyle and traditional values This issue will be put on shelf during 1930s (trying

to eat), 1940s (trying to fight WWII), but Americans come back to this issue in late 1940s

Defenders ofthe Faith

Fundamentalists Things are getting out of control; want to get back to

basics/ basic values; Bible is without error; against evolution

1925 John Scopes Trial in Dayton Tenn. Defense—Clarence Darrow Prosecutor --- William Jennings Bryan Radio carries trial People lose faith in Fundamentalism even though

they win

Nativism and Immigration Restriction

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Two Italian aliens and admitted anarchists 1921, sentenced to death for a shoe company robbery

and murder in Mass. Executed in 1927 World reaction: A symbol of American bigotry and

prejudice.National Origins Act (1921 & 1924)

East Asian immigration stopped Limit on immigrants: 350,000 per year / 150,000 Quota of 3 percent of each nationality already in the U.S.

as of 1910. Later pushed back to 1890. Bias toward “old” immigrants

Coolidge--- “America must be kept American”

Nativism and Immigration Restriction

Ku Klux Klan resurfaces to preserve old order: 1915 at Stone Mountain, Georgia Devoted to 100% Americanism Targets blacks, Roman Catholics,

Jews, and immigrants Membership:

restricted to “native born, white, gentile (Protestant) Americans.”

3 million members by the 1920s Not confined to the South:

Headquarters became Indianapolis, Indiana by the 1920s

The “Noble Experiment”

Eighteenth Amendment (1920) Outlawed the sale of liquor. Consumption was reduced by half.

Enforcement was underfunded and understaffed. Speakeasys (city) and moonshine (rural stills).

Consequences of Prohibition Reversed the prewar trend toward beer and wine. Helped to line the pockets of gangsters like Al

Capone. Cities erupted in a mayhem of violence.

Repealed by the 21st Amendment (1933)

The Election of 1928

Hoover elected over Al Smith (Dem.) A vindication of Republican prosperity.

The Great Bull Market

The idea grew that American business had entered a “New Era” of permanent growth.

Led to get-rich-quick schemes. Florida real-estate boom Federal Reserve lowers interest rates – people begin

borrowing money to put in stock market 1925 $27 billion in stock market 1929 $80 billion in stock market (speculative bubble) Market continues to rise despite economic warnings

(excessive confidence and greed)

The Great Crash

Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the stock market index dropped almost 13 percent. From 1929 to 1932, Americans’ personal

incomes declined by more than half. The crash had revealed the economy’s

structural problems. (symptom of larger problem)

The Causes of the Great Depression

Overexpansion and decline in mass purchasing power Business had done too well

Consumer debt and the uneven distribution of wealth Wages did not rise fast enough to consume

products Banking system (banks crash—U.S.

loses savings) Funds used for speculative investments Low money supply because of gold standard

The Causes of the Great Depression

Corporate Structure and public policy No government agency monitored the stock

exchanges Tax cuts meant that businesses did not have to

borrow money“Sick Industries”

Decline of farm prosperity Textiles, coal mining, lumbering, and railroads

Economic Ignorance High Tariffs in U.S. hurt Europe / Europeans could

not buy U.S. goods “Everyone ought to be rich”

1903 First feature length film released

Significant Events

1914 Henry Ford introduces moving assembly line

1916 Marcus Garvey brings Universal Negro Improvement Association to America

1919 Eighteenth Amendment outlawing alcohol use ratified

1920 First commercial radio broadcast 1921 Congress enacts quotas on immigration 1923 Time magazine founded 1925 John T. Scopes convicted of teaching

evolution in Tennessee 1929 Stock market crashes