The Roaring 20’s

A Decade of Change

Timeline

• U.S. Dates-– 1924-Nellie Taylor Ross is first woman elected governor.– 1927-First movie with sound-The Jazz Singer

World Dates-- 1922-Benito Mussolini is named Italy’s prime minister.- 1923- Adolf Hitler tries, but fails, to gain power in

Germany. (Beer Hall Putsch)- 1929-National Revolutionary Party organized in Mexico.

Harding and a “Return to Normalcy”?

• Warren G. Harding-elected President-1920• Harding promised Americans “prosperity at

home and peace abroad”.• He proposed lower taxes and “less

government in business and more business in government”.

• Wanted higher tariffs on foreign goods.

Teapot Dome Scandal

• Harding brought many of his “cronies”, or friends, into his government.

• Many of the friends were liars and cheats.• Sec’y of the Interior, Albert Fall, took bribes

and made illegal deals with oil executives to drill on oil-rich government land in Teapot Dome, Wyoming.

Harding Dies

• Harding was an honest man-politically and personally.

• “I knew that this job would be too much for me.”

• While on a speaking tour, he died suddenly on August 2, 1923.

Coolidge Takes Over

• After taking over for Harding, Calvin Coolidge won his own election in 1924.

• Coolidge followed the economic theory of laissez faire-business, if left unregulated by government, would act in a way that would benefit the nation.

• Coolidge did not believe gov’t should get involved with social and economic problems.

Coolidge Takes Over-Slide 2

• Farmers, who were struggling, were not helped by Coolidge.

• Food prices dropped, forcing farmers to sell their farms.

• Coolidge was an isolationist. He did not believe in getting involved in foreign problems.

Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928

• 15 countries signed the pact.• They agreed not to make war against one

another except in self-defense.• U.S. citizens supported this since they were

still recovering from the effects of WWI.

Technology Changes American Life

• Henry Ford-Ford Motors• First cars came off the line at a cost of $335

each.• Ford created the “assembly line”, where the

product (the car) moved along a conveyor belt across the factory.

• Workers at various stations added parts as the belt moved past them.

• Henry Ford

Installment Buying

• Once costly items were now available to most people.

• People began to use credit or paid for these items using installment buying-allowing them to buy items by making small monthly payments.

• Other new items were: electric vacuum cleaners, washers, sewing machines, toasters, and fans.

• Most of these were available only to white, middle-class citizens.

The Air Age Begins

• Many former WWI pilots came home and used their new skills to start new businesses.

• Crop-dusters, stunt planes (used in another new business-movie-making), cross-country mail delivery and flight instructors were some of the new businesses.

• Transatlantic flights by:– Charles Lindbergh-1927– Amelia Earhart- 1928 and 1932

The Air Age Begins (con’t.)

• The Last Flight of Amelia Earhart• The Kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby

Youth in the Roaring Twenties

• During the 20’s, youth and its culture was celebrated.

• For the first time, young people, as a group, rebelled against the values of the past and the authority of their elders.

• Many experimented with new fashions, attitudes, and ways of behavior.

• The Roaring Twenties• Flappers and Women's Fashion Changes

Youth in the Roaring Twenties (Slide 2)

• Young people stayed in school longer.• More went to college than ever before.• School became a place for socializing as well as

learning.• Men wore floppy pants and slicked their hair

back.• Women wore their hair shorter (a “bob”) and

wore shorter dresses.• “The Charleston” was a favorite dance.

Youth in the Roaring Twenties (Slide 3)

• Popular song titles were: “Runnin’ Wild” and “Ain’t We Got Fun”.

• Popular fads included: crossword puzzles, mah-jongg, and flagpole sitting.

• Pop Culture in the 20's

New Roles for Women

• The symbol of the 1920’s American woman was the flapper-women who wore bobbed hair, makeup, and dresses that fell to just below the knee.

• Women took a more active role in their lives.• More women began to drive cars, play sports, go to

college and work a job.• Marriage came to be seen as more of an equal

partnership between a man and woman.• 1920- 19th Amendment gave women the right to

vote.

Prohibition and Lawlessness

• On Jan. 16, 1920, the 18th Amendment made the sale, making, and possession of alcohol illegal.

• The amendment was called Prohibition.• To enforce this amendment, Congress passed the

Volstead Act in 1919.• Speakeasies-illegal nightclubs that served alcohol

came out after saloons were closed.• One result of Prohibition was the rise of

organized crime.

Prohibition and Lawlessness (Slide 2)

• In most cities, wars broke out amongst rival gangs over bootlegging-the making of illegal alcohol.

• The most ruthless crime boss of the era was Al Capone-a gangster who came to power in Chicago.

• Prohibition and the Mafia- Part 1• Prohibition and the Mafia- Part 2• Prohibition and the Mafia- Part 3

Changes for African-Americans

• To find better paying jobs, many African-Americans began to move to northern states-The Great Migration.

• Although many gained some economic and political power, most still faced discrimination in jobs and housing.

• Race riots began to break out around the north-eastern states starting in 1919.

• The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)-worked to help shed light on race issues in America.

• The NAACP could not get Congress to pass any helpful legislation.

Changes for African-Americans (Slide 2)

• Due to this mistreatment, many African-Americans began to lose hope in America.

• Marcus Garvey- founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association-called for a return to Africa and the formation of a separate nation there.

• Although few African-Americans moved to Africa, Garvey set the example for future black political movements.

A Divided Society

• Fundamentalism- a movement that pushed for a literal interpretation of the Bible and an end to the teaching of evolution.

• Evolution-the scientific theory that living things developed over millions of years from earlier and simpler forms of life.

• John Scopes, a Tennessee biology teacher, was tried, and convicted, of teaching evolution-although his sentence was soon thrown out.

• Another sign of the dividing society was the rebirth of the KKK, who called for a “racially and morally pure America”.

• KKK in the 1920's• The Klan in the '20's

The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance

• Laborsaving appliances (toasters, vacuums, washers, etc.) and shorter working hours gave Americans more leisure time.

• $.25 for movies, led to more than 100 million weekly moviegoers.

• Sales of books, magazines, newspapers also rose sharply.

• Listening to the radio, talking on the phone, driving cars also became popular activities.

Mass Media and Popular Culture

• New types of mass media-communications that reach a large audience-started in the 1920’s.

• 1st radio station-KDKA-started in Pittsburgh in 1920.• Movies became a major industry-opening worlds of

glamour and excitement most Americans could never enter.

• American popular culture-fashions, songs, dances and even slang expressions- began to spread to Europe.

A Search for Heroes

• Sporting events also began to take lots of Americans leisure time.– Baseball- (Babe Ruth, NYYankees “Bronx Bombers)– Babe Ruth's 60th Home Run– Boxing- (Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis)– Tennis- (Bill Tilden, Helen Wills)– Football- (Knute Rockne, Red Grange)– Red Grange Highlights– Negro League is formed.– Flying (Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart)

The Harlem Renaissance

• Finding a new sense of freedom after fighting and working during WWI, many African-Americans migrated North, mostly to New York.

• The move north brought a new culture-Jazz music is an example of the African-American influence on US culture.

• This “rebirth” of hope for African-Americans in NYC became known as the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance (Slide 2)

• Harlem, a NYC-west side neighborhood, became the center of this culture explosion.

• Famous writers made homes here:– Langston Hughes– James Weldon Johnson– Claude McKay – Zora Neale Hurston

The Harlem Renaissance (Slide 3)

• Jazz, originating in New Orleans, became widely popular.

• A form of music that combined African rhythms, blues, and ragtime, to produce a unique sound.

• Famous jazz musicians:– Louis Armstrong– Duke Ellington– Bessie Smith-St. Louis Blues

The Lost Generation

• The war caused a lot of writers to write about the dark, depressing results.

• They saw little hope for the future.• Many saw no freedom or tolerance in America, so they

moved to Paris, France. • This group of expatriates, people who choose to live in a

country not of their birth, were called the Lost Generation.• Some of the famous writers were:

– Ernest Hemingway– F. Scott Fitzgerald– Sinclair Lewis