america in the 1920s. political leaders election of 1920 democrat james cox
TRANSCRIPT
America in the 1920s
Political Leaders
Election of 1920
Democrat James Cox
Political Leaders
Election of 1920
Democrat James Cox
Republican Warren Harding
Political Leaders
Election of 1920
Democrat James Cox
Republican Warren Harding
Eugene V. Debs
Political Leaders• Victory for a
“return to normalcy”
Political Leaders• Victory for a
“return to normalcy”
• Landslide for Harding
Political Leaders• Victory for a
“return to normalcy”
• Landslide for Harding
• Return to a more pro-business Republican Party
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Appointments:
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Appointments:• Charles Evans Hughes
as Sec. of State
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Appointments:• Charles Evans Hughes
as Sec. of State• Andrew Mellon Sec. of
Treasury
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Appointments:• Charles Evans Hughes
as Sec. of State• Andrew Mellon Sec. of
Treasury• Herbert Hoover Sec. of
Commerce
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Appointments:• Charles Evans Hughes
as Sec. of State• Andrew Mellon Sec. of
Treasury• Herbert Hoover Sec. of
Commerce• Wm. Howard Taft Chief
Justice of Supreme Court
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Legislation:
Legislation:• reductions in income
tax
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Legislation:• reductions in income
tax• Increase in tariffs
(Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922)
Tariff rates through various legislation
Ave. Duty on All Imports
Ave. Duty on Dutiable Imports
Payne-Aldrich Tariff 1909
19.3% 40.8%
Underwood-Simmons Tariff 1913
9.1% 27%
Fordney-McCumber Tariff 1922
14% 38.5%
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Legislation:• reductions in income
tax• Increase in tariffs
(Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922)
• Establishment of Bureau of the Budget
(now OMB)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Teapot Dome Scandal
Oil lands leased to companies at low rates
Sec. of Interior Albert Fall convicted of taking
bribes
Political Leaders--Harding’s Presidency
Death
Died while traveling in the West
(August 1923)
Succeeded in office by VP Calvin Coolidge
Political Leaders--Coolidge’s Presidency
Believed in very limited government—took almost no action
Political Leaders--Coolidge’s Presidency
Believed in very limited government—took almost no action
“The business of America is business”
Political Leaders--Coolidge’s Presidency
Believed in very limited government—took almost no action
“The business of America is business”
Strictly watched the budget—vetoed WWI Veterans bonuses
Political Leaders--Coolidge’s Presidency
Believed in very limited government—took almost no action
“The business of America is business”
Strictly watched the budget—vetoed WWI Veterans bonuses
Won election in 1924
Political Leaders--Coolidge’s Presidency
Believed in very limited government—took almost no action
“The business of America is business”
Strictly watched the budget—vetoed WWI Veterans bonuses
Won election in 19241928— “I do not choose to
run”
Economy of 1920s
Economy of 1920s
• Recession in 1920-21
Economy of 1920s
• Recession in 1920-21
• Boom from 1922-28 (farmers did not benefit,
and 40% of American families lived in poverty)
Economy of 1920s
• Recession in 1920-21
• Boom from 1922-28 (farmers did not benefit,
and 40% of American families lived in poverty)
• Huge crash 1929
Economy of 1920s
Causes of Prosperity
Economy of 1920s
Causes of Prosperity
• Increased productivity
Economy of 1920s
Causes of Prosperity
• Increased productivity
• Energy technologies
Economy of 1920s
Causes of Prosperity
• Increased productivity
• Energy technologies
• Government policies
Consumer Culture
Music—The Jazz Age
Consumer Culture
Music—The Jazz Age
Electricity—appliances
Percentage of American Families OwningVarious Appliances, 1920 and 1930
60%26%Automobiles
40%<1%Radios
30%9%Vacuum cleaners
24%8%Washing machines
8%<1%Mechanical refrigerators
68%35%Home lighting with electricity
42%1%Central heating
51%20%Inside flush toilets
19301920
W: 472
Consumer Culture
Music—The Jazz Age
Electricity—appliances
Automobile
Consumer Culture
Music—The Jazz Age
Electricity—appliances
Automobile
Entertainment—radio, movies
Popular Culture
Radio Programs
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks--NBC (1924)--CBS (1927)
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks--NBC (1924)--CBS (1927)
Movies
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks--NBC (1924)--CBS (1927)
Movies--Centered in Hollywood
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks--NBC (1924)--CBS (1927)
Movies--Centered in Hollywood--Silent films
Rudolph Valentino, Silent Film Star
Popular Culture
Radio ProgramsCreation of networks--NBC (1924)--CBS (1927)
Movies--Centered in Hollywood--Silent films-- “Talkies” (1927)
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Jack Dempsey
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Jack DempseyJim Thorpe
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Jack DempseyJim ThorpeBabe Ruth
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Jack DempseyJim ThorpeBabe RuthBobby Jones
Popular Culture
Other icons:
Jack DempseyJim ThorpeBabe RuthBobby JonesCharles Lindbergh
Daily Life
Women--The vote did not change
life much for women.
Daily Life
Women--The vote did not change
life much for women.--The 1920s saw no
increase in women in the workforce.
Daily Life
Women--The vote did not change
life much for women.--The 1920s saw no
increase in women in the workforce.
--Divorce laws were liberalized. Divorce: 1 in 8 (1920); 1 in 6 (1930).
Daily Life
Revolution in Morals
--Influence of Freud
Daily Life
Revolution in Morals
--Influence of Freud--More available birth
control
Daily Life
Revolution in Morals
--Influence of Freud--More available birth
control--Flappers: knee-length
dresses, bobbed hair, cigarettes, driving.
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war
and materialism
Given that name by writerGertrude Stein
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war
and materialism• F. Scott Fitzgerald
--The Great Gatsby --Short stories for
Saturday Evening Post (Bernice Bobs Her Hair)
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war
and materialism• F. Scott Fitzgerald• Ernest Hemingway– The Old Man and the Sea– A Farewell to Arms– The Sun Also Rises– For Whom the Bell Tolls
Won Nobel Prize for Literature 1954
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war
and materialism• F. Scott Fitzgerald• Ernest Hemingway• Sinclair Lewis --Babbitt
--Main Street--Elmer Gantry
Won Nobel Prize 1930
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war
and materialism• F. Scott Fitzgerald• Ernest Hemingway• Sinclair Lewis• T.S. Eliot– The Wasteland– Old Possum’s Book of
Practical CatsWon Nobel Prize for Literature--1949
Literary Culture
Lost Generation of Writers--disillusioned by the war and
materialism• F. Scott Fitzgerald• Ernest Hemingway• Sinclair Lewis• T.S. Eliot• Eugene O’Neill– Long Day’s Journey Into Night(written 1941, Pulitzer 1957) Won the Nobel Prize for Literature 1936
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Langston Hughes, poet
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.
Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen," Then.
Besides,They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed -
I, too, am America.
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Zora Neale Hurston, novelist
Their Eyes Were Watching God
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Jacob Lawrence, visual artistThe Migration of the Negro
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Apollo Theater, Harlem
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Billie Holiday
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Bessie SmithHighest paid black artist of the
1920s
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Duke Ellington
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Louis Armstrong
African-American Culture
Harlem Renaissance--200,000 African-American residents--many talented writers, artists and musicians
Other big names:
Countee CullenPaul Robeson
James Weldon JohnsonA. Philip Randolph
Walter White
African-American Culture
Marcus Garvey• United Negro
Improvement Association, 1914 (UNIA)
• Back to Africa movement
• Black Star Steamship line fraud, deportation
• Legacy
PROHIBITION
PROHIBITION Made it illegal to make,
distribute, sell, transport or consume liquor.
Volstead Act created the laws to enforce it
Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 when it was repealed
by the 21st Amendment
SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION
Reformers had long believed alcohol led to crime, child & wife abuse, and accidents
Supporters were largely from the rural south and west
Poster supporting prohibition
SPEAKEASIES AND BOOTLEGGERS Disagreement on sin of
drinking Immigrants opposed Speakeasies (illegal
bars) Bootleggers (illegal
importers)
All of these activities became closely affiliated with …
ORGANIZED CRIME Prohibition contributed to the
growth of organized crime in every major city
Al Capone – Chicago, Illinois famous bootlegger “Scarface” $60 million/year (bootleg alone)
Capone took control of the Chicago liquor business by killing off his competition Talent for avoiding jail 1931 sent to prison for tax-evasion.Al Capone was finally convicted
on tax evasion charges in 1931
Racketeering
• Illegal business scheme to make profit.– Gangsters bribed police or government officials.– Forced local businesses a fee for “protection”.• No fee - gunned down or businesses blown to bits
Bureau of Investigation later becomes FBI,
Begins fighting organized crime
J. Edgar Hoover, founder (1935)
Director until 1972
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
• Valentines Day – February 14, 1929
• Rival between Al Capone and Bugs Moran– Capone – South Side Italian
gang– Moran – North Side Irish gang
• Bloody murder of 7 of Moran’s men.– Capone’s men dressed as
cops
GOVERNMENT FAILS TO CONTROL LIQUOR
Prohibition failed: Why? Government did not
budget enough money to enforce the law
The task of enforcing Prohibition fell to 1,500 poorly paid federal agents --- clearly an impossible task!
Federal agents pour wine down a sewer
SUPPORT FADES, PROHIBITION REPEALED
• By the mid-1920s, only 19% of Americans supported Prohibition
• Many felt Prohibition caused more problems than it solved
• The 21st Amendment finally repealed Prohibition in 1933
Prejudice and Nativism• KKK—Reorganized in 1915
• Now opposed to blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants
• By 1922 four million members
• “Christian” standards of morality
• Grand Dragon convicted of murder in 1925
Prejudice and Nativism
Palmer Raids—Suspected Communists (1919), continued to arrest 6000
Prejudice and Nativism
Palmer Raids—Suspected Communists (1919), continued to arrest 6000
Case of Niccolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
--1921 Convicted of robberty & murder
--anarchists, poor Italians--trial called unfair--executed in 1927
Important Events of the 1920s
Scopes “Monkey” Trial
Background:• Fundamentalists’
opposition to Darwin• Laws against teaching
evolution in public schools
• Southern statesJohn Scopes, teacher
Important Events of the 1920sScopes “Monkey” Trial• John Scopes, teacher• ACLU behind him to test
constitutionality• 1925• Broadcast nationally• Bryan bested by
Darrow’s questioning• Scopes loses,
overturned on a technicality later
William Jennings Bryan for the Prosecution
Clarence Darrow for the Defense
“The Trial of the
Century”
Political Cartoon
June 1925 New Yorker Magazine
Important Events of the 1920s
Inventions/Discoveries
Liquid Fuel Rocket--1926
Antiobiotics—1928 (Fleming)
Television, aerosols, hearing aid, iron lung
International Relations
• 1921 Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes arranges disarmament talks –successful
• Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928 promoted peace (Addams—Nobel prize)Ineffective
• Dawes Plan, 1924—War debts repayment
Election of 1928
Republican: Herbert Hoover“A chicken in every pot, a
car in every garage”
Democrat: Alfred SmithCatholic, opposed to
Prohibition
Hoover wins in a landslide, largely due to prejudice against his Catholic opponent.
Leading up to the Crash
• Consumer credit• Stocks rising• Buying on “margin”• Foreign countries still
owe war debt• Farm prices fell• All debtors begin to
default