The Roaring Twenties

Presidents of the 1920s:A Return to Conservative Politics

• Warren G. Harding– Republican– Elected in 1920 “Return to

Normalcy”– March 1921 to August 1923

(died in office)– Domestic Issues

• Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)—very high

• Suspect Cabinet—”Ohio Gang”

• Teapot Dome Scandal—Albert B. Fall

– Foreign Policy• Isolationism & Disarmament• Washington Naval Conference

(1921)• Dawes Plan

• Warren G. Harding– Republican– Elected in 1920 “Return to

Normalcy”– March 1921 to August 1923 (died

in office)– Domestic Agenda

• Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)—very high, 38.5%

• 14% increase• Suspect Cabinet—”Ohio Gang”• Teapot Dome Scandal—Albert

B. Fall– Foreign Policy

• Isolationism & Peace Keeping• Washington Naval Conference

(1921)• Five Power Treaty (5:5:3)• Nine Power Treaty

• Dawes Plan 2

Presidents of the 1920s:A Return to Conservative Politics

• Calvin Coolidge– Republican– Took office upon death of

Harding (1923).– Re-elected 1924– August,1923 to March,1929– Domestic Issues

• Cleaned up scandals of the Harding Administration.

• Restored the image of the Republican Party.

• “The business of America is business.”

– Foreign Policy• Isolationism• Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) 3

Consumerism of the 1920s:“Spending Money Is the American Way”

• Mass Production– Assembly line– Scientific management (Taylor)

• Electrical Conveniences– Electricity available in more

places (mostly cities)– Refrigerators, Irons, Stoves,

Toasters, Vacuums, Furnaces, Lighting

• Shopping– Emergence of Advertising

• Reinforce buying things that we don’t need

• Create a need, brands – Emergence of Credit

• The installment plan• Down payment, Monthly

payments, Interest• Buy now! Pay later! 4

• Commercials were in silent movies– Example: Refrigerator

5

Changes in Transportation:The Automobile

• Henry Ford (assembly line)• Huge impact on society

– Construction of paved roads– Patterns of settlement—suburbs– Petroleum industry– Rubber industry– Glass industry– Steel industry– Repair shops– Parking lots– Hotels & Motels– Restaurants– Amusement parks– Dating

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1920s Cultural Clashes:

• Nativists vs. Immigrants

• Race: KKK rises again• Religion vs. Science• Prohibition: “Drys” vs.

“Wets”• Women’s roles: “New

Woman” vs. Victorian

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Postwar Fears

• Fear of Communism– Red Scare—Palmer

Raids– Fear of labor agitators

• Boston Police Strike (1919)

• Steel Strike (1919)• American Federation of

Labor—John L. Lewis (UMWA)

• Fear of Anarchy– Sacco & Vanzetti 8

Immigration

• Literacy Test • Quota System to limit

immigration– 1921 Emergency Quota

Act• 3% of those here in1910

– 1924 National Origins Act • 2% of the people here in

1890

– ‘closing’ the Golden Door – Eugenics: science used to

prove racial/ethnic inferiority

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Ku Klux Klan

• KKK rises again in 1915

• Targets Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and Immigrants

• “invisible Empire”• Led by an Imperial

Wizard or Grand Dragon

• 5-6 million participants 10

Cultural Changes:Fundamentalism vs. Modernism

• Age-old argument– Religion (fundamentalists) vs.

science– Often rural vs. urban

• Scopes Trial– John Scopes—biology teacher in

Tennessee– Clarence Darrow—defense

attorney– William Jennings Bryan—

prosecuting attorney– Outcome?

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Cultural Changes:Prohibition

• 18th Amendment: cannot “manufacture, sell, or transport” alcoholic beverages.

• Volstead Act: outlined procedures to enforce the amendment—underfunded!

• Urban vs. Rural– passed by rural strength

• Drys vs. wets---Scofflaws• Proof that the “Noble

Experiment” failed!12

Prohibition breeds crime

• Crime on the Rise – Organized Crime:

• Al Capone• St. Valentine’s Day

Massacre• Jailed on tax

evasion – Bootleggers and

Speakeasies – NASCAR– Repealed in 1933 (21st

Amendment)• Utah cast the deciding

vote 13

New Woman vs. Victorian• Easier for Urban women with new

inventions • More women going to college. Many

wanted to change the cultural norms• Women moving into the work place.

– Typewriters – Telephones

• Married later with fewer children.• The Flapper: (not all were flappers)

– Dress: short dresses– Behavior: “new morality”

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Rise of Popular Culture:Literature

• The “lost Generation” who no longer had faith in cultural norms. They looked for new truths.

• F. Scott Fitzgerald– “The Jazz Age”– The Great Gatsby

• Ernest Hemingway– The Sun Also Rises– A Farewell to Arms

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Rise of Popular Culture:Magazines & Newspapers

–Reader’s

Digest

–Time

–Life

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Rise of Popular Culture:Sports

• Participation sports– Baseball– Football– Golf– Tennis – Swimming – Biking

• Spectator sports– Boxing– Football– Baseball

• Heroes– Gertrude Ederle (English

Channel)– Jack Dempsey (Heavyweight)– George Herman “Babe” Ruth– Red Grange "If you have the

football and 11 guys are after you, if you're smart, you'll run."

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Changes in Transportation:The Airplane

• The Wright Brothers (1903)– Kitty Hawk, North

Carolina• 1920 Transcontinental

Airmail Service• Charles Lindbergh (May 20-

21, 1927)– New York to Paris

(nonstop)– Solo– 33 hours, 29 minutes– Perhaps the greatest

American hero of the 1920s!

• Amelia Earhart18

Rise of Popular Culture:Mass Media

• The “Golden Age” of Radio– First commercial radio station—

KDKA in Pittsburgh– Radio programs—comedy,

drama, science fiction, children’s programs

– Music, sports, News– It creates a national culture

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Rise of Popular Culture:Motion Pictures

• Charlie Chaplain—”the little tramp”

• Rudolph Valentino—”heart throb”

• The Jazz Singer (1927)—first with sound

• Steamboat Willie (1928)– Introduced Mickey

Mouse to the world– First cartoon with

sound

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Rise of African American Culture:The Harlem Renaissance

• Birth of art and literature in the Black community• By-product of the Great Migration• Writers: explored the pain and joy of being Black

– Claude McKay– Langston Hughes– Zora Neale Hurston

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“The Lynching”by Claude McKay

His spirit is smoke ascended to high heaven. His father, by the cruelest way of pain,

Had bidden him to his bosom once again; The awful sin remained still unforgiven.

All night a bright and solitary star (Perchance the one that ever guided him,

Yet gave him up at last to Fate's wild whim) Hugh pitifully o'er the swinging char.

Day dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to view The ghastly body swaying in the sun:

The women thronged to look, but never a one Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue; And little lads, lynchers that were to be,

Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee.

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“A Negro Speaks of Rivers”By Langston Hughes

I've known rivers:I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human

blood in human veins.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New

Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.I've known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

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“A Dream Deferred”Langston Hughes

 Harlem

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore–then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over-- like syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.  Or does it explode?

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Rise of African American Culture:Marcus Garvey & the UNIA

• Argued in opposition to NAACP

• “Keep Black dollars in Black businesses & the Black community.”– Black nationalism– Will lead to the Civil Rights

movement

• “Back to Africa” Movement– Raised money– Purchased ships (Black Star

Line)– Many sunk– Jailed for mail fraud. Deported

from the country. 25

Rise of African American Culture:Jazz Music

• Perhaps the greatest cultural symbol of the 1920s.

• “Blended instrumental ragtime” with “vocal blues.” Improvised!

• Performers:– Louis Armstrong

(trumpet) oh yeah– Edward Kennedy

“Duke” Ellington (piano)– Bessie Smith (vocals)

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