1. Twenties

2. “Return to Normalcy” Isolationism Resurgence of nativism - Fear of foreign-born people 3) Political conservatism - End of the Progressive Era

3. Threat to “normalcy” – communism Russian Revolution March 15, 1917  Czar Nicholas II abdicated throne October/November 1917  Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin seized power, established government based on communism March 1919  Third Communist International meeting was held in Moscow, Russia Advocate worldwide revolution

4. “Red Scare” in the United States “Red Scare” Fear that Communists would take over in the United States Palmer Raids Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer Appointed J. Edgar Hoover to lead the new antiradical division of the Justice Department (August 1919)  later became the FBI Suspected Communists, socialists, and anarchists hunted down Inconclusive Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti Anarchists from Italy, avoided draft in WWI Accused of robbing and killing a factory paymaster (April 1920) Found guilty and executed (August 1927) Many believed that their conviction/execution was a result of the times

5. Anti-immigrant Response Revival of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Had been somewhat inactive since 1870’s Used “Red Scare” and anti-immigrant feelings (resulting from end of WWI) to harass all those that were different Edward Clark Pyramid structure  members kept $4 out of the $10 membership fee for every new member they recruited 1924, 4.5 million members nationwide Opposed: African Americans, Jews, Catholics, immigrants, unions, saloons, & alcohol

7. Election of 1920 & A “Return to Normalcy” Warren G. Harding (R, OH) Senator from Ohio “looked like a president ought to look” Calvin Coolidge (R, MA) running mate Promised a “return to normalcy” Easily won 404 -127

8. Harding’s Administration Calm Pardoned Debs Disarmament Washington Conference & Kellogg-Briand Pact (1921) Nations of the world agreed to disarm and not to resort to war Isolationist The Emergency Quota Act (1921) Established maximum number of people who could enter the U. S. from each foreign country Cut European immigration Chart p. 438 Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) Highest tax on imports to that date Made it difficult for Britain and France to pay their war debt to the U.S. Britain and France looked to force Germany to pay them their war debt so they could repay the U. S. U. S. loaned money to Germany

9. Scandal in Harding’s Administration Cabinet selections Good Charles Evans Hughes (Secretary of State) Later become CJ of SC Herbert Hoover (Secretary of Commerce) Future president Andrew Mellon (Secretary of the Treasury) Reduced the national debt by 1/3 by 1923 Bad Ohio Gang Harding’s friends from back home Albert B. Fall (Secretary of the Interior)

10. Teapot Dome Scandal Oil-rich lands at Teapot Dome, Wyoming & Elk Hills, California Albert Fall had these lands transferred to the Interior Department Secretly leased the lands to two private oil companies (received $325,000 in bonds and cash) Harding’s goodwill tour Set out on a trip from D.C. to Alaska in the summer of 1923 Knew his administration had been labeled as corrupt & wanted to talk to normal people Returning from Alaska to San Francisco became ill and died on August 2, 1923 Body had to be transported back across the country Calvin Coolidge became president

12. Business in the 1920’s Automobile industry Car Wars Ford v. General Motors Henry Ford v. Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Time of prosperity Coolidge & Hoover led pro-business administrations Americans owned 40% of the world’s wealth Changes Paved roads New houses—garages Gas stations, repair shops, underwater tunnels (Holland Tunnel, 1927) Urban sprawl  spread of cities  people can live further away from jobs Akron, OH; Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, & Pontiac, MI

13. Car Wars Ford Motor Company Henry Ford Assembly line & standardization “The way to make automobiles is to make one automobile like another automobile, to make them all alike—just like one pin is like another pin when it comes from a pin factory…” “build a car for the great multitude” Model T 1908, $850 1925, $290 Increased output and improvement of production led to reduced prices Ford believed that every $ chopped off the price led to a thousand new buyers Early 1920’s, FMC produced over 50% of all the automobiles in the world Very basic, all the same style & color (black) 1919, Henry Ford bought all of the outstanding shares of FMC and took it private “first-mover advantages” Competition from GM will lead to the development of the Model A 1927, more luxurious than the Model T, available in different colors, covered roof 1933, new models every year

15. Car Wars General Motors Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Graduated from MIT 1918 United Motors & General Motors merger, Sloan made VP Sensed the desire for different models and “status symbols” Designed different lines at progressively higher prices to imply higher social status “a car for every purse and purpose” Chevrolet  competed w/Ford’s Model T Pontiac Oldsmobile Buick Cadillac Beginning in 1925, and continuing for 61 years, GM’s profit performance exceeded Ford’s

16. Prosperity? New advertising Installment plan Way of paying for goods over an extended period of time, without putting too much money down at the time of purchase Over-extend themselves Relevance to today?

17. Societal Changes in the 1920’s North -Urban -NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia -museums, plays, sporting events, nightclubs -immigrants -many different religions (Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, etc…) South & West -Rural -small towns -Fundamentalism -Protestant movement grounded in a literal interpretation of the Bible -Bible was inspired by God and therefore all of its stories were true down to every detail

18. Societies Clash in the 1920’s Prohibition Reformers had long considered alcohol a prime cause of corruption Fundamentalists (Anti-Saloon League) Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 18th Amendment (ratified 1919, enacted 1920) Prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export of alcoholic beverages Repealed by 21st Amendment (1933) Failed Government didn’t budget enough men or money to enforce Speakeasies hidden saloons and nightclubs Bootleggers liquor smugglers Organized crime  Al Capone Scopes Trial (“Monkey Trial”), July 1925 March 1925, TN passed nation’s first law that made it a crime to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution ACLU promised to defend any teacher who would challenge the law John T. Scopes, biology teacher in Dayton, TN taught evolution & was arrested Scopes was obviously guilty but the trial became more about the debate between the role of fundamentalism and science in society ACLU hired Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes William Jennings Bryan served as a special prosecutor National press cover the trial (Chicago’s WGN covered it live) Case turned when Darrow called Bryan as an expert witness on the Bible Darrow caught Bryan in ambiguity Scopes found guilty, fined $100

19. Changes for Women in the 1920’s 19th Amendment (ratified 1920) Equality vs. double standard Flapper Young woman of the ‘20’s that embraced the new fashions and attitudes of the day New work opportunities All types of jobs (traditional and non-traditional) By 1930, 10 million women were in the workforce Marriage changes

20. Schools & Media in the ‘20’s Schools Enrollments increased 1926, 4 million Americans attended high school Expanded education Broad range of students (immigrants) Vocational training Media Expanded news coverage Many media publications (newspapers & magazines) originated in the ‘20’s Time, Reader’s Digest, New York Daily News, etc… Radio Most powerful communications medium to emerge in the ‘20’s Made news available instantly

21. Heroes and Entertainment Charles Lindbergh First to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Sports heroes Babe Ruth Jack Dempsey Knute Rockne & Notre Dame Movies 1925, fourth largest industry in nation Hollywood & silent films Charlie Chaplin 1928, Disney’s Steamboat Willie Theater, Music, & Art Literature Sinclair Lewis  first American to win Nobel Prize in literature (Main Street, Babbitt) F. Scott Fitzgerald  coined term “Jazz Age” for the 1920’s, wrote The Great Gatsby Ernest Hemingway  WWI vet, A Farewell to Arms

22. Harlem Renaissance Literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American culture led by well-educated, middle class African Americans Harlem, NYC  world’s largest black urban community in the ‘20’s The Great Migration Race riots in the North NAACP W. E. B. Du Bois James Weldon Johnson  antilynching legislation Explored and celebrated their African heritage Langston Hughes Movement’s best-known poet Everyday lives of working-class African Americans Incorporation of jazz and the blues

23. Roaring Twenties Economic prosperity New ideas Changing values Personal freedom Art, literature, and music