Transcript The Twenties 1919

Chapter 7
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Recession that followed WWI ended as factories produced more, wages
rose and stock prices increased – much of this due to automobile
industry
Henry Ford did not invent automobile or mass production – he
combined the two
Before 1920, cars were a symbol of wealth and a source of class division
In 1908, Ford introduces the Model T – reliable car that many Americans
could afford
Model T
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Ford built a factory along Detroit River
 Easy access to steel, glass, oil and rubber made in PA
Ford hired scientific management to improve methods
 Find ways to reduce time, effort and expense
He placed cars on moving assembly lines
 Reduced time to make cars from 12 hours to 90 minutes!
 Allowed Ford to reduce price to consumers
 Car was slow, dull and only in black, but by 1927 over half
the population owned one!
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Ford treated workers well
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Reduced workday from 9 to 8 hours
Increased wages
Gave workers the weekend off
Why?
1920s
Gas
Station
Auto industry stimulated growth in other industries
 Steel, glass, rubber , asphalt, wood, gasoline, insurance, and road-
construction companies benefited
 Hotels, motels, restaurants, shops, gas stations built along new highways
constructed for cars
 Created more jobs for Americans (0ften better paying)
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Auto caused other economic effects
 Railroads and trolleys declined in use
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Autos altered residential patterns
 People could live farther from work
 Development of suburban communities
1920s
Motel
1920s a consumer revolution
 Aided by spread of electricity
 People bought washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and irons
 Advertising became more important as supply exceeded demand
 Magazines and newspaper ads focus on desires and fears of Americans
 Installment plans and credit helped people afford new items immediately
 Stock prices continued to rise steadily in an extended bull market
 People began buying on margin
 Market was on shaking ground, but most ignored the danger
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People flocked to cities
 Immigrants, farmers, southern African Americans all moved to
cities
 Cities grew upwards – skyscrapers, elevators, mass transit
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Suburbs grow
 Cities expand outwards due to automobile
 middle and upper classes moved out of cities, draining
resources from inner cities which began to decline
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Americans face hardships
 Many Americans reaped rewards of economic boom – mostly
owners and managers of businesses
 America’s wealth was poorly distributed
 Farm incomes declined during 1920s suffering from growing
debt and declining crop prices
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Warren G. Harding won election in 1920 with the slogan – “A return to normalcy”
New policies in favor of big business
 Andrew Mellon, Sec. of Treasury, wealthy banker – believed in more laissez-faire attitude toward
business
 Sec. of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, worked with business and labor to cooperate to attain goals
 Republican Plan
▪ High tariffs
▪ Low taxes
▪ Limited government spending
The Ohio Gang
 Harding was friendly, not overly intelligent
 Harding placed trust in his officials – friends who helped him get elected
 Men were greedy who wanted to get rich at expense of tax-payers
 Charles Forbes stole money from Veteran’s Bureau
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Worst of all Ohio Gang’s scandals
Involved Sec. of Interior Albert Fall
Fall transferred oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming to Dept. of Interior –
intended for use by navy
Fall leased lands to private oil companies in exchange for bribes
Scandal broke in 1924 and Fall was sentenced to one year prison
Harding never saw it
 Harding was stressed over his friend’s actions
 Took an Alaskan cruise in July of 1923
 On return, suffered heart attack and died Aug. 2
Albert Fall
Harding’s funeral
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Calvin Coolidge succeeded Harding as president
Coolidge was very different from Harding
 Harding was friendly and outgoing
 Coolidge was quiet, honest and frugal
 Nicknamed “Silent Cal”
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Coolidge supported business
 “The chief business of America is business”
 “The man who builds a factory, builds a temple and he who works there,
worships there”
 Continued the economic policies of Andrew Mellon
 Coolidge oversaw a six year boom in the economy
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Troubles under Coolidge
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Farmers struggled to keep their lands as crop prices continued to fall
Labor unions continued to demand higher wages and safer conditions
African Americans faced severe discrimination , especially in South
Mexican Americans received very low wages and were encouraged to return
to Mexico
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Washington Naval Conference
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From 1921-1922, diplomats of nine major naval powers met in Washington D.C.
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Leaders agreed to limit number of naval warships built to keep another arms race from happening
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It did not end tensions, but it was a hopeful step that peaceful solutions could be achieved
Kellogg-Briand Pact
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1928 – Sec. of State Frank B. Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand drew up a treaty to “outlaw” war
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62 nations ratified the pact
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2 problems
▪ Difficult to enforce
▪ Did not forbid war in case of attack
Dawes Plan
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Helped Britain, France and Germany repay their war debt
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U.S. loaned money to Germany to repay reparations and that would be used to repay the loans France and Britain
owed the U.S.
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British and French were upset that the U.S. demanded all moneys paid back in full
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Traditionalism vs. Modernism
Two groups were divided on almost every social issue of the 20’s
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One group were urban Americans
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The other group were rural Americans
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Did not participate fully in consumerism; less leisure time
Embraced the more traditional values of religion, science and culture
Education
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Enjoyed new consumer products and leisure time
More open to social changes and discoveries of science
Modernism – emphasis of secular values over traditional religious ideas
Urban Americans – formal education important (high school and college)
Rural Americans – basics (Three “R’s”); muscle, endurance and knowledge of crops and
animals more important than “book learning”
Fundamentalism
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Many devout Christians in America believed religion under attack
Fundamentalism – belief that every word in the Bible is literal truth
Answers to important moral and scientific questions were in the holy book
Strongest among rural Americans
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Symbolized clash between modernism and fundamentalism
Background
 John Scopes volunteered to teach evolution in TN contrary to state law
 Scopes was arrested and jailed
Trial
 Clarence Darrow – one of the most celebrated defense attorneys of his time – defended
Scopes
 William Jennings Bryan – three time presidential candidate – took role of prosecutor
 Highlight – Darrow called Bryan to stand and Darrow used scientific evidence to refute
Bryan’s fundamentalist positions
Result
 Scopes found guilty, but fined $100
 Major media attention given to case, but central issue was still not solved
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Nativists oppose immigration – Why?
Quota system limits newcomers
 Emergency Quota Act of 1921
 National Origins Act of 1924
▪ Allowed only 2% of number of a given nationality living in U.S. in
1890 (Why this year?)
▪ System did not apply to Mexico – made contributions to southwest
U.S. economy
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Many rural Americans turned to hate and violent groups to stem change to a more urban
society
Klan rises again
 1915 – Stone Mountain, GA
 Not just targeted blacks – also targeted Jews, Catholics and immigrants
 Mostly in South, but branches across U.S.
 At its height – 4 – 5 million members
Americans oppose Klan
 Individuals and groups such as NAACP and ADL battled against Klan and its views
 Believed in strength of U.S. was its “melting pot”
 Corruption among Klan leaders and imprisonment of its leader Stephenson reduced Klan’s
influence in U.S. politics
Klan leader
David C. Stephenson
Ku Klux Klan rally,
Gainesville, Florida,
December 31, 1922.
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How did WWI increase support for temperance?
Government bans alcoholic beverages
 18th Amendment – forbade the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcohol
 Exceptions?
 Volstead Act – authorized Treasury Dept. to enforce prohibition
 Why did “dry’s” favor the law? Why did “wets” oppose it?
Americans break the law
 People made homemade liquor
 Bootleggers transported alcohol from rural to urban areas
 Organized crime oversaw distribution and made millions in illegal gains (Al Capone most famous)
Prohibition divides the nation
 By mid-1920s, clear prohibition was not working
 City officials argued for its repeal
 Rural forces linked alcohol and crime and argued for continued enforcement
People enjoying illegal
alcohol at a Speakeasy
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Americans in cities had more leisure time and more money than ever
before
Americans flock to movies
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Hollywood studios establish monopoly on movie industry
60-100 million people went to the movies every week
Most of the decade, movies were silent
The Jazz Singer in 1927 was first talking picture
Famous stars of the age
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Charlie Chaplin
Mary Pickford
Rudolph Valentino
William S. Hart
Lon Chaney
William S.
Hart
Radio and phonograph break barriers
 First radio station – KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA
 Radio broadcast music, news, sports , sermons, educational programs and (of course) commercials
 Phonograph allowed people to play recorded music in their homes
 Helped regional music such as country-western and pop tunes spread across the country
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Sports heroes
 Baseball and boxing were two favorite American sports of the 1920s
▪ Baseball hero – George Herman “Babe” Ruth
▪ Boxing hero – Jack Dempsey
 Sportswriters help to glorify exploits of athletes
▪ Damon Runyan and Grantland Rice capture sports in colorful prose
“Lucky Lindy”
 Charles Lindbergh greatest hero of decade
 Completed first solo, trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris
 First non-stop flight in his Spirit of St. Louis
Decade needed heroes after WWI shattered American perceptions of progress – heroes gave Americans
sense of hope in future
Damon Runyon
Grantland Rice
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Flappers challenge older generation
 Model of the “New Woman” of the 1920s
 Shorter hem lines, bobbed hair, long strands of pearls and rouged cheeks
 Danced in Speakeasies drinking illegal alcohol and smoking cigarettes
 Flappers broke from rigid Victorian morals
Women increase role in politics
 Women won the right to vote in 1919
 Took little time to enter into politics
 Nellie Tayloe Ross became first female governor (WY)
 Fought for laws to protect children in the workplace
Family life changes
 Women began to marry later and have fewer children to give themselves more time to devote to
outside pursuits
 Some used time to begin charitable works or increase knowledge through book clubs
 Mostly, changes limited to urban areas; rural women seldom had access to the consumer goods like
vacuum cleaners or electricity or running water
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As a result of WWI, art reflected a sense of uncertainty
War created a pessimistic view of human nature
Freud’s assumption that behavior is controlled not by the rational but by
the subconscious also lead to a change in art
Modernism clashed with traditional art
 Moved away from representational images
 Tried to capture the emotions beneath surface
Work by Man Ray
Edward Hopper’s Chop Suey
Work by Georgia
O’Keeffe
“Lost Generation” – term for the writers of the Jazz Age; refers to authors who
lost faith in the old ways and began to search for new truths
 F. Scott Fitzgerald
 Explored the American dream of wealth, success and emotional fulfillment
 The Great Gatsby – shows that wealth does not mean happiness
 Ernest Hemingway
 Developed a clear, concise writing style
 Many of his characters were emotionally or physically challenged
 The Sun Also Rises – American in Europe drifting, trying to find meaning in his
life
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During Great Migration, many blacks escaped prejudice and violence in South by moving to urban
centers of North
 Wages better in Northern factories, had more of a voice in politics, black middle class was forming
 Still faced discrimination and racial prejudice
 Lived in poorest neighborhoods, paid less than whites
 In New York, Harlem neighborhood became focal point of many African Americans
Marcus Garvey
 New voice in 1920s
 Born in Jamaica
 Believed that blacks were exploited everywhere and began a “Back to Africa” movement
 His philosophy of black pride and support of black-owned business won him a significant following
 Garvey’s dream ended in corruption and fraud
 Garvey was deported back to Jamaica
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Jazz is a completely American form of music
Jazz combines unique rhythms and small combinations of instruments
Jazz is best known for its use of improvisation
Jazz began in the South and Midwest and centered first around the city
of New Orleans
Famous early jazz musicians
 Louis Armstrong – trumpet
 Bessie Smith – singer “Empress of the Blues”
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Jazz was the music of the Roaring 20’s
 Performed in the speakeasies of New York, Chicago and St. Louis
 Cotton Club – famous Harlem jazz night club
Jazz was a demonstration of the depth of American diversity
 It was the product of African American rhythms and European styles
Jazz bridged the racial divide of the country
 White musicians such as Bix Beiderbecke, Cole Porter and George
Gershwin incorporated it into their own styles
Trumpeter
Bix
Beiderbecke
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Refers to the novelists, poets and artists who helped capture the African
American experience
Many artists came to Harlem area of New York City – explored the pains and joys
of being black in America
Harlem Renaissance had lasting effect
 Showed how white America viewed African Americans
 Showed how African Americans viewed themselves
Artists included
 Claude McKay – explored racism and discrimination in black experiences
 Langston Hughes – celebrated African American culture and life
 Zora Neale Hurston – best known for novel Their Eyes Were Watching God
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What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
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Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
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Or does it explode?