Transcript POLITICS OF THE ROARING 20’S

Postwar Uncertainty
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New Revolutions in
Science
Albert Einstein –
German Born –
Theory of Relativity;
Sigmund Freud –
psychology; believed
human behavior is
irrational – beyond
reason -- this was the
“unconsciousness;”
Literature in the 1920s
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Devastation of World War I
caused writers to question
accepted ideas of reason and
doubt of traditional religious
values
T.S. Eliot, 1922, American poet
living in England – Western society
lost its spiritual values; Postwar
world a “barren wasteland”
drained of faith and hope;
William Butler Yeats, Irish poet,
wrote about a sense of dark times
- “The Second Coming” (1921);
Existentialism
Jean Paul Sartre
 Belief that there is no universal meaning
to life. Perople create their own mean in
life through their choices and actions;
 Friedrich Nietzsche, German Philosopher,
was influenced by Existentialism;
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◦ Western ideas like reason, democracy, and
progress stifled creativity. He urged return to
ancient heroic values – pride, assertiveness,
and strength;
Literature in the 1920s
Czech-born author, Franz Kafka, The Trial,
(1925), The Castle, (1926) – people caught
in threatening situations they cannot
understand nor escape;
 James Joyce, Irish author, stream of
consciousness novel, Ulysses (1922);
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Revolution in the Arts
Artists Rebel against Tradition;
 Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky – used
bold colors and distorted or exaggerated
forms;
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Surrealism
Surreal – means “beyond or above reality”
Used unconscious part of their minds –
had an eerie, dreamlike quality to depict
objects in unrealistic ways;
 Movement that tried to link the world of
dreams with real life – inspired by Freud’s
ideas.
 Salvador Dali, Spanish painter, “The
Persistence of Memory,” (1931);
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Cubism
Transformed natural shapes into
geometric forms;
 Objects broken down into differnet parts
with sharp angles and edges;
 Creator of Cubism; Pablo Picasso, Spanish
Painter, Guernica; and
 Georges Braque, French painter, The Violin
and the Candlestick;
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Cubism – Guernica and Violin of
Candlesticks
Music
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Classical
◦ Movement away from traditional styles;
◦ Russian Composer - Igor Stravinsky, “The Rite
of Spring,”—irregular rhythms and
dissonances; harsh combinations of sound;
◦ Austrian composer, Arnold Schoenberg –
rejected traditional harmonies and musical
scales;
Jazz
Emerged from the United States, from
most African American artists in New
Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago.
 Lively, loose beat captured the new
freedom of the age;
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Society Challenges Convention
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Change in Women’s Roles
◦ Women worked in men’s jobs and in war
effort, and wanted the right to vote;
◦ Many countries granted women’s suffrage into
law such as the US, Britain, Germany, Sweden,
and Austria.
◦ Women abandoned restrictive clothing and
hairstyles; shorter looser garments and short
“bobbed” hair;
Women’s Roles Change
◦ Women wore make up, drove cars, drank and
smoked in public;
◦ Most women followed traditional paths of
marriage and family;
◦ Margaret Sanger and Emma Goldman risked
arrest, speaking out in support of birth
control;
◦ Women began to seek careers in medicine,
education, journalism, and clerical fields;
Technological Advances Improve Life
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Automobiles – after war were more affordable; people
traveled for pleasure;
People moved to suburbs and commuted to work in cities;
Airplanes transform travel; International air travel;
Charles Lindbergh – 33-hour solo flight from New York to
Paris – Spirit of St. Louis;
Passenger airlines established during 1920s.
Amelia Earhart, American – in 1932 was first woman to fly
solo across the Atlantic;
Radio and Movies Dominate
Popular Entertainment
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Guglielmo Marconi – first successful experiments with radio
in 1895;
Radio developed mostly through World War I;
By 1920 the first commercial radio station --- KDKA in
Pittsburgh was broadcasting;
Radio swept the nation and soon every major city had
stations broadcasting news, plays and live sporting events;
Soon most families would own a radio;
The Politics
of the 1920’s
American Postwar Issues
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The American public
was exhausted from
World War I. Public
debate over the League
of Nations had divided
America. An economic
downturn meant many
faced unemployment. A
wave of nativism swept
the nation.
Isolationism
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Many Americans adopted a belief in
isolationism. This meant pulling away
from involvement in world affairs.
Fear of Communism
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One perceived threat to
American life was the spread
of Communism—an
economic and political
system based on a single
government party, equal
distribution of resources, the
prohibition of private
property, and rule by a
dictatorship.
Communism in the
Soviet Union
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In 1917, a revolution in
Russia transformed the
nation into a Communist
state, the Soviet Union.
Vladimir Lenin led the
Bolsheviks and overthrew
the Czarist regime. He was
inspired by Marxism, a
radical form of socialism that
advocates violence. A
Communist party was
formed in America too.
Lenin
Sacco & Vanzetti
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Fear of Communism took the
form of a Red Scare (anticommunist hysteria) and fed
nativism in America. Italian
anarchists Sacco & Vanzetti, a
shoemaker and a fish peddler,
were convicted of robbery and
murder, despite flimsy
evidence. Their execution was
symbolic of discrimination
against radical beliefs during
the Red Scare.
The Klan Rises Again
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As the Red Scare and antiimmigrant attitudes reached
a peak, the KKK was more
popular than ever. By 1924,
the Klan had 4.5 million
members.
Congress Limits Immigration
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America changed its formally
permissive immigration policy.
In response to nativist
pressure, Congress decided
to limit immigration from
southern and eastern
Europe. The Emergency
Quota Act of 1921
established a quota system
to control and restrict
immigration.
A Time of Labor Unrest
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Strikes were
outlawed during
WWI, however, in
1919 there were
more than 3,000
strikes involving 4
million workers.
Boston
Police Strike
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Boston police had not
received a raise in
years and were
denied the right to
unionize. In response
to the strike, the city
called the National
Guard and hired new
policemen.
Steel Mill Strike
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In September, 1919, the United States Steel
Corporation refused to meet with union
representatives. In response, over 300,000 workers
went on strike. Scabs were hired and strikers were
beaten by police and federal troops. The strike was
settled in 1920 with an 8-hour day but no union.
Coal Miners’ Strike
Lewis
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In 1919, United Mine Workers led by John L. Lewis called
a strike. Lewis met with an arbitrator appointed by
President Wilson. Lewis won a 27% pay raise and was
hailed a hero.
1920s: Tough Times for Unions
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Ford Foundry workers in 1926;
only 1% of black workers were
in Unions at the time.
The 1920s hurt the labor
movement. Union
membership dropped
from 5 million to 3.5
million. Why? African
Americans were
excluded from
membership and
immigrants were willing
to work in poor
conditions.
Warren G. Harding
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Warren G. Harding’s modest
successes include the KelloggBriand Pact which renounced
war as a means of national
policy (signed by fifteen nations,
but difficult to enforce), and the
Dawes Plan which solved the
problem of post-war debt by
providing loans to Germany to
pay France/Britain who then
paid the U.S.
Harding 1920-1924
Scandal
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The president’s main
problem was that he
didn’t understand the
issues. Several of
Harding’s appointee’s
were caught illegally
selling government
supplies to private
companies.
Teapot Dome
Scandal
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The worst case of corruption
was the Teapot Dome Scandal.
The government set aside oilrich public land in Teapot,
Wyoming. Secretary of Interior
Albert Fall secretly leased the
land to two oil companies. Fall
received $400,000 from the oil
companies and a felony
conviction from the courts
The Business of America
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President Calvin Coolidge
1924-1928
The new president, Calvin
Coolidge, fit the pro-business
spirit of the 1920s very well.
His famous quote: “The chief
business of the American
people is business . . .the man
who builds a factory builds a
temple – the
man who works there
worships there”
American Business Flourishes
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Both Coolidge and his
Republican successor
Herbert Hoover, favored
governmental policies that
kept taxes down and
business profits up. Tariffs
were high, which helped
American manufacturers.
Government interference in
business was minimal. Wages
were increasing.
The Impact of the Auto
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The Ford Model T was the first car
in America. It came only in black
and sold for $290. Over 15 million
were sold by 1927.
The auto was the
backbone of the
American economy from
1920 through the
1970s. It also profoundly
altered the American
landscape and society.
How Auto Changed America
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Paved roads, traffic lights, motels, billboards
Home design (garages, driveways)
Gas stations, repair shops, shopping centers
Freedom for rural families
Independence for women and young people
Cities like Detroit, Flint, Akron grew
By 1920 80% of world’s vehicles in U.S.
Airline Transport Becomes
Common
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When commercial flights
began, all flight attendants
were female and white.
The airline industry
began as a mail carrying
service and quickly “took
off.” By 1927, Pan
American Airways was
making the transatlantic
passenger flights.
American Standard Of Living
Soars
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The years 1920-1929
were prosperous ones
for the U.S. Americans
owned 40% of the
world’s wealth. The
average annual income
rose 35% during the
1920s ($522 to $705).
Discretionary income
increased
Electrical Conveniences
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While gasoline powered
much of the economic
boom of the 1920s, the
use of electricity also
transformed the nation.
Electric refrigerators,
stoves, irons, toasters,
vacuums, washing
machines, and sewing
machines were all
available.
Modern Advertising Emerges
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Ad agencies no longer sought
to merely “inform” the public
about their products. They
hired psychologists to study
how best to appeal to
Americans’ desire for
youthful, beauty, health and
wealth. The “Say it with
Flowers” slogan actually
doubled sales between 19121924.
A Superficial Prosperity
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Many during the 1920s
believed the prosperity
would go on forever.
Wages, production,
GNP, and the stock
market all rose
significantly
Problems on the Horizon?
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Businesses expanded
recklessly. Iron &
railroad industries
faded. Farms
nationwide suffered
losses due to
overproduction. Too
much was bought on
credit including stocks.