1920’s Lecture Notes

Revolution Abroad and Reaction at Home

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American Communist Party

formed in 1919 – communist ideas frightened much of the public • Palmer Raids (1919) resulted in the deportation and arrest of thousands – no evidence of revolutionary conspiracies uncovered

The “Red Scare”

• Communism: 1. The government owns all land & property 2. Single party controls the government 3. Country takes priority over the individual

Why would the United States see this as a threat?

The “Red Scare”

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April 15, 1920 gunmen robbed and killed the guard and paymaster of a shoe factory in Massachusetts

• Sacco and Vanzetti trial (1920) exposed fears and suspicions of immigrants – Both were found guilty and executed, despite lack of solid evidence and worldwide protests

Labor Unrest

• • Red Scare fears led to growing hostility toward labor unions – Boston police strike (1919) ended when Governor Calvin Coolidge called in National Guard, officers were replaced – U.S. Steel Corporation strike (1919) was met with violence against striking workers – John L. Lewis emerged as a leading labor figure during United Mine Workers strike (1919) Union membership dropped during the 1920s

Labor vs. Capital Cartoons

• A series of labor strikes from 1919-1920 pitted workers demanding higher wages after the war vs. industrialists who viewed labor unions as the product of foreign-inspired anarchists and Communist agitators. • Majority of Americans sided with “capital” • Businesses

1920’s Popular Culture

• The 1920’s saw the birth and development of many aspects of American culture: – Consumerism – Transportation – Mass Media – Women’s Rights – “Sports Mania” – The Jazz Age – Literature and Art

Prohibition & Crime

• • The 18th Amendment established prohibition – terms were defined by the Volstead Act Americans had little regard for the new law – “speakeasies” and bootleggers supplied the public with alcohol – rise of organized crime (Al Capone)

Fundamentalism and the Scopes Trial

• • Clash between tradition and scientific progress – “fundamentalists” insisted on a literal interpretation of the Bible Many states had banned the teaching of evolution – John T. Scopes was placed on trial, found guilty – Clarence Darrow vs. William Jennings Bryan

Ku Klux Klan

• Resurgence in 1915 – Colonel William J. Simmons – Methodist Preacher from Alabama – Use of fundraising and publicity

methods

• Numbers – Grew to 4 million followers in

1926

–

Not just a Southern organization

– Attacks against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, immigrants, etc.

Harlem in the Twenties

• • • African Americans experienced an increased racial consciousness NAACP protested racial violence – James Weldon Johnson led an anti-lynching campaign More radical messages emerged – Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement

The Harlem Renaissance

• • Literary movement reflected pride in

African-American culture

– Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston Phonograph ushered in the “Jazz Age” – Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith