The American Nation

The American Nation Chapter 25: The Roaring Twenties, 1919–1929 Section 1: Politics and Prosperity Section 2: New Ways of Life Section 3: The Roaring Twenties Section 4: A Nation Divided Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

Politics and Prosperity Chapter 25, Section 1 • What scandals hurt Republicans in the 1920s? • How did Coolidge’s policies increase prosperity? • What role did the United States play in world affairs?

Republicans in Office Chapter 25, Section 1 • When Republican Warren Harding took office in 1921, he had to fight a sharp recession, or economic slump. After the war, more than 2 million soldiers came home and began to look for jobs. At the same time, factories stopped making war materials, so they needed fewer workers. • For top Cabinet posts, Harding chose able men who followed pro-business policies. • For other Cabinet posts, however, Harding brought in old friends. Harding was honest and hard-working, but his friends saw government service as a way to enrich themselves. • A series of scandals followed. For example, one of Harding’s appointees, Charles Forbes, head of the Veterans Bureau, was convicted of stealing millions of dollars from the bureau. • After Harding died of a heart attack in 1923, more scandals came to light. The most serious was the Teapot Dome Scandal. Two oil executives had bribed Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall in order to get secret leases of government land in California and at Teapot Dome in Wyoming. • When Calvin Coolidge became President, he set out to repair the damage the scandals caused the Republican party.

Coolidge’s Policies and Prosperity Chapter 25, Section 1 • Like Harding, Coolidge believed that prosperity for all Americans depended on business prosperity. He cut regulations on business and named business leaders to government agencies. His policies contributed to a time of economic growth. • Coolidge prosperity • As factories switched to consumer goods, the postwar recession ended. • Production increased, incomes rose, and consumers bought the new consumer products that were being made, such as refrigerators, radios, and phonographs. • Advertising increased. • To attract even more buyers, businesses begin to allow installment buying, or buying on credit. Buyers made a small down payment, then paid an installment each month until they had paid the full price plus interest. This new policy increased the demand for goods. At the same time, consumer debt rose.

Coolidge’s Policies and Prosperity Chapter 25, Section 1 Soaring stock market • The economic boom gave the stock market a boost. Corporations sold stocks, or shares of ownership, to investors. Investors made or lost money depending upon whether the price of the shares went up or down. • Many people began investing in stock. Stock prices rose so fast that some people made fortunes overnight. That encouraged more people to buy stock. Such a period of increased stock trading and rising stock prices is known as a bull market. • Many people bought stocks on margin. With this method, an investor bought a stock for as little as a 10 percent down payment. The buyer held the stock until the price rose, and then sold it at a profit. Margin buying worked as long as stock prices rose. • By 1928 and 1929, a few experts were warning that the bull market could not last forever.

Latin America • Trade and investment in Latin America increased during and after World War I. • At times, the United States intervened in Latin America to protect its economic interests. For example, in 1926, when a revolution broke out in Nicaragua where Americans owned plantations and railroads, Coolidge sent marines. • In 1927, when Mexico announced plans to take over foreign-owned oil and mining companies, instead of sending in troops, Coolidge sent a diplomat to work out a compromise The United States and World Affairs in the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 1 After World War I, the United States was the world’s leading economic power. Presidents Harding and Coolidge wanted peace in Europe, but they did not want the United States to do the job of keeping world peace. The United States refused to join the League of Nations and returned to its prewar isolationism.

Soviet Union • In the Soviet Union, V.I. Lenin created the world’s first communist state. Communism is an economic system in which the community as a whole owns all wealth and property. • Even though Americans disliked communism, Congress voted $20 million in aid when famine threatened Russia in 1921. Peace efforts • An arms race in Europe had helped cause World War I. Therefore many people in the 1920s favored the reduction of armed forces and weapons of war, or disarmament. • At the Washington Conference of 1921, the United States, Britain, and Japan agreed to limit the size of their navies. • In 1928, the United States and 61 other nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact. This treaty outlawed war. However, the treaty did not set up any means for keeping the peace. The United States and World Affairs in the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 1

Section 1 Assessment Chapter 25, Section 1 A period like the boom times of the 1920s, when a lot of stock is traded and stock prices rise rapidly, is known as a(n) a) bold market. b) bear market. c) installment market. d) bull market. After World War I, in foreign affairs, Americans preferred to a) intervene in Europe whenever necessary. b) stay out of European affairs and return to isolationism. c) keep Latin America from trading with Europe. d) let the Soviet government take the lead. Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

New Ways of Life Chapter 25, Section 2 • What was Prohibition? • What new rights did women gain? • How did the automobile and a new popular culture change American life?

Prohibition • For nearly a century, reformers like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union had worked to ban alcoholic beverages. • In 1919, the states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment banning alcoholic beverages. • On January 16th, 1920, Prohibition—a ban on the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor anywhere in the United States—went into effect. Getting around the law • Some people manufactured their own alcohol. • Others smuggled in liquor from Canada and the Caribbean. Because these smugglers sometimes hid bottles of liquor in their boots, they were known as bootleggers. • Illegal bars, called speak-easies, opened in nearly every city and town in the United States. Prohibition Chapter 25, Section 2 In the 1920s, new ideas, new products, and new forms of entertainment rapidly changed the American way of life.

Rise of organized crime • Prohibition gave a boost to organized crime. • Professional criminals took over the job of providing a steady supply of liquor. • Crime became a big business. • Gangsters forced speak-easy owners to buy liquor from them and used their profits to bribe police, public officials, and judges. Repeal of Prohibition • Prohibition reduced drinking but never stopped it. • Prohibition was undermining respect for the law. By the mid-1920s, almost half of all federal arrests were for Prohibition violations. • Many Americans called for the repeal, or cancellation, of Prohibition. In 1933, the states ratified the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. Prohibition Chapter 25, Section 2

Women voters • The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote. In 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt set up the League of Women Voters, which worked to educate voters, as it still does today. It also worked for other rights, such as the right of women to serve on juries. • In 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming and Miriam A. Ferguson of Texas became the nation’s first women governors. • Led by Ana Roqué de Duprey, women in Puerto Rico crusaded for their right to vote. They succeeded in 1929. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) • Alice Paul noted that women still lacked many legal rights. For example, many states still gave husbands legal control over their wives’ earnings. She proposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which stated that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” New Rights for Women Chapter 25, Section 2

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) • Many people feared that the ERA went too far and might cause women to lose some legal protections. The amendment passed but was never ratified. Working women • Although some women had to leave their wartime jobs when the troops came home, many stayed on in the work force. • Poor and working-class women had long worked outside the home as factory workers and maids. In the 1920s, they were joined by middle-class women who went to work as teachers, typists, secretaries, and clerks. • Life at home also changed. Women began to buy ready-made clothes rather than sew for the family. New electric appliances made housework easier, although they also encouraged women to spend even more time on housework. New Rights for Women Chapter 25, Section 2

Auto sales • Auto factories had become more efficient, which lowered auto prices. The cost of a Model T Ford dropped from $850 to $290. An American did not have to be rich to buy a car. • Other companies copied Ford’s methods. In 1927, General Motors passed Ford as the top automaker. Model Ts only came in black, but General Motors sold cars in a variety of models and colors. Economic effects • Car sales spurred the growth of other industries, for example, steel, tires, paint, and oil. • States and towns paved roads and built highways. • Gas stations, garages, car dealers, motels, and roadside restaurants sprang up across the country. In 1920, there were about 1,500 gas stations in the United States. By 1929, there were more than 120,000. Automobile Chapter 25, Section 2 The nation experienced an auto boom.

Social effects • Many city dwellers moved to the suburbs—communities located outside a city. No longer did people have to live near where they worked. • Women insisted on driving, too, breaking down another barrier that separated the worlds of men and women. • Cars changed life for rural people. It brought them closer to towns, shops, and movies. • By making travel easier, the automobile helped people from different parts of the country learn about one another. The automobile played a role in creating a new national mass culture. Automobile Chapter 25, Section 2

Changes in Pop Culture Chapter 25, Section 2 Rising wages and labor-saving appliances gave families more money to spend and more leisure time in which to spend it. New forms of entertainment arose. Radio • Radio became popular in the 1920s. The country’s first radio station, KDKA, started broadcasting in Pittsburgh in 1920. • A new lifestyle emerged. Each night after dinner, families gathered together around the radio to listen to comedies and westerns, classical music and jazz, news reports and sports broadcasts.

Changes in Pop Culture Chapter 25, Section 2 Movies • In the 1920s, the movie industry came of age. Southern California’s sunny climate allowed filming all year round. Soon, Hollywood was the movie capital of the world. • Movies contributed to the new mass culture. Millions of Americans went to the movies once a week to see westerns, romances, adventures, and comedies. • The first movies had no sound. The audience followed the plot by reading “title cards” that appeared on the screen. A pianist played background music. • Fans adored movie stars. • In 1927, Hollywood caused a sensation when it produced the first “talkie”—The Jazz Singer.

Section 2 Assessment Chapter 25, Section 2 One change in women’s lives after World War I was that a) because of the economic boom, fewer poor women had to work. b) because of new laws, professional schools had to admit women. c) many middle-class women began to take jobs outside the home. d) the Equal Rights Amendment took effect, giving women equal pay. The automobile a) helped bring about a mass culture as people from different parts of the country learned about one another. b) made the radio popular because people took rides in order to listen to car radios. c) caused roadside restaurants to go out of business because people could travel farther. d) came only in black until the 1940s. Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

The Roaring Twenties Chapter 25, Section 3 • What fads and fashions became popular during the 1920s? • How did a new group of writers and the new jazz music affect American culture? • What was the Harlem Renaissance? • What heroes were celebrated during the 1920s?

Fads and Fashions in the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 3 During the 1920s, fads caught on, then quickly disappeared. A fadis an activity or fashion that is taken up with great passion for a short time. • Flagpole sitting—young people would perch on top of flagpoles for hours, or even days. • Marathon dances—couples danced for hundreds of hours at a time to see who could last the longest. • Crossword puzzles and mah-jongg became popular. • Dance crazes—the most popular new dance was probably the Charleston, originating among African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina.

Fads and Fashions in the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 3 Flappers set the style. • Flappers were young women who rebelled against traditional ways. They wore their hair bobbed or cut short. They shocked people with their short dresses and bright red lipstick. • To many Americans, the way flappers behaved was even more shocking than how they looked. They smoked cigarettes in public, drank bootleg alcohol, and drove fast cars. • Only a few young women were flappers. Still, older women began to cut their hair and wear makeup and shorter skirts, too. Flappers symbolized a new sense of freedom.

The Jazz Age Chapter 25, Section 3 • Born in New Orleans,jazzcombined West African rhythms, African American work songs and spirituals, and European harmonies. It also had roots in ragtime. • Louis Armstrong was one of the musicians who helped create jazz. Others included “Jelly Roll” Morton and singer Bessie Smith. • Jazz spread from New Orleans to Chicago, Kansas City, and the African American section of New York—Harlem. White musicians, such as Bix Beiderbecke, also began to play jazz. • Today, jazz is recognized as an original art form developed by African Americans. It is considered one of the most important cultural contributions of the United States.

Ernest Hemingway • Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises. • He was one of the most popular writers of the 1920s. His simple but powerful style influenced many other writers. F. Scott Fitzgerald • Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby. • He examined the lives of wealthy young people who attended endless parties but could not find happiness. Sinclair Lewis • Lewis wrote Babbitt and Main Street. • He presented small-town Americans as dull and narrow-minded. His attitude reflected that of many city dwellers. • Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The New Writers Chapter 25, Section 3 Many writers were horrified by their experiences in World War I. They criticized Americans for caring too much about money and fun. Some were so unhappy with life in the United States, they moved to Paris, France. They lived as expatriates, people who leave their own country to live in a foreign land.

Edna St. Vincent Millay • Millay was an enormously popular poet. • She expressed the frantic pace of the 1920s in her verse. Eugene O’Neill • O’Neill revolutionized the American theater with his powerful, realistic dramas. • In his plays, he used experimental methods to expose the inner thoughts of tortured young people. The New Writers Chapter 25, Section 3

Langston Hughes • Hughes published his first poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” soon after graduating from high school. • He became the best-known poet of the Harlem Renaissance. • Hughes encouraged African Americans to be proud of their heritage. He protested racism and violence against African Americans. • He wrote poems, plays, short stories, and essays Countee Cullen • Cullen won prizes for his poetry. He wrote of the experiences of African Americans. • He taught in a Harlem high school.. The Harlem Renaissance Chapter 25, Section 3 In the 1920s, large numbers of African American musicians, artists, and writers settled in Harlem, in New York City. This gathering led to the Harlem Renaissance, a rebirth of African American culture. Young black writers celebrated their heritage and protested prejudice and racism.

Claude McKay • McKay came from Jamaica. • He condemned lynchings and other mob violence that black Americans suffered after World War I. Zora Neale Hurston • Hurston wrote novels, essays, and short stories. • She tried to preserve African American folklore. For two years, she traveled throughout the South collecting folk tales, songs, and prayers of black southerners, which she published in her book Mules and Men. Langston Hughes The Harlem Renaissance Chapter 25, Section 3

Heroes of the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 3 Sports figures • Golf—Bobby Jones • Tennis—Bill Tilden and Helen Wills • Boxing—Jack Dempsey • Swimming—Gertrude Ederle • Football—Red Grange, the “Galloping Ghost” of the University of Illinois • Baseball—Babe Ruth The greatest hero of the decade • In May 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh—“Lucky Lindy”—became the first man to fly alone nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. He flew from New York to Paris, with no map, no parachute, and no radio. He returned to a hero’s welcome.

The Mass Culture of the 1920s Chapter 25, Section 3

Section 3 Assessment Chapter 25, Section 3 The original art form developed by African Americans that is considered one of the most important cultural contributions of the United States is a) the Charleston. b) mah-jongg. c) radio. d) jazz. Many new writers during the 1920s criticized Americans for a) leading fast-paced, urban lifestyle b) mistreating all newcomers. c) caring too much for money. d) choosing to live in small towns. Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

A Nation Divided Chapter 25, Section 4 • Which Americans did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s? • Why did the Red Scare lead Americans to demand limits on immigration? • What did the Scopes trial and the revival of the Klan reveal about society in the 1920s? • What happened during the election of 1928?

Some Americans Did Not Share in the Nation’s Prosperity Chapter 25, Section 4 Beneath the glittering prosperity, the economy was in trouble. • Many workers did not share in the boom. Textile workers lost out when skirts became shorter. Coal miners lost out as oil replaced coal. Railroad workers lost jobs as cars and trucks replaced railroads. • Farmers were hit hardest. After the war, European farmers were again able to produce enough for Europe’s needs. Demand for American farm products dropped sharply, along with prices. Labor unions also lost out. • During the war, unions had worked with the government to keep production high. However, wages had not kept up with prices. Now, workers demanded higher pay. Employers refused. Unions launched strikes. The strikes turned the public against labor. • In the late 1920s, in many court cases, judges limited the rights of unions. • Employers created company unions, labor organizations that were controlled by management.

The Red Scare and Limits on Immigration Chapter 25, Section 4 • At war, Americans had watched for enemy spies and sabotage, or the secret destruction of property or interference with factory work. Communism also caused fear because communist leaders called on workers everywhere to overthrow their government. These worries led to a fear of foreigners. • The actions of anarchists, or people who oppose organized government, added to the sense of danger. One anarchist group plotted to kill well-known Americans. Because many anarchists were foreign-born, people began to call for action against foreigners. The government did take action against anarchists and Communists, or “Reds.” During this Red Scare, many foreigners were deported, or expelled from the country. • Immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested for robbery and murder in 1920. The two said they were anarchists but had committed no crime. A jury convicted them, and eventually they were executed. The trial caused a furor because there was little evidence, and the judge was prejudiced. The issue of whether they received a fair trial has been debated ever since.

The Red Scare and Limits on Immigration Chapter 25, Section 4 • The Red Scare died down, but anger against foreigners led to a new move to limit immigration. This kind of anti-foreign feeling is called nativism. Others worried about Communists and anarchists. Some American workers feared immigrants would force wages down. • Congress responded in 1921 by passing the Emergency Quota Act, which set up a quota system that allowed only a certain number of people from each country to enter the United States. Only 3 percent of the people in any national group already living in the United States in 1910 could be admitted. The system favored immigrants from Northern Europe. Congress passed laws limiting immigration from Eastern Europe. Japanese immigrants were denied entry. • There were two exceptions to the move to keep foreigners out of the country. Mexicans were not included in the quota system. Farm and factory workers were needed in the Southwest, so Mexican immigrants continued to move to the United States. When the Jones Act of 1917 made Puerto Ricans American citizens, poverty in Puerto Rico led Puerto Ricans to migrate to the mainland.

The Scopes Trial Chapter 25, Section 4 • The Scopes Trial revealed a clash between old and new values. • Charles Darwin, a British scientist, claimed that all life had evolved, or developed, from simpler forms over time. • Some churches condemned Darwin’s theory, saying it denied the teachings of the Bible. • Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas banned the teaching of Darwin’s theory. • In 1925, John Scopes, a Tennessee biology teacher, taught evolution. He was arrested and tried. • William Jennings Bryan argued the state’s case against Scopes. Clarence Darrow defended Scopes. • In the end, Scopes was convicted and fined. The laws against teaching evolution remain on the books, although they are rarely enforced.

The Ku Klux Klan Chapter 25, Section 4 • A rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan revealed a fear of change. • The old Klan had used terror to keep African Americans from voting. The new Klan aimed to preserve the United States for white, native-born Protestants. • The new Klan waged a campaign against African Americans and immigrants, especially Catholics and Jews. • The Klan supported efforts to limit immigration. • When scandals showed that Klan leaders had stolen money from members, Klan membership dropped sharply.

Other Forms of Racism Chapter 25, Section 4 African Americans had hoped that their service during World War I would weaken racism at home. • Returning black soldiers found segregation in the South and racial prejudice in the North. • In northern cities, African Americans often found that only the lowest-paying jobs were open to them. • In many neighborhoods, whites refused to rent to blacks. • Many blacks newly arrived from the South wanted to live near one another, so largely black neighborhoods grew up in northern cities. • In some northern cities, race riots broke out. African Americans looked for new ways to cope with racism. • Marcus Garvey started the first widespread black nationalist movement in the United States. He organized the Universal Negro Improvement Association to promote unity and pride among African Americans. He urged African Americans to seek their roots in Africa.

The Election of 1928 Chapter 25, Section 4 • Republicans had led the nation for eight years. • President Coolidge did not choose to run again. Instead, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover won the Republican nomination. • The Democrats chose Alfred E. Smith, a former governor of New York, to be their candidate. • The candidates represented the tensions in American life. Smith, the son of Irish immigrants, was the first Catholic to run for President. He attracted city dwellers, including many immigrants and Catholics, as well as opponents of Prohibition. Hoover was a self-made millionaire from the Midwest. He attracted rural Americans and big business, as well as supporters of Prohibition. • Although big-city dwellers voted for Smith, Hoover won by a landslide. Americans hoped he would keep the country prosperous.

Section 4 Assessment Chapter 25, Section 4 Not all Americans shared in the boom of the 1920s. American farmers were hit hard because a) railroads cut back on service after cars and trucks came along. b) after World War I, Europeans demanded more American farm products than the farmers could produce. c) after World War I, Europe no longer needed to buy American farm products. d) industries and mines took over much of the farmland. One reason Americans of the 1920s developed a fear of foreigners was because a) most Americans disapproved of the work of Charles Darwin, who was British. b) Congress added Japanese to the list of Asian immigrants denied entry to the country. c) Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship. d) communist leaders called on workers everywhere to overthrow their governments. Want to connect to the American History link for this section? Click here.

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