The Nineteen Twenties

1. The Nineteen Twenties

2. Background Facts • * 106,521,537 people in the United States • * 2,132,000 unemployed, Unemployment 5.2% • * Life expectancy:  Male 53.6,   Female 54.6 • * 343.000 in military (down from 1,172,601 in 1919) • * Average annual earnings $1236;  Teacher's salary  $970 • * Illiteracy rate reached a new low of 6% of the population.  • * It took 13 days to reach California from New York  .

3. Who were the presidents?

4. 1920 - 1923 Warren G. Harding • Republican • Pro-Business Conservative • Plagued By Corruption • (Teapot Dome Scandal)

5. 1923 - 1928 Calvin Coolidge • Republican • Pro-Business Conservative • Replaced Harding Upon His Death • “The business of America is business.” (Minimized the role of government)

6. 1928 - 1932 Herbert Hoover • Republican • Pro-Business Conservative • President When the Stock Market Crashed. • His Laissez-Faire Philosophy Provided Too Little, Too Late During the First Three Years of the Great Depression.

7. Describe some of the positive economic developments of the nineteen twenties. • Assembly-Line Production (Henry Ford and the Model T) • Mass Marketing and Advertising Techniques • Buying on Credit • New Businesses - Automobiles, Radio, Aviation, Movies • Overall Growth and Prosperity - “The Roaring Twenties”

8. Describe some of the negative economic developments of the nineteen twenties. • Labor Strikes • Declining Farm Prices • “Sick” Industries (Coal, Textiles) • Uneven Prosperity • Minorities Faced Growing Prejudice and Discrimination

9. Why were the nineteen twenties such a conservative decade?

10. The Red Scare • Fear of a world-wide revolution sprang from the communist takeover in Russia • Palmer Raids • Sacco and Vanzetti Trial • Rise of Political Intolerance

11. Prohibition • The Eighteenth Amendment (The Volstad Act) • Speakeasies • Rise of Organized Crime - Al Capone

12. Religious Fundamentalism • Half the nation was now urban, but the other half still lived in small towns and on farms. • Rise of Christian Fundamentalism - belief that everything in the Bible should be taken literally. • Best represented by the Scopes Trial in 1925.

13. What were some of the developments that occurred in the nineteen twenties in regard to race? • The KKK was larger in the twenties than at any other time in American history. • African Americans continued to face lynchings, voting restrictions and Jim Crow segregation • Millions of African Americans moved to northern cities as part of the “Great Migration”. • Other minorities made limited progress - women could now vote and Native Americans became citizens

14. “Strange Fruit”by Billie Holliday Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves Blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck for the rain to gatherfor the wind to suckfor the sun to rotfor the tree to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop

15. What were some of the developments that occurred in the nineteen twenties in regard to immigration? • Rise of nativism led to the first universal immigration restrictions • The Quota System proved to be very unfair. • Immigration during the nineteen twenties was significantly reduced.

16. What patterns to you see?

17. What were some of the developments that occurred in the nineteen twenties in regard to arts and recreation? • Radio • Movies - Birth of Hollywood, First Movie Stars • Music - Jazz, Blues • Harlem Renaissance • Architecture - Skyscrapers, Frank Lloyd Wright • Sports - Baseball (Babe Ruth), College Sports • Aviation - Air Shows

18. Langston Hughes EXCERPT Juke Box Love Song I could take the Harlem night and wrap around you, Take the neon lights and make a crown, Take the Lenox Avenue busses, Taxis, subways, And for your love song tone their rumble down. Take Harlem's heartbeat, Make a drumbeat, Put it on a record, let it whirl, And while we listen to it play, Dance with you till day-- Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.

19. What were some of the developments that occurred in the nineteen twenties in regard to foreign policy? • Returned to Isolationism - Never signed the Versailles Treaty or joined the League of Nations. • Ignored the rise of fascism in Europe.

20. Review Game – True and False • The Progressive Movement had clearly ended by the start of the 1920’s. • The 1920’s was a period of economic prosperity for most Americans. • Henry Ford is better remembered for how he built the Model T rather than for the cars themselves. • There was very little technological progress in the nineteen twenties. • Immigration restrictions in the 1920’s were not fair to the “new” immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe. • African Americans and other minorities made significant progress in the 1920’s in regard to achieving greater equality. • U.S. foreign policy in the 1920’s had reverted back to Isolationism even though the rise of Fascism began to pose threats around the world. • The late twenties saw an explosion of cultural achievement among African-Americans in northern cities. • Overall crime rates declined in the nineteen twenties. • The Scopes Trial was seen as a victory of religious faith over modern science.

21. Review Game – Harding (a), Coolidge (b) or Hoover (c)? • Became president after the previous president had died. • Laissez faire approach made the economy go from bad to worse. • Considered to be likable and attractive right up to the end of his life. • “The business of America is business.” • Administration was plagued by corruption, even within his Cabinet. • Decisively defeated when he attempted to run for re-election.

22. Review Game Answers • The Progressive Movement had clearly ended by the start of the 1920’s. • The 1920’s was a period of economic prosperity for most Americans. • Henry Ford is better remembered for how he built the Model T rather than for the cars themselves. • There was very little technological progress in the nineteen twenties. • Immigration restrictions in the 1920’s were not fair to the “new” immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe. • True • False • True • False • True

23. Review Game Answers 6. African Americans and other minorities made significant progress in the 1920’s in regard to achieving greater equality. 7. U.S. foreign policy in the 1920’s had reverted back to Isolationism even though the rise of Fascism began to pose threats around the world. 8. The late twenties saw an explosion of cultural achievement among African-Americans in northern cities. 9. Overall crime rates declined in the nineteen twenties. 10. The Scopes Trial was seen as a victory of religious faith over modern science. 6. False 7. True 8. True 9. False 10. False

24. Review Game Answers • Became president after the previous president had died. • Laissez faire approach made the economy go from bad to worse. • Considered to be likable and attractive right up to the end of his life. • “The business of America is business.” • Administration was plagued by corruption, even within his Cabinet. • Decisively defeated when he attempted to run for re-election. • Coolidge • Hoover • Harding • Coolidge • Harding • Hoover