Ch. 12 & 13 American Society, Economy, & Politics in the Roaring Twenties U.S. History

1. Ch. 12 & 13American Society, Economy, & Politics in the Roaring TwentiesU.S. History

2. Fear of Communism (Red Scare 1919-1920) • “The Red Scare” began in U.S. in 1919 as Communists in Russia called for a world-wide revolution. Thousands of Americans panicked. • Attorney General Mitchell Palmer sent agents to hunt down Communists in U.S. • “Palmer Raids” violated people’s civil rights. Invaded homes, jailed w/out lawyers, deported immigrants.

3. Red Scare Political Cartoon1919

4. Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti • 1920, Italian immigrants Sacco & Vanzetti arrested for robbery & murder. Both men were radical anarchists – people who opposed any form of govnt. • Evidence against men was weak. Sacco & Vanzetti found guilty and executed. • Trial was famous in U.S.. Thousands of Americans protested as country realized Red Scare had gone too far…

5. Ku Klux Klan • Resurgence of the Klan began in the South but also spread heavily into Southwest and the Midwest: IL, IN, OH • Resurgence spawned by 1915 movie Birth of a Nation, by D.W. Griffith. • First blockbuster epic (3 hours) • Based on 1905 book The Clansman: An Historical Romance of theKKK, by Thomas Dixon • Opposed immigration, Catholics, blacks, Jews, Communists, bootleggers, gambling, adultery, and discussion of birth control • Pro-WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) • Extremist and ultraconservative uprising against forces of diversity and modernity transforming American culture: nationalist, racist, narrow minded.

6. Nativism: Anti – Immigration Laws: • Anti-immigrant attitudes grew in U.S. during 1920s, especially toward immigrants from southern &eastern Europe(where Communism began). • Immigrants competed for jobs, worked for low wages, might spread radical ideas (communism, anarchism, etc.) • Emergency Quota Act (1921) & National Origins Act (1924) • Cut immigration to U.S. from southern & eastern Europe. Asians banned completely. Era of large-scale immigration to U.S. (1880s – 1920) ended! • Congress abolished national origins quota system in 1965.

7. Eugenics • Popular movement in the 1920s - eugenic “science” promoted childbearing by "fit" classes & advocated birth control or sterilization of “inferior” people. • Racial minorities, ethnic immigrant groups, and handicapped were typically classified as unfit. • Movement became popular due to large influx of southern & eastern European immigrants from 1870s-1920s. • Eugenics was later discredited following WWII & the Holocaust when it became associated with racist ideas of Hitler & the Nazis (who also used eugenics to promote plans for a “master race”).

8. John Scopes “Monkey Trial” (1925) • High school biology teacher in Tennessee arrested for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in class (violated Tennessee’s Butler Law of 1924– “Divine Creation theory”). • Scopes defended by ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow, most famous trial lawyer in the nation. • William Jennings Bryanprosecutor; Presbyterian Fundamentalist • Although Scopes found guilty, millions of American felt law had gone too far. • Issues of “monkey trial” – First Amendment rights (free speech), Modern America vs. Traditional Values.

9. 18th Amendment – Prohibition(one of the last Progressive Era reforms) • Volstead Act of 1919 implemented the amendment - banned all alcohol in the U.S. • Difficult to enforce. Lack of respect for law, not enough agents, alcohol could be made at home, etc. • “Speakeasies” - night clubs that served illegal booze to patrons who knew the password to enter the establishments. • “Bootleggers” smuggled illegal alcohol into U.S.. Rise in organized crime as gangsters fought over territory and distribution rights.

10. Radios & Movies • Became a favorite pastime for many Americans. • Radio invented in Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian, in the 1890s. (Technology used for long-range communication during WWI) • Motion pictures inexpensive & fun to watch. • By 1929 radios were in many American homes. Families would gather after dinner to listen to popular radio programs together. • Radios & Movies helped unite Americans and create a new, popular culture.

11. Women in the 1920s • “Flappers” term for “new women” of 1920s. Young, restless, eager to experiment. Shocked her elders w/ short skirts, bobbed hair, bright make-up. • Flappers refused to follow traditional rules. Used slang, smoked, drank liquor in public, etc. • As women became more independent, they continued to organize • National Women’s Party began in 1923 to agitate for an Equal RightsAmendmentto the Constitution (ERA) -- Alice Paul • Idea shocked traditionalists • Amendment finally defeated in early 1980s.

12. Changes for Women in the 1920s • 19th amendment granted all women the right to vote. • Flappers expressed changes in social values. • New electric appliances made lives of homemakers easier.

13. Glenn Curtiss • Motorcycle racer turned aviator. A founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. • Considered the “Father of Naval Aviation” - responsible for the first aircraft to take off from and land on the decks of ships at sea.  • Built many civil and military aircraft during WWI, 1920s, 1930s, WWII.

14. Charles Lindbergh • Most admired hero of the 1920s. Symbolized American values of honesty and courage. • Made first non-stop solo flight across Atlantic Ocean. Flew from NY to Paris in his airplane, “The Spirit of St. Louis”.

15. Harlem Renaissance • Harlem section of New York City became center of black cultural movement in 1920s. • Significance: Harlem produced a wealth of African American poetry, literature,art, and music, expressing the pain, sorrow, and discrimination blacks felt at this time. • Langston Hughes • Best known figure of Harlem Renaissance. • African American poet, wrote about black pride & heritage. • Other poets and writers: Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston

16. Jazz – the American Sound • Began in New Orleans. Blended African rhythms w/ European harmonies. • Jazz unique – musicians improvise as they play & take “mood” a step further. • “Duke” Ellington (pianist) & Louis Armstrong (trunpet player/singer) famous black jazz musicians of the time. • Cotton Club in Harlem famous for its jazz.

17. Tin Pan Alley • Section of NYC with many theaters & publishing houses – place where musicians would play their music for publishers & producers. • Would synthesize jazz, ragtime, and popular ballads into new sounds.

18. Marcus Garvey • Leader of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) • "Back to Africa Movement": Purpose was to promote the resettlement of American blacks in Africa. Advocated black racial pride and separatism rather than integration. • Urged blacks to buy only from blacks & founded chain of businesses including grocery stores, restaurants, and laundries. • Garvey a native of Jamaica and founded UNIA there. • FBI director J. Edgar Hoover monitored Garvey and eventually sought to have him arrested and imprisoned. • Garvey convicted of mail fraud in sale of his company's stock, imprisoned, and then deported. • Garvey instilled self-confidence and self-reliance amongblacks, and later became the basis for the Nation of Islam (Black Muslim) movement in 1960s

19. Booming Economy • 1920 – 1929 U.S. enjoyed extreme prosperity. • U.S. came out of WWI the world’s largest creditor nation. • Republican Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover very pro-business & kept taxes low -"trickle down" tax policies favored the rapid expansion of capital investment. Americans annual income rose more than 35%. • Buying on credit (installment plan) became another innovative feature of the postwar economy. • Electricity became common in homes and workplaces. Americans bought new appliances like radios, vacuums, stoves, etc.

20. Harding’s Presidency • Elected in 1920 • Harding spoke of returning America to "Normalcy“ • Americans eager to turn inward and evade international issues. • Many Americans were tired of the idealism, sacrifice and overreaching reforms of the Progressive Era and sought respite. • Conservative "Old Guard" wing of the Republicans now dominated

21. Republican’s Conservative Economic Agenda (Harding, Coolidge, Hoover) • Conservatives believed role of gov’t was to make business more profitable. • Tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy: "trickle down" economics • Government’s role should be limited; stay out of business (laissez faire) • Harding appointed people to regulate agencies that didn't like regulation • Government helped to facilitate monopolies and consolidation of industries • Antitrust laws often ignored, circumvented, or inadequately enforced • Businessmen should run the government as they had experience in management. • Cabinet positions went to wealthy business leaders who looked out for big business interests. • Hostile to Unions • Membership in labor unions dropped nearly 30% between 1920 and 1930

22. Mass-Consumption Economy • Glorification of business --Business became almost a religion. • The Man Nobody Knows by Bruce Barton: top selling book in 1925-1926. • Called Jesus the first modern businessman • "Picked up 12 men from the bottom of society and forged an organization that conquered the world." • "Every advertising man ought to study the parables of Jesus. They are marvelously condensed, as all good advertising should be.” • Calvin Coolidge: "The man who builds a factory builds a temple; The man who works there worships there.“ • Businessmen were considered the people that "ruled" the nation.

23. Henry Ford & the Auto Industry • Detroit emerged as the automobile capital of the world • Ford focused on producing a car most Americans could afford. • Ford realized workers were also potential consumers of his cars • In 1914, raised worker salaries from $2 a day to $5 if workers adopted "thrifty habits" (e.g. learn English, no gambling, drinking, etc.) • Ford paid good benefits, hired handicapped, convicts, and immigrants. • Ford called a "traitor" to his class by many wealthy people. • Model T car built using assembly line process. Became first mass-produced automobile made quickly & cheaply. Took only 1.5 hours to build a car (before assembly line: 14 hours) • Ford’s use of the assembly line made him about $25,000 a day during the 1920s • Auto sales soared by late 1920s.

24. Impact of the Automobile • Suburbs began to grow as drivers were able to live farther away from jobs in cities. • Auto production generated new jobs in steel, rubber, and glass industries. • Roadside gas stations, motels, restaurants grew to meet needs of motorists. • Automobile became backbone of American economy from 1920s until 1970s…