Unit 10 The Roaring 20’s and the Crash

Unit 10The Roaring 20’s and the Crash Chapters 32 and 33

Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues • Economy adjusting: cost of living doubles; farm, factory orders down • soldiers take jobs from women, minorities • farmers, factory workers suffer • Nativism—prejudice against foreign-born people—sweeps nation • Isolationism—pulling away from world affairs—becomes

The Red Scare • Communism—economic, political system, single-party government • ruled by dictator • no private property • 1919 Vladimir I. Lenin, Bolsheviks, set up Communist state in Russia • U.S. Communist Party forms; some Industrial Workers of the World join • Bombs mailed to government, businesses; people fear Red conspiracy • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer takes action

The Palmer Raids * Palmer, J. Edgar Hoover hunt down Communists, socialists, anarchists • Anarchists oppose any form of government • Raids trample civil rights, fail to find evidence of conspiracy

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti • Red Scare feeds fear of foreigners, ruins reputations, wrecks lives • 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti, Italian immigrants, anarchists, arrested - charged with robbery, murder - trial does not prove guilt • Jury finds them guilty; widespread protests in U.S., abroad - Sacco, Vanzetti executed 1927

The Klan Rises Again • Bigots use anti-communism to harass groups unlike themselves • KKK opposes blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, unions, saloons - 1924, 4.5 million members • Klan controls many states’ politics; violence leads to less power

Limiting Immigration: The Quota System • 1919–1921, number of immigrants grows almost 600% • Quota system sets maximum number can enter U.S. from each country - sharply reduces European immigration • 1924, European arrivals cut to 2% of number of residents in 1890 • Discriminates against southern, eastern Europeans • Prohibits Japanese immigration; causes ill will between U.S., Japan

A Time of Labor Unrest • The Boston Police Strike • The Steel Mill Strike • The Coal Miners’ Strike • Labor Movement Loses Appeal

The Harding Presidency • International Problems • President Warren G. Harding voices public desire for “normalcy” • Hosts Washington Naval Conference; invites major powers, not Russia • Sec. of StateCharles Evans Hughes proposes disarmament, others agree • In 1928 Kellog-Briand Pact nations renounce war as national policy

High Tariffs and Reparations • Britain, France cannot repay U.S. • Germany defaults; Dawes Plan—U.S. investors lend reparations money • Britain, France repay; resentment on all sides

The Teapot Dome Scandal • Teapot Dome scandal—naval oil reserves used for personal gain • Interior Secretary Albert B. Fallleases land to private companies • Takes bribes; is first person convicted of felony while in cabinet • August 1923, Harding dies suddenly • VP Calvin Coolidge assumes presidency, restores faith in government

American Industries Flourish • Calvin Coolidge favors minimal government interference in business - allow private enterprise to flourish The Impact of the Automobile - Auto industry economic base for some cities, boosts oil industry - By late 1920s, 1 car for every 5 Americans

The Young Airplane Industry • Airplane industry starts as mail service for U.S. Post Office • Weather forecasting begins; planes carry radios, navigation tools • Lockheed Company produces popular transport plane of late 1920s • 1927, Pan American Airways inaugurates transatlantic flights • Charles Lindbergh solo non-stop Trans-Atlantic flight • Symbolizes honesty and bravery in an Age of Excess

America’s Standard of Living Soars • Incomes Grow - Average annual income rises over 35%, from $522 to $705 - Factories use electricity to run machines - Development of alternating current gives electricity to suburbs - By end of 1920s, more homes begin to have electrical appliances - Appliances make housework easier, free women for other activities - Appliances coincide with trend of women working outside home

A Superficial Prosperity • Most Americans believe prosperity will last forever • Productivity increasing, businesses expanding • Mergers in auto industry, steel, electrical equipment, utilities • Chain stores develop; national banks allowed to create branches • Income gap between workers, managers grows • Iron, railroad industries not prosperous; farms suffer losses

Buying Goods on Credit • Installment plan—pay for goods over extended period with interest • Banks provide money at low interest rates • Some economists, business owners think installment buying excessive • Think is sign of fundamental weakness behind superficial prosperity

Rural and Urban Differences • 1920 census: 51.2% of Americans in communities of 2,500 or more • 1922–1929, nearly 2 million people leave farms, towns each year • Largest cities are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia - 65 other cities with 100,000 people or more • In 1920s, people caught between rural, urban cultures - close ties, hard work, strict morals of small towns - anonymous crowds, moneymaking, pleasure seeking of cities

The Prohibition Experiment • 18th Amendment launches Prohibition era - supported by religious groups, rural South, West • Prohibition—production, sale, transportation of alcohol illegal • Government does not budget enough money to enforce the • Speakeasies(hidden saloons, nightclubs) become fashionable • People distill liquor, buy prescription alcohol, sacramental wine • Bootleggers smuggle alcohol from surrounding countries

Organized Crime • Prohibition contributes to organized crime in major cities • Al Capone controls Chicago liquor business by killing competitors • By mid-1920s, only 19% support Prohibition • 18th Amendment in force until 1933; repealed by 21st Amendment

Science and Religion Clash • Fundamentalism—movement based on literal interpretation of Bible • Fundamentalists skeptical of some scientific discoveries, theories - reject theory of evolution • Believe all important knowledge can be found in Bible • Fundamentalist preachers lead religious revivals in South, West - Billy Sunday holds emotional meetings - Aimee Semple McPherson uses showmanship while preaching on radio

The Scopes Trial • 1925, Tennessee passes law making it a crime to teach evolution • American Civil Liberties Union backs John T. Scopes challenge of law • Clarence Darrow, most famous trial lawyer of day, defends Scopes • Fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan is special prosecutor • Scopes trial—debates evolution, role of science, religion in school - national sensation; thousands attend • Bryan admits Bible open to interpretation; Scopes found guilty

Young Women Change the Rules • Flapper—emancipated young woman, adopts new fashions, attitudes • Middle-class men, women begin to see marriage as equal partnership • housework, child-rearing still woman’s job • Women subject to double standard(less sexual freedom than men) - must observe stricter standards of behavior

Women Shed Old Roles at Home and at Work • After war, employers replace female workers with men • Female college graduates become teachers, nurses, librarians • Many women become clerical workers as demand rises • Some become sales clerks, factory workers • Few become managers; always paid less than men

The Changing Family • Birthrate drops partly due to more birth-control information • Manufactured products, public services give homemakers freedom • Housewives can focus more on families, pastimes, not housework • Marriages increasingly based on romantic love, companionship • Children spend most of day at school, organized activities • - adolescents resist parental control • Working-class, college-educated women juggle family, work

Mass Media Shape Culture • Expanding News Coverage • - By 1914, hundreds of local newspapers replaced by national chains • 1920s, mass-market magazines thrive; Reader’s Digest, Time founded Radio Comes of Age - Radio is most powerful communications medium of 1920s - Networks provide shared national experience can hear news as it happens

Entertainment, Literature, and the Arts George Gershwin uses jazz to create American music Georgia O’Keeffe paints intensely colored canvases of New York • Sinclair Lewis is first American to win Nobel Prize for literature - criticizes conformity, materialism

F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals negative side of era’s gaiety, freedom • Edna St. Vincent Millay celebrates youth, independence in her poems • Writers soured by American culture, war settle in Europe - called Lost Generation • Expatriate Ernest Hemingway introduces simple, tough, American style

The Harlem Renaissance • African-American Goals • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) • - protests racial violence • NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson fights for civil rights legislation • NAACP anti-lynching campaign leads to drop in number of lynchings

Marcus Garvey and the UNIA • Marcus Garvey founds Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) - believes African Americans should build separate society • Garvey promotes black pride, black businesses, return to Africa

African-American Writers • Harlem world’s largest black urban area; people from U.S., Caribbean • Harlem Renaissance—African-American literary, artistic movement - express pride in African-American experience • Claude McKay’s poems urge blacks to resist prejudice, discrimination • Langston Hughes’s poems describe difficult lives of working class - many written in jazz, blues tempo • Zora Neale Hurston shows folkways, values of poor, Southern blacks

African Americans and Jazz • Jazz born in early 20th century New Orleans, spreads across U.S. • TrumpeterLouis Armstrong makes personal expression key part of jazz - most influential musician in jazz history • Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington—jazz pianist, orchestra leader - one of America’s greatest composers • Cab Calloway, Armstrong popularize scat (improvised jazz singing) • Bessie Smith—blues singer, perhaps best vocalist of decade

The Nation’s Sick Economy • Industries in Trouble • Key industries like railroads, textiles, steel barely make profit • Mining, lumbering expanded during war; no longer in high demand • Coal especially hard-hit due to availability of new energy sources • Boom industries—automobiles, construction, consumer goods— now weak • Housing starts decline

Farmers Need a Lift • International demand for U.S. grain declines after war - prices drop by 40% or more • Farmers boost production to sell more; prices drop further • Farm income declines; farmers default on loans; rural banks fail • Price-supports—government buys surplus crops, guarantees prices • Coolidge vetoes price-support bill

Living on Credit • People buy less due to rising prices, stagnant wages, credit debts - Many people buy goods on credit (buy now, pay later) - Businesses give easy credit; consumers pile up large debts - Consumers have trouble paying off debt, cut back on spending

Uneven Distribution of Income • In 1920s, rich get richer, poor get poorer • 70% of families earn less than minimum for decent standard of living • Most cannot afford flood of products factories produce

The Election of 1928- Republican Herbert Hoover gets overwhelming victory • Dreams of Riches in the Stock Market • Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks state of stock market • 1920s, stock prices rise steadily; people rush to buy stocks, bonds • Many engage in speculation, buy on chance of a quick profit • Buying on margin—pay small percent of price, borrow rest

The Stock Market Crashes • Black Tuesday • September 1929 stock prices peak, then fall; investors begin selling • October 29 or Black Tuesday, market, nation’s confidence plummet • Shareholders sell frantically; millions of shares have no buyers • People who bought on credit left with huge debts • Others lose most of their savings

Financial Collapse • Bank and Business Failures • Great Depression—economy plummets, unemployment skyrockets - lasts from 1929–1940 • After crash, people panic, withdraw money from banks • Banks that invested in stocks fail; people lose their money • 1929–1932, gross national product cut nearly in half - 90,000 businesses go bankrupt • 1933, 25% of workers jobless; those with jobs get cuts in hours, pay

Worldwide Shock Waves • Great Depression limits U.S. ability to import European goods • Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act sets highest protective tariff ever in U.S. • Other countries cannot earn American currency to buy U.S. goods • International trade drops; unemployment soars around world

Causes of the Great Depression • Factors leading to Great Depression: - tariffs, war debts, farm problems, easy credit, income disparity • Federal government keeps interest rates low, encourages borrowing

The Depression in the Cities • People lose jobs, are evicted from homes • Shantytowns, settlements consisting of shacks, arise in cities • People dig through garbage, beg • Soup kitchens offer free or low-cost food • Bread lines—people line up for food from charities, public agencies • African Americans, Latinos have higher unemployment, lower pay

The Depression in Rural Areas • Most farmers can grow food for their families • About 400,000 farms lost through foreclosure - many become tenant farmers • Farmers in Great Plains exhaust land through overproduction • 1930s, drought, windstorms hit; soil scattered for hundreds of miles • Dust Bowl— area from North Dakota to Texas that is hardest hit • Many farm families migrate to Pacific Coast states

Effects on the American Family • Family is source of strength for most Americans • Some families break apart under strain of making ends meet • Many men used to working, supporting families have difficulty coping - cannot find jobs • About 300,000 hoboes wander country on railroad box cars • No federal system of direct relief—cash or food from government

Women and Children Struggle • Women work outside home; resented by unemployed men • Many women suffer in silence, ashamed to stand in bread lines • Poor diets, health care lead to serious health problems in children • Lack of tax revenue leads to shortened school year, school closings • Teenagers leave home, ride trains in search of work, adventure

Social and Psychological Effects • 1928–1932, suicide rate rises over 30% • Admissions to state mental hospitals triple • People give up health care, college, put off marriage, children • Stigma of poverty doesn’t disappear; financial security becomes goal • Many show great kindness to strangers • Develop habit of saving and thriftiness

Hoover Tries to Reassure the Nation • President Herbert Hoover tells Americans economy is sound • Many experts believe depressions a normal part of business cycle • Hoover: government should foster cooperation between competing groups • People should take care of own families, not depend on government • Calls meeting of business, banking, labor leaders to solve problems • Creates organization to help private charities raise money for poor

Democrats Win in 1930 Congressional Elections • As economic problems increase, Hoover, Republicans blamed • Democrats win House; Republican Senate majority down to 1 vote • Farmers try to create food shortages to raise prices • Widespread criticism of Hoover: shantytowns called “Hoovervilles”

Hoover Takes Action To Late • Backs Federal Farm Board (organization of farm cooperatives) - buy crops, keep off market until prices rise - Federal Home Loan Bank Act lowers mortgage rates • Reconstruction Finance Corporation—emergency funds for businesses • Hoover’s measures don’t improve economy before presidential election

Gassing the Bonus Army • Bonus Army—veterans go to D.C. in 1932 • to support Patman Bill: - want payment of bonus • Hoover opposes bill; Senate votes down bill • Most veterans leave Washington; about 2,000 stay to speak to Hoover - Hoover fears violence, calls on U.S. Army to disband Bonus Army - Infantry tear gas over 1,000 people, including children; many injured - Public is stunned, outraged by government’s actions

Next on tap: • FDR, The Great Depression, New Deal, and the Shadow of War • Ch.s 34 and 35

Unit 10 The Roaring 20’s and the Crash