What did the public perceive “Normalcy” to mean?

1. America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums [solutions], but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise [equilibrium] ; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality. - Warren G. Harding

2. What did the public perceive “Normalcy” to mean? • Foreign Policy: • Domestic Policy:

3. Class Discussion: What would a “return to normalcy” mean for America after World War I?

4. Americanism Call it the selfishness of nationality if you will. I think it's an inspiration to patriotic devotion to safeguard America first, to stabilize America first, to prosper America first, to think of America first... Let the internationalist dream, and the Bolshevist destroy... we proclaim Americanism... -- Warren G. Harding Campaign Speech (1920)

5. Participation in WWI Transformed the United States in the 1920s • The US was the richest and most developed country in the world. • Mass production, high wages, new consumer goods and forms of entertainment labeled the decade the “Roaring Twenties”

6. What do these images reveal about America in the 1920s?

7. In the 1920s, American foreign policy “returned to normal” by embracing isolationism. • The US rejected the Treaty of Versailles and never joined the League of Nations. • Many citizens felt the US was “duped” into joining WWI and became committed to neutrality.

8. However, US isolationism was selective because the US did play a role in world affairs. • The US hosted a naval conference aimed to reduce the military strength of all nations. • The US loaned European nations billions of dollars to help rebuild after WWI – Dawes Plan

9. The US joined other world powers in a commitment to world peace by signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact

10. Republicans return to Normalcy • Pro-Business • Kept taxes low so Americans could spend their wages • Kept government interference in business to a minimum • Allowed private enterprise to flourish.

11. Teapot Dome Scandal • Oil companies bribed government officials for prime oil leases on government land. • Secretary of the Interior: Alfred Fall got over $300,000 worth of bribes • Teapot Dome, Wyoming • *First cabinet member to go to jail*

13. What does this image and quote reveal about America in the 1920s? “The chief business of the American people is business.” -President Calvin Coolidge, 1925

14. “Coolidge Prosperity” • Low Taxes • Balanced Budgets • Robust Economy

15. No New Progressive Reforms • Americans felt confident that reforms had • Limited the influence of monopolies • Cleaned up cities • Regulated the economy • As workers’ wages rose and their hours declined, Americans were happy to spend their money.

16. The Culture War – “Normalcy” Under Attack

17. The Bolshevik Revolution

19. Palmer Raids January 1920 TARGET: “Radical” Immigrants • Communists • Socialists • Anarchists Thousands Arrested Hundreds Deported

20. “Where the Blame Lies”

21. Immigrant Arrivals

22. Immigration Restrictions National Origins Act (1924) Emergency Quota Act (1921) 3% Of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1910 2% Of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1890

24. 1920s: Consumerism

25. Pro-Business policies and Mass Production developed during WWI and led to an industrial revolution for consumer goods. • High wages for workers • Cheap products for Americans to buy • Availability of cheap credit • Decade of SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!!!

26. Installment Buying

27. Henry Ford’s Affordable automobile

28. Automobiles transformed America Henry Ford’s assembly line made cars affordable; By 1929, 1 of 5 Americans owned a car Car manufacturing became the biggest industry in America Cars gave people freedom and became a symbol of status

29. The 1920s led to an era of mass entertainment in movies, music, and sports

31. 1920s: Harlem Renaissance

32. The Harlem Renaissance was the flourishing of black culture Jazz blended African and European musical traditions into a distinctly “American” style of music Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were popular jazz musicians

33. The most popular author was Langston Hughes, who wrote poems and novels about black pride

34. What do these images reveal about America in the 1920s?

35. Women’s roles changed in the 1920s In 1920, women gained the right to vote (But, many women did not vote) New fashion trends, voting rights, and more leisure time led to an increased sense of freedom

36. The Great Migration • 1916-1930 • African Americans Leave the South • Move to North and Industrial centers

37. Reasons for Migration Pull Factors Push Factors • Employment Opportunities • Educational Opportunities • Escape Injustice • Escape Lynching

40. 1920s: Sports

41. 1920s: Movies and Radio

42. “Talking” movies helped grow Hollywood and celebrity movie stars By 1929, over 100 million people went to movies each week “The Jazz Singer” was the first “talking” picture

43. New roads, gas stations, and shopping centers were built Country Club Plaza, the First Shopping Center

44. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first trans-Atlantic solo flight, becoming the biggest celebrity of the 1920s Airplanes captured the attention of Americans in the 1920s