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The 1920’s

The 1920’s. From Bust to Boom to Bust Again!. Winnipeg General Strike, 1919. After WWI, returning soldiers found it difficult to find good jobs. Employers used the war to keep wages low and exploited labour by not keeping work places safe.

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The 1920’s

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  1. The 1920’s From Bust to Boom to Bust Again!

  2. WinnipegGeneral Strike, 1919 • After WWI, returning soldiers found it difficult to find good jobs. • Employers used the war to keep wages low and exploited labour by not keeping work places safe.

  3. 1916 168 strikes 26,971 strikers1917 222 strikes 50,327 strikers1918 305 strikes 82,573 strikers1919 428 strikes 149,309 strikers1920 459 strikes 76,624 strikers

  4. Women were paid ½ the salary as a male. • In Winnipeg, phone companies hired women to be telephone operators. • It was a tedious job, few breaks, low pay and long hours.

  5. Labour unions all over Winnipeg decided to fight back and win the right to negotiate a fair contract with the employers. • When the operators and other workers walked off the job, it started a massive general strike that threatened to take over all of Canada.

  6. The workers organized a committee of citizens to make decisions during the strike. • They were called the Central Strike Committee.

  7. One Big Union • One of the goals of the workers was to create a power organization to look after workers rights, fair and equal pay and safe work conditions. • The name being used for this organization was “One Big Union” or, OBU.

  8. The labour strike was also on the verge of spreading to other big Canadian cities… • The government and the business leaders were very worried about the power workers had discovered by sticking together…

  9. The strike grew and grew…more workers quit working and the city was shut down completely. • Business asked government to intervene and force the workers back to their jobs. • The RCMP was called in to end the chaos

  10. Bloody Saturday • On this day, the RCMP turned loose on the crowds that had gathered to protest. • They rode their horses into the crowds, beat strikers with clubs, fired shots and arrested hundreds that day.

  11. After Bloody Saturday, and the arrests, the workers dispersed and began to return to work. • After their trials, hundreds of union workers were banished from Canada under the Enemy Alien Act. • “They were a threat to Canada’s peace and security” said the government officials.

  12. The Winnipeg General Strike may seem to have been a failure in the short term, but it did show the workers the power of uniting and joining unions. • The strike also created new labour leaders like J.S. Woodsworth, who would begin a whole new political party for workers called the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation ( which evolves into today’s NDP party).

  13. Women’s Rights • During the 1920’s, women wanted to rebel against the old-fashioned roles society had for females. • A new, daring fad for women began in the 1920’s…they had a name…flappers!

  14. Flappers cut their hair in a short bob-cut, wore low cut dresses, smoked in public, drank in bars and danced to the new jazz music with men….shocking!

  15. The Person’s Case • Emily Murphy was denied a seat in the Senate because as a female SHE WAS NOT CONSIDERED A PERSON! • 4 other women joined Emily in a Supreme Court challenge against this unequal treatment. • Fortunately for women all over Canada, the ruling ended in favour of the women and the verdict was that yes, women are indeed people!

  16. The Birth of Jazz • A music form that originated in the US African-American communities became popular all over North America in the 1920’s. • The music form is called “Jazz” • The new music was seen as “negro music” and caused white women to dance in a provactive manner…quite scandalous!

  17. Bootlegging & Rum Runners • The US was trying a social experiment of outlawing the: making, selling,drinking or transporting alcohol. • This time period was called Prohibition. • Canadians also tried this in WWI…( to preserve grain for food rather than for alcohol.)

  18. Many Canadians began making lots of money by smuggling illegal whiskey over the Canada/US border. • One popular way of doing this in BC, was to get a boat…put an airplane engine in it, and zoom over to Washington state to unload the cargo.

  19. These boats were called “rum-runners”. Sydney Harbour was an isolated favourite place to do this. Before the US Coast Guard could catch on, the Canadian rum-runners had already left in their fast boats.

  20. Criminal Gangs & Bootlegging • Criminal gangs quickly took over the illegal alcohol trade…lots of $$$ • Gangster like Al Capone began to corner the illegal market and used violence to keep control.

  21. The Roaring 20’s • After WWI, the Canadian economy had a tough time adjusting to a peace-time economy. • By the mid 1920’s, the economy began to recover in a huge surge of growth. • This economic growth period was also called the “Roaring 20’s”

  22. The reasons for the growth were: - demand for Canadian raw resources like pulp for newspapers, mining ores for metals, growth of factories due to cheap hydro-electric power - Investment from the USA

  23. Mass Production/Consumerism • During the 1920’s factory production grew quickly. • The order of the day was to buy, buy, buy! • Advertising began as its own industry…their goal? Convince the citizens to buy things they really don’t need.

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