Roaring Twenties Unit VIA AP U.S. History

Fundamental Question Did the Roaring Twenties continue the Progressive Era reforms and did it reflect its description as “roaring”?

“A Return to Normalcy” “The Business of America is Business” Dedication and inspiration for Progressive reform waned Americans apprehensive about becoming a world power after WWI Returning soldiers and paranoia of WWI reestablished a conservative and isolationist society A reinvigoration of American business prosperity and consumerism

America’s Consumer Society Competition increased against trusts/monopolies Real income increased for most workers Avoid agitation of unions Welfare capitalism reduced union membership Production and profits through mass production techniques Wide variety and availability of consumer products Model T Domestic appliances Installment plans Purchase on credit National advertising Brand names for all Americans (rural/urban, east/west, wealthy/poor) Automobiles – the new railroad Evolved the nation’s transportation infrastructure Invigorated other industries

Consumer Ads

Republican Domination Republican Congress, Presidents, appointed commissions, and conservative Supreme Court pursued and sided with pro-business policies Regulation as a form of stabilization, but generally a hands-off approach to the national economy

Election of 1920

Warren G. Harding (R) (1920-1923) “Return to normalcy.” Bureau of the Budget Revenue Act of 1921 Tax cuts for wealthy Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) Increase tariff rates, especially on industrial goods Scandalous Teapot Dome – bribes for oil fields Veteran’s Bureau fraud and bribery Attorney General bribed by almost everyone Harding died in office

Election of 1924

Calvin Coolidge (R) (1923-1928) “The business of the United States is business.” Revenue Act of 1926 More tax cuts for the wealthy Vetoed veterans’ benefits and farm assistance, but overruled by Congress

Election of 1928

Herbert Hoover (R) (1928-1932) Never ran for elected office; worked under last three presidents Campaigned on prosperity of last Republican presidents and to continue policies

1920s Social Turmoil Blacks Nativists and Immigrants Prohibition Women White resentment on blacks in job market Lynches increased Ku Klux Klan returns Universal Negro Improvement Association and Marcus Garvey Economic solidarity and advancement for blacks Unsuccessful migration plan to return to Africa Nativists and Immigrants Palmer Raids and Red Scare prejudice continue on with Sacco and Vanzetti case Quota laws Emergency Quota Act (1921) – 3% of person in U.S. in 1910 National Origins Act (1924) – 2% of persons in U.S. in 1890 Max of 150,000 non-Western Prohibition Enforced in rural areas; blind eye in urban areas Speakeasies Bootlegging and rise of organized crime/bribes Women Voted as husbands did Homemaker, domestic jobs, low wages Divorces becoming more attainable

Marcus Garvey

KKK as Rural Terrorists

Immigration and Quotas

Speakeasies

Culture Conflict and Change Religion Election of 1928 showed disdain of Protestants and Catholics Modernism vs. fundamentalism among Christians Scopes Trial – creationism and evolution Hero Worship Individual success amidst a sea of conformity Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Chaplin Entertainment develops mass culture Radio broadcasts news, sports, game shows, dramas, comedies Movie industry rises with silent films and talkies Jazz Age American youth break with American social and rural-based traditions Flapper girl Jazz music and clubs “The Lost Generation” Disillusionment with American culture and society as materialistic and consumer-driven Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms), F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) Harlem Renaissance Poets, musicians, painters, authors on black themes and culture

Flapper Girl and Sexual Direction

Babe Ruth

Charles Lindbergh

Charlie Chaplin

American Foreign Affairs Washington Conference (1921) 5:5:3 naval ratio Respect China and Open Door policy Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) Aggressive war illegal; defensive war legal Foreign investments Middle East oil investments Protection of Latin America investments War debts and Dawes Plan Cycle of American bank loans to Germany to pay reparations to France/GB to pay war debts to America