1. Life in the 1920s

3. The Noble Experiment  On January 15, 1920 the Prohibition law went into effect all across the US.  Prohibition (the noble experiment) —ban on making and selling alcohol anywhere in the U.S.  18th Amendment made prohibition law

4.  Prohibition failed—people found ways to get around the law  Bootleggers —people who smuggled in liquor from Canada and the Caribbean  Speakeasies —illegal bars  Organized crime grew during Prohibition:  Speakeasies needed liquor  bootleggers made profits  organized crime took over, dividing up the cities into territories  1933 Eighteenth Amendment repealed prohibition video

5.  In the summer of 1928, Alexander Fleming (1881 - 1955), a British scientist, discovered green and yellow mold on a culture plate of Staphylococcus bacterium.  This discovery would eventually earn Fleming and two other scientists, chemist Ernst Boris Chain and pathologist Howard Walter Florey, a Nobel prize in 1945.  What was all the commotion behind green and yellow mold? The mold that Fleming discovered growing on a left-out culture plate had eliminated some of the Staphylococcus.  Afterwards, he isolated Penicillin notatum and cultivated it, finding that the mold was deadly to other bacteria as well.  Alexander Fleming had discovered the world's first antibiotic.

6.  Women had gained the right to vote.  some had acquired new electric machines that made life easier.  such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners.

7. Every day more Americans brought a radio into their homes. _ the radio brought music and news that thrilled listeners. The new moving pictures captivated audiences in palace-like movie houses.

8.  Dances like the Tango and Charleston received a huge boost in popularity when featured in movies by stars like Rudolph Valentino and Joan Crawford.  Freed from the restrictions of tight corsets and the large puffed sleeves and long skirts that characterized dress during the late Victorian era, a new generation of dancers was swaying, hugging, and grinding to the new rhythms in dances. The Charleston

9.  People saw the new dances in Hollywood movies and practiced them to phonograph records or to radio broadcasts before going out on the dance floors of nightclubs or school gymnasiums.  Dancing was a major part of peoples entertainment and an important part of every party.  Schools taught dancing to small children, while churches used dances to attract young people.  Tangos, Foxtrots, Camel Walks, even Square dances (which were heavily promoted by Henry Ford) were popular.

11.  In 1925, a Tennessee biology teacher named John Thomas Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution.  In the previous two years, Tennessee had been among several states in the U.S. to have fundamentalists propose laws to make teaching evolution illegal.  The American Civil Liberties Union, with Clarence Seward Darrow (1857 - 1938) as its lawyer decided to defend Scopes.  On the opposing side, William Jennings Bryan fought for Tennessee and against evolution in the classroom.  Despite the fact that Scopes eventually lost a trial that he never testified at and was charged $100.00, Darrow was seen as the superior lawyer.  Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate was humiliated and outsmarted.  The outcome of the "Monkey Trial" was later changed; a technicality was found.

13. “The business of America is business.” (President Calvin Coolidge) A Booming Economy  1920s: Economic good times called Coolidge prosperity  Incomes rose  people bought more goods  growth  World War I helped the economy—need for military equipment helped American factories expand

14.  Millions of Americans moved from rural areas to cities to work in factories  After WWI, slight recession until factories could switch from war materials to consumer goods  By 1921 factories producing consumer goods— economy grew rapidly from 1923 to 1929

15.  Auto industry was the “engine” of American economy—spurred growth in areas such as steel and rubber  Ordinary Americans could now afford to buy cars due to price drop—car prices dropped because factories became more efficient

16. Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in 1913 making auto manufacture quicker and more efficient Henry Ford’s assembly line resulted in more cars being made at a faster and cheaper rate. The price of cars went from $850 a car to $290 a car because of the assembly line. (Think of the Factory Simulation, making envelopes) Also led to the new “Model A” Ford Commercial for the New Model A Ford Car

18.  By 1927, other companies (like General Motors) were using the assembly line  By 1929 more than 4 million Americans owed their jobs to cars  Auto growth  roads and highways  gas stations & restaurants

19. During 1920s consumer goods (refrigerators, radios, and other appliances) grew Buy now-pay later: installment buying—buying on credit Economic boom of 1920s gave stock market big boost Many ordinary Americans now investing in stock market Bull market — rising stock market

20.  The improved economy allowed installment buying or ‘buying on credit’  During the 1920’s more people than ever purchased stocks, many on credit.  People spent more money because they were able to buy on credit.  People also bought stocks (on the stock market) on “Margins”  On Margin is similar to installment buying, it’s like a loan.  This all worked as long as the stock was up, as soon as the stock dropped the buyer was in trouble.  If the stock drops the person loses their money and the money they borrowed. People now owed lots of money.

21.  People buying stock on margin —buying stock on installment  Prices of stocks rose faster than value of companies during 1928 and 1929—disaster was on the way!!!  Installment buying  increased demand for goods  increased consumer debt  Advertising grew in the 1920s

23. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931) http://Brother can you spare a dime?

24.  In October 1929 the stock market crashed, wiping out 40 percent of the paper values of common stock.  Even after the stock market collapse, however, politicians and industry leaders continued to issue optimistic predictions for the nation's economy.

25.  But the Depression deepened, confidence evaporated and many lost their life savings.  By 1933 the value of stock on the New York Stock Exchange was less than a fifth of what it had been at its peak in 1929.

26. Unemployed men vying for jobs at the American Legion Employment Bureau in Los Angeles during the Great Depression. Unemployed men vying for jobs at the American Legion Employment Bureau in Los Angeles during the Great Depression.

27.  Business houses closed their doors, factories shut down and banks failed. Farm income fell some 50 percent.  By 1932 approximately one out of every four Americans was unemployed.

28.  By 1933 millions of Americans were out of work.  Bread lines were a common sight in most cities.  Hundreds of thousands roamed the country in search of food, work and shelter.  "Brother, can you spare a dime?" went the refrain of a popular song

29. Bread Line Washington, DC, October 1930

31.  The core of the problem was the immense disparity between the country's productive capacity and the ability of people to consume.  Great innovations in productive techniques during and after the war raised the output of industry beyond the purchasing capacity of U.S. farmers and wage earners.

32.  The savings of the wealthy and middle class, increasing far beyond the possibilities of sound investment, had been drawn into frantic speculation in stocks or real estate.  The stock market collapse, therefore, had been merely the first of several detonations in which a flimsy structure of speculation had been leveled to the ground.

38.  For eight years dust blew on the southern plains.  It came in a yellowish-brown haze from the South and in rolling walls of black from the North.  The simplest acts of life — breathing, eating a meal, taking a walk — were no longer simple.  Children wore dust masks to and from school, women hung wet sheets over windows in a futile attempt to stop the dirt, farmers watched helplessly as their crops blew away.

40.  The Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade.  Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains.  The northern Plains were not so badly effected, but nonetheless, the drought, windblown dust and agricultural decline were no strangers to the north.  In fact the agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Depression whose effects were felt worldwide.  The movement of people on the Plains was also profound.

42.  Then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out.  Car-loads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand.  They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless - restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to cut - anything, any burden to bear, for food.  The kids are hungry. We got no place to live.

44.  Poor agricultural practices and years of sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl.  Plains grasslands had been deeply plowed and planted to wheat.  During the years when there was adequate rainfall, the land produced bountiful crops.  But as the droughts of the early 1930s deepened, the farmers kept plowing and planting and nothing would grow.  The ground cover that held the soil in place was gone.  The Plains winds whipped across the fields raising billowing clouds of dust to the skies.

45.  The skies could darken for days, and even the most well sealed homes could have a thick layer of dust on furniture. In some places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads

49.  The presidential campaign of 1932 was chiefly a debate over the causes and possible remedies of the Great Depression.

50.  Herbert Hoover, unlucky in entering The White House only eight months before the stock market crash, had struggled tirelessly, but ineffectively, to set the wheels of industry in motion again.

51.  His Democratic opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, already popular as the governor of New York during the developing crisis, argued that the Depression stemmed from the U.S. economy's underlying flaws, which had been aggravated by Republican policies during the 1920s.

52.  President Hoover replied that the economy was fundamentally sound, but had been shaken by the repercussions of a worldwide depression -- whose causes could be traced back to the war.  Behind this argument lay a clear implication: Hoover had to depend largely on natural processes of recovery, while Roosevelt was prepared to use the federal government's authority for bold experimental remedies. What president does this sound like?

53.  The election resulted in a smashing victory for Roosevelt, who won 22,800,000 votes to Hoover's 15,700,000.  The United States was about to enter a new era of economic and political change known as the New Deal.

55.  In 1933 the new president, Franklin Roosevelt, brought an air of confidence and optimism that quickly rallied the people to the banner of his program, known as the New Deal.  "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," the president declared in his inaugural address to the nation. FDR's Speech

56.  In a certain sense, it is fair to say that the New Deal merely introduced types of social and economic reform familiar to many Europeans for more than a generation.  Moreover, the New Deal represented the culmination of a long-range trend toward abandonment of "laissez-faire" capitalism, going back to the regulation of the railroads in the 1880s, and the flood of state and national reform legislation introduced in the Progressive era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

57.  What was truly new about the New Deal, however, was the speed with which it accomplished what previously had taken generations.  In fact, many of the reforms were hastily drawn and weakly administered  Some actually contradicted others.  Public criticism and debate never interrupted or suspended the acts  The New Deal brought to the individual citizen a sharp revival of interest in government.

58.  When Roosevelt took the presidential oath, the banking and credit system of the nation was in a state of paralysis.  With astonishing rapidity the nation's banks were first closed -- and then reopened only if they were solvent.  The administration adopted a policy of moderate currency inflation to start an upward movement in commodity prices and to afford some relief to debtors.

61.  The first new governmental agency was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)  This insured savings-bank deposits up to $5,000, and severe regulations were imposed upon the sale of securities on the stock exchange.  Insured money in banks  Raised confidence in banks  Changed banking system  Raised confidence in banks  Still used today

62.  This was created to help stock buyers and investors  Made laws to protect stock buying  Created to end dishonest and unethical behavior  Protect against stock fraud  Bans insider trading  Requires full and honest disclosure of important information on stock sales

63.  This was created to help out the banks.  Granted bank holiday (stopped banks from closing)  Saved the banking system

64.  Created to help homeowners  Created the availability of low interest loans  30 year mortgage  Gave people the ability to buy/own a home  Created suburbs (people moving out of the city

67.  Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to provide economic relief to farmers.  The AAA had at its core a plan to raise crop prices by paying farmers a subsidy to compensate for voluntary cutbacks in production.  Paid farmers to lower production  Farmers’ income almost doubled between 1932 and 1936  Funds provided by processing tax, which was declared unconstitutional in 1936

68.  The government provided aid to farmers in the form of the Soil Conservation Service, established in 1935.  Farm practices that had damaged the soil had intensified the severity of the storms, and the Service taught farmers measures to reduce erosion.  Taught techniques on soil usage (goal: no dust bowls)  In addition, almost 30,000 kilometers of trees were planted to break the force of winds.

69.  I was created to help out farmers and banks  Made loans available  Approved 541,000 loans totaling $1.4 billion

72.  Was created to help the unemployed  Offered jobs  Government money  For every $3 the state provided, the federal govt. gave $1  Built public buildings, bridges, etc.  Gave people hope that the government would help

73.  Created to help Farmers and People living and working in the Southeast  Built dams to stop flooding  Built 16 dams  Provide power  Give jobs  Employed 16,000 people  Southeastern families have hope—better lives

74.  Created to help unemployed workers, especially young adults  The Government promised to fund programs for jobs and job training  Provided jobs and a sense of hope

75.  Created to help 15-25 year olds  Help them return to school  Train them to do jobs  Part-time jobs  1 st bill for young people  Got educated and trained

76.  This was a program enacted by Congress to bring relief to young men between 18 and 25 years of age.  Run in semi-military style, the CCC enrolled jobless young men in work camps across the country for about $30 per month.  They participated in a variety of conservation projects:  planting trees to combat soil erosion and maintain national forests  eliminating stream pollution  creating fish, game and bird sanctuaries

77.  Created to help businesses and their workers  Enforced codes that regulated wages, prices, and working conditions  Established fair-practice and trade codes  Minimum wages and maximum work hours  Collective bargaining rights for labor  Favored big business

78.  Created to help the unemployed.  Put jobless to work building hospitals, schools, parks, playgrounds, and airports.  8.5 million unemployed put to work  Produced more than 650,000 miles of roads, 125,000 public buildings, 75,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, and 800 airports