1. The “Roaring Twenties”
Unit 6
Use with:
Return to Normalcy Notes
Reasons for Prosperity Notes

2. How the Great War
Changed Us

3. America’s Place in the World Changed…
World War I had caused sweeping changes around the globe.
An old order five hundred years in the making had collapsed in just a few years.
German and Russian monarchies toppled, and new forms of government were created.
The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist.
Britain and France emerged from the war victorious but economically and politically weakened.
In contrast, the victorious United States came out of the war strong, confident, and prosperous.

4. Political Effects of the War
U.S. is recognized as a world military power
U.S. becomes an economic power as bankers loaned $11 billion to Allies
We are a creditor nation

5. Economic Effects of the War
400,000 women take men’s jobs during the war, but many are forced to quit as troops returned
500,000 blacks migrate from the South to the North to take industrial jobs, but face resentment and discrimination
This is known as the “Great Migration”
Economy booms during the war, but slows as troops returned home

6. Psychological Effect of the War
Feeling of gloom and disillusionment because of the terrible destruction and loss of life
“A Lost Generation”

7. Cemetery at Montfaucon, France 14,246 graves

8. German Cemetery at Neuville-St. Vaast, France 44,000 graves

10. The world mourned “a lost generation”

11. Adjusting to the Peace 1919-1921
“Return to normalcy”
Adjusting to the Peace

12. Adjusting to the Peace 1919-1921
America returned to foreign policy of isolationism
Immediately after the war, Americans experienced a temporary recession as businesses adjusted from a wartime to a peacetime economy

13. Red Scare Begins
Americans frightened by the triumph of Bolsheviks & Communism in Russia led to Red Scare in USA
Fear of Communist Revolutions in U.S.

14. Red scare
Palmer Raids—Attorney General Palmer arrested thousands of suspects and deported them

15. Red Scare Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti—convicted and executed of a robbery without evidence
Symbol of the hysteria against foreigners

16. Sacco and Vanzetti
The case of Sacco and Vanzetti symbolized Americas fear of immigrants, communists and anarchists

17. Attempts to Preserve Traditional Values: Rise of Nativism
Nativism and racism were also on the rise as the US retreats into a traditional isolationist foreign policy
Distrust of Foreigners (White Protestant American superiority)
This will be increased due to the fear of foreigners bringing in communism

18. Attempts to Preserve Traditional Values: Immigration
In response to the growth of Nativist sentiment the U.S. will pass:
Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929
used to keep out immigrants from Southern & Eastern Europe who many feared would bring in communism
The U.S will establish immigrant quotas for the 1st time

20. Attempts to Preserve Traditional Values: Rise in Racism
Rise of the KKK (Hostile to Jews, Catholics, immigrants and African Americans) (Ku Klux Klan)
This group gains support as many fear the “red scare”
KKK expands its original focus to now include anyone who challenges what they consider to be the pure “American Race”
White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant

23. Attempts to Preserve Traditional Values: Eugenics
Eugenics advocated improvement by breeding (superior race)
Who would be discouraged to “breed”?
Eugenicists wanted to promote superior genetic characteristics and justified this with Social Darwinism
Used to advocate:
reducing immigration
forced sterilization
Segregation
and marriage restrictions

25. Eugenics

26. Eugenics

27. Three Republican Presidents: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
Unit 6 The 1920’s
Three Republican Presidents: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover

28. The Presidents of the 1920s will differ from our Progressive Era Presidents—instead of fighting big business we see–
Policies favoring business
Lower taxes on corporations (lower taxes for the rich & corporations)
High protective tariffs (Hawley- Smoot Tariff—highest tariff in U.S. history, used to keep foreign goods out)
Lax enforcement of Antitrust laws and regulations (allowed to merge without government regulation)

29. Three Republican Presidents: Harding
The Harding Administration
Sought a “Return to Normalcy” after WWI (emphasis on domestic policy & economic prosperity in U.S.)
Administration beset by corruption with various scandals
Teapot Dome Scandal– One of Harding’s cabinet members leased government land rich in oil to business friends for a bribe

30. Teapot Dome Scandal
Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil-reserve lands from the navy to the Department of the Interior
The Secretary of the Interior (Albert Fall) secretly granted exclusive oil drilling rights to a private oil companies
These leases came under investigation of the Senate, when it was revealed that Fall had taken bribes in exchange for the leases
Though Harding was not actually involved in the scandal, the betrayal of his trust took a toll on his health

31. Harding's Fate
As a result of the scandal Harding went on vacation in Alaska
Harding falls ill while away and will die from his illness
Coolidge (Harding’s Vice President) will become President in following Harding's death

32. Three Republican Presidents: Coolidge
The Coolidge Administration
No right to strike against the public safety (Police strike of 1919)
Believed “business of America is business”
Strong pro business policies
Allowed large business expansion

33. Three Republican Presidents: Hoover
The Hoover Administration
Engineer who organized food production in World War I
Secretary of Commerce
As president promised an end to poverty which helped get him elected

34. Three Republican Presidents: Hoover
Believed in “rugged individualism” spirit that made US a great nation
equal opportunity, free education, will to succeed
Strongly Pro business
believed would raise U.S. standard of living
Felt that government interference in the economy should be minimal
Too much government caused corruption & limited opportunity

35. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 1) Rise of the Automobile
Cars allowed greater mobility to people (vacations, suburbs, schooling)
Stimulated other industries (gas, rubber, steel)
Single most important factor for prosperity of 1920’s

36. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s
Henry Ford—early auto manufacturer who pioneered new production techniques such as assembly line to lower car prices and bring car ownership within reach of most Americans
Model T priced at under $300 per car, allowed everyone to afford a car

37. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 3) New Industries
Electricity and electrical appliances stimulate economy:
radio
refrigerator
vacuum cleaners
Created new jobs and changed the way Americans lived

38. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 4) More Efficient Production Techniques
Assembly line
Standardized parts
Conveyer belt
Increased efficiency and production speed, did away with skilled workers

39. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 2) Aviation
Glenn Curtiss—aviation pioneer who developed airplanes that landed on water
This will make the navy invest in airplanes which will lead to new military/economic opportunities

40. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 5) Age of Mass Consumption
Higher wages and more leisure time lead to mass purchasing
Advertising stimulated demand
Retailers introduced:
installment buying
buying on credit
This creates a consumer economy

41. Reasons for Prosperity of the 1920’s: 6) Speculation Boom
Consumers were not the only Americans buying and selling
During the 1920s the stock market became a bull market
A period of rising stock prices as more and more Americans put their money into stocks
Corporate profits led stock prices to rise
Many Americans began to speculate in the stock market and real estate in the hopes of getting rich
By million Americans owned stocks

42. Speculation boom and buying on margin
As the market soared many took financial risks—such as:
Buying on margin—buying the stock on credit
By buying the stock on margin a buyer paid as little as 10% of the stock price upfront to the broker
The buyer then paid the broker for the rest of the stock over a period of months
The stock served as collateral for the broker’s loan
As long as the stock price went up the buyer could pay off the loan and make a profit, but if the price fell the buyer still had to pay off the loan to the broker.

43. OTD 1. Which president wanted a ‘return to normalcy’?
2. Who became president because he was VP to a president that died in office?
3. Which president’s term was full of scandal (tea pot dome)?
4. What is the term that means “a distrust/hatred of foreigners”?
5. What is the name of the ‘hate group’ that targeted Jews and Catholics in the 1920s?
6. What do we call the fear of communism in the 1920s?