1. The 1920s in The United States (“The Roaring 20s”)

2. Review
World War I was a bloody and brutal conflict that was unlike any war the world had previously seen. New military technologies and tactics led to an astonishing loss of life.
Many returning soldiers and volunteers brought these memories back to the United States with them. This disillusionment would impact the development of American culture and politics in the 1920s. One example was the refusal of many in the United States to support President Wilson's proposed idea for a League of Nations.
The American economy experienced a boom during and after the war. Many European nations had come to depend on the United States for food and supplies.

3. Introduction
In American history, the decade of the 1920s were characterized by changing gender roles and demographics, moral clashes, as well as cultural change/conflict and economic development.

4. Culture of the 1920s - Vocab Flappers 19th Amendment Demographics
Barrio
Great Migration
Mass Media
Jazz Age
Lost Generation
Harlem Renaissance
Prohibition
18th Amendment
Volstead Act
Speakeasies
Bootleggers
Organized Crime
21st Amendment
Scopes Trial
Garvey Movement

5. Culture of the 1920s - Outline
Changing Demographics
Rural to Urban Shift
The Great Migration
Latino Immigration
Cultural Change
Changing Roles of Women
Development of the Mass Media
The Jazz Age
The Harlem Renaissance
Cultural Conflict
Religious Fundamentalism
Prohibition
Conflict of Beliefs
Conflict of Race

6. I. Changing Demographics
In the early years of the 1920s the United States experienced a massive shift in demographics, or statistics that describe a population (such as data on race or income).
Rural to Urban Shift
Many Americans moved from rural areas to urban areas during the 1920s. (Why did they move?)
The influx of people in cities created an outward swelling of urban populations, leading to the growth of the suburbs.
Reason for the rural to urban shift:
Demand for American agricultural products in Europe declined by the early 1920s, as the European agricultural base recovered from World War I.
The American agricultural base contracted as a result of the decrease in demand. The decrease in demand also meant that fewer workers were needed for agricultural work in rural areas. Many people living and working in rural areas went to urban areas in search of employment.

7. Demographics (continued…)
The Great Migration
A massive movement of African Americans also occurred during the 1920s and was known as the Great Migration.
During the Great Migration, many African Americans from the southeastern United States moved north and westward.
Reasons for the Great Migration:
African Americans had difficulty finding employment in the southeast.
The passage of Jim Crow Laws in this region led to increased discrimination against African Americans.

8. Demographics (continued…)

9. Demographics (continued…)
Latino Immigration
Many Mexicans and Puerto Ricans began to immigrate to the United States during the 1920s.
These new immigrants were primarily drawn to areas such as New England, New York City, Texas and California.
Latinos created Spanish speaking neighborhoods in urban areas, these neighborhoods were known as barrios.
Reason for Latino immigration:
Latino immigrants were in search of employment as migrant workers in the rural areas of New England, Texas and California and were in search of manufacturing jobs in urban areas such as New York City and Los Angeles.

10. II. Cultural Change Changing Roles of Women
During the 1920s the United States experienced a great cultural change that, in some ways, would lead to the development of modern American culture.
Changing Roles of Women
During the 1920s women took on more important roles in the workplace, in the home, as well as socially and politically.
Young, rebellious, energetic, and bold young women, known as flappers would come to symbolize the new roles that women would play during the 1920s. Flappers represented a small number of American young women, but their challenge of traditional gender roles and values led to their importance.
Reasons for the Changing Roles of Women:
Women were needed to fill jobs during World War I when many men went to fight in the war. Women worked at jobs for many years and began to earn higher pay than before the War.
The 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote in the United States. A few states had granted the right to vote to women prior to the national referendum.

11. Cultural Change (continued…)
Development of the Mass Media
Prior to the 1920s, American culture was regionalized. There was little semblance of a national culture with common interests and values.
The print, film and broadcast methods of communicating information to large groups of people was known as the mass media. The development of the mass media created a national American culture, where people in different regions of the country followed the same news, listened to the same music and generally shared a common cultural experience.
Reasons for the Development of the Mass Media:
Newspapers and magazines grew in size and readership. As more Americans read newspapers and magazines advertising and profits rose. These developments led to mergers and the creation of larger, more widely read newspapers and magazines that reached larger numbers of people in different regions. Americans in different regions were getting their information from some of the same sources.
The radio developed as another mass media source during the 1920s. National radio stations developed during the 20s, stations such as NBC and CBS. These stations broadcast common American news and played the same types of music across the country.
Movies played a role in the development of a common American culture as well. Silent movies, starring actors like Charlie Chaplin, became increasingly popular during the 1920s. People across the country watched the same movies, with the same stars, many of which were made in Hollywood, California.

12. Cultural Change (continued…)
The Jazz Age
The 1920s are often referred to as the Jazz Age, due to the fact that jazz music became widely listened to and influential during this period.
Jazz originated from African American music of the south. It was a fusion of ragtime and blues. The Great Migration along with the development of radio as a mass media source helped to spread this new musical genre across the country.
Jazz was often played in small clubs and dance halls. The New York City neighborhood of Harlem was one of the most popular places to listen to jazz. The neighborhood had many jazz clubs that hosted many of the greatest jazz musicians of the time.
The Lost Generation was the term that was used to refer to a group of young American writers who rejected mainstream American culture during this period.
Notable Jazz Age figures:
Duke Ellington - African American jazz musician.
Benny Goodman - White “big Band” jazz musician.
Ernest Hemingway - Lost Generation writer.
F. Scott Fitzgerald - Lost Generation writer.
Importance of the Jazz Age:
Jazz music inspired other aspects of 1920s artistic expression such as poetry, painting and literature.

13. Cultural Change (continued…)
The Harlem Renaissance
Harlem is a neighborhood in New York City that became a popular destination for African Americans during the Great Migration of the 1920s.
The Harlem Renaissance was the term for an African American literary awakening that took place in Harlem during the 1920s.
The writers, poets and artists of the Harlem Renaissance had a common theme among their work, which was the African American experience.
Notable Harlem renaissance figures:
James Weldon Johnson - Writer and NAACP leader.
Langston Hughes - Writer and poet.
Importance of the Harlem Renaissance:
The Harlem Renaissance made African American cultural achievements part of mainstream American culture.

14. III. Cultural Conflict
With the end of World War I and the emergence of the new youth culture of the 1920s traditional American culture attempted to restrict new cultural changes and the perceived source of these changes.
Religious Fundamentalism
Many Americans became uncomfortable with the cultural changes that were taking place in the 1920s.
Between 1910 and 1915 religious traditionalists established a set of beliefs that came to be called fundamentalism. Among these beliefs was the idea that the Bible was literally true.
By the 1920s fundamentalism began to become more popular among those Americans that were uncomfortable with the new youth culture of the time period.
Beliefs of religious fundamentalists in the 1920s:
The Bible was literally true.
Alcohol was evil and was to blame for the cultural changes and problems of the time period.

15. Cultural Conflict (continued…)
Prohibition
The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by Congress on January 16th, 1919 and went into effect the following year. The 18th Amendment made the sale, possession and consumption of alcohol illegal in the United States. The Volstead Act was also passed by Congress in 1919 and provided the means of enforcing the 18th Amendment.
The United States governments ban on alcohol during the 1920s would is known as Prohibition.
The idea for the national ban on alcohol originated form a general public feeling toward alcohol and was influenced by the progressive and fundamentalist movements. This movement to ban alcohol was known as the temperance movement.
Prohibition was unsuccessful almost from the start. Many Americans still drank alcohol in illegal bars known as speakeasies. Criminals known as bootleggers smuggled alcohol into the United States from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Some criminals even made their own alcohol in secret distilleries.

16. Cultural Conflict (continued…)
Outcomes of Prohibition:
Organized crime grew in strength and became a powerful force in American society during this period. Organized crime refers to complex criminal organizations that operate illegal businesses such as gambling, prostitution and liquor smuggling (during Prohibition).
The 18th Amendment was ultimately repealed in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution. Prohibition lasted approximately 13 years from 1920 to 1933.
Al Capone (top) and Charles “Lucky” Luciano (bottom) were two of the more infamous organized crime figures who bootlegged liquor during Prohibition.

17. Cultural Conflict (continued…)
Conflict of Belief
One of the major cultural conflicts of the 1920s was over the theory of evolution. Those who believed in religious fundamentalist theories pushed for the a ban on the teaching of the theory in public schools.
The Scopes Trial was at the center of the debate over evolution. The trial occurred in 1925 in after the state of Tennessee banned the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools.
A teacher by the name of John T. Scopes challenged the ban by teaching the theory in his class. Scopes believed that the ban was unconstitutional and he was arrested and tried for defying it. Scopes was found guilty of defying the ban and was fined $100.
Importance of the Scopes Trial:
The trial symbolized the clash of modern and traditional cultural beliefs in the United States during the 1920s.

18. Cultural Conflict (continued…)
Conflict of Race
The Great Migration of African Americans to the western and northern states created racial tension between whites and blacks in cities like Chicago, Illinois, where the African American population had increased dramatically during the Great Migration.
The Ku Klux Klan experienced a resurgence of membership during the 1920s. The Klan's membership expanded to roughly 4 million members by 1924.
What was most notable was that the Klan had spread out of the south and into the mid-western and northern regions of the United States as well.
The Klan also expanded the focus of it’s harassment to include Jews, Catholics, and immigrants along with African Americans.
The Garvey Movement was an attempt by Marcus Garvey to build African American self-respect and power in the United States.
Garvey was a Jamaican immigrant who settled in New York City. He led an organization (UNIA - Universal Negro Improvement Association) that attempted to increase the number of African American owned businesses and even encouraged many African Americans to visit Africa.
Garvey was eventually arrested and accused of fraud regarding the financial management of his organization. He was deported to his native Jamaica in 1927.

19. Essential Questions…
E.Q. #1: What important social changes took place during the 1920s?
Rural to urban migration.
The Great Migration.
Changing Roles for Women.
The Harlem Renaissance.
Development of the Mass Media.
Growth of Religious Fundamentalism.

20. Essential Questions…
E.Q. #2: What were the causes and effects of the Great Migration during the 1920s?
Causes:
Few employment opportunities for African Americans.
Jim Crow Laws (discrimination)
Effects:
Racial tensions in the north and Midwest.
KKK membership spreads to the north and Midwest.

21. Politics of the 1920s - Vocab
Red Scare
Communism
Schenck vs. U.S.
Sacco and Vanzetti
Isolationism
Nativism
Quota
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Teapot Dome Scandal

22. Politics of the 1920s - Outline
The Red Scare
What was the Red Scare?
Causes of the Rd Scare
Outcomes of the Red Scare
The Harding Administration
The Election of 1920
Foreign Policy
Domestic Policy
Scandals
The Coolidge Administration
The Election of 1924
The Election of 1928

23. I. The Red Scare What was the Red Scare? Causes of the Red Scare:
American politics of the early 1920s were strongly influenced by the first World War. The American public wanted to avoid entanglement in the political affairs of Europe and many of the political decisions of the decade would reflect this attitude.
What was the Red Scare?
The Red Scare was the period of time from 1919 to 1920, when the United States government and the people of the United States feared that communists, domestic and from abroad, might attempt to take control of the American government.
Communism: A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and means of production. The goal of this type of government is progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
Causes of the Red Scare:
The Russian Revolution of was the primary cause of the Red Scare.
Events such as the Russian attempted to overthrow the German government led to fear among many Americans, including politicians, that the same could happen in the United States.
A series of labor strikes took place across the country in 1919 and furthered the fear of Communist ideals spreading into the United States.

24. Politics (continued…)
Outcomes of the Red Scare:
One outcome of the Red Scare was the Schenk vs. The United States Supreme Court case of This case was important because the final decision was that the Federal government can suspend the right to free speech if there is a “clear and present danger to the nation.”
The case centered around a man named Charles Schenk who opposed the draft that took place near the end of World War I. Schenck wrote letters to drafted American men encouraging them not to report for duty. Schenck was arrested and cited free speech as his defense.
This decision expanded the power of the Supreme Court in that the Court made a decision that, in a sense, overruled the United States Constitution.
The controversial Sacco and Vanzetti trial of the early 1920s was another outcome of the Red Scare.
This case involved the arrest of two Italian immigrants with radical political beliefs. These men (Sacco and Vanzetti) were arrested and charged with a robbery/murder that many in the public felt they did not commit.
Common belief was that the men were arrested because they were immigrants and also because they held some radical political beliefs.
Both men were executed in 1927.
Another outcome of the Red Scare was the election of Warren G. Harding to the presidency in the election of Among American voters there was a feeling of unease at the time of the election and they chose to elect a Republican President who they felt would bring security to the nation.

25. Politics (continued…)

26. II. The Harding Administration
American politics in the 1920s were dominated by Republican ideals and leadership in Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House.
The Election of 1920
As previously stated, the Red Scare of led, in part, to the election of Warren G. Harding in the Election of 1920.
During the Election of 1920 Harding campaigned on the idea that he would help the United States “return to normalcy” domestically and abroad.
Foreign Policy
Many Americans wanted the United States to keep out of European entanglements, as they blamed European alliances for the outbreak of the First World War.
Harding's “return to normalcy” ideas led to his administrations policy of isolationism with regard to issues outside of the United states.
Isolationism: The policy of avoiding economic or political alliances with other nations.

27. Politics (continued…)
Domestic Policy
A domestic movement that took place in the early 1920s was the Nativism Movement. Many Americans began to feel as though immigrants were not to be trusted and that immigration to the United States should be restricted.
Nativism: The belief that the United States of America was created by and should be populated by native-born Americans and not immigrants.
The domestic policy of President Harding again mirrored the desires of the American population. In 1921, Harding pressured Congress to pass stricter immigration laws.
The laws set a quota on immigration to the United States. A quota is a numerical limit.
In 1924, the National Origins Act further limited the number of immigrants that were allowed into the United States by lowering the quota established in 1921.

28. Politics (continued…)
Scandals
The Harding Administration was notoriously corrupt. Several administration officials were caught steal government funds and taking bribes.
The most infamous Harding Administration scandal was known as the Teapot Dome Scandal.
The Teapot Dome Scandal involved the Secretary of the Interior of the Harding Administration, a man by the name of Albert Fall.
Fall gave oil drilling rights to companies in exchange for bribes. One of the contracts was rewarded in a Wyoming town called Teapot Dome.
President Warren G. Harding

29. III. The Coolidge Administration
The Coolidge Administration would prove to be, in the realms of foreign and domestic policy, a continuation of the Harding Administration.
The Election of 1924
Calvin Coolidge was the Vice President under Warren G. Harding, but had not been implicated in any of the administrations scandals.
Coolidge served the remainder of Harding's term when he died in the summer of 1923.
Coolidge ran for, and won, his own term in the Election of 1924.
Foreign Policy
President Coolidge shared the same point of view. He believed in
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement that the United States, under the leadership of the Coolidge Administration, would enter into in an attempt to ensure to future American involvement in European wars.
The Kellogg Briand pact was an agreement by approximately 60 nations which stated that none of the agreed nations would declare war upon another.
The agreement was set in motion by then United States Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign minister Aristide Briand, this is the origin of the agreements name.

30. Politics (continued…)
Domestic Policy
President Coolidge held a “hands off” economic viewpoint. He believed that if the government did not interfere with business then business would grow and prosper.
One of the most famous Coolidge quotes was that “the business of America is business.” This quote summed up the economic policy of the Coolidge Administration.
The Election of 1928
Coolidge decided not to run for reelection in the Election of 1928.
The Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover in his place and Hoover would go on to win the Election of 1928 by a large margin.
Hoover had been a member of both the Harding and Coolidge Administrations.

31. Economics of the 1920s - Vocab
G.N.P. (Gross National Product)
Productivity
The Consumer Economy
Buying on Credit
Installment Plan
Assembly Line
Speculation
Buying on Margin

32. Economics of the 1920s - Outline
Development of the Consumer Economy
Rise in American Productivity
New Consumer Goods
New Economic Practices
The Consumer Economy Emerges
Industrial Growth
The Auto Industry Booms
Other Industries that Prospered:
Reasons for Growth:
Those Missed Out on the Boom?
Economic Danger Signs
Uneven Prosperity
Personal Debt
Overproduction
The Farming Industry

33. I. Development of the Consumer Economy
The modern American economy, as we know it today, began to develop during the 1920s. New technological developments and economic practices would lead to a change in the supply and demand of the American economy.
Rise in American Productivity
The G.N.P of the United States grew extremely quickly during the 1920s.
G.N.P. stands for Gross National Product, which is the term for the total value of goods and services produced by a nation.
Productivity is the rate at which good or services are produced.
New Consumer Goods
A surge in home building occurred in the 1920s and most of these new homes were wired with electricity. Those who bought these new homes were interested in buying new products that required electricity, such as refrigerators.
Some examples of new consumer goods of the 1920s:
Refrigerators, radios, automobiles, washing machines.

34. Economics (continued…)
New Economic Practices
Prior to the 1920s, Americans primarily bought what they needed and valued saving money. They rarely took on loans or bought items that they did not already have the money for.
Higher wages, new products, and lower costs began to change the American attitude towards how and why they spent money.
New economic Practices:
Buying on credit increased in popularity during the 1920s. This is when people borrow money to buy an item, usually from a lending company or bank.
Many manufacturers also offered installment plans to consumers. They allowed consumers to take the item they wanted and make partial payments over time, rather than paying for it up front.
Advertising changed during the 1920s. Many manufacturers advertised the way in which a consumers image would improve with the purchase of an item, rather than how good the item was.
The Consumer Economy Emerges
The rise in productivity across American industry made more products available, meaning that they would be cheaper to the consumer. New types of consumer good along with new economic practices led to the development of the consumer economy. A consumer economy is an economy that depends upon a large amount of consumer spending.

35. Economics (continued…)

36. II. Industrial Growth
Political leadership, the rise in productivity, development of new technologies and the consumer economy, would lead to increased industrial growth in the United State during the 1920s.
The Auto Industry Booms
More than 15 million automobiles were sold during the 1920s. The boom in the automobile industry was due, in large part, to the development of the assembly line by Henry Ford. An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which each worker does a specialized task in the building of a manufactured good.
Ford did not invent the assembly line, but he made it more efficient by developing a system by which the vehicle moved to the workers, on a motorized line. The success of Ford’s assembly line made Ford the most successful manufacturing company of the 1920s.
The development of the consumer economy and installment buying also helped the auto industry boom during the 1920s.
Other Industries that Prospered:
Business that supplied, serviced and sold automobiles also prospered during the 1920s, benefiting from the boom in the auto industry.
Examples of other industries that prospered:
Oil industry
Radio industry
Airline industry

37. Economics (continued…)
Reasons for Growth:
Republican political leadership.
The “hands off” approach of Republican leaders during the 1920s allowed for industrial growth to take place.
Higher wages in the years immediately following World War I meant that Americans would have more money to spend on goods and services.
The development of the consumer economy led to an increase in the demand for manufactured goods.
Who Missed Out on the Boom?
African Americans were one group that missed out the economic boom of the 1920s, as their wages did not increase.
Farmers and agricultural workers also failed to experience the boom. Why was this the case?
A shrinking demand for American agricultural products in post WWI Europe led to overproduction.
Overproduction led to a decline in the price of agricultural goods and therefore shrinking profits.
The Railroad Industry…
The development of trucking as a viable shipping option along with the demands of labor unions led to a decrease in the profitability of many railroad companies.

38. III. Economic Danger Signs
During the 1920s the American economy grew more quickly and productive than ever before. The development of a new technologies and economic practices would increase the economic output of the United States, but would ultimately prove to good to be true.
Uneven Prosperity
By 1929, the wealthiest .1% of the American population held 34% of the nations savings. These families earned an average of $100,000 a year.
At the same time nearly 80% of Americans had no savings. These families earned less than $2,500 a year.
Republican leadership of the 1920s decreased taxes on the wealthy as part of their “hands off” approach to economics. This was done in an attempt to further increase economic growth.

39. Economics (continued…)
Personal Debt
The development of buying with credit and installment plans led to a rise in the personal debt of the average American.
People bought consumer goods and homes without having the money to pay for them, relying on loans and installments, intending to pay these debts in the future.
Overproduction
Although the development of the consumer economy was one of the causes of the 1920s industrial boom, eventually manufacturers companies became too efficient, in the sense that they produced more than what was demanded.
Consumers did not demand enough goods and services to maintain a steady growth in profit.
This meant that goods and services would decrease, which would have a negative impact on industry.

40. Economics (continued…)
The Farming Industry
At the end of World War I the United States farming industry experienced a short boom period as European nations demanded American agricultural products.
European nations demanded American farm products due to the fact that their own agricultural industry was in the process of recovering from the destruction of the war.
As a result of the farming boom, many farmers increased production on their land, taking out loans from small, local banks to buy new, expensive farming equipment.
When the European agricultural industry recovered in the early 1920s demand for American agricultural products plummeted meaning that the prices for agricultural good also dropped dramatically, profits all but disappeared for farmers.
Most banks make money by using the funds that people deposit to grant loans to others. These loans are paid back with interest and the bank and its depositors make money.
As farmers found it increasingly difficult to sell their goods, many defaulted on their loans, meaning that they were simply unable to pay them back.
Many banks closed in near the end of the 1920s and many people lost their savings in these banks.

41. Economics (continued…)

42. Conclusion
The decade of the 1920s were a period of great change and economic growth in the United States. However, as the decade came to a close many of the changes that took place would have a negative effect on the nations social and economic well-being.