1. Roaring 20s

2. A Republican Decade  Strikes, arrests, revolution overseas—such events frightened Americans in the 1920s and they turned to Republican Party for stability and economic prosperity

3. What is happening in this picture? What concept is this political cartoon illustrating?

4. The Harding Presidency 1920-1923  1920 election, Republican Warren G. Harding promised “return to normalcy”  1920 won presidency until death in 1923  Foreign policy reflect America’s desire for isolationism—policy of avoiding political or economic alliances with foreign countries  No attempt to join League of Nations  Yet President support efforts to prevent future wars  Disarmament—nations voluntarily give up their weapons

5.  Economically, he favored:  Lower taxes  Less control over businesses  Support high tariffs (taxes) on foreign, competitor goods to make them more expensive  protect US businesses/workers

6.  Culturally, as America became more isolationist, they also became more nativist—movement favoring native-born Americans over immigrants  Nativist Reasons = Anti- Immigrant  Never loyal  Blamed for urban city problems—slums & corruption  Fear for loss of jobs  Pass on anarchist (violent overthrow of government) + communist (opponent of democracy + capitalism) ideals

7. End of President Harding…Literally  Start of 1923, economy bouncing back + strong popularity for president  Mid 1923  corruption scandals in Harding’s cabinet  Biggest scandal  Teapot Dome Scandal  Harding’s Secretary of Interior Albert Fall bribed by oil executives to sell government land in Teapot Dome, Wyoming—oil  Albert Fall became 1 st cabinet member imprisoned for crime while in office  Harding died in 1923 during the scandal in office

8. The Coolidge Presidency  1923-1928  Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president and cleaned up scandals  Elected president 1924-1928  Major View  “The Business of the American people is business”  Laissez-Faire  limited to no government interference in business

9. Election of 1928  When Coolidge decided not to run for a 2 nd term, Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover  Hoover promised more pro-business, isolationism & small government = victory

10. A Business Boom...Mixed Success  1920s gave birth to much of modern America  Shopping centers, fast-food, advertising, mass media, cars, radios, movies

11. Causes of Economic Growth  Consumer Economy—depends on a large amount of buying (consuming) by people who use products  New & Improved products  Model-T cars, refrigerators, radios, vacuums, ovens, telephones  Income tax cuts (% taken out of paycheck for government) left people with more $$$  Higher wages gave people more money to spend on movies, radio, sporting events  Until 1920s, Americans generally paid cash for things they bought  Borrowing = unthrifty + immoral

12.  1920s saw new ways to purchase goods as demand for them grew  Credit—a way to delay paying for a purchase (pay once you hit a certain amount)  Installment Buying—system allows customer to make partial payments (installments) over a few months  Installment + Credit plans encouraged people to buy things who otherwise would not  even though they had to pay high interest rates

13. Economic Troubles  Economy appeared to be healthy but looks can be deceiving…uneven prosperity  Huge gap between rich and poor  50% in poverty  Many Americans did not prosper  Farmers  over production  Minorities—African Americans

14. New Roles for Women  During 1920s, women had more freedom than ever before  drove cars, sports, college, teachers, nurses, social workers  Some women in 1920s called themselves flappers – young, rebellious fun-loving, bold  Stood for a longing to break with the past  Fashion  Shorter dresses, short hair, make-up  Manners  Smoked + drank in public  19th Amendment gave women right to vote  1920s women developed a new attitude toward marriage = partnership (men agreed)

15. Mass Media  Before 1920s, the majority of Americans did not travel much and was divided culturally  Mass Media  communications that reach a large audience  Film, Radio, Advertising  peaceful propaganda  Created a national culture (things that people had in common across the country)  songs, dances, fashion, slang, sports, news

16. Lost Generation  For some, the decade after WWI was not a time for celebration  deep despair + resentment = Lost Generation  Lost in a greedy, materialistic world  F Scott Fitzgerald  The Great Gatsby  Focus on wealthy, sophisticated Americans during Jazz Age  Rich  self-centered and shallow

17. Prohibition  18 th Amendment—ban alcohol  Most Americans disregard law  Bootleggers  suppliers + smugglers of illegal alcohol  Speakeasies  illegal bars  Rise of organized crime  Al Capone

18. Jazz Age  1920s—Jazz Age—was a time celebrating new and modern things  Jazz music—mix of African rhythms, ragtime, blues  free spirit of the times  Rebelled against values which led to WWI  Harlem  Duke Ellington + Louis Armstrong  musicians

19. Issues of Religion  Religious movement called fundamentalism gained followers and political power  Fundamentalists took the bible literally (everything was true)  Argued that public schools shouldn’t teach evolution—theory that living things developed over millions of years from simpler life forms  Felt it contradicted the Bible  pass laws made evolution teachings illegal  1925, John Scopes broke law & found guilty  Guilty verdict over-turned by state Supreme Court  **Clash between modern beliefs vs. traditional values

20. The Harlem Renaissance  1920s brought changes to the lives of many African Americans  Great Migration  North and Western cities for economic and social opportunities

21. Confronting Racism  As blacks moved out of the South the KKK eventually moved with them  By 1924, the KKK claimed about 5 million members  ‘America for Americans’  KKK carried out many crimes against African- Americans, Catholics, Jews & immigrants  Increasing violence against African Americans rallied the efforts of the NAACP  Worked in vain to pass anti-lynching laws + protect voting rights

22.  Many African-Americans were losing faith in the US  dreamed of a place where they could live in peace  Marcus Garvey  Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)  sought to build up blacks’ self-respect + economic power  Garvey urged ‘Back to Africa’ solution since equality seemed hopeless  Failed

23. Rise of Harlem  Late 1800s  wealthy white community  Build up too much and buildings remained vacant  real estate prices fall  Black businessmen started buying cheap buildings and selling them to African Americans  By 1920, New York, Harlem, became the unofficial capital of black America  Soon Harlem produced cultural activity called Harlem Renaissance  Symbolized rebirth of hope and culture for African Americans  Writers, singers, painters, sculptors, scholars move to Harlem

24. In Summary…  New technologies led to social transformations that improved the standard of living for many, while contributing to increased political and cultural conflicts.  New technologies contributed to improved standards of living, greater personal mobility, and better communications systems.

25.  Technological change, modernization, and changing demographics led to increased political and cultural conflict on several fronts:  Tradition vs. innovation  Urban vs. rural  Fundamentalist Christianity vs. scientific modernism  Management vs. labor  Native born vs. new immigrants  White vs. Black  Idealism vs. disillusionment

26.  The rise of an urban, industrial society encouraged the development of a variety of cultural expressions for migrant, regional, and African American artists (expressed most notably in the Harlem Renaissance movement); it also contributed to national culture by making shared experiences more possible through art, cinema, and the mass media.