 1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the "Jazz Age"
 in sum, a period of great change in American Society - modern America is born at this time
 for first time the census reflected an urban society - people had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard
of living
Age of Prosperity
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Economic expansion
 Assembly Line
 Ailing Agriculture…
Mass Production
 Age of the Automobile
an agri. depression in early 1920's contributed to this urban migration
U.S. farmers lost agri. markets in postwar Europe
at same time agri. efficiency increased so more food produced (more food = lower prices) and fewer labourers
needed
 so farming was no longer as prosperous, and bankers called in their loans (farms repossessed)
 so American farmers enter the Depression in advance of the rest of society
Black Americans
 Black Americans in this period continued to
live in poverty
 sharecropping kept them in de facto slavery
 1915 - boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop
 white landowners went bankrupt & forced
blacks off their land
 Blacks moved north to take advantage of
booming wartime industry (= Great Migration)
- Black ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem
 within these ghettoes a distinct Black culture
flourished
 But both blacks and whites wanted cultural
interchange restricted
 Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born immigrant)
established the Universal Negro Improvement
Association
 believed in Black pride
 advocated racial segregation b/c of Black
superiority
 Garvey believed Blacks should return to Africa
 he purchased a ship to start the Black Star line
 attracted many investments: gov't charged
him with w/fraud
he was found guilty and eventually deported to Jamaica, but his organization continued to exist
Republican Power
 President Harding
 Elected 1920
 Legacy of Scandals
 “Teapot Dome”
 Died in office
President Coolidge
“The business of America is business.”
 Fordney-McCumber Tariff
 Smoot-Hawley Tariff
 No help for farmers
 Foreign Policy
Consumer Economy-What types of consumer products appeared in the 20’s?
Culture of the Roaring 20’s
Radio-KDKA Pittsburgh-GE, Westinghouse,& RCA form NBC
Silent Movies-Charlie Chaplin
Talkies”-The Jazz Singer-Starring Al Jolson
Mary Pickford-“America’s Sweetheart”
The 20’s is The Jazz Age
The Flappers -make up, cigarettes,
Writers-F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest
Musicians-Louis Armstrong, Duke
short skirts
Hemingway
Ellington
 1920's also brought about great changes for women...
 1920 - 19th Amendment gave them the federal vote
 after 1920, social circumstances changed too as more women worked outside the home
 and more women went to college and clamoured to join the professions
 women didn't want to sacrifice wartime gains - amounted to a social revolt
– characterized by the FLAPPER/ "new woman"(bobbed hair, short dresses, smoked in public...)
A Society in Conflict
 Anti-immigrant
– National Origins Act
– Discrimination
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
– Italian immigrants
– Unfair trial
– for immigrants – the point of origin had shifted to S & E Europe and new religions appeared: Jewish,
Orthodox, Catholic
– N. European immigrants of early 19c. feared this shift and felt it would undermine Protestant values
– this fear was known as NATIVISM
– many wanted Congress to restrict immigration, leading to a quota system that favoured n. areas of Europe
– fear of immigrants (from SE Europe) led to a sentiment known as the Red Scare (fear of comm. post-Bolshevik
Rev.)
– basic comm. advocates a int'l revolution by the proletariat/workers - fears that this ideology could find its
way into the U.S.
– at this time, W. Wilson was gravely ill following a stroke
– his Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, wanted to take a shot at the presidency - he used fears of both
immigrants and communism to his advantage
– he had J. Edgar Hoover round up suspected radicals, many of which were deported (Palmer Raids)
The Ku Klux Klan-Great increase In power
1. Anti-_________________
2. Anti-_________________
3. Anti-_________________
4. Anti-_________________
5. Anti-_________________
6. Anti-_________________
Scopes “Monkey” Trial
Evolution vs. Creationism
Prohibition
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PROHIBITION - on manuf. and sale of alcohol
adopted in 1919 - 18th AMENDMENT
an outgrowth of the temperance movement
in WWI, temperance became a patriotic mvmt. - drunkenness caused low productivity & inefficiency, and
alcohol needed to treat the wounded
 a difficult law to enforce... organized crime, speakeasies, bootleggers were on the rise
 Al Capone virtually controlled Chicago in this period - capitalism at its zenith…
 Prohibition finally ended in 1933 w/ the 21st Amendment
forced organized crime to pursue other interests