From Boom to Bust
1919-1929
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Unit Essential Question:
In what ways did culture, society and
the economy of the United States
change in the 1920s?
2
Focus Question:
How did the results of WWI lead to
ethnic tensions of the 1920s?
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Domestic Consequences of World War I
• Accelerated America’s emergence as the world’s
greatest industrial power
• Contributed to the movement of African Americans to
Northern cities
• Intensified anti-immigrant and anti-radical sentiments
among mainstream Americans
• Brought over 1 million women into the workforce
• U.S. Military begins the process of demobilization
4
Politics of the “Roaring Twenties”
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AMERICANS STRUGGLE WITH POSTWAR
ISSUES
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• Main Idea: A desire for normality after the war and
a fear of communism and “foreigners” led to
postwar isolationism.
• Why it matters now? Americans today continue to
debate political isolationism and immigration
policy.
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• In 1919, many workers began to cry out for fair
pay and better working conditions. A rash of labor
strikes broke out across the country.
• The public was not supportive of striking workers.
*WWI left most Americans
eager to get back to normal,
peaceful living and they felt
resentful of anyone who caused
unrest.
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• Postwar Trends
– WWI left much of the American public exhausted.
– Debate over League of Nations divided America.
– Progressive Era caused numerous changes in American
life.
– Economy was in a difficult state of adjustment.
– Returning soldiers faced unemployment or took their
old jobs from women and minorities.
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– Cost of living had doubled
– Farmers and factory workers suffered as wartime orders
diminished
– Many Americans responded to the stressful conditions
by becoming fearful of outsiders. A wave of
Nativism, or prejudice against foreign-born people,
swept the nation.
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– So, too, did a belief in isolationism, a policy of pulling
away from involvement in world affairs.
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Fear of Communism
– One perceived threat to American life was the spread
of communism, an economic and political system
based on a single-party government ruled by a
dictatorship.
– Widespread after WWI
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– In order to equalize wealth and power, Communists would
put an end to private property, substituting
government ownership of factories, railroads, and other
businesses.
– How many countries are still ruled by a
Communist government today?
– Can you name them?
13
THE RED SCARE
– The panic in the US began in 1919, after revolutionaries
in Russia overthrew the czarist regime. Vladimir Lenin
and his followers, or Bolsheviks (“the majority”),
established a new Communist state.
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– Waving their symbolic red flag, Communists, or “Reds,”
cried out for a worldwide revolution that would abolish
capitalism everywhere.
– 70,000 radicals joined a Communist Party in the US.
When several dozen bombs were mailed to government
and business leaders, the public grew fearful that the
Communists were taking over.
15
THE PALMER RAIDS
– US Attorney General Mitchell Palmer took action to
combat this “Red Scare.” In August 1919, Palmer
appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant.
Palmer, Hoover, and their agents hunted down
suspected Communists, socialists, and
anarchists- people who opposed any form of
government.
16
Palmer Raids Clip
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– They trampled people’s civil rights, invading homes and
offices and jailing suspects without allowing them legal
counsel. Hundreds of foreign- born radicals were
deported without trials. But Palmer’s raids failed to turn
up evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy.
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SACCO AND VANZETTI
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– The Red Scare fed people’s suspicions of foreigners and
immigrants. This nativist attitude led to ruined reputations
and wrecked lives. The two most famous victims of this
attitude were Nicola Sacco (shoe maker) and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti (fish peddler). Both were Italian immigrants and
anarchists; both had evaded the draft during WWI.
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– May 1920- Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and charged
with robbery and murder of a factory paymaster and his
guard. Witnesses said the criminals appeared to be
Italians. The accused asserted their innocence and
provided alibis; the evidence against them was
circumstantial; and the presiding judge made prejudicial
remarks. Nevertheless, the jury found them guilty and
sentenced them to death.
21
– Protests rang out in the US, Europe, and Latin America.
– The two men died in the electric chair on August 23,
1927. Before he was executed, Vanzetti made a
statement.
22
Limiting Immigration
– During the wave of nativist sentiment, “Keep
America for Americans” became the prevailing
attitude.
– After WWI, the need for unskilled labor in the
US decreased. Nativists argued that because
the US now had fewer unskilled jobs available,
fewer immigrants should be let into the
country.
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– The Immigration Act of 1924 enacted a quota system that
allotted most slots for immigrants form Northern Europe
and severely limited immigration from Southern and
Eastern Europe
– The act reflected racism against certain ethnic groups and a
general Xenophobia, or fear of foreigners- in the country
– Sacco and Vanzetti case
– Many of these immigrants were processed through
Ellis Island NYC
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25
Modern Day- Xenophobia
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhzC5a
Jf8W0&feature=fvst&safety_mode=true&p
ersist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
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– Nativist feelings were fueled by the fact that some of
the people involved in postwar labor disputes were
immigrant anarchists and socialists, who many
Americans believed were actually Communist.
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Focus Question:
What factors contributed to the second
rising of the KKK? What groups of
people were targeted?
28
THE KLAN RISES AGAIN
– As a result of the Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings,
different groups of bigots used anti-communism as an
excuse to harass any group unlike themselves. One such
group was the Ku-Klux-Klan (KKK).
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– The KKK was devoted to “100% Americanism.” By 1924,
KKK membership reached 4.5 million “white male
persons, native-born gentile citizens.”
– The Klan believed in keeping blacks “in their place,”
destroying saloons, opposing unions, and driving out
Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born people out of the
country.
30
• The religion of the KKK = Protestant Christianity
• So why did the Klan burn crosses?
31
A Time of Labor Unrest
– Another severe postwar conflict formed between labor
and management. During the war, the government
wouldn’t allow workers to strike because nothing could
interfere with the war effort. However, 1919 saw more
than 3,000 strikes during which some 4 million workers
walked off the job.
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– Employers didn’t want to give raises, nor did they want
employees to join unions. Some employers, either out of
a sincere belief or because they saw a way to keep
wages down, attempted to show that union members
were planning a Revolution. Employers labeled striking
workers as Communists. Newspapers screamed, “Plots
to Establish Communism.” Three strikes in particular
grabbed public attention: The Boston Police Strike, The
Steel Mill Strike, The Coal Miners’ Strike.
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Focus Question:
How and why did the economic boom
of the 1920s begin?
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THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA
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• Main Idea: Consumer good fueled the business boom of
the 1920s as America’s standard of living soared
• Why it matters now: Business, technological, and social
developments of the 1920s launched the era of modern
consumerism
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• Main Idea: Consumer goods fueled the business
boom of the 1920s as America’s standard of living
soared.
• Why It Matters Now: Business, technological, and
social developments of the 1920s launched the era
of modern consumerism.
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American Industries Flourish
– Both Coolidge and his Republican successor, Herbert
Hoover, favored government policies that would keep
taxes down and business profits up, and give businesses
more available credit in order to expand.
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– Their goal was to keep government interference in
business to a minimum and to allow private enterprise to
flourish. For most of the 1920s, this approach seemed to
work. Coolidge’s administration continued to place high
tariffs on foreign imports, which helped American
manufacturers. At the same time, wages were rising
because of new technology, and so was
productivity.
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• The Impact of the Automobile
– The automobile became the backbone of the American
economy in the 1920s (and remained such until the
1970s).
– The automobile literally changed the American
landscape.
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– The most visible effect was the construction of
paved roads suitable for driving in all weather. One such
road was the legendary Route 66, which provided an
excellent driving surface from Chicago to California.
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– In addition to the changing landscape, architectural
styles also changed, as new houses typically came
equipped with a garage and a driveway.
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– The automobile also launched the rapid construction of
gasoline stations, repair shops, public garages,
motels , tourist camps, and shopping centers.
– Automobile also:
•
•
•
•
Liberated the isolated rural family
Gave families the opportunity to vacation in faraway places
Allowed more independence and increased mobility
Allowed workers to live miles away from their jobs, resulting in
urban sprawl as cities spread in all directions.
• Stimulated the growth of rubber, gas, oil, and steel industry
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• Henry Ford’s assembly line method used to produce the
Model-T saved both time and production costs
• It became the model for manufacturing all over the world
By the late 1920s, around 80% of all registered motor
vehicles in the world were in the US- about one
automobile for every five people.
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• The Young Airplane Industry
– Transatlantic flights by Charles Lindbergh (1927) and
Amelia Earhart (1928) helped to promote cargo and
commercial airlines.
– Founded in 1927, Pan American Airways inaugurated the
first transatlantic passenger flights.
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• America’s Standard of Living Soars
– 1920-1929 were prosperous years for Americans.
– The average annual income rose more than 35% during
that period from $522 to $705.
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• Electrical Conveniences
• Gasoline powered much of the economic boom of
the 1920s, but the use of electricity also
transformed the nation
• Electrical appliances:
– Made the lives of housewives easier
– Freed their time for other leisure activities
– Coincided with a growing trend of women working
outside the home
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Goods and Prices, 1900 and 1928
1900
1928
Wringer and washboard
$5
Washing machine
Brushes and brooms
$5
Vacuum cleaner
$50
Sewing machine (elec.)
$60
Sewing machine (mech.) $25
$150
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– While income rose for many Americans in the 1920s, it
did not rise for everyone. Industries such as textile and
clothing manufacturing made very little profit. Mining
and agriculture actually suffered losses. Farmers were
deeply in debt because they had borrowed money to
buy land and machinery so they could produce more
crops during WWI. When European agriculture bounced
back after the war, the demand for US crops fell, as did
prices. Before long there were US farm surpluses.
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A Superficial Prosperity
• During the 1920s, most Americans believed
prosperity would go on forever….
• The average factory worker was producing 50%
more at the end of the decade than at its start
• Wasn’t national income on the rise?
1921- 64 billion
1929- 87 billion
• Weren’t most major corporations making
fortunes?
• Wasn’t the stock market reaching new heights?
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– Producing Great Quantities of Goods leads to merging
companies and business expansion
– Growing income gap between managers and workers
– Sick industries (iron, railroad, farming)
– Buying goods on credit
• Installment Buying- enabled people to buy goods over an
extended period, without having to put down much money at
the time of purchase.
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• Some economists and business owners worried that
installment buying might be getting out of hand and feared
for what may come in the future
• Still, most Americans focused their attention on the
present, with little concern for the future
• Coolidge era was built on paradox
– The president stood for economy and a frugal way of life, but was
favored by a public who had thrown all care out the window
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• A PERSONAL VOICE
“Have you an automobile yet?”
“No, I talked it over with John and he felt we could not afford one.”
“Mr. Budge who lives in your town has one and they are not as well
off as you are.”
“Yes, I know. Their second installment came due, and they had no
money to pay it.”
“What did they do? Lose the car?”
“No, they got the money and paid the installment.”
“How did they get the money?”
“They sold the cook-stove.”
“How could they get along without a cook-stove?”
“They didn’t. They bought another on the installment plan”
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Focus Question:
How did cultural shifts challenge
tradition in America?
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The Roaring Life of the 1920s
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• Changing Ways of Life
Between 1922-1929, migration to the cities accelerated
The new urban scene was far different from the slow-paced
intimate life in America’s small towns
The city was a world of competition and change- smoking,
drinking, gambling, and casual dating were widely accepted
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• One vigorous clash between small-town and big city
Americans began over ALCOHOL
• The question of whether to outlaw alcohol divided
Americans. Many believed the government should make
alcohol illegal to protect the public, while others believed
it was a personal decision, and not morally wrong
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Prohibition, 1920-1933
CAUSES
• Various religious groups thought
drinking alcohol was sinful
EFFECTS
• Consumption of alcohol declined
• Disrespect for the law developed
• Reformers believed that the
government should protect the
public’s health
• Reformers believed that alcohol led to
crime, wife and child abuse, and
accidents on the job
• During WWI, native-born Americans
developed hostility to GermanAmerican brewers and toward other
immigrant groups that used alcohol
• An increase in lawlessness, such as
smuggling and bootlegging, was
evident
• Criminals found a new source of
income
• Organized crime grew
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– The 18th Amendment- made the manufacture, sale, and
transportation of alcoholic beverages illegal- 1919
• Temperance movements urging abstinence from alcohol were
common among the 20s climate
Prohibition was strictly enforced in some areas, but in
many parts of the country, especially among immigrants,
college students, and some city dwellers, Prohibition was
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extremely unpopular and widely ignored.
• Paradoxically, illegal production, transport and
consumption of alcohol led to an underground culture and
the development of organized crime
Secret bars called speakeasies proliferated, or increased
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rapidly
• Prohibition not only generated disrespect for the law, it
also contributed to organized crime in nearly every major
city
• Chicago became notorious as the home of Al
Capone, a gangster whose bootlegging empire netted over
$60 million a year
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g59y65aEW_I&safe
=active
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» Al Capone- notorious deadly gangster
– The 21st Amendment repealed prohibition in 1933.
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiYqFXmVAFg
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SCIENCE & RELIGION CLASH
Charles Darwin
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Aimee McPherson
• The Protestant movement grounded in a literal, or nonsymbolic, interpretation of the Bible was known as
Fundamentalism.
– All stories and details in the Bible are literally true
– Fundamentalists reject the theory of evolution advanced by
Charles Darwin
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Charles Darwin & The Evolution Theory
• Plant and animal species had developed and changed over
millions of years
• Humans had evolved from apes
• 1920s, fundamentalism gained followers who began to call
for laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution
66
Social Darwinism
• An economic and social philosophy (based on his theory of
evolution) holding that a system of unrestrained
competition will ensure that “survival of the fittest” in the
economy and society
• The work of Charles Darwin has always been very
controversial.
• Evangelist Aimee McPherson preached fundamentalism
and gained followers who began to call for laws prohibiting
the teaching of evolution
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Social Darwinism and the Scopes
Monkey Trial
• ___________ ____________, or the idea that the West
was racially superior to other societies, was the basis for
imperialist goals of conquering and destroying “weaker”
races for about 200 years
• Europeans argued that their races were superior to all
others.
• They justified their imperialist actions by citing Darwin’s
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“survival of the fittest”.
• Historically, Europeans believed in the idea of “survival of
the fittest”.
• Many Westerners believed that European races were
stronger and superior.
• European states won empires in the Americas after 1492
and established colonies in Africa, South Asia, and China69
• In March 1925, Tennessee passed the nation’s first law that
made it a crime to teach evolution
• The ____________ trial was a fight over evolution and the
role of science and religion in public schools and in
American society.
• The trial captured the attention of the nation through the
massive media coverage
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• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) convinced John
Scopes, a teacher of biology, to challenge the law.
• The ACLU hired Clarence Darrow, a famous attorney to
defend Scopes in the trial, sometimes called:
“The Monkey Trial”
• William Jennings Bryan, three time Democratic candidate
for president and devout fundamentalist, served as a
special prosecutor
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VERDICT???????????
• Scopes was found GUILTY and fined $100.00
• The Tennessee Supreme Court later changed the verdict on
a technicality, but the law outlawing the teaching of
evolution remained in effect
• What is the status of teaching evolution today??
– As determined on state by state basis as to where the theory best
fits
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Focus Question:
What were the political, economic,
and social changes for women
during the 1920s?
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The Twenties Woman
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THE FLAPPER
Women re-defined: Flapper- enjoyed defying traditional
standards of womanly behavior- they wore their hair daringly
short, wore makeup, drove cars, participated in sports, and
smoked cigarettes.
The Double Standard Emerges…
• Set of principles granting greater sexual freedom to men
than women
• Required women to observe stricter standards of behavior
than men did
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• Women continued to seek paid employment after the
Great War
• Time saving devices made it possible form women to work
outside the home
– Refrigerators
– Washing Machines
– Vacuum cleaners
• Many female college graduates turned to “women’s
professions”
– Became teachers, nurses, and librarians
– However, wages earned were always less than their male
counterparts
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Woman’s suffrage
• Women win the right to vote in 1920- the 19th
Amendment awarded women the right to vote
• Practiced Non-violent civil disobedience
• Considered themselves Martyrs
• Often subject to physical abuse
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• Suffragist, Alice Paul made significant contributions to the
passing of the 19th amendment
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ibZlresqU&safety_m
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ode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
• Alice Paul headed NAWSA’s (National American Woman
Suffrage Association) effort to lobby Congress for the right
to vote
• Organized a massive parade in Washington, D.C. where
hostile crowds of men attacked the marchers
• Despite controversy, Paul and other suffragists picketed the
White House throughout the Great War
• The suffragists were arrested and jailed where they went on
hunger strikes and forced fed through tubes
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Focus Question:
What were the political, economic,
and social changes for minorities
during the 1920s?
81
The Great Migration
• Between 1910 and 1930 the number of African
Americans in the North grew from 1 million to 2.5
million
– WHY such a drastic geographic relocation??
82
• Many African Americans relocated from the South to
the Northern part of the United States for the
following reasons:
1. Escape Jim Crow Laws- Laws enacted by southern state
and local governments to separate white & black people
in public and private facilities
The threat of lynching
The Ku Klux Klan A secrete organization that used
terrorist tactics to restore white supremacy in the
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southern states
2. Moved north for the hope of a steady job with good pay
3. African American WWI Veterans were unhappy being
treated as second class citizens after serving in the armed
forces
4. Many African Americans worked in unskilled jobs in the
north, but made gains in other areas of society
EG: Increased their educational opportunities and could
exercise the right to vote
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Three Visions for African Americans
• In the early years of the 20th century, Booker T.
Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey
developed competing visions for the future of African
Americans
• How do we become equals?
85
Booker T. Washington
• (1856-1915) The head
of the Tuskegee
Institute. To improve
the lot of African
Americans, he favored
job training and
economic
independence instead
of political action
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W.E.B. Dubois
• (1868-1963) helped
found the NAACP
and saw political
action as the best
hope to improve the
lives of African
Americans.
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Marcus Garvey
• (1887-1940) favored
separation of the races
and build a separate
society
• Founded the Universal
Negro Improvement
Association (UNIA)
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The Harlem Renaissance
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• The 1920s were eclipsed by a flowering of creativity called the
Harlem Renaissance a literary and artistic movement celebrating
African-American culture
• Evolved in New York City’s overcrowded, poverty ridden
Harlem neighborhood
• Poets and writers like Langston Hughes created works expressing
frustrations and difficulties faced by African Americans in an age of
discrimination and segregation.
– Movement’s best known poet
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• Visual artists created images celebrating black heritage from
its African roots to modern daily life.
• Jazz music was born in the early 20th century and created a
new kind of atmosphere
• Legendary trumpet player Louis Armstrong set the stage for
a new “jazz world”
91
• Jazz quickly spread to major cities across the U.S. and it
quickly became the most popular music of dancing
• Harlem pulsed to jazz music and entertainment and soon
began to attract and lure whites to the showy, exotic night
clubs there- including the famed Cotton Club
92
Artists & Composers of the Harlem Renaissance
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, a jazz pianist
and composer led a ten-piece orchestra at the
Cotton Club
Fame was given to concert music composer
George Gershwin when he merged traditional
elements with American jazz, creating a new
sound that was identifiably American
Georgia O’Keeffe produced intensely colored
canvases that captured the majesty of
New York
93
Entertainment, Leisure, and The Consumer
Economy of the 20s
•
•
•
•
•
•
Americans had money and time to spend it
Economy was driven based on consumer demands
America chases new heroes and old dreams
Billions of dollars spent on entertainment
Engaged in new leisure pastimes
Consumerism was on the rise
94
• Americans flooded movie theaters and sports stadiums to
see sports stars, who were glorified as superheroes by the
mass media
• Babe Ruth was an American baseball great known for his
hitting and set the record for home runs which stood until
1961
• Jim Thorpe American athlete considered to be the greatest
of the 20th century. Gifted football player and won Olympic
gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon.
– Also played two semi-professional seasons of baseball
– Athlete of mixed ancestry
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Focus Question:
What factors contributed to the
economic downfall of the 1920s?
97
– Throughout the generally prosperous 1920s, isolated
voices warned of problems with the American economy.
– Some people pointed to the farm crisis and to “sick”
industries as problems in need of attention. Yet despite
these warnings, most Americans believed that the
economy would continue to thrive. Then came the
stock market crash of 1929.
– Stock prices plunged, and investors lost billions of
dollars. U.S. industries, already showing signs of
weakness, almost ground to a halt.
98
– The 1920’s was a time of prosperity in America
– Many experts saw no end to the Bull market- the upward
trend in stock prices
– Bear market- downward trend in stock prices
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100
– By the late 1920s, stock speculation- “playing” the market
by buying and selling to make a quick profit- was
widespread.
– This created problems: rapid buying and selling inflated the
prices of stocks to the point that many stocks were selling
for more than they were really worth.
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– The situation was made shakier still by margin buyingpurchasing stocks with borrowed money. Many
speculators put up as little as 10% of the price of a stock,
borrowing the rest.
– Confidence in the market remained high throughout the
summer of 1929.
– Some rumors of a crash began and a few shrewd investors
began to sell their stock
102
• The Stock Market Crashes
– October 24th, 1929- Black Thursday- Large investors
began selling huge amounts of stock
– The dumping of so much stock on the market
submerged investor confidence and caused prices to
plunge.
103
– October 29, 1929- Black Tuesday- prices sank to a
shocking new low as investors dumped over 16 million
shares of stock on the market.
– Brokers demanded cash to cover their loans and many
investors were forced to sell their stocks at huge losses.
– By mid-November the average value of leading stocks
had been cut in half, and stockholders had lost some
$30 billion.
104
• In the first months after the stock market crash
President Hoover declared: “We have now passed
the worst and….shall rapidly recover.”
– From late 1929 to 1933 the U.S. economy sank steadily.
– The total value of all goods and services produced in a
given year = Gross National Product
– GNP in 1929 = $103 Billion
– GNP in 1933 > $56 Billion
105
– Between 1929 and 1933, Americans income fell by half.
Railroad cars sat silent, many companies shut down, and
millions of workers lost their jobs.
– Many debt-ridden investors could not repay their loans,
leaving banks with no incoming funds. Fearing bank
failures, many depositors panicked and withdrew their
savings.
106
– Between 1930 and 1932 more than 5,000 U.S. banks
failed. Customers who went to their banks to withdraw
savings often found the doors barred and their money
gone.
– This prompted many families to keep their money
hidden somewhere in their home.
107
How does the stock market work?
Or crash…?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnJCOof2H
Jk
• Stock Market Crash of 1929
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJpLMvgUX
e8&feature=related
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