STANDARD 6.1-EXPLAIN THE IMPACT OF THE
CHANGES IN THE 1920S ON THE ECONOMY,
SOCIET Y AND CULTURE.
Opening:
Complete pages 205206 and 215-216 in
your Reading Study
Guide.
Work Period:
 Changes in the 1920s
notes
 Assembly Line Activity
 African Americans in
the 1920s
 Poem Activity
Closing:
Quiz
THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA
 The new president,
Calvin Coolidge, fit the
pro-business spirit of
the 1920s very well
 His famous quote:
“The chief business of
the American people is
business . . .the man
who builds a factory
builds a temple – the
man who works there
worships there”
President Calvin Coolidge 19241928
AMERICAN BUSINESS
FLOURISHES
 Both Coolidge and his
Republican successor
Herbert Hoover, favored
governmental policies
that kept taxes down
and business profits up
 Tariffs were high which
helped American
manufacturers
 Government interference
in business was minimal
 Wages were increasing
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNIT Y FOR
EVERYONE?
 The expansion of economic
opportunity did not extend
to all Americans.
 The boom of the 1920s had
negative consequences for
some segments of the
economy.
 Who do you think
experienced economic
hardships?
ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS
 Electric energy fueled
American industry which
meant hardship for the coal
industry.
 Farmers suffered economic
depression at the end of
World War I. WHY?
 The assembly line (1913)
brought radios, refrigerators
and other products into the
marketplace, but separated
the skilled workers (still
underpaid and labor unions
unable to protect them).
 HAVES v. HAVE-NOTS
MODERN ADVERTISING EMERGES
 Advertised goods that
many American workers
could not afford to buy.
 Ad agencies no longer
sought to merely “inform”
the public about their
products
 They hired psychologists to
study how best to appeal to
Americans’ desire for
youthfulness, beauty,
health and wealth
 “Say it with Flowers”
slogan actually doubled
sales between 1912-1924
INSTALLMENT PLAN
BUY NOW, PAY
LATER!
Encouraged
consumers to change
their attitudes about
debt.
Helped stimulate the
economy, but later
contributed to
depression.
AMERICAN STANDARD OF
LIVING SOARS
 The years 1920-1929
were prosperous ones
for the U.S.
 Americans owned 40%
of the world’s wealth
 The average annual
income rose 35% during
the 1920s ($522 to
$705)
 Discretionary income
increased
NEW HOME
APPLIANCES
Electric refrigerators, stoves, irons, toasters,
vacuums, washing machines and sewing machines
were all new
 The washing machine,
electric irons and
vacuum cleaners led
to social changes as
women were able to
do their household
chores more easily.
 Working class women
couldn’t afford them,
and middle class
women began doing
their own work
instead of hiring help.
 Led to no clear
changes in women’s
position in society or
the economy.
THE FLAPPER



A Flapper was an emancipated
young woman who embraced
the new fashions and urban
attitudes
*Although the flapper helped
change cultural attitudes
towards the role of women,
most women continued the
traditional roles as wife and
mother.
Advertising, radio and the
movies spread the mass
consumer culture at the same
time that it reinforced
traditional gender roles.
TRANSPORTATION
The Ford Model T was the first car in
America. It came only in black and sold
for $290. Over 15 million were sold by
1927.
 The automobile
profoundly altered the
American landscape
and society for those who
could afford it.
 Led to differentiation in
living and working
neighborhoods (Suburbs
developed).
 Made it easier for country
folk to get to town to
socialize and market
crops.
IMPACT OF THE AUTO
Among the many changes
were:
 Paved roads, traffic lights
 Motels, billboards
 Home design
 Gas stations, repair shops
 Shopping centers
 Freedom for rural families
 Independence for women
and young people
 Cities like Detroit, Flint,
Akron grew
 By 1920 80% of world’s
vehicles in U.S.
AIRLINE TRANSPORT DEVELOPS
When commercial flights
began, all flight attendants
were female and white
 The airline industry
began as a mail
carrying service and
quickly “took off”
 By 1927, Pan American
Airways was making the
transatlantic passenger
flights
 *Was exciting, but had
little impact on the
average American who
could not afford to fly.
PROBLEMS ON THE HORIZON?
Businesses
expanded recklessly
Iron & railroad
industries faded
Farms nationwide
suffered losses due
to overproduction
Too much was
bought on credit
(installment plans)
including stocks
ACTIVIT Y ONE
Assembly line
simulation
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE 1920S
 Migrated to segregated
neighborhoods in the
Northeast and Midwest in
response to push factors
such as Jim Crow,
violence and poverty in
the South.
 Pull factors-Job
opportunities and cultural
renaissance in the
Northern cities.
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
Migration of the Negro by
Jacob Lawrence
 A black middle class
developed which
supported writers,
musicians and artists.
The resulting Harlem
Renaissance brought
recognition and pride to
African Americans, but
also pointed out their
second class
citizenship.
HARLEM, NEW YORK
 Harlem, NY became
the largest black urban
community
 Harlem suffered
from overcrowding,
unemployment and
poverty
 However, in the
1920s it was home to
a literary and artistic
revival known as the
Harlem Renaissance
AFRICAN AMERICAN WRITERS
Mckay
 The Harlem Renaissance
was primarily a literary
movement
 Led by well-educated
blacks with a new sense of
pride in the AfricanAmerican experience
 James Weldon Johnson
and Langston Hughes
celebrated African cultural
traditions and black pride,
and questioned the position
of African Americans in
American life.
LANGSTON HUGHES
 Missouri-born
Langston Hughes was
the movement’s best
known poet
 Many of his poems
described the difficult
lives of working-class
blacks
 Some of his poems
were put to music,
especially jazz and
blues
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
PERFORMERS
 During the 1920s, black
performers won large
followings due to the radio
 Paul Robeson, son of a
slave, became a major
dramatic actor
 Louis Armstrong and Duke
Ellington famous African
American jazz performers
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTIC
CONTRIBUTIONS
 Helped break down
barriers and lay the
foundation for the civil
rights movement (post
WW II).
 However, many still
portrayed as racial
stereotypes
 Film: “Birth of a Nation”
fostered a resurgence of the
KKK and discrimination
continued.
A s I G r ew O l d e r
ACTIVIT Y TWO
 What is the author’s
attitude?
 What do you think
has happened to the
author?
 What can you learn
about the author’s
experiences by
reading this poem?
 Any guesses as to
who may have written
the poem?
It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun -My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky -The wall.
Shadow.
I am black .
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before
me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!
.
CLOSING
QUIZ
MAKE SURE
YOU HAVE
TURNED IN
YOUR
WORKBOOK.