1.
2.
Post-WWI Problems
A. Economic Problems
B. Red Scare
C. Nativism
D. Prohibition
Roaring 20s
A. Growing Economy
B. Transportation
C. Entertainment
D. Women
E. First Challenge to Religion
F. Great Migration’s Effects
G. Republican Leadership
H. Economic Troubles
1920s Outline
Post-WWI Problems
1A – Economic Problems
 War
dead, injured, AND the flu
 Demand dropped
 Trouble finding work
 “100 Percent Americanism”
 Celebrate vs Attack
Post-WWI Problems
1B –Red Scare
 Russian
Revolution
 Communist parties formed in U.S
 American reaction = “Red Scare”
○ Unions lost support
○ Palmer Raids
 Thousands arrested, hundreds deported
Post-WWI Problems
1B –Red Scare
• Most famous event = court case
 Sacco
and Vanzetti = immigrants, anarchists?
 Charged with robbery and murder
○ Convicted & sentenced to death in 1927
Post-WWI Problems
1C – Nativism
National Origins Act of 1924
 Set new quotas (2%) for existing population
 KKK reemerged
 New targets = Jews, Catholics, and Radicals
 Spread from South with power

Post-WWI Problems
1D –Prohibition
 Eighteenth Amendment
(1919)
 Enforced by Volstead Act
○ ½ of 1% alcohol illegal in beverages
 Only 3,000 prohibition agents nationwide
Post-WWI Problems
1D – Prohibition
 Smuggling
grew (bootleggers)
 Mafia/gangsters
○ Al Capone
 Throughout 1920s, millions violated
 Speakeasies
 Doctors
Roaring 20s
2a – Economy Grows

Up to 1920s, Americans paid in full
 Borrowed Only for important items

New installment buying/credit caught on big
○ Encouraged by advertisers
Roaring 20s
1a – Economy Grows
 22
million cars in U.S. by 1929 (1/sec)
 Car’s
effects on economy
 Demand increased for materials
 Auto repair shops and filling stations
 Motels & restaurants
 Suburbs and cities
 Tourism & vacation spots
Life in America
2B – Transportation
Only VERY rich could afford car by 1890s
 Henry Ford, Model T in 1908
• Cars became affordable for 2 reasons
1st) Assembly line
- Rolled off assembly line every 24 seconds!
2nd) Paid workers $5 minimum wage
 Workers could afford Model T ($295)
• By 1927, ~16.75 million Model Ts sold worldwide!

Life in America
2B – Transportation
• Orville and Wilbur Wright
 First flight EVER in 1903, 12 seconds
By 1905, 30 minute flights possible
 By 1920, mail delivered by air transport
 Selection from The Wright Brothers

Roaring 20s
2B – Transportation
First passenger airplanes appeared in 1920s
 New heroes
 Charles Lindbergh
○ First to fly across Atlantic
○ 1927, landed in Paris (33 ½ Hours)
 Amelia Earhart
○ First woman to fly over Atlantic
○ Returned as a national hero
○ Disappeared in 1937

Roaring 20s
2C – Entertainment
Importance of the radio
 1922 = 600 stations in America
 40% homes owned a radio by late 1920s
 Radio broadcast sports, athletes became famous
 Most famous sport?
○ Baseball (aka “America’s Pastime”)
 Most famous athlete?
○ Babe Ruth

Roaring 20s
2C – Entertainment
Movies and cartoons emerged in 1920s
 Felix the Cat, 1922
 “Talkies” = films with sound

 The Jazz Singer, 1927
 Steamboat Willie (1928) and Mickey Mouse!

Famous actor of 1920s?
 Charlie Chaplain
Roaring 20s
2D – Women

Young women challenged traditional ideas
 Work and college
 “Flapper” – short hair, makeup, raised hemlines

Smoking, drinking, and dancing shocked society

Equal Rights Amendment introduced in 1923
 “Men and women shall have equal rights
throughout the United States and every place
subject to its jurisdiction.”
 Controversial idea, never became law
Roaring 20s
2E –First Challenge to Religion
Fundamentalism vs evolution
 What should be taught in public schools?
 John Scopes arrested in Tennessee for teaching
evolution
 Scope’s trial was nicknamed the “Monkey Trial”
○ Showed struggle of traditional vs. new ideas
○ Scopes found guilty, fined $100
 Tennessee law remained until the 1960s

Roaring 20s
2F –The Great Migration’s Effects
 Ethnic
areas were created/grew in America
 Best example = Harlem, New York
 “Harlem Renaissance” started in 1920s
 African-American artistic & cultural movement
○ Poet Langston Hughes
○ Jazz music
Roaring 20s
2G – 1920s Republican Leadership
 Biggest
goal = more economic growth
 Wanted a “return to normalcy”
 1921 to 1933 = 3 Republican presidents
 Warren G. Harding
 Calvin Coolidge
 Herbert Hoover
○ Each believed in laissez fair policies
Roaring 20s
2H – Economic Troubles
strong economy from 1922 – 1928
 GNP rose 40%
 Strong stock market
 Values rose monthly (4X over 9 years)
 Ordinary Americans bought at high levels
○ 1920 = 318 million shares bought
○ 1929 = +1 billion bought
 Buying on a Margin
 Very
Roaring 20s
2H – Economic Troubles
 1920s
looked better than reality
 Growing economy led to “inflation”
 LOTS of things purchased on credit
 Who was actually getting rich?
 Wealthiest 1% wealth grew 75%!
 Average family saw increase of 10%
 4/5 families couldn’t save money
Conclusion
1920s saw many changes in America
 America found a new enemy
 Prohibition was attempted
 The automobile transformed life
 New entertainment changed American culture
 Incredible wealth was made
 However, 1920s ultimately created the Great
Depression
