The Roaring 20’s

An era of prosperity,

Republican power,
 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
Economic expansion
 Mass Production
 Assembly Line
 Age of the Automobile

 Ailing Agriculture…
 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 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
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”
Celebrities
Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb

Charles Lindbergh
The Spirit of St. Louis

Jack Dempsey
 The 20’s is The Jazz Age
The Flappers
make up
cigarettes
short skirts

Writers Musicians
F. Scott Fitzgerald Louis Armstrong
Ernest Hemingway Duke 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 Anti-black
In power Anti-immigrant
Anti-Semitic
Anti-Catholic

Anti-women’s suffrage

Anti-bootleggers
 Scopes “Monkey” Trial
volution vs. Creationism
Science vs. Religion

Famous Lawyers Dayton, Tennessee

John Scopes
High School Biology teacher
18th Amendment Prohibition Volstead Act

Gangsters

Al Capone
 PROHIBITION - on manuf.
and sale of alcohol
 adopted in 1919 - 18th
AMENDMENT
 an outgrowth of the longtime
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…