The 1920’sThe 1920’s

Boom to BustBoom to Bust

I. Moral Change Progress vs. Tradition

A. Cities-Held more people & more opportunity.

Also held alcohol, gambling, & clubs.B. Scopes Trial

John T. Scopes was tried for teaching evolution in a high school classroom. He was found guilty and fined, but the decision was set aside because of a technicality.

Clarence Darrow defending John Scopes

Clarence Darrow and William J. Bryan

I. Moral Change C. Prohibition-the "Noble Experiment"

18th Amendment, January, 1920-prohibited sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Results:1. Drunkenness declined.2. Speakeasies operated.3. Bootlegging & smuggling flourished.4. Organized crime controlled many public officials.5. 1933-21st Amendment repealed 18th.

II. Women & Blacks Experience ChangeA. 19th Amendment-Ratified in 1920, gave

women the right to vote. Women had worked in many different jobs during WWI, so it was a natural step.

B. Flappers-wore shorter hair and shorter skirts. Women became interested in politics and social issues. Jeannette Rankin-1st woman elected to the House of Representatives, she opposed World War I and World War II.

II. Women & Blacks Experience ChangeC. Black Americans Migrate

Northward- Blacks went to Northern cities such as New York and Chicago for work. They faced prejudice from white workers who were afraid they would lose jobs.

II. Women & Blacks Experience ChangeD. Black Leaders:

W.E.B. DuBois-wanted blacks to strive for higher education in industrial America.

Marcus Garvey-"Back to Africa"-encouraged blacks

to return to Africa."Black is Beautiful"-encouraged

blacks to be proud and not imitate whites.

II. Women & Blacks Experience ChangeD. Black Leaders:

Niagra Movement led to the founding of the NAACP.NAACP-National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People- founded by DuBois, Ida Wells-Barnett and others, it helped to bring attention to lynching and other social injustices.

II. Women & Blacks Experience ChangeE. Harlem Renaissance

Rise in art, literature, music, drama, and dance from black Americans.

Langston Hughes-poetLouis Armstrong-musicianDuke Ellington-musician

III. Popular Culture ChangesA. Idols

1. Charles Lindbergh-flew solo across the Atlantic

2. Babe Ruth-baseball player for the New York Yankees, Lou Gehrig-”The Iron Horse”

III. Popular Culture ChangesA. Idols

3. Red Grange-college football player at the University of Illinois

4. Jack Dempsey-boxer

5. Charlie Chaplin-actor/comedian

III. Popular Culture ChangesB. Writers

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald-This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby- about our material society.2. Sinclair Lewis-criticized American materialism3. Ernest Hemingway-A Farewell

to Arms-expressed disgust over the glorification of war.

III. Popular Culture ChangesC. Serious Social Problems

1. Communism-Americans feared a communist movement in the United

States. Attorney General A.

Mitchell Palmer raided the offices of anarchists, socialists, & communists, arresting hundreds of individuals.

III. Popular Culture ChangesC. Serious Social Problems

2. KKK-as a result of new successes by blacks and immigrants, the Klan became much more active in the 1920's. The group even marched on Washington D.C.

III. Popular Culture ChangesC. Serious Social Problems

3. Workers strike: Steelworkers began a strike in Sept. 1919 demanding shorter hours and better conditions. Coal miners walked out in Nov. 1919 and President Wilson had to help mediate the dispute.

III. Popular Culture ChangesC. Serious Social Problems

*4. Sacco and Vanzetti Trial-Italian immigrants who evaded the draft

in WWI and were considered "anarchists."

They were found guilty of robbery and murder. Even though the

evidence was not clear, they were both

executed.

IV. Harding and Coolidge*American foreign policy was that of

isolationism, the belief that the U.S. should set itself apart from the affairs of others.*

We continue this tradition until World War II forces us to become involved all over the world.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeA. Warren G. Harding won the

Election of 1920. He promised a "return to normalcy" and he rejected the League of Nations.

1. Peace-Harding convinced 5 major nations to reduce arms after WWI. Several nations also aligned to preserve

peace in Asia.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeA. Warren G. Harding

2. Reparations-Serious debts existed for France and Great Britain after WWI. The U.S. refused to lower tariffs on goods from these countries to help them out. The U.S. loaned money to Germany, who used these loans to help pay reparations to France and Great Britain, who in turn paid debts to the United States.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeA. Warren G. Harding

3. Nativists-Congress introduced a quota system, giving each European nation a limit of immigrants that it could have in the United States. Also, in 1924,

Japanese immigrants were "ineligible" for citizenship.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeA. Warren G. Harding

4. Scandals:Several of Harding's advisors had taken bribes and illegal kickbacks from businesses.Teapot Dome Scandal-Naval oil reserves were leased to private companies by the Secretary of the Interior, who became very rich in the deal. President Harding died soon after this scandal.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeB. Calvin Coolidge

1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported businesses by keeping taxes low and profits high. Sec. of the Treasury Andrew Mellon continued to expand profits for businesses.Advances: Electricity became common, Chevrolet became a competitor to Ford,

retailers introduced credit & installment plans, and advertisers made Americans desire products more than ever.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeB. Calvin Coolidge

1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported businesses by keeping taxes low and profits high. Sec. of the Treasury Andrew Mellon continued to expand profits for businesses.Advances: Electricity became common, Chevrolet became a competitor to Ford, retailers introduced credit & installment plans, and advertisers made Americans desire products more than ever.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeB. Calvin Coolidge

1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported businesses by keeping taxes low and profits high. Sec. of the Treasury Andrew Mellon continued to expand profits for businesses.Advances: Electricity became common, Chevrolet became a competitor to Ford, retailers introduced credit & installment plans, and advertisers made Americans desire products more than ever.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeB. Calvin Coolidge

2. Slipping EconomyRailroads-faced government

regulation and competition from new transportation.

Textiles-foreign textiles were cheaper than American.

Coal Mining-other energy sources cut the need for coal.

IV. Harding and CoolidgeB. Calvin Coolidge

2. Slipping EconomyFarmers-had increased production

during WWI, borrowing money to expand. When the demand for agricultural products declined, farmers had no way to repay debts. Coolidge vetoed several attempts to set up price supports for farmers.

V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929A. Election of 1928-Coolidge chose

not to run. Herbert Hoover is elected.

A former Secretary of Commerce, he had never run for office before. He immediately began to improve relations in Latin America, recalling Marines from Haiti and Nicaragua.

V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929B. Signs of Economic Slowdown

Construction declined, lack of consumer buying, production declined, prices fell, crops demands were low. All of these factors meant that prosperity was slowly ending.

V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929C. The Crash

Stock prices had been on the rise for over a year. Millions of dollars were made as speculators bought low and sold high.

Buying on the margin (paying only a % of the stock's cost, then paying it back when the price rose) became common.

V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929C. The Crash

October 24-13 million shares sold, causing prices to fall.

October 29-Black Thursday-Bottom fell out of the market. Investors tried to sell off everything before prices fell too far. 16 million shares were sold and millions more could not find buyers. By mid November, $30 billion in wealth had disappeared.