Post on 28-Dec-2015
Red Scare 1919-1920
• Fear of Communism (“Reds”)• “Fighting Quaker” Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer– Sought Reds and radicals– “Palmer Raids”
• Deportation of Russians• Legislation further infringed upon
civil rights- (of radicals)
• Unions = Reds = Anarchy• Industries banned unions= American
Plan
• Anti-foreignism (xenophobia)/nativism
• Anti-Communism
Sacco & Vanzetti• Convicted of murder in
1921• Little evidence to
support a conviction• Men were Italian,
atheists, and anarchists
• Both men were executed in 1927
Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti
“Tyranny of the establishment over the poor and politically non-
conforming.”
Ku Klux Klan
• Resurgence of the Klan in the 1920s• Anti-immigrants, anti-black, anti-
Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-Communist…….
• Pro-WASP, ultraconservative• Spread throughout the South (Bible
Belt) and Midwest• Social organization• Music, parades, meetings and rallies
After gaining over 5 million followers the Klan fell to corruption and scandal during the late 1920s.
Immigration Restriction
• “100 percent Americans” were upset at the increase in European immigration post-WWI
• Emergency Quota Act of 1921– Set a quota (3%) per nation– Based upon census in 1910
• Immigration Act of 1924– Quotas cut to 2%– Based upon census in 1890
• Both immigration restriction acts favored Northern Europeans
• Most Asians were shut out completely• Canadians and Latin Americans were
allowed in
• Some Americans supported diversity and pluralism
Prohibition
• 18th Amendment & Volstead Act = abolition of alcohol- most popular in the South & West
• Impossible to enforce• Rumrunners and bootleggers• Speakeasies
Evading the law
• Home distilling– “Home brew” & “bathtub gin”– Sold to speakeasies all over the US– Could result in illness, even death
• Speakeasies– Passwords and codes– Hidden entrances– Drop shelves to hide liquor– Hidden storage rooms
Organized Crime
• Gangsters controlled illicit and many legal businesses in major cities, like Chicago, during the 1920s
• Violence was common, convictions were not
• Made millions off the public
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
• 1929• 7 men murdered• Rival gang• Chicago• Believed to be the
work of Al Capone (Public Enemy #1) - never convicted
Scopes Trial• Teaching of evolution or creation in
schools?• Southern states outlawed the teaching of
evolution (Bible Belt states- large # of Fundamentalists)
• Tennessee- John Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution to HS students
• Scopes defended by Clarence Darrow• Prosecution: William Jennings Bryan• Outcome- Scope was found guilty and
but not punished
2nd Industrial Revolution
• Increased industrial output and labor force due to technological advances
• Electricity replaced steam• Automatic machinery–Workers as a machine (monotonous)
• Mass production technique – Fordism–Moving assembly line– Increased productivity by 40%
Auto Industry
• Henry Ford• Assembly line- 1 car every 10
seconds left the line• Ford increased wage scale $5 for 8
hrs.• Reduced turnover rate• Employed AA• Cars more affordable
Consumerism
• Demand for new housing• Increased automobile ownership=
suburbs• Increased consumer products on
the market• Mass advertising• Consumption (need for more)• “Buying on margin” (credit)- I
want it NOW!
Taking Flight
• Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) @ Kitty Hawk, NC- 1903
• Charles Lindbergh, “Lucky Lindy”- Spirit of St. Louis- first trans-Atlantic flight (NY to Paris)
Radio
• Advertising (commercials)• Vaudeville comedy• Music• Baseball and college football games• Turned college football into a popular
sport
Movie
s
• Celebrities: Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, Clara Bow
• Studios: Paramount, Fox, MGM, WB, Universal
• The Jazz Singer – 1st movie using sound (talkies)
• Construction of grand movie houses
• Concerns: sexual morality of celebrities
• Led to: censorship of films
D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation
• Film released in 1915• Glorified the Klan• Reignited feuds
between white & black southerners
Baseball
• “Sultan of Swat”- Babe Ruth• Popular and profitable• Baseball becomes a business• AA banned from baseball league-
formed their own the Negro National League
Fla
pp
ers
• New image of young women• Short, bobbed hair• Shorter hemlines• Smoking and drinking- seen in
speakeasies• Dancing the charleston• Listening to Jazz
Changing Values• Young Americans reject the traditional
values of their elders regarding:– Sex….Dress…Public behavior…Religion
• Embrace the ideas of Sigmund Freud– Repressing sexuality could damage
mental and emotional health
• Margaret Sanger- advocate of birth control
• Pre-marital sex on the rise• Sex used in advertising
Agriculture
• Did not see prosperity in the 20’s• Farmers: in debt, surplus, dropping
prices• McNary-Haugen bills– Designed to help stabilize farm prices – Provides for government purchase of
surplus produce at a fixed price, then resale to Europe
– Vetoed by Coolidge twice
Harlem Renaissance
• Cultural creativity• African American community in NYC• Development of artists, musicians,
authors
Cultural Contributions
• F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby• Ernest Hemingway- A Farewell to Arms• Sinclair Lewis- Main Street & Babbitt• William Faulkner- The Sound and the
Fury & As I Lay Dying• Poets:– Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, T.S. Eliot
• Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Bull Market
• Booming Economy• Get-rich-quick schemes• Wild speculation• Buying stocks on margin – Pay a down payment now, pay the rest
later = in debt
Presidents of the Twenties
• Warren G. Harding- “Return to Normalcy”• Calvin Coolidge- “Silent Cal”• Herbert Hoover-
Harding’s Presidency• “Ohio Gang”• Corruption & Scandal– Teapot Dome Scandal
• Involved Albert B. Fall and the leasing of government land (with oil) for bribes.
• Laissez-faire approach toward business• Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act-
increased the rate to 38.5% (pro-business)
• Died before term ended
Foreign Affairs• Washington Conference (1921)-talks
on naval disarmaments- Belgium, China, France Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Portugal and the Netherlands
• Five-Power Treaty- US, France, GB and Japan- agreement to respect each other’s territory in the Pacific
• Nine-Power Treaty- agreement to respect the Open Door policy- guaranteeing the territorial integrity of China