Book Title

DOLOR SET AMET

LOREM IPSUM

CHAPTER 8∏

THE TWENTIES: NORMALCY

There’s a bunch of stereotypes about the 1920s. Some say it was a decade of partying; others claim it was socially and economically prosperous. And, of course, everyone “roared.” The reality is that these stereotypes are inaccurate and untrue. Part of the country was not even involved in the “Roaring Twenties” despite what most people believe. In this chapter, see what the 1920s was really like.

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Learn about politics at the national level during the 1920s.

CHAPTER 8, SECTION 1∏

As you might recall, Warren G. Harding was elected in 1920 due to the fact that he promised to return the country to “normalcy.” Both Harding and Coolidge would attempt to deliver the country out of liberalism and progressivism, and return it to the way it was before those times of reform. Harding was only in office for two and a half years. Unfortunately, he died in the summer of 1923 of a heart attack. Calvin Coolidge would take over, and then was elected on his own again in 1924. He’s considered to be a good president, and ruled as a strong conservative throughout his two terms.

Both of these presidents benefited from a cabinet that Harding put together. Harding promised to put a lot of good minds around him because he lacked knowledge in a lot of areas. He deferred to these people for help, and Coolidge did the same thing. These “Great Minds” were:

• Andrew Mellon

•Secretary of the Treasury appointed by Harding

•Banker and self-made multi-millionaire

•Very good at understanding economic and financial policy

•Thought government had become too large in the Progressive Era, and became too regulatory in big business.

2

Harding, Coolidge, and the Best Minds

• Wanted to free up big business, give Americans tax cuts, and create new jobs

• Albert Fall

• Appointed by Harding to be the Secretary of the Interior

•Probably the worst mind of the period; wasn’t exactly a competent person

•Corrupted and involved in a scandal

called the Teapot Dome Scandal

• As Secretary of the Interior, he was in charge of public lands.

• There was an oil field in Wyoming called Teapot Dome that was privately owned by the government.

• Fall accepted bribes from oil companies to allow other companies to use that field.

• He accepted about a half-million dollars from this scandal.

• Became the first member in any president’s cabinet to be sent to prison.

Another of these best minds was future president Herbert Hoover who was appointed as the Secretary of Commerce. Hoover had a lot of influence over the domestic economy,

especially big business. As you’ll learn later, Hoover built a bad reputation because of what happened during the Great Depression. But during the 1920s (and his previous success with the Food Administration during WWI) he had a positive reputation and used that to his advantage.

Hoover had a specific economic policy that he executed in this position called the associative state, or the American Way. He believed that the government and big businessmen should have a friendly, cooperative relationship with each other. The government, in his eyes, should try to guide business and encourage them to do the right thing. Another way of looking at this is through the idea of volunteerism--Hoover wanted businessmen to voluntarily do the right thing for the economy as a whole. He placed a lot of faith in businessmen to do the right thing (if they were guided to do so).

This approach worked well for Hoover, and together with Andrew Mellon, they stimulated the economic prosperity the country experienced during the Twenties. The consumer economy began to flourish. Factories and businesses began to produce things for households. The biggest of these was the automobile, and other home appliances including: washers, dryers, clothes, foods/medicines, cosmetics, alcohol, and tobacco. Cars were advertised as a way for people to get away from the city, and to take a break and get back to the rural setting that people wanted to have.

Along with the consumer economy, there was a boom in consumer advertising in radio and newspapers. We see this all the time today on TV, the internet, or magazines. But this

3

idea of media advertising came into play for the first time during the Twenties. Hoover was in large part responsible for all of this, and as time went on, his popularity increase drastically.

4

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Learn about American foreign policy during the Twenties

CHAPTER 8, SECTION 2∏

Harding appointed Charles Evan Hughes (below) as his Secretary of State after his election. Hughes was probably the best mind that Harding surrounded himself with during the Twenties. He came up with the Independent Internationalist foreign policy approach for the United States.

One of the stereotypes about the Twenties is that we didn’t have any sort of interaction with other countries. That, in actuality, is untrue. The Independent Internationalist approach was different from our foreign policy in the Progressive Era, but was not isolationist. Our

policy was now less militaristic and interventionist. Hughes and the Republican administration found a new way to wield our power around the world by using diplomacy and financial aid (money). Three policies during this period that defined our foreign policy during the 1920s were the:

• Washington Conference--This was a major disarmament conference hosted by the United States in 1922. England, France, Italy, and Japan discussed naval disarmament in order to avoid another world war.

• Dawes Plan (1924)--The Dawes Plan was an international program in which we used our money to help Germany. A lot of the money we gave to Germany went to Britain and France as reparations. Britain and France

5

Independent Internationalism

then gave much of that money back to us as payment for debt they owed us from World War I.

• Clark Memorandum (1931)--Although this occurred during Hoover’s presidency, it was a part of the Republican rule (along with Harding and Coolidge). This particular document repealed the Roosevelt Corollary, and said that the U.S. would use financial aid to help Latin America (and less military than before).

6

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Read about the pop culture portion of the 1920s.

CHAPTER 8, SECTION 3∏

The theme of the Twenties socially and culturally is that of conflict. The era was marked by an intense culture war. There was a clear division in the country between urban, modern liberal values that were secular and rural, traditional religious values. Another way to put it: there were almost two cultures (sides) in the 1920s. One was more modern and looked to the future; it seemed to be focused in the cities (secular side). The other was looking in the past, and was centered in the small towns and

7

Urban Modernity

Violet Romer in a flapper dress c. 1915

Flappers

rural areas of the country (religious side).

What’s different in the Twenties compared to today, and any other period, is that this culture war is very strong and prominent. It could be seen anywhere in society. However, the “war” itself seemed to be “roaring” in the cities. For the first time, the Census Bureau declared that the majority of Americans lived in the cities, not the countryside. The city became the place of change, and the center of the roaring modern values that many people stereotype the Twenties with.

There were three areas where the new, modern culture was seen most:

• Urban Family Values--Traditional family values came under criticism during the 1920s. The modern families that emerged during this time, particularly in the cities, had new characteristics:

1. There was a strong feminist movement, marked by the flapper. This was a label given to women who were socially rebellious. Flappers were single, dressed differently, smoked in public, and cut their hair short (I know, crazy right?). This feminist movement showed that women had more social freedom than before, and could do more than in the past.

2. The divorce rate doubled from 8% to 16%. It was even higher in the cities. (Today, it’s around 50%)

3. The emergence of modern birth control allowed couples to engineer their family size. Unfortunately, this encouraged young people to be much more promiscuous in their relationships.

4. The youth culture became prominent. Teenagers emerged with their own culture, and society changed. No longer were there just children and adults; teens gain some power that adults had, but certainly not all of it. Young people now spent time with each other away from the house and school. They engaged in more socially rebellious activities (i.e. drinking and smoking). The dating culture also changed in the Twenties. Back in the late 19th century (1800s), women were “called upon” by men and were chaperoned when they went out. But now, things were different. The car made it possible for teens to date and get away from home, and changed the way they dated/interacted.

• Emergence of a “pop” culture--There was a movement of self-pleasure during the 1920s. A few examples of this was:

8

1. The emergence of spectator sports. American spent tons of money to go see athletes like Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey (boxer).

2. Jazz music became widespread. It was inherently regarded as rebellious. In addition, new dances like the Charleston grew in popularity.

3. Hollywood flourished. Movie houses and theaters bursted at the seams. A lot of people went to the movies; in fact, it was probably more popular than today. It’s estimated that at least half of American households went to see a movie at least once a week. Today, we’d compare it to television. Movies were the primary form of entertainment. The shows were produced very consciously to promote a modern, liberal lifestyle and glamorized drinking, smoking, and sexual promiscuity.

• Intellectual Period--Literary figures came about during the Twenties and became very popular. The writing that was done came about in a rebellious way. Authors of this period were known as the Lost Generation. They produced a modern way of writing that was out of the mainstream; they were in deep conflict with traditional American values and were lost to the citizens. Some of them actually left the U.S. because they felt so out of place.

(Authors included: T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and E.E. Cummings)

9

Babe Ruth

Twenties Celebrities & Lost Generation Authors

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Learn about the conservative part of the culture war in the 1920s

CHAPTER 8, SECTION 4∏

The other half of the cultural war in the Twenties dealt with the conservative, traditional element of our nation. It was hard to see this just by watching television or looking around the cities (even though the majority of the population felt this way). Three examples of conservatism and traditionalism during the 1920s were:

• 18th Amendment (the Volstead Act, adopted in 1918)-- This was a piece of legislation that was enacted in Congress which made the consumption or purchase of alcohol illegal. It would remain a federal law until 1933 when it was repealed. Conservatives during this time referred to it as the noble experiment. Many thought the law was ineffective because it was being violated everywhere. But this, again, is a stereotype that’s not necessarily true. There were areas of the country in the South and Midwest where the law was strictly enforced, and alcohol consumption dropped significantly. But, it mainly depended on where you lived and the morals you came up with as to whether or not you saw a decrease in alcohol consumption.

• The growing popularity of the Ku Klux Klan--Initially, the Klan was popular because Americans saw traditional values being threatened by urban modernity. The K.K.K. was first seen during Civil War Reconstruction, but faded during the Grant administration. But in 1915, William Simmons revived the Klan, and they experienced a rise in popularity from after WWI until about 1926. They were very different from their Reconstruction days. Now, the Klan was a national organization which stood for traditional, conservative, Protestant, white values. Anything that undermined these

10

Rural Traditionalism

values would become a target of the Klan during this period (i.e. militant blacks, Catholics, immigrants, Jews, bootleggers, and flappers). They saw themselves as the “protector” of traditional America, and by 1924, they had 5 million card carrying members in the U.S. (total population at the time was 100 million) The reason why the Klan was able to reach such high membership was an image change. They were now a family organization, which welcomed women and children. Because they portrayed themselves this way, Americans saw them as a legitimate organization who were trying to fight for what was right. They were not, as of yet, seen as a racist and violent group (although some of members definitely had those tendencies). *Interesting Note--President Harding was actually a Klan member when he was elected in 1920.

• National Origins Act--Congress passed a strong, conservative immigration policy in 1924. This law limited immigration and established quotas as to how many immigrants and groups of immigrants could come into the U.S. Western Europeans could come more than eastern Europeans. There were no Asians permitted into the country, and Latinos had strict limitations. Immigrants tended to settle in the cities, and since urban modernity was occurring there, they wanted to also limited the amount of immigrants that

went there. Another important issue that emerged during the Twenties was fundamental creation versus evolution. There was an argument that tried to determine if evolution should be taught in school. The Scopes Trial in 1925 put this debate on the map. John Scopes, a biology teacher in Tennessee, wanted to teach evolution in the classroom. When he did this, he was prosecuted and his trial became a national event. Nearly everybody in the country took sides, which showed the cultural division during this time. William Jennings Bryan was the prosecuting attorney in this case. He defended the Bible, and was against evolution in schools. Clarence Darrow defended Scopes, and

11

Attorneys for the trial: Darrow (left) and Jennings-Bryan (right) at the Scopes Trial

became known as the person who defended science/attacked the Bible.

When it was all said and done, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, which was the maximum sentence allowable under the law. The trial really didn’t solve anything, but it did highlight the cultural rift within the country. There was a huge part of the trial

that argued the Bible and evolution. This was big in the Twenties because conservative values were being attacked and challenged by the more secular idea of evolution.

12

John Scopes