The Roaring Twenties refers to the North Americantime period of the 1920s, which has been described as "one of the most colorful decades in American history." The decade encapsulates a fascinating story, beginning with the return of young soldiers from the fronts of the World War I and emergence of a new and confident

face of modern womanhood, and ending with the sad note of the Black Tuesday October 29, 1929, , harbinger

of the Great Depression. The years of the Roaring Twenties were marked by several inventions and

discoveries of far reaching consequences; emergence of unprecedented industrial boom and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, coupled with significant changes in the lifestyle; and a series of

events, national as well as international, which shaped a large part of the history of the 20th century.

3 Republican Presidents were elected consecutively in the 1920’s

Warren Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was an American politician and the 29th President of the United States, serving from 1921 to 1923, when he became the sixth president to die in office. He adopted hands-off laissez-faire policies both on economic and social policy. While on the final leg of a tour of the western states and the Alaska Territory, Harding died in San Francisco, California, 27 months into his term. Due to a number of scandals involving others in his administration, after his death Harding gained a reputation as being one of America's least successful presidents

Warren Harding pledged a “return to normalcy”

Teapot Dome is a reference to an oil field on public land in Wyoming, so named because of a rock resembling a teapot overlooking the field. It is also a phrase commonly applied to the scandal that rocked the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding.

Post WWI United States

“Red Scare”• The term "Red Scare" has been retroactively applied to two

distinct periods of intense anti-Communism in United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, which signified the entrance into the Cold War.

• Both periods were characterized by the suspicion of widespread civil-service infiltration by communists and anarchists and fears of communist influence on U.S. society and infiltration of the U.S. government. These fears spurred aggressive investigation and (particularly during the first period) jailing of persons associated with communist and socialist ideology or political movements

Cartoon Depicting the Red Scare threat to the US liberty

Post WWI United States

The 1918 to 1921 Palmer Raids were a series of controversial raids on American citizens and resident and non-resident aliens in the United States, based on their assumed political beliefs.The raids are named for Alexander Mitchell Palmer, United States Attorney General under Woodrow Wilson. Palmer stated his belief that Communism was "eating its way into the homes of the American workman," and that Socialists were responsible for most of the country's social problems.

Following WWI, the Palmer raids sought to expose

communist influence in the US government

Aftermath of a Palmer Raid in a New York City office

Sacco and Vanzetti CaseNicola Sacco (April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti(June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were two Italian anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and electrocuted in Massachusetts in 1927 on charges of murder of Frederick Parmenter, a shoe factory paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard, and of robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll, although there was popular doubt regarding their guilt, stirred in part by Upton Sinclair's novel "Boston." The murder and robbery occurred in April of 1920, with three robbers. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had alibis, but they were the only people accused of the crime.Nicola Sacco (right) and

Bartolomeo Vanzetti in handcuffs

Nativism Grows during the 1920’s

Nativism is a hostile and defensive reaction to the flux of immigration. Though it surfaced first, gained a name and affected politics in mid-19th century United States

Post WWI United States

Increased Nativism following WWI• Fear of anything foreign; heightened by increased

immigration after 1919• Immigration was restricted

– East Asian immigration stopped– Quota system set to keep country just like it was (Ex. 2

percent in 1890 census) Bias toward “old” immigrants– Coolidge--- “America must be kept American”– Left the door open for Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans

• Ku Klux Klan resurfaces – Devoted to 100% Americanism– Targets blacks, Roman Catholics, Jews, and immigrants

•Racial friction—violent race riots in 1919

The Ku Klux Klan represents nativists beliefs in America

• Organized in Georgia by William J. Simmons• Original Klan accepted almost anyone, 1919’s Klan

was thoroughly anti-foreign, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic

• Opposed evolution, endorsed religion, immigration restrictions, short skirts and “demon rum”

• Especially motivated to keep black Americans “in their place”

Example of Nativism in the US in the 1920’s

Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were limited by the use of quotas in the 1920’s

Republican Calvin Coolidge wins the 1924 Election

Coolidge stated “the business of America is business”

Coolidge was the last President of the United States who did

not attempt to intervene in free markets, letting business cycles

run their course. During his Presidency, the United States

experienced a wildly successful period of economic growth: the so-called "Roaring Twenties."

Coolidge not only lowered taxes, but also reduced the

national debt.

On June 2, 1924, President Coolidge had signed a bill granting Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Coolidge is shown above on October 22, 1924 holding a ceremonial hat given to him by the Smoki Indian tribe of Prescott, Arizona.

Coolidge after signing Native American treaty

Did the US follow a policy of isolationism during the 1920’s?

The Washington Naval Conference was a diplomatic conference, called by the administration of President Warren G. Harding and held inWashington, D.C. from November 1921 to February 1922. Conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations, it was attended by nine nations having interests in the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Soviet Russia was not invited to the conference. It was the first international conference held in the United States and the first disarmament conference in history.It resulted in the conclusion of the Four-Power Treaty, Five-Power Treaty and the Nine-Power Treaty. These treaties preserved peace during the 1920s but are also credited with establishing the rise of the Japanese Empire as a naval power leading up to World War II.

Did the US follow a policy of isolationism during the 1920’s?

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, after the city where it was signed on August 27, 1928, is an international treaty "providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy." It failed in this purpose, but is significant for later developments in international law.

The pact was proposed 1927 by Aristide Briand, the French foreign minister and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, as a bilateral treaty between the United States and France outlawing war between the two countries.Briand thought it would both improve the cooled relations between the former allies and, more importantly, ensure that the United States would ally with France in the event of another European war.

Economic prosperity in America

The Gross National Product of the nation rose from $74 billion at the beginning of the decade to more

than $104 billion in 1929. Wages were up. Workers had more money to spend, and they spent it on

automobiles, home appliances, radios, phonographs, and popular entertainment, especially movies.

Millions of ordinary Americans invested in the stock market for the first time as stock prices soared

upwards

The Rising Standard of Living

• Americans of the post-war years had more leisure time and a shorter work week

• Educational opportunities expanded for the “right” demographic

• Corporate mergers began to increase again, with an emphasis on professional management and employee care

How would this make America rich?

Most of these are Model T Most of these are Model T FordsFords

How can stopping foreign imports help America?

What else helped the USA?

• Tax cuts• Loaning money abroad (Creditor Nation:

Britain alone owed $9 billion. America rebuilt Germany after WW1)

• High consumer spending• 3 Republican Presidents from 1922 onwards

Economic prosperity in America

Global Expansion• The 1920s was a decade of dramatic

expansion in business, finance, and trade for the United States

• Territorial expansion was also endorsed by the American government; continued involvement in the affairs of Central and South America inconsistently promoted peace, stability, and trade in the hemisphere

Economic growth of the 1920’s was based on the production on

new consumer goods.. Mass Production techniques reduced the prices of consumer goods. Consumers were continually

buying American made products

The Automobile Culture• The manufacture of the automobile underwent

enormous growth in the postwar years, stimulating the rubber, steel, and petroleum industries

• The growing affordability of the auto forced governments to pave more streets with federal assistance

• The auto contributed to the creation of city suburbs and rampant pollution

• Mass production of automobiles and the urbanization of America also led to a new culture and a whole new way of organizing cities, towns, and markets as cars made it possible for millions to live in suburbs, some with their own shopping centers.

Henry Ford is credited with the invention of the assembly line and mass production, the first generally available automobile and by extension, middleclass America

Workers on a Ford automotive assembly line

Ford’s Automotive Assembly line

A Communications Revolution• During the 1920s, the number of homes with

telephones increased from 9 to 13 million• Radio and motion pictures began to solidify a

shared identity of Americans through entertainment, news, and sports

Sales of radios at the beginning of the decade amounted to just $2 million, but by the end of the decade soared to $600 million. Radio networks like CBS and NBC became a major industry, changing the way the country received news, music, sports, entertainment,and national advertising. NBC's radio coverage of the 1927 Rose Bowl was the first coast-to-coast network broadcast

KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started broadcasting on November 2, 1920 as one of the world's first two commercial radio stations, owned by Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Broadcast area Pittsburgh, PABranding "AM 1020 KDKA"Slogan "The Voice of Pittsburgh"First air date 1920Frequency 1020 (kHz)

FormatNews/Talk

ERP 50,000 wattsClass A

OwnerCBS Corporation/CBS Radio

Website kdkaradio.com

Today, KDKA is a news and talk radio station. It broadcasts 24 hours per day with 50,000 watts using a non-directional antenna. Its signal reaches large portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia during the day and much of the eastern half of North America at night

Radio's introduction and rapid, widespread adoption would become the first true "mass media". Coming of age in the 1920's radio introduced Americans to a whole new form of communication and shared experiences like no technology had before. Impact of Radio:

•Commercials on radio broadcasts introduced Americans to national "brands" of products and services that quickly began toovertake the smaller regional companies of the past •Radio networks such as National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) transmitted signals to nearly all of America, insuring that the public heard the same entertainment and the same newscasts, creating a shared experiences and understandings that had no previously been possible. •By the year 1929 over 45% of American homes had radios, eclipsing the rate of introduction seen by even the telephone

Film (motion pictures) were introduced to Americans in the early 1900's and by 1925 had become the US's fourth largest industry. Prior to the introduction of the television over half of Americans went to the movies at least once a week and more than 30,000 movie theaters were in business. The movies offered newsreels, or filmed news coverage, which was the first time Americans were able to see their political leaders and news makers in motion. The earliest films were black and white silent movies with stars such as Charlie Chaplin, BusterKeaton, Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino. These stars, among others, helped to launch the birth of "Hollywood". The first major film with sound, the 1927 Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson ushered in a new era in film that is still thriving in movie theatres across the globe.Impact of Film:

•By 1925 the film industry was the US's fourth largest business •The 1927 introduction of "talkies" in The Jazz Singer with Al Jolsoncauses movie attendance to double from 40+ million in 1922 to over 85 million in 1929 •In response to the growing sexual and political openness of the 1960's the film industry introduced "ratings" on films starting in 1968 as US films began to reflect changing US society.

George Herman Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth, also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambinoand The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. Consistently chosen as the greatest baseball player in history, his home run hitting exploits and titanic appetite for living made him one of the representative figures of the Roaring Twenties. He was one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he was the first player to hit over 30, 40 and 50 home runs in one season. His record of 60 home runs in the 1927 season stood for 34 years until it was broken by Roger Maris in 1961. He was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. In 1969, Ruth was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1998, The Sporting News named Ruth as Number One in its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." In 1999, Ruth was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in fan balloting.

Yankee Stadium is the home stadium of the New York Yankees, a major league baseball team. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx, New York . Yankee Stadium is often referred to as "The House that Ruth Built",

Yankee Stadium 1923 Yankee Stadium today

Many western farmers and southern sharecroppers failed to

experience the economic prosperity of the 1920’s

Farm commodity prices fell dramatically following World War I. By 1925 there was a serious downturn in the building industry, which was in a state of depression four years before the stock market crash of 1929. Black sharecroppers in the South were barely surviving economically on an average wage of about $350 a year. When the stock market crashed in 1929, millions of people were thrown out of work, fortunes were lost and businesses were ruined

Rural America in the 1920s• American farmers, as a rule, did not share in

the prosperity of the 1920s.• A vicious cycle of overproduction to meet

demands continually lowered market prices of produce, forcing many farmers into the poorhouse

• Advancements in agriculture (pesticides and advanced fertilizers) increased yield per acre and put many farmers out of business

Farmers failed to attain economic prosperity because farm crops

were over produced which caused prices to fall

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution ushered in an era of Prohibition, which

outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol. Still, many Americans found ways to imbibe illegally. They went to speakeasies, private

clubs that provided entertainment and liquor. Others bought illegal whiskey and beer from

bootleggers. Popular movies and novels about the 1920s make it look like one big happy

party of booze, jazz, and good times

Police raid during Prohibition

Posters supporting Prohibition

Per Capita Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages (Gallons of Pure Alcohol)

1910-1929.

Total Expenditure on Distilled Spirts as a Percentage of Total Alcohol Sales (1890-1960)

Figure 3 Inmates at Sing Sing Prison: 1917-22

Homicide Rate: 1910-44

Destruction of alcohol during Prohibition

Prohibition during the 1920’s led to an increase of organized crime

Organized crime gained momentum in the 1920s, especially in urban areas, as the underground production and sale of alcohol became big business. Bootlegging, the illegal sale of alcohol, was a $60 million a year business for such gangsters as Al Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, and George Remus. It also lead to more than 300 murders. In general, public disregard for the law was on the rise

Al Capone was an infamous American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. A Neapolitan born in New York, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming Chicago's most notorious crime figure. By the end of the 1920s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had placed Capone on its "Most Wanted" list. Capone's downfall occurred in 1931 when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax evasion and sent to the notorious island prison Alcatraz.

FBI mugshot of Capone, 1931

George MoranGeorge “Bugs” Moran was another Chicago gangster in the 1920s. He ran bootlegging and gambling operations but, being a devout Catholic, no prostitution. He and his group were in an ensuing battle for control of the alcohol industry with Al Capone. It was members of Moran’s gang who were murdered by Capone’s gang members in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

George RemusRemus was known as the “king of bootlegging” and ran his operation out ofCinncinati. Once a criminal defense lawyer, George used his knowledge of the law to find loopholes in the Volstead Act, which outlined the laws of Prohibition. He was able to produce and distribute alcohol under false pretenses. But like most kings of the underworld, Remus soon met his demise and was caught and incarcerated. Upon his release he promptly murdered his estranged wife, thus returning to prison.

21Repeal of

Prohibition(1933)

•The 18th amendment (prohibition) is repealed •Alcohol is again legal

Prohibition was regarded as a huge failure. Bootlegging and speakeasies allowed liquor to flow freely, and created a huge network of organized crime. Many feared disrespect for the prohibition laws would cause disrespect for all law, and the 18th amendment was revoked.

18th Amendment is repealed

The 1920’s saw a time of a departure of traditional roles for women

FlappersThe term flapper in the 1920s, referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered "decent" behavior. The flappers were seen as brash in their time for wearing makeup, drinking hard liquor and smoking

Scopes Trial

John Scopes, a football coach and substitute biology teacher, agreed to be arrested and put on trial to challenge a new law against teaching evolution

The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law forbidding the teaching of any evolutionary theory which indicated that man descended from lower orders of animals in public schools

Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, 1925 Clarence Darrow, a famous Chicago lawyer, and William Jennings Bryan, defender of Fundamentalism, have a friendly chat in a courtroom during the Scopes evolution

trial. Darrow defended John T. Scopes, a biology teacher, who decided to test the new Tenessee law banning the teaching of evolution. Bryan took the stand for the

prosecution as a bible expert. The trial in 1925 ended in conviction of Scopes

Clarence Darrow Speaks at Scopes Trial

Scopes (1900-1970), evolution teacher and subject of the famous monkey trial. Photograph, 1925

Prohibition, flappers, and the Scopes trial represents the

disagreement over traditional values vs. changing times

Harlem RenaissanceThe Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African-American social thought and culture based in the African-American community forming in Harlem in New York City (USA). This period, beginning with 1920 and extending roughly to 1940, was expressed through every cultural medium—visual art, dance, music, theatre, literature, poetry, history and politics. Instead of using direct political means, African-American artists, writers, and musicians employed culture to work for goals of civil rights and equality. For the first time, African-American paintings, writings, and jazz became absorbed into mainstream culture and crossed racial lines, creating a lasting legacy.

Langston Hughes

“I, Too, Sing America”

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I’ll sit at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,“Eat in the kitchen,”Then.

Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

— Langston Hughes, 1926

Duke Ellington

Listen to the music of Duke Ellington http://www.archive.org/details/EastStLouis

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was an American jazz musician. Armstrong was a charismatic, innovative performer whose musical skills and bright personality transformed jazz from a rough regional dance music into a popular art form. Probably the most famous jazz musician of the 20th century, he first achieved fame as a trumpeter, but towards the end of his career he was best known as a vocalist and was one of the most influential jazz singers

Booker T.Washinton

Former slave who founded the Tuskegee Institute that focused on teaching African-Americans vocational trade skills to earn a living and gain the trust of white society.

W.E.B.DuBois

Founder of the NAACP, and a Harvard-educated professor who focused on the need for a traditional liberal arts education for African-Americans who could then insist upon equal treatment and rights from white society.

Two great leaders of the black community in the late 19th and 20th century were W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. However, they sharply disagreed on strategies for black social and economic progress. Their opposing philosophies can be found in much of today's discussions over how to end class and racial injustice, what is the role of black leadership, and what do the 'haves' owe the 'have-nots' in the black community.

Booker T. Washington, educator, reformer and the most influent ional black leader of his time (1856-1915) preached a philosophy of self-help, racial solidarity and accommodation. He urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. He believed in education in the vocational (special skills)fields such as crafts, industrial and farming skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise and thrift. This, he said, would win the respect of whites and lead to African Americans being fully accepted as citizens and integrated into all strata of society

W.E.B. Du Bois, was an intellectual, scholar and political thinker (1868-1963) Founder of the NAACP, and a Harvard-educated professor who focused on the need for a traditional liberal arts education for African-Americans who could then insist upon equal treatment and rights from white society. Du Bois became arguably the most notable political activist on behalf of African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. Du Bois disagreed with Booker T. Washington, he argued in print about African-American acceptance of issues such as segregation and political disenfranchisement. Labeled the "father of Pan-Africanism", Du Bois believed that people of African descent should, because of their common interests, work together to battle prejudice and inequality.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States

1920’s successes of the NAACP

1920: To ensure that everyone, especially the Ku Klux Klan, knew the NAACP would not be intimidated, the annual conference was held in Atlanta, considered one of the most active areas of the Klan.1922: The NAACP placed large ads in major newspapers to present the facts about lynching.1930: The first of successful protests by the NAACP against Supreme Court justice nominees is begun against John Parker, who favored laws that discriminated against African-Americans.

Republican Herbert Hoover wins the 1928 presidential election to become the 31st President of the United States

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States

(1929-1933), was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian,

and administrator. He exemplified the Efficiency Movement

component of the Progressive Era, arguing there were engineering-

like technical solutions to all social and economic problems--a position that was challenged by the Great Depression that began

while he was President.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 is considered the beginning of the Great Depression. The crash came as a result of too many investors buying stock on the margin, which means purchasing a stock for only paying a small percent of the actual price. Buying on the margin allows an investor to purchase more stock, which they intend to pay off with the profits from a later sale of the stock. In the Crash of 1929, investors could not pay for the stock they had bought on the margin. This caused many people and businesses to go bankrupt, and resulted in the widespread failure of banks. While the stock market crash was a cause of the depression, other factors contributed as well.

On poverty Hoover promised: "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." Within months, the Stock Market Crash of 1929 occurred, and the nation's economy spiraled downward into what became known as theGreat Depression

Stock Market Crash• The prosperity of the decade came to a screeching

halt in 1929 with the collapse of the nation’s stock market

• Many investors had responded to the booming economy by buying stocks on margin (borrowing to invest).

• An overextension of the market caused a crash with a represented loss of over $26 million on paper

Causes of the Great Depression•No government regulation on stock market speculation. •No enforcement of antitrust laws. Tax policy that favored the rich.

•Widespread unemployment in such industries as railroads, textiles, and coal. •Less consumption of consumer goods than what were manufactured. •Worldwide reduction in the prices of farm goods. •Unequal distribution of wealth which made economy dependent on small percentage of people. •Weak banking structure that resulted in more than 7,000 banks failing. •Weak international economy due to high tariffs and high foreign debt.

Stock Market Speculation a was a cause of the Great DepressionNo government regulation on stock market speculation. No enforcement of antitrust laws. Tax policy that favored the rich.

Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover to become the 31st President of the United States

Hoover’s Depression era policies were widely unpopular

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only person to be elected President more than twice,

was one of the central figures of 20th century history. He is best known for

leading the U.S. through the Great Depression using his New Deal, building

a powerful Democratic party coalition that dominated American politics for three decades, and jointly leading the military alliance that defeated Nazi

Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan in World War II. A child of economic and social privilege, he

overcame crippling illness to place himself at the head of the forces of

reform. Universally known as FDR, he was both loved and hated in his day but

today many consider him one of the greatest of American presidents.