Amy Fletcher
Byrnes High School
2007
Politics in the 1920s
Warren G Harding (R)elected president in 1920 – campaign said he would
Bring a “return to normalcy”.
-Followed an isolationist policy
-Set up a quota system limiting the number of immigrants coming into
the US – KKK really active in pushing this - Emergency Quota Act
-Red Scare in full swing – Sacco and Vanzetti trial is major issue
-Teapot Dome Scandal ruins him – involves oil leases
-He dies while in officce
-18th amendment passed – Prohibition amendment
-
Calvin Coolidge
Harding’s vice president – became president when Harding died
Reelected in 1924
Known for “supply side economics” – idea that if taxes were lowered then
businesses would invest that money and consumers would have more to spend
and invest resulting in economic growth.
Did nothing to help the American farmers
Herbert Hoover
Elected in 1928
Had been Coolidge’s Secretary of Commerce and got credit for improved economy
Ran against a Catholic – Alfred E Smith – religion a big issue in the campaign
Stock Market crashed during his presidency
Hawley Smoot Tariff passed – caused foreign countries to raise their tariffs and
number of goods sold overseas dropped
New Morality
Challenged traditional ideas
*glorified youth and personal freedom
*women broke away from families as they
entered the workforce, earned own livings or
attended college
*new ideas about marriage, work, and
pleasure affected lives
*automobiles gave youth the opportunity
to pursue interests away from parents
Flappers
Young,
stylish,
smoked,
drank,
wore
revealing
clothes
Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the US
Fundamentalist Religion Movement starts
John Scopes fired for teaching about
evolution in his Tennessee class
*The big issue is evolution (Darwin) v creationism
(God created the world as described in the Bible)
William Jennings Bryan was his prosecutoe. The defense attorney was Clarence Darrow.
He was found guilty of violating the Butler Act which forbade teaching anything
Other than the creationist theory. The conviction was later overturned.
The movie “The Grapes of Wrath” is about this case.
Prohibition
It became illegal to produce or sell alcohol when the 18th amendment passed.
The Volstead Act made prohibition
the responsibility of the US
treasury Department which changed
police powers to control people and
property in the public’s interest
to the federal government where it had
been the responsibility of state
governments before.
Americans ignored the prohibition laws and went to secret bars called
“speakeasies” where alcohol could be purchased.
Prohibition led to a massive increase in organized crime. One of the most
Notorious of the “bootleggers” was Al Capone.
Gangsters corrupted many local politicians and governments.
Al Capone
Art and Literature
The “Lost Generation”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The Great Gatsby”
Ernest Hemingway
“For Whom The Bell Tolls”
Langston Hughes - author and poet
Zora Neale Hurston
“Their Eyes Were Watching God”
Popular Culture
Babe Ruth – baseball player
Jack Dempsey - Boxer
Bessie Smith – singer (blues)
Duke Ellington - Musician
(Jazz)
Cotton Club in Harlem where many
African American musicians got their
start
The Great Migration brought many African Americans to the urban areas
in the North hoping for a better life.
Harlem was one of the neighborhoods in New York City where many of them
came. There was a sense of racial pride and a sense of community there. It
fostered a massive outpouring of African American arts . The name Harlem
Renaissance is given to the massive efforts in all areas of the arts.
Politically, the NAACP was very active.
Marcus Garvey (from Jamaica) encouraged education, but also
suggested that African Americans go back to Africa – coined the phrase
“Black is beautiful.”
Rise of New Industries
Assembly line used
in mass production
Started by Henry Ford
Mass production allowed
the cost of a car to be
cut in half – the lives of
many Americans changed
as more people could afford
Cars.
Other businesses grew as a result of the automobile – small businesses such
as gas stations, garages, motels started up. People were also able to live
further away from their jobs.
As wages increased people had more money to spend (disposible
income)
People purchased things to make life easier.
* electric razors
* frozen foods
* vacuums
* appliances
The Post Office had airmail service
Charles Lindbergh made the first solo transatlantic flight to Paris
By 1928 there were 48 airlines in operation
1926National Broadcasting Company set up a network of radio
stations
1928 Columbia Broadcasting Company became the competitor for
NBC
Consumer Society
The Great Depression
A period in US History when businesses began to slow down and many people
lost their jobs.
Began October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed. It began the longest and
Worst period of unemployment this country has ever seen.
* Farmers lost their farms.
* Banks failed and closed their doors.
* Problem was that there were no social services to come in and help.
* Millionaires became beggars overnight.
* People were selling apples on the street
* Suicide rates increased
* It affected the entire world.
By 1932 one out of every four people was unemployed.
Children’s chores in the 1920s and 1930s.
From
Birdie Farr summarizes the routine of living on an acreage: "We were always busy.
You had chores in those days to do... You came home from school, did your
chores, helped with supper, get your lessons, and by that time it's almost
bedtime."
Many chores had to be done daily: hauling water, gathering eggs, tending the
garden, and filling the wood box. And some chores like milking cows and feeding
livestock had to be done more than once a day. Fieldwork started early, with
feeding and harnessing the horses.
http://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_06.html
Life in the Rural Areas
Life in rural areas during the Depression was hard. Because prices for crops
were very low, farmers received little for their efforts. They could not repay the
loans that they had taken out on their farms in more prosperous times, and
many lost their houses and farms.
As the hard times deepened, the Red Cross and the government set up
stations to dispense food and other necessities to the needy. Out in the
country, there were not as many food stations, so people had to travel long
distances to town to receive supplies. This trip was a hardship because few
had transportation or the money to make the trip.
FACTS about this decade.
Population: 123,188,000 in 48 states
Life Expectancy: Male, 58.1; Female, 61.6
Average salary: $1,368
Unemployment rises to 25%
Huey Long proposes a guaranteed annual income of $2,500
Car Sales: 2,787,400
Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt.; Bread, 9 cents a loaf; Round Steak, 42 cents
a pound
Lynchings: 21
Work Cited
http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blyindexdepression.htm
http://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_05.html children’s chores no
copyright given
http://www.museum.siu.edu/museum_classroom_grant/Museum_Explorers/schoo
l_pages/bourbonnais/page4.htm no copyright given
http://www.geocities.com/bettye_sutton/greatdepression.html general facts about
the decade of the 1930s. No copyright given