Lesson 1: The Politics of the
1920s
◦ In 1920, Harding ran for President, with most
Americans wanting a return to simpler times.
 His campaign slogan was a return to
“Normalcy” or normal life after the war.
◦ Political Appointments as President
 Ohio Gang Harding’s old poker friends who were appointed by
Harding into government offices.
 Some of these men used their positions to sell jobs,
pardons, and immunity for prosecution.
 Harding will die before all of these scandals become
public.
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Secretary of the Interior under
Harding.
He secretly allowed private
interests to lease land containing
U.S. Navy oil reserves at Teapot
Dome, Wyoming.
◦ Albert Fall receives $300,000 in
bribes.
◦ Becomes known as the Teapot Dome
Scandal.
◦ Fall will be the first cabinet officer in
history to be sent to prison.
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Dougherty refused to turn over files
and bank records for a Germanowned American company.
Bribe money ended up in the bank
account controlled by Dougherty.
Dougherty refused to testify under
oath, claiming immunity (freedom
from prosecution) on the grounds
that he had confidential dealings
with the President.
New President Calvin Coolidge
demanded Dougherty’s resignation.
◦ Calvin Coolidge becomes President after
Harding’s death.
◦ Coolidge quickly distances himself from
the Harding administration.
◦ His focus was on prosperity through
business leadership with little
government intervention.
 Coolidge easily wins the Republican
Party’s nomination for President in
1924.
◦ Coolidge will win the Election of 1924
with more than half the popular vote. He
promised to give the United States the
normalcy that Harding had not.
◦ Andrew Melon, named Secretary of the Treasury by President
Harding, reduced government spending and cut the federal
budget.
 The federal debt was reduced by $ 7 billion between 1921
and 1929.
◦ Supply- side economics was used to reduce taxes.
 This idea suggested that lower taxes would allow businesses
and consumers to spend and invest their extra money,
resulting in economic growth.
 In the end, the government would collect more taxes at a lower rate.
◦ Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce attempted to balance
government regulation with cooperative individualism.
 Manufacturers and distributers were asked to form their own
trade associations and share information with the federal
government’s Bureau of Standards.
 Hoover felt this would reduce waste and costs and lead to economic
stability.
◦ By the 1920s, the U.S. was the dominant economic
power in the world.
 The Allies owed the U.S. billions of dollars in war
debts.
 The U.S. national income was far greater than that of
Britain, Germany, France, and Japan combined.
◦ Americans favored isolationism rather than be
involved in international politics and issues.
 Americans wanted to be left alone to pursue
prosperity.
 The U.S. was too powerful and interconnected in
international affairs to remain isolated.
◦ Other countries felt that the U.S. should help with the
war’s financial debt.
 The U.S. government disagreed, arguing that the
Allies had gained new territory and received
reparations from the Germans for starting the war.
◦ Reparations crippled the German economy.
 Charles G. Dawes- an American diplomat and
banker who would negotiate an agreement with
France, Britain, and Germany called the Dawes Plan.
 Dawes Plan- American banks would make loans to
Germany so they could meet their reparation payments.
 France and Britain agreed to accept less in reparations and
pay more on their war debts.
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Invited countries to discuss the
ongoing post-war naval arms race.
Secretary of State Charles Evans
Hughes proposed a 10 year
moratorium on the construction of
major new warships.
 The conference did nothing to limit land forces.
 Japan was angry that the conference required
Japan to keep a smaller navy than the U.S. and
Great Britain.
 A treaty that outlawed war.
 By signing the treaty, countries agreed to stop war
and settle disputes in a peaceful way.
 On August 27, 1928, the U.S. and 14 other nations
signed it, and eventually 62 nations ratified it.
 The treaty had no binding force, but it was hailed as a victory.
Chapter 17
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During the 1920s, Americans enjoyed a new
standard of living.
◦ Wages increased and work hours decreased.
◦ Mass production (Large- scale product
manufacturing usually done by machinery)
increased the supply of goods and decreased
costs.
◦ Greater productivity led to the emergence of new
industry.
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Used by Henry Ford, greatly increased manufacturing
efficiency by dividing up operations into simple tasks
that an unskilled worker could perform.
The Model T- sold for $850 the first year it was
produced, after several years it dropped to $490. By
1924 the Model T was selling for $295.
Ford increased workers’ wages and reduced the
workday to gain workers’ loyalty and to undercut
union organizers.
Ford made the automobile affordable and changed
American life.
Because of this small businesses like garages and gas
stations opened.
◦ The petroleum industry expanded.
◦ The isolation of rural life ended, people could live
farther from work creating the auto commuter.
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Disposable income made innovations affordable.
 Americans used their new income to make life
easier.
 Electric razors, frozen foods, and vacuum cleaners.
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By 1919 the Post Office had expanded airmail
service across the continent with the help of the
railroad.
In 1927 Charles Lindbergh made a transatlantic
solo flight, which gained support in the United
States for the commercial flight.
 By 1928, 48 airlines were serving 355 American
cities.
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In 1926 the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) established permanent network of radio
stations.
 In 1928 the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) set
up coast to coast stations to compete with NBC.
◦ Higher wages and shorter workdays led to an
economic boom as Americans traded thrift for their
new role as consumers.
 American attitudes toward debt shifted because
they became confident that they could pay back
what they owed at a later time.
◦ Advertising was used to convince Americans that
they needed new products.
 Ads linked products with qualities that were
popular to the modern era.
 Sold convenience, leisure, success, fashion, and style.
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The middle class expanded because companies
hired more professional managers and engineers.
◦ The Unions would lose members.
 Open shop- a workplace where employees were
not required to join a union.
 Welfare capitalism- where employees were able
to purchase stock, participate in profit sharing,
and receive benefits, making unions seem
unnecessary.
◦ American farmers did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s.
◦ Instead, prices dropped dramatically while the cost to improve
farmers’ technology increased.
◦ During the war, the government had encouraged farmers to
produce more for food supplies needed in Europe.
 Farmers borrowed money at inflated prices to buy new land
and machinery to raise more crops.
 They would prosper during the war.
 After the war, Europeans had little money to buy American
farm products.
 After Congress raised tariffs, farmers could no longer sell
their products overseas, and prices fell.
◦ President Coolidge twice vetoed a bill to aid the farmers,
fearing that it would make the situation worse.
 American farmers remained in a recession throughout the
1920s.
Chapter 17
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In the 1920s, racism and nativism increased.
◦ Immigrants, demobilized military men and women
competed for the same jobs.
◦ At the same the country faced:
 High unemployment rates
 An increase in the cost of living
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Ethnic prejudice was the base of this case.
Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of murder
and theft.
◦ They were thought to be anarchists.
 Those who opposed all forms of government.
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Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death.
In 1927 they were executed still proclaiming
their innocence.
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The KKK led the movement to resist immigration.
This new Klan not only targeted the freed African
Americans but also…
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Catholics
Jews
Immigrants
Other groups with “un-American” values.
By 1924, the KKK had over 4 million members.
Scandals and poor leadership caused the decline
of the Klan in the late 1920s.
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The National Origins Act of 1924
◦ Made immigrant restrictions a permanent policy.
◦ It lowered the quotas to 2% of each national group living
in the US in 1890.
◦ This further restricted immigrants from southern and
eastern Europe.
 People from the Western Hemisphere were exempt from the
quota system.
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Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902
◦ Allowed Mexican immigrants to enter the country.
◦ Worked on farms in the American Southwest.
◦ By the end of the 1920s nearly 700,000 Mexicans had
migrated to the US.
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Changes for Women
◦ Women’s fashion changes
 Flapper a young, dramatic, stylish, and unconventional women.
 She smoked cigarettes, drank liquor, and wore revealing
clothes.
 Professionally, women made advances in the fields of
science, medicine, law, and literature.
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Fundamentalists-
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In 1925 Tennessee passed the Butler Act.
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Scopes Trial-
◦ Rejected Darwin’s Theory
◦ Believed in creationism- the belief that God created the
world as described in the Bible.
◦ Made it illegal to teach anything that denied creationism.
◦ Creationists v. Evolutionists
◦ John Scopes biology teacher, volunteered to test the
Butler Act by teaching his class evolution.
◦ Scopes was arrested and found guilty.
 The case was later over turned.
 Following the trial, fundamentalists withdrew from political
activism.
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The Volstead Act◦ Gave the treasury department responsibility to
enforce the 18th Amendment.
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Americans ignored the laws of Prohibition.
◦ Speakeasies
 Secret bars where alcohol could be purchased.
 Crime became big business, and gangsters corrupted
many local politicians and governments.
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In 1933 the 21st Amendment ended
Prohibition.
Chapter 17
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American artists and writers challenged
traditional ideas and explored what it meant
to be “modern” during the 1920’s
Many artists, writers, and intellectuals of the
1920’s flocked to Manhattan’s Greenwich
Village or Chicago’s South Side because of
the Bohemian or artistic and unconventional
lifestyle of these neighborhoods
Modern American art was influenced by
European art during this era
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Poets and writers of the 1920’s varied
greatly in their styles and subject matter
Playwright Eugene O’Neill filled his plays
with realistic characters and situations
Ernest Hemingway wrote about “heroic
antiheroes” who are realistic people that
have flaws
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the Great Gatsby, a
novel, that exposed the emptiness and
superficiality of much of modern society
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The economic prosperity of the 1920’s provided
Americans with more leisure time and spending
money, which led to the popular rise of sports,
radio shows, and motion pictures
Because of radio and motion pictures, sports
became very popular
Babe Ruth became a national hero and a
worldwide celebrity
Boxer, Jack Dempsey became famous
Bobby Jones became the first golfer to win the
U.S. Open and the British Open in the same year
in 1926
Chapter 17
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The Harlem Renaissance created an environment that
stimulated artistic development, racial pride, a sense of
community, and political organization which occurred in
the New York City neighborhood of Harlem
Claude McKay was considered the first important writer
of the Harlem Renaissance who expressed a proud
defiance and bitter contempt of racism
Louis Armstrong, in 1922, introduced an early form of
Jazz music influenced by Dixieland and ragtime. He
started performing solos.
The Cotton Club was one of the most famous Harlem
nightspots, where many famous African American
musicians got their start
The Blues is a soulful style of music that evolved from
African American life
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The Great Migration of African Americans to
northern cities made them an important voting
bloc in elections
Most African Americans voted Republican
because it was the party of Abraham Lincoln
The National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) fought to end
lynching
This effort did not stop lynching's, but helped to
reduce how many took place
Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA) to promote
black pride and unity through Nationalism
He believed that African Americans could gain
economic and political power by educating themselves
He called for self-reliance to achieve
success
He wanted African Americans to move to the
African country of Liberia
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This action distanced himself from the African
American middle class and intellectuals
Garvey was then convicted of mail fraud, went to
prison, and was deported to Jamaica
Despite Garvey’s failure, he inspired African
Americans and this pride helped them
during the civil rights movement of the
1960’s