Prosperity, Modernism,
and Conflict
The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly
EQ – How did the U.S.
experience both economic
growth and social change
in the decade after WWI?
http://www.learn360.com/ShowVideo.aspx?S
earchText=jazz+age&lid=18565842&ID=64010
3&player=12
 Play until 2:03 (strikes resumed)
 Warden Harding,
elected in 1920,
promises a return to
“normalcy”
 What about Wilson’s
idea of a US involved in
world affairs?
 What about
progressivism?
 The American people reject internationalism and
progressivism
By 1920, US is the richest and most
industrialized country in the world
 A creditor nation – countries owe US more than
US owes them
 European powers were weakened from war
Overall, this is a period of great change and
“modern America” is born
1920s was a Consumer revolution
 Affordable goods produced quickly
What is the “driving” force behind this?
 Automobile Industry
 Henry Ford uses assembly lines to mass produce
cars – the Model T (cost about $850)
 By 1927, it cost $290
 In 1919, 10% of Americans had cars. By 1927,
56% had cars
The Model T
How did the Automobile Industry spur
growth?
 What do cars require?
 Gas,
steel, oil, glass, rubber
 Need streets/highways which means you need gas
stations, diners, and hotels
 Henry Ford gives workers more pay, 8 hrs,
weekends off – potential customers/leisure time
 With cars, people can live further away and drive
to work – suburbs
Installment Buying
 Not need cash. Simply put down
payment and then pay monthly
payments. Use credit.
Stock market becomes a “Bull
Market”
 Rising stock prices and
Americans invest money to get
rich quick
How can average people buy
stock?
 Buying on margin
 Buying
stocks on credit
Harding (1921-1923) & Coolidge
(1923-1929) = Republicans
 “The business of America is
business”
Practice laissez-faire policy
Reject progressivism, want to help
business
Reduce spending from 18 billion
to 3 billion
Lower taxes but raise tariffs
The Harding Administration (1921-1923)
What does Harding promise?
 Return to Normalcy
Which means…?
 Less social reforms,
return to “simpler times”
How would you describe his economic policies?
 Pro-business; less regulations on businesses
 … Conservative policies!
The Coolidge Administration (1923-1929)
Nicknamed…?
Silent Cal
His economic policies
were…?
Pro-Business
Also Conservative!
“The chief business of the American people is
business.”
What is it?
Stay out of world affairs and avoid another
war
 Washington Naval Conference – limit size and
construction of navy/warships
 Kellogg-Briand Pact – not use war to settle
disputes
 US stays out of World Court
 *** Helps lead to WW2***
Focus Question:
What do the youth of today have in common
with the youth of the 1920s?
Read
 Review the summary of the culture of the 1920s.
Research
 Learn about the flappers of the 1920s.
Respond
 Using the information from "A Flapper's Appeal to
Parents," answer the questions concerning the flapper
culture. Then compare the youth of today to the
flappers of the 1920s.
Process: You will work in groups to
read/discuss
 You will have 10 minutes with each document to work
and discuss with your group members
Research: Answer the questions for the 3
documents and watch the video as a class
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3svvCj4yhYc&feature=related&safe=active
Synthesize: Using what you learned, complete
the chart on Flappers and Modern Youth
 Using the documents provided, analyze the changes in
American culture in the 1920s.
More people live in urban areas
Leisure time and more money
 Jazz, theaters, radio, phonograph, baseball
Women take on social/political rights
 Enter workforce
 Go into politics
 “The Flapper”
Flappers:
Young women defying traditional
rules of conduct & dress
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=TRveIIe4uAs
&feature=related
Lucy does the jitterbug
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=frLNbUWG5
24
Charles Lindbergh,
The Spirit of St.
Louis
- Across Atlantic
Babe Ruth
Jack Dempsey
Charlie Chaplin
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=ewNLCkA0oBk&safe
=active
The Jazz Singer,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkyvst
NrkHo
A New
Culture:
The Radio
First Radio Station: KDKA Pittsburg
The Phonograph
Key figures:
• Duke
Ellington
• Louis
Armstrong
• Bessie
Smith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wbNZFS3MDA
The Lost Generation
 No more reliance on Victorian era
 Disillusioned by WWI
 Now they look for new truths/generation
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Ernest Hemmingway, A Farewell to
Arms
Sinclair Lewis
Gertrude Stein
 Blacks moving North/to cities
during and after WWI
 Emergence of a black middle class
 Blacks “reinvent” their culture
 Black pride/nationalism
 Marcus Garvey and the “Back to
Africa” movement
 Jazz – Cotton Club
 Other key figures: Claude McKay,
Zora Neale Hurston, Langston
Hughes
 Fear of communists within the
country
 Why? What is communism?
 Russian Revolution – want International Revolution
 Want workers to rise up and overthrow capitalism
 What happens in US?
 Palmer Raids – attorney general/police arrest thousands of
suspects
 Who? – immigrants from S. & E Europe
 ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union
Arrests of Sacco and
Vanzetti
Italian immigrants
Known anarchists
Charged with killing
two men
What is the evidence?
 Witness said robbers
looked Italian
Nativism is on the rise
 Anti-immigration
Emergency Quota Act and the National
Origins Act
 Establish quota system for immigrants from
specific countries
 Formula: # of immigrants from country
could not exceed # of immigrants of
nationality in 1890.
Revived in 1915
 Against changes in
cities
 Target blacks, Jews,
Catholics, immigrants,
immorality
 Attracted 4-5 million
 Americans join
because they are
fearful of change
Religious Americans see attack on Christianity
with urban culture that is emerging
 Fundamentalists vs. Modernists in the Scopes Trial
 TN’s law against Darwin’s theory vs. ACLU/Scopes
 Creationism vs. Evolution
Better technology - more food/less labor – lower prices
– not make as much – banks call in loans - early
depression for farmers
Prohibition
18th Amendment
passed…?
 Prohibition
Which outlawed…?
 Use, sale,
manufacture of
alcohol
Some people drank anyway, at illegal bars…?
 Speakeasies
What amendment ENDED Prohibition?
 21st Amendment
Problem: 18th Amendment and Volstead
Act
 “Drys” say it’s good because stop child abuse,
not waste money, liver disease, moral
 “Wets” say will not stop people from
drinking, lead to organized crime
 Both are right
 Which side are you on?
Get illegal network of
gangs/business
 Make or smuggle alcohol into
the country
 Bootleggers – people who sold
alcohol
 Speakeasies – secret drinking
establishments
 Often spread to other area such
as murder, robbery, drugs
Most notorious – Al Capone
http://video.pbs.org/video/2085881894
What president wanted to restore America to
“normalcy”?
What policies were implemented by the
conservative governments?
Describe what is meant by a “Bull Market”
How did the US seek to stay out of world
affairs? (two events/legislation)
Who is Marcus Garvey and what did he want?