The Second
Industrial Revolution
America in the 1920s
■America was changed by the
industrialism of the Gilded Age &
the economic boom of WWI
■During the 1920s:
–The USA was the richest & most
developed country in the world
–Wages rose, hours declined, &
Americans had access to new,
innovative consumer goods
The increase
national name
brands
The
SecondofIndustrial
Revolution
(rather than locally produced goods)
■From
1922
to 1929,
U.S.
linked
Americans
morethe
than
everhad
a 2nd industrial boom:
–Mostly in consumer durable
goods like appliances, cars,
radios, furniture, & clothing
–Electricity replaced steam power
–Corporations used salaried
executives, plant managers, &
engineers to increase efficiency
1920s consumerism led to luxury living:
New appliances like refrigerators, washing
machines, & vacuums
Glenwood
Stove Ad
1920s advertising
1920s consumerism led to luxury living:
Radios & movies boomed
100 million Americans went to the
firstnetwork
“talkie”
NBC was movies
the 1st successful
radio
in 1929 The
per
week
Economic Weaknesses
■The “Roaring 20s” was not as
prosperous as it appeared:
–RR, cotton textile, coal industries
suffered due to new competition
–Farmers boomed during WWI
but a decline in demand after the
war deflated farm prices
Farm per capita income of was $273 per year
vs. the U.S. average of $681 per year
Economic Weaknesses
–Union membership dropped due
to improved conditions & links to
Debs’ “radical socialism”
–Northern migration of blacks
grew but workers gained menial
jobs & faced racism
–Growth in income was unequal
with middle-class managers,
bankers, engineers benefiting the
most from the new affluence
Politics of the 1920s
Politics of the 1920s
■The 1920s were dominated by
Republicans in the White House
& in both houses of Congress:
–Limited Progressive reforms
–Developed a close relationship
between the gov’t & business
that promoted private enterprise
–Advocated a foreign policy
based on economic investment
of U.S. business in the world
Republican Presidents of the 1920s
■Warren Harding won the 1920
election promising “a return to
hisin presidency
TR setnormalcy”;
aside oil fields
WY & CA for is
the navy;
Harding’s
Sec of the Interior
Albert
Fall accepted
remembered
for two
things:
$400,000 to “lease” oil reserves to businesses
–Corruption: prohibition bribery,
graft in the Veterans Admin, &
the Teapot Dome scandal
–Treasury Sec Andrew Mellon’s
cutback on gov’t spending,
increase in protective tariffs, &
reduction of income taxes
Republican Presidents of the 1920s
“Four-fifths
our troubles
in &
thisVP
lifeCalvin
would
■Hardingofdied
in 1923
disappear
if
we
would
just
sit
down
&
be
still”
Coolidge became president & won
“Coolidge
aspired
to become
the least president
his own
term
in 1924:
the country ever had; he attained his desire”
–Coolidge’s honesty & integrity
was reassuring, but “Silent Cal”
was not much of a leader
–Coolidge continued Harding’s
policies of less gov’t spending,
lowering income taxes, & limiting
Congressional legislation
The US,The
England,
Japan,
Italy,
&
France
signed
The
Road
to
World
War
2
Nine-Power
Treaty
reaffirmed
England,
US, Japan,
France
signedto
thelimit
Fourthe Five-Power
Treaty
&
agreed
But,
neither
the
Nineor
Four-Power
Acts
the
Chinese
Open-Door
Policy
■After
WWI,
the
U.S.
foreign
policy
Power
Treaty
agreeing
to
collective
security
construction
of
battleships
&
aircraft
carriers
had provisions to enforce these agreements
retreated back to isolationism:
–At the Washington Disarmament
Conference in 1921, world
leaders agreed to disarmament,
free trade, & collective security
–In 1928, almost every nation,
including the U.S., signed the
Kellogg-Briand Act, renouncing
war as a tool of foreign policy
But urban voters
had clearlyDemocrats
had turned to the
The Divided
Democratic
Party,
they
just
needed
a
■While
the
Republicans
dominated
charismatic leader to unite the party
the gov’t, Democrats were split:
–Rural Dems in the south & west
favored prohibition, traditional
Protestant
thecandidate
Klan
Neither
urbanvalues,
nor rural &
Dem
could
win
majority
so
compromise
–Urban
Democrats
were
mostly
candidate, John Davis of WV
immigrants
■The Democratic Nat’l Convention
Davis
received
fewer
popular
votes of any
in NYC
for the
1924
presidential
Democratic candidate in 20th century
nomination exposed this polarity
The 1928 election reflected a divided USA:
■Herbert Hoover ■Alfred Smith
–Republican
–Democrat
–Protestant
–Catholic
–For prohibition
–“Wet”
–Native-born
–Of immigrant
parents
–Self-made
millionaire
–Rose through
Smith
appealed
to
new
voters
in
cities
but
committed
to
Tammany
Hall
to
Aalienated
new
urban
voting
bloc
was
revealed
in
1928:
old-line
Democrats;
Catholicism
st
Forbusiness
the
1
time,
Democrats
won
the
majority
of
&
be
a
progressive
hurt
Smith
more
than
anything
else
votes
in
the
12
largest
U.S.
cities
volunteerism
NY governor
Herbert Hoover
Instead of the laissez-faire
of Gilded Age, the
Republican
presidents
of proved
the 1920stopioneered
■Herbert
Hoover
be the
a closeeffective
relationship
business
most
of with
the Republican
presidents of the 1920s:
–He believed in free enterprise &
He
was
experienced
having
served
as
tried
to
strengthen
U.S.
trade
by
head of Wilson’s Food Admin & as
allying business
with &
the
gov’t
Commerce
Sec for Harding
Coolidge
–He doubled the size of the U.S.
bureaucracy by creating
bureaus to oversee housing,
transportation, & mining
The Old and the New
■Urban culture & industrial
production dominated the 1920s:
–Mass-produced consumer
goods, mass media, advertising
spread a new American culture
–Much to the dismay of a rural
America trying to cling to
traditional values
■Progressive reforms were no
match for technology & prosperity
Women and the Family
■Change (& continuity) for women:
–Female workers after WWI were
limited to teachers, nurses, &
other low-paying jobs
–The 19th
Amendment
gave women the
right to vote but
few women
voted
Alice Paul’s National Women’s Party (NWP)
failed to pass an Equal Rights Amendment
Women and the Family
–“Flappers” rebelled against
Victorian customs
–Divorce rates doubled
But…most women looked forward
to lives
a mother
and
a wife of a
“Theascreation
and
fulfillment
successful home…compares favorably
with building a beautiful cathedral.”
—Ladies Home Journal
Women and the Family
“I have been
kissed by
dozens due
of men.
■Families
became
smaller
to
I
suppose
I’ll
kiss
dozens
more.”
greater access to birth control
—character in F. Scott Fitzgerald novel
■Children were no longer need to
work to support their families
■Teens began to “discover” their
adolescence & revolt against their
parents by drinking, having
premarital sex, & searching for
new forms of excitement
The Automobile
Henry Ford
revolutionized
the
assembly
line,
The consumer
goods
revolution
“The
work
moves
and
the “$5-day,”
&industry
advertising
was best new
seenmarketing
inthe
themen
autostand
still”
techniques, & annual model changes
Henry
Ford’s
River
Rouge plant
emphasized
The
auto
industry
stimulated
the steel,
sheet
uniformity,
speed,
precision,
& coordination
metal, rubber,
glass,
petroleum
industries
The auto industry led to the construction of
roads & new filling stations…
…and new suburban shopping centers:
Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza was the 1st
U.S. shopping mall (built in 1924)