The 1920s
“Roaring”
A. Business
B. Fun & Heroes
C. Women
II. Politics
• Prohibition &
Scandal
III. “Other” Side
A. Farmers
B. Teaching Evolution
C. Nativism
I.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Key Terms
Charles Lindbergh
“Flapper”
Teapot Dome
McNary/Haugen
Scopes Trial
National Origins Act
KKK
Announcements: Extra Credit
• Friday 3/5 at 7:30: Otis Murphy (Classical
Saxophonist) at Ludington Center for the Arts
• Gypsy: March 12, 13; 19, 20 at 7:30; March 14
& 21 at 2:00 at Manistee’s Ramsdell Theater
• WSCC students will be admitted free if they
make reservations at the WSCC Box Office M-F
8-12:00 or leave a message at 843-5507
• To do: Attend the event & write a summary (one
page, single-spaced, typed, 350 word)
• Up to five points can be added to your
discussion grade by attending the event &
writing about it
US Economy Prospered
US economy was very “ConsumerOriented”
Economic Expansion
(1923-1929)
Stock Market
(1923-1929)
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Consumer-Oriented Economy:
Radio
• 14 million American
families owned
radios by 1930
Advertisement for
RCA Victor Radio
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Consumer-Oriented Economy: Autos
Ford’s Assembly Line at
Highland Park, 1928
• 60% of US families
owned a car by 1930
• Ford’s Model T was
dominant up to mid
1920s
– Cost in 1908: $850
– Cost in 1916: $360
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Consumer-Oriented Economy: Autos
• Credit was available
• Ended isolation &
TRANSFORMED
dating patterns
Ford Advertisement
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
July 4 At Nantasket Beach,
Massachusetts
(Early 1920s)
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Impact Of This Consumer Economy
• Indebtedness
increased
• A sense of sameness
& conformity
developed
• Environmental impact
Consumer Borrowing In
The 1920s
Fun & Heroes
Babe Ruth
Louis Armstrong
Rudolph Valentino
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Fun & Heroes
• Flew alone from New
York to Paris in 1927
• Became an important
symbol:
– US individuality
combined with
technology can
accomplish anything!
Charles Lindbergh
(1902-1974)
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Political cartoon laments the change in social
values
(1927)
Women’s Roles
Flapper
• Bobbed hair, a short skirt,
& cigarette
• Jazz music & danced the
Charleston
• Drank alcohol & openly
discussed sex
Life Magazine Cover
July 4, 1926
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Women’s Roles/Music & Generation
Gap
• A “Generation Gap”
seemed to be
developing between
parents & their children
“Blues” by Archibald
Motley, 1929
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Prohibition
(1920-1933)
• 18th Amendment: “the
manufacture, sale, or
transportation of
intoxicating liquors…is
hereby prohibited.”
Dumping Barrels of Alcohol
Prohibition: Consumption Did Drop
Michigan &
Prohibition
As much as 27% of
the annual budget to
enforce Prohibition
nationally was spent
in the state of
Michigan alone
Harding Administration Scandals
• Albert Fall = Secretary of
Interior
– Allowed oil companies
to drill on lands in
California & Teapot
Dome, WY
– He received “loans”
(bribes) in return
Teapot Dome
Window Hanger
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
President Warren Harding
(1921-1923)
• Enjoyed poker parties
& good liquor
• Plagued by scandal
• Died of a heart attack
Harding With His
Dog Laddie
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
1920s Politics
• Calvin Coolidge became
President following
Harding’s death
Coolidge Cartoon
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
US Farmers prospered during
WWI….but not after the war
1913
Corn
Cotton
1918
$.70/bushel $1.52/bushel
$.12/lb.
$.29/lb.
Farmers’ Problems
• Between 1919-1921 total farm income fell from
$10 billion to $4 billion
• Many looked to the government for help
McNary-Haugen: A Possible Solution
1. US government would purchase surplus
crops
2. Excess products would then be sold on the
world market
3. Passed by Congress in 1927 & 1928
Scopes Trial
(1925)
Clarence Darrow & William
Jennings Bryan
• State of Tennessee
outlawed teaching of
evolution in schools
• John Scopes violated
the law & went on trial;
gained national attention
• Scopes was convicted
Rise Of Nativism
• Americans were concerned about all things
foreign;
– Legacy of WWI
– Influenza epidemic killed 50 million worldwide & at least 550,000 in US
Death Rate From Influenza &
Pneumonia (1900-1960)
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Rise Of Nativism
• Americans were concerned about all things
foreign;
– Legacy of WWI
– Influenza epidemic killed 50 million world& at least
550,000laws
in US
– wide
Restrictive
immigration
– Rise of Ku Klux Klan
National Origins Act
(1924)
• Established a “quota system”
whereby immigration would
be limited
• Impacted immigrants from
Southern & Eastern Europe
the most
• Virtually ended immigration
from Asia
Supporters of Immigration
Changes Wrote Songs
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Re-Emergence Of The KKK
• Re-emerged in 1920s: 2-5
million members in US
• Motto = 100% Americanism
– Anti-black, anti-Jewish,
anti-Catholic, antiforeigner
• In Michigan, it was
strongest in Detroit & Flint
KKK Pamphlet
“America For Americans”
Image Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
KKK In Owasso, MI
The 1920s
“Roaring”
A. Business
B. Fun & Heroes
C. Women
II. Politics
• Prohibition &
Scandal
III. “Other” Side
A. Farmers
B. Teaching Evolution
C. Nativism
I.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Key Terms
Charles Lindbergh
“Flapper”
Teapot Dome
McNary/Haugen
Scopes Trial
National Origins Act
KKK