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Main Idea 1:
President Harding promised a return to peace and prosperity.
•
The end of World War I impacted the American economy.
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Factories cut back on production.
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Millions of soldiers left military.
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Unemployment rose sharply.
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Prices soared
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Wages could not keep up with rising prices.
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Workers went on strike.
•
Voters blamed Wilson’s Democratic Party for the hard times.
•
1920 Presidential Election
•
Republicans chose Warren G. Harding as their candidate.
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Harding chose Calvin Coolidge as his running mate.
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Campaign strategy: promise to return country to stability and
prosperity
•
Harding won a landslide victory with 60 percent of the popular vote.
•
Immediately worked to strengthen the economy
•
However, the presidency faced problems.
–
Corruption of presidential appointees
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Teapot Dome scandal involved the first cabinet member ever to be
convicted of a crime for his actions while in office.
•
Main Idea 2:
Calvin Coolidge supported a probusiness agenda.
•
Calvin Coolidge became president in August 1923 after Harding died of a
heart attack.
–
Fired all of the officials involved in corruption scandals during
Harding’s administration.
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Gained popularity for his work
•
Coolidge elected president in 1924 election.
•
Moved forward on a probusiness agenda
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Lowered taxes for wealthy
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Raised tariffs on foreign goods to decrease domestic competition
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Vetoed Congressional attempts to provide aid to farmers through
price regulation
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Returning to Prosperity
•
Europeans wanted to avoid another devastating war.
•
In 1928, the United States and 14 other countries signed the KellogBriand Pact.
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Agreement that outlawed war
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Eventually signed by 62 nations
•
Some complained that the pact was unenforceable.
•
Others saw the pact as a sign that most countries wanted to prevent
another global conflict.
•
Main Idea 3:
American business boomed in the 1920s.
•
Between 1921 and 1929, U.S. manufacturing doubled.
•
As jobs and wages increased, so did people’s ability to buy new
products.
•
New products changed the way Americans lived.
•
Rise of the Automobile
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Henry Ford, an inventor from Detroit, developed the Model T automobile
•
Dreamed of building a car that Americans could afford
–
Made car affordable by cutting costs of production.
–
Used moving assembly line, a system of conveyor belts to move
parts from one group of workers to another, thus saving
production time
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Allowed customers to buy cars using an installment plan
•
Other automobile companies began to offer installment plans.
•
The automobile changed the way Americans lived.
–
Could take jobs farther away from where they lived
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Gave people a sense of freedom and adventure
•
Growing Industries
•
Main Idea 4:
In 1928, Americans elected
Herbert Hoover, hoping he would help good
financial times continue.
1928 Election
•
•
Herbert Hoover was the Republican candidate.
–
Public support was strong.
–
Promised that he would maintain economic prosperity
New York governor Alfred E. Smith was Democratic candidate.
–
Campaign focused on issues facing city-dwellers.
–
Religious faith was also an issue; he was the first Catholic to
run for president.
•
Hoover elected with 58 percent of the popular vote.
•
Life during the 1920s
•
Main Idea 1:
In the 1920s many young people found new independence in a changing
society.
•
After the war, many young people moved to cities.
–
By 1920 more than half of the country’s population lived in urban
areas.
–
Took advantage of 1920s economic boom to gain independence
–
•
•
New youth culture developed
Access to education grew.
–
High school attendance doubled in 1920s.
–
More attended colleges and universities.
Women also found new opportunities.
–
Number of women in workforce continued to grow.
–
New roles in politics
–
Some women, known as flappers, openly challenged traditional
ideas of how women were supposed to behave.
•
Main Idea 2:
Postwar tensions occasionally led to
fear and violence.
•
Negative attitudes toward Communists grew in the 1920s.
–
After Communists took power in Russia in 1917, Americans worried
that they would soon try to gain power in the United States.
–
Many Americans blamed Communists and radicals for labor strikes
and other problems.
•
Attitudes led to a Red Scare, a time of fear of Communists, or Reds.
•
Communists were held responsible for bombings and killings.
–
Bombs were found in postal packages addressed to famous Americans
and Communists were held responsible.
–
Political official’s home was bombed and police raids were
organized to break up Communist and radical groups.
–
Italian anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti, were convicted and
executed for the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster and
his guard.
•
Restricting Immigration
•
Concerns about immigration
•
–
Some Americans believed there was a general fear of foreigners.
–
Many recent immigrants were poor and did not speak English.
–
Some Americans saw immigrants as a threat to jobs and culture.
Government responded to these concerns with new laws.
–
Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited total number of immigrants
allowed into the country.
–
National Origins Act of 1924 banned immigration from East Asia
entirely and reduced the number of immigrants allowed into the
country.
•
Drastic drop in immigration to the United States
•
Main Idea 3:
Competing ideals caused conflict between Americans with traditional
beliefs and those with modern views.
•
Religious Ideals
•
Religious leaders were concerned abut the youth culture and the failure
of prohibition in the 1920s.
–
•
Wanted to return to traditional values
Led to a movement of fundamentalism– characterized by the belief in a
literal, or word-for-word, interpretation of the Bible
–
Used the radio and modern marketing tools to draw followers
–
Strong in rural areas and small towns
–
Believed that modern scientific theories conflicted with
teachings of the Bible
–
Opposed the teaching of evolution in public schools
–
Laws were passed in many states and cities to prevent the
teaching of evolution.
•
Scopes trial in 1925
–
Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes put on trial for teaching
evolution
•
–
Scopes convicted and fined $100 for breaking the law
–
State supreme court later overturned conviction.
Main Idea 4:
Following the war, minority groups organized to demand their civil
rights.
•
Great Migration– large numbers of African Americans left South to take
jobs in northern factories after the war and through the 1920s.
•
Some white laborers feared competition for jobs.
–
•
Race riots broke out.
Ku Klux Klan gained more strength.
–
Harassed African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants
–
Worked against urbanization, women’s rights, and modern
technology
–
Became influential in politics
–
More than 5 million members
•
Protecting Rights
•
African Americans began working to protect their rights.
–
The NAACP placed advertisements in newspapers presenting harsh
facts about lynchings in the South.
–
Marcus Garvey encouraged black people to express pride in their
culture and establish economic independence.
–
•
Black nationalism movement took root.
Hispanic Americans organized to fight prejudice and promote civil
rights
–
•
Formed the League of United Latin American Citizens in 1929
Native Americans fought to establish their rights.
–
In 1924 Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting
citizenship to all Native Americans.
–
Successfully prevented the federal government from taking back
reservation lands
•
The Jazz Age
•
Main Idea 1:
Radio and movies linked the country in a national culture.
•
Main Idea 2:
Jazz and blues music became popular nationwide.
•
An explosion in the popularity of jazz music gave the 1920s a nickname–
the Jazz Age.
–
Jazz developed in New Orleans.
–
Blending of African American, European, and West African
harmonies and rhythms
•
Jazz was popular with young Americans.
–
•
Loved the music and the fast-paced dances that swept the nation
Jazz musicians were innovators.
–
Artists like Louis Armstrong and Edward “Duke” Ellington made
major contributions to music.
•
Blues music also became popular in the 1920s
–
Originated in the rural South of the Mississippi Delta
–
Began as an expression of the suffering of African Americans
during slavery
•
Main Idea 3:
Writers and artists introduced new styles and artistic ideas.
•
The Harlem neighborhood of New York City became the center of the
Harlem Renaissance, a period of African American artistic
accomplishment.
–
•
Many African Americans came to Harlem in the Great Migration.
Harlem Renaissance writers made lasting contributions to American
culture.
–
Langston Hughes wrote poems, plays, and novels about African
American life.
–
Claude McKay was a poet and activist who spoke out against racial
discrimination.
–
Zora Neale Hurston’s writings reflected the experiences of
African American women.
•
The Lost Generation
•
Writers who criticized American society in the 1920s became known as
the Lost Generation.
–
Wrote of their experiences living in the United States and abroad
–
Often felt feelings of disillusionment with American society
–
Many moved to Paris in the 1920s and formed a community of
expatriates, people who leave their home country to live
elsewhere.
•
Writers of the Lost Generation
–
Ernest Hemingway wrote short stories and novels and gained fame
for his powerful and direct writing style.
–
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the loss of morality during the
Jazz Age in his novel The Great Gatsby.
–
Sinclair Lewis was the first American to receive the Nobel Prize
in literature.