UNIT 9: TURBULENT DECADES
CHAPTER 24: THE JAZZ AGE
TIME OF TURMOIL
--During WWI, the U.S. government had taken away some of the liberties of American citizens.
Many people who opposed the war were arrested. After the war an atmosphere of distrust
remained. Also, at the same time, the Russian Revolution was deeply disturbing some
Americans. The Bolsheviks (Communists) had taken over Russia in 1917 and established a
communist state. Many Americans believed that “bolshevism” threatened American government
and institutions. This wave of fear led to the Red Scare, a period when the government went
after “Reds”—as Communists were known—and other with radical views. Thousands of people
were arrested and deported. America had great antiforeign and antiradical feelings in the 1920s.
--During WWI, more than 500,000 African Americans had left the South for new jobs in the
North. Many Northern whites resented African American competition for jobs. There was a big
rise in racial violence in the 1920s because of this, as well as more cases of discrimination,
murder, and lynching. There was more KKK involvement.
DESIRE FOR NORMALCY
--In the presidential election of 1920 Republican candidate Warren G. Harding promised the
American people a return to “normalcy”. What Harding meant by “normalcy” was not really
clear, but the word sounded reassuring to those Americans who wanted an end to foreign
involvement and domestic turmoil. Harding’s vice-presidential running mate was Calvin
Coolidge and together, both successfully won the 1920 election. The Republicans also made
large gains in Congress.
--President Harding gave a lot of jobs in government to many of his friends and political
supporters; they were called the Ohio Gang. Many were unqualified and turned out to be
corrupt. By 1922 Washington was buzzing with rumors of corruptions and scandals within the
Harding administration. The biggest scandal was called the Teapot Dome Scandal and involved
the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall. He secretly rented government oil reserves to private
oil companies. He made more than $400,000; was convicted and sent to jail. Teapot Dome
became the symbol of corruption of the Harding administration. During this time, Harding went
on a trip out west where he became ill, suffered a heart attack, and died.
--Calvin Coolidge now became president upon Harding’s death. Coolidge in many ways was the
complete opposite of Harding. Coolidge had a reputation for honesty. He allowed the
investigations in the Harding scandals to proceed without interference. He fired and replaced the
members of the Ohio Gang with honest officials. However both men held similar political views
such as very little government intervention in the life of the nation. Under Coolidge the
government took an active role in supporting business. He and Congress created a favorable
climate for business to promote the nation’s economic prosperity. They cut government
spending, lowered income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans and on corporate profits, raised
tariffs, and overturned laws regulating child labor and wages for women. He grew popular and
was reelected in 1924.
--The Coolidge administration favored world peace and the policy of isolationism. The U.S.
signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928 which called for outlawing war, however lacking
enforcement. The U.S. had also signed treaties with other nations to limit the size of navies.
A BOOMING ECONOMY
--The economy began a steady growth in the 1920s. Technology made rapid industrial growth
possible, and electricity powered American industry. Electricity was cheaper than steam power.
By cutting costs, businesses could lower prices and increase profits. Employers adopted new
work methods to increase productivity—how much work each worker could do. Many
businesses adopted mass production techniques using the assembly line, first introduced in
Henry Ford’s automobile factories. Assembly line methods increased productivity and cut
production costs.
--As electricity became more available, demand grew for appliances using electric power.
Consumers eagerly acquired refrigerators, stoves, vacuum cleaners, fans, and radios. These
appliances transformed daily life. People did not have to spend as much time on household
chores; now they had more leisure time.
THE ROARING TWENTIES
--Many changes occurred for women in the 1920s such as the right to vote and more job
opportunities outside the home. Symbolizing the new “liberated” woman of the 1920s was the
flapper. Pictures of flappers—carefree young women with short, “bobbed” hair, heavy makeup,
and short skirts—appeared in magazines. Many people saw the bold, boyish look and shocking
behavior of flappers as a sign of changing morals. Though hardly typical of American women,
the flapper image reinforced the idea that women now had more freedom.
--Changes in attitudes spread quickly because of the growth of mass media—forms of
communication, such as newspapers and radio, that reach millions of people. During leisure
time, they enjoyed tabloid-style newspapers, large-circulation magazines, phonograph records,
the radio, and the movies. The motion picture industry in Hollywood, California became one of
the country’s leading businesses. For millions of Americans, the movies offered entertainment
and escape. America also became fascinated with sports. Baseball, football, and boxing soared
in popularity. Sports figures such as Babe Ruth became idols. During the 1920s people danced
to the beat of a new kind of music called jazz. Jazz had its roots in the South in African
American work songs and in African music. A blend of ragtime and blues, it used dynamic
rhythms. Louis Armstrong was a well-known African American jazz musician. Jazz was
prevalent in New York City, where there were a growing number of African American writers
and artists. They gathered in Harlem which witnessed a burst of creativity in the 1920s—a
flowering of African American culture called the Harlem Renaissance. This movement
instilled an interest in African culture and pride in being African American.
CLASHING CULTURES
--The clash of cultures affected many aspects of American life, particularly the use of alcoholic
beverages. The temperance movement achieved its goal in 1920 with the ratification of the 18th
Amendment. This amendment established Prohibition—a total ban on the manufacture, sale,
and transportation of liquor throughout the U.S. However, many people in cities gave little
support. A continuing demand for alcohol led to widespread lawbreaking. People began making
wine or “bathtub gin” in their homes. Illegal bars and clubs known as speakeasies sprang up in
cities. The federal government could do little to enforce Prohibition laws. Prohibition
contributed to rise of organized crime. Recognizing that millions of dollars could be made from
bootlegging—making and selling illegal alcohol—members of organized crime moved in
quickly and took control. They used their profits to gain influence in businesses, labor unions,
and governments. Eventually, Americans came to the conclusion that Prohibition had failed.
Prohibition was repealed in 1933 with the passage of the 21st Amendment.
CHAPTER 25: THE DEPRESSION AND FDR
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
--In September 1929 the value of stocks climbed dramatically. Many investors began to sell
their stock in October fearing the boom market would end. Their selling made stock prices fall.
More trading occurred on October 24, “Black Thursday”, and the prices plunged even further.
On “Black Tuesday”, October 29, the crisis worsened, 16 million shares had changed hands and
stock prices plummeted. The stock market had “crashed”. During the next two years, the U.S.
slid into a severe economic crisis called the Great Depression.
--The Great Depression wasn’t just caused by the stock market crash. Other factors of the 1920s
led to this. There were decreases in farm income; the textile, lumber, mining, and railroad
industries also declined. The automobile and construction industries also declined in the months
before the crash. As a result, employers cut wages and laid off workers. Many Americans can
no longer afford to buy consumer goods that our industries were selling. Also, there was a big
gap between rich and poor; in 1929 less than 1% of the population owned nearly 1/3 of the
country’s wealth. There was also a credit crisis which means too many Americans were buying
on credit and then couldn’t pay off their loans. By 1932, 25% of American workers were
unemployed. The unemployment rate remained near 20% throughout the decade. Long lines of
hungry people snaked through the streets of the nation’s cities. They waited for hours to receive
a slice of bread, a cup of coffee, or a bowl of soup from soup kitchens run by local government
or charities.
--Those who had lost their homes built shelters out of old boxes and other debris, sometimes
grouped together in pitiful shantytowns. Some referred bitterly to the shantytowns as
Hoovervilles because of President Hoover’s failure to act. President Herbert Hoover had been
elected in 1928. When the depression hit, Hoover thought that the economic crisis was only
temporary and we would be prosperous again. Eventually, he was convinced that the federal
government must do something to help, but the legislation passed did nothing to help the
economy. He began to grow very unpopular.
ROOSEVELT’S NEW DEAL
--In the 1932 presidential election, the Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, or FDR,
won in a landslide, since Hoover grew so unpopular. FDR’s first priority was to restore faith in
the American people and to put people to work. He and Congress set out to fix the banking
industry. They passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act which proposed presidential powers
over banking and set up a system in which banks would close and reopen again once they’re
reorganized according to federal guidelines.
--FDR and Congress proposed and passed 15 laws in the first 3 months in office to help with the
depression. This amazingly productive time was known as the Hundred Days. The new laws
that Congress passed—and future laws to follow—were called the New Deal. New Deal laws
and regulations affected banking, the stock market, industry, agriculture, public works, relief for
the poor, and conservation of resources. An example is the Public Works Administration
(PWA) which was to stimulate the economy through the building of huge public works projects
that needed large numbers of workers. Another example is the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) insured savings accounts in banks approved by the government.
LIFE DURING THE DEPRESSION
--Not every worker lost a job during the Depression. Not every family needed aid. Most
Americans, however, had to make do with less—less income, less food, and less security.
Parents and children shared homes with grandparents or other relatives to save money. Instead
of buying clothes or groceries, many families sewed their own clothing, baked their own bread,
and canned their own vegetables.
--The southern Great Plains suffered an environmental disaster during the 1930s. Hardest hit
were western Kansas and Oklahoma, northern Texas, and eastern Colorado and New Mexico—
the region dubbed the Dust Bowl. Using new technology such as tractors and disc plows,
farmers had cleared millions of acres of sod for wheat farming. They did not realize that the
roots of the grass had held the soil in place. When a severe drought struck in 1931, crops died
and the soil dried out. Strong prairie winds simply blew the soil away. Each storm stripped
away more soil. People called the storms “black blizzards” because in a bad storm all you could
see was black dust and smoke. Many left the Dust Bowl and moved west towards California.
--Radio became enormously popular during the 1930s. Daytime dramas sponsored by laundry
detergents earned the nickname “soap operas”. Every week about 85 million people went to
movie theaters, usually to escape their cares and worries. However, some movies did explore
serious topics. For example, The Grapes of Wrath was a screen version of a powerful novel
about farmers from Oklahoma fleeing the Dust Bowl. Gone with the Wind, set in the Civil War
era, also portrayed people coping with hard times.
EFFECTS OF THE NEW DEAL
--There were many New Deal opponents and business leaders who accused Roosevelt of
spending too much government money and of trying to destroy free enterprise. At the same
time, liberal and radical critics wanted a more active government. They claimed that the New
Deal didn’t do enough.
--By the mid 1930s the economy had improved slightly, but the Depression was far from over.
FDR took bolder steps. To bring in more government funds, Roosevelt pushed Congress to pass
the Revenue Act of 1935. The act raised taxes on wealthy people and corporations. FDR
launched a new set of programs and reforms called the Second New Deal. An example was the
Works Progress Administration (WPA). It kept about 2 million people employed between
1935 and 1941. WPA workers built or repaired about 600 airports, 110,000 public buildings,
100,000 bridges, and 500,000 miles of roads. The Social Security Act created a tax on workers
and employers. That money provided monthly pensions for retired people. In addition, Social
Security helped people with disabilities, the elderly poor, and children of parents who could not
support them.
--FDR won the presidential election of 1936 with a majority of electoral and popular votes.
Clearly, the majority of Americans were happy with FDR and his legislation. Another
depression occurred in 1937 because FDR had cut spending on relief and job programs, trying to
reduce the government’s debt. The plan backfired causing this depression to last until 1938. He
helped reverse it with a flood of government spending on public works. It was known as the
Roosevelt Recession. The economy was slightly recovering, but as the 1930s drew to a close,
world events caused Americans to turn their attention from domestic to foreign affairs.
CHAPTER 26: WORLD WAR II
ROAD TO WAR
--In the 1920s and 30s a number of ruthless men rose to power and became dictators once they
gained enough political power. These dictators rose to power by taking advantage of people’s
anger and suffering. Many Europeans resented the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, ending
WWI. When a worldwide depression hit in the 1930s frustration and fear added to this anger.
Benito Mussolini rose to power by appealing to the resentment of many Italians who felt they
had not won enough in the Versailles treaty. Mussolini had gained enough strength to become Il
Duce—the leader—and put an end to democracy. Civil liberties and the free press ceased to
exist. Mussolini built up Italy’s military and vowed to recapture the glory of the ancient
Romans. The Great Depression had hit Germany extremely hard. Millions of people lost their
jobs and their economy was in shambles. Adolf Hitler gained popularity by exploiting people’s
concern about unchecked inflation and severe unemployment. Hitler also played upon bitterness
over the Versailles treaty. He became chairman of the Nazi Party which portrayed the German
people as superior to all others. Soon after, he became chancellor and ended all democracy and
established totalitarian rule. In a totalitarian state, a single party and its leader suppress all
opposition and control all aspects of people’s lives. Hitler began to rebuild Germany’s military
strength in defiance of the Versailles treaty. He formed an alliance with Italy. Japan was trying
to expand political power by gaining territory across Asia. They had invaded parts of China and
they eventually signed a pact of alliance known as the Axis with Germany and Italy.
--Hitler had plans for German expansion. In 1938, he sent troops to the Rhineland, which in the
Versailles treaty had been denied to the Germans. Next, he sent troops to Austria insisting that
Austria should be unified with Germany. Then he turned to the Sudetenland, an area of
Czechoslovakia where many German-speaking people lived. Czechoslovakia wanted to keep
that land and was prepared to fight Hitler. Britain and France were afraid this would lead to war
so they met in Munich, Germany to discuss this. At the Munich Conference France and Britain
agreed to turn over the Sudetenland to Germany and Hitler promised not to expand Germany’s
territory further. However, in March 1939 Hitler broke his promise and seized the rest of
Czechoslovakia. Hitler also had plans to invade Poland. However, he was worried about Joseph
Stalin, leader of the U.S.S.R. because it bordered Poland. To avoid conflicts with Stalin, Hitler
convinced him to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact in which Germany and the U.S.S.R would not attack
each other and secretly divided up Poland and other eastern European countries between them.
WAR BEGINS
--On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Two days later Great Britain and France
declared war on Germany. WWII had begun. This invasion of Poland was swift and fierce; the
Germans called this offensive a blitzkrieg (lightning war). The Soviets had moved in eastern
Poland and occupied it, acting on the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed earlier. In late 1939 the western
front was settled in by British and French forces at the Maginot Line, a string of steel and
concrete bunkers along the German border. In the spring of 1940 Germany successfully invaded
Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The Allied troops then retreated to the port of
Dunkirk in France on the English Channel. The Allied troops had to evacuate for safety and
crossed the English Channel to Britain. Italy (then later Japan) then joined Germany to form the
Axis Powers and invaded Paris on June 14, 1940. The French surrendered a week later. Hitler
then decided to conquer Britain. He began to bomb Britain to break British morale to then
invade and make them surrender. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill kept the British
strong and defiantly claimed that he will never surrender. Fortunately, Britain and a spectacular
Air Force and inflicted heavy losses on the German Air Force. Hitler then called off the invasion
of Britain. Hitler then decided to ignore the pact he made with Stalin and invaded the USSR in
June 1941.
--America is seeing what is going on and proclaims neutrality, even though most Americans are
rooting for the Allies. FDR is actually preparing for war by strengthening the navy and selling
weapons. He also signed the Selective Training and Service Act, the first peacetime draft in
history. FDR won the next presidential election in 1940, becoming the first and only president to
be elected for 3 terms. FDR and Congress signed the Lend-Lease Act which allowed America
to sell, lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any nation considered vital to the defense of
the U.S. Britain used the Lend-Lease Act.
--Over in the Pacific, Japan began to take over parts of Asia. The U.S. responded by applying
economic pressure. FDR froze all Japanese assets in American banks and stopped the sale of oil,
gasoline, and other natural resources that Japan lacked. In September 1941 General Hideki Tojo
became Prime Minister of Japan and began to plan an attack on the U.S. On December, 7, 1941
Japan attacked the American military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,400 soldiers
and civilians were killed. Battleships, cruisers, and other vessels were destroyed. It was the
worst defeat in U.S. military history. The next day FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war,
calling December 7 “a date which will live in infamy”. Congress quickly approved the
president’s request to declare war on Japan. Then Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.
Congress then declared war on then as well. The U.S. had joined the Allied nations in WWII.
ON THE HOME FRONT
--Equipping the troops and providing arms and other war materials required changes in the
nation’s economy. To speed up mobilization—military and civilian preparations for war—the
American government created a number of new government agencies. From 1941 to the end of
WWII, the U.S. spent more than $320 billion on the war effort—10 times the amount spent in
WWI. Much of this money was raised through taxes. During the war, industry soared.
Factories produced more than 70,000 ships, almost 100,000 tanks and airplanes, and millions of
guns. Wartime production helped restore prosperity to the nation after the long years of the
Depression. Incomes rose and prices remained fairly stable.
--Large numbers of women served in the military in women’s units in the marines, Coast Guard,
and army air corps. These women did not fight in combat—most performed clerical tasks or
worked as nurses—but they played important roles in the war effort. About 700,000 African
Americans served in the armed forces during the war. At first most were given low-level
assignments and kept in segregated units. Gradually, military leaders assigned them to
integrated units. Thousands of Native Americans served in the armed forces. Navajo soldiers
worked as radio operators, using their own language as a code. Many Native Americans left
reservations to work in defense industries. Approximately 500,000 Hispanics served in various
parts of the armed forces and served important roles.
--After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were feared and hated by many
Americans. About 2/3 of them were American born citizens, but this fact made little difference
to those who questioned the loyalty of Japanese Americans. The president directed the army to
relocate more than 100,000 Japanese Americans to internment camps which were crowded,
uncomfortable and harsh. Most were kept there for about three years.
WAR IN EUROPE AND AFRICA
--When the U.S. entered the war with the Allies, Allied leaders decided to deal with Hitler in
Europe first and then deal with Japan in the Pacific. The situation in Europe was desperate.
German forces occupied almost all of Europe and much of North Africa. The North African
Campaign was launched. In November 1942 the British turned the Germans back in Egypt.
The victory prevented the Germans from capturing the Suez Canal, a vital sea link between
Europe and Asia. Landing in Algeria and Morocco on November 8, American, British, and
Canadian troops under American general Dwight D. Eisenhower advanced eastward swiftly.
The inexperienced Americans met defeat at Tunisia. With the backing of British air and naval
power, however, American general George Patton closed in on German troops. The Allies
drove the Germans out of North Africa in May 1943.
--The Allies then turned to Italy. They captured Sicily in the summer of 1943 and landed on the
Italian mainland in September. The Italians overthrew Benito Mussolini and surrendered.
However, German forces in Italy continued to fight. The Allies finally broke through the
Germans lines in May and advanced toward Rome. They liberated Rome in June 1944.
--While fighting raged on in North Africa and Italy the Allies launched an air war against
Germany during the summer of 1942. German cities were constantly bombarded and damaged
their infrastructure. In the eastern front, Germany continued their invasion of the Soviet Union.
They arrived in Leningrad and held a siege that lasted almost 900 days. However, the people
were strong and Germany could not take the city; in early 1944 the siege was broken. Germany
tried to also attack Moscow but bad weather slowed them down and Germany retreated.
Germany also tried to capture Stalingrad but Soviet forces surrounded the city and cut off the
German supply lines. Germany had to surrender in February 1943. The Soviets were successful
at pushing the Germans back.
--In the meantime, the Allies were planning a massive invasion of France from the west. General
Eisenhower, the commander of Allied forces in Europe, directed this invasion called Operation
Overlord. On June 6, 1944—D-Day—Allied ships landed on the coast of Normandy, France.
After wading ashore the troops faced land mines and fierce fire from the Germans. Within a few
weeks, the Allies had landed a million troops, 566,648 tons of supplies, and 171,532 vehicles in
France. From Normandy the Allies pushed across France. On August 25 French and American
soldiers marched through joyful crowds and liberated Paris. However, the Germans mounted a
last, desperate offensive. In December 1944 they launched a surprise attack on the front in
Belgium. In the Battle of the Bulge the Germans at first drove troops deep into a bulge in the
Allied lines but after several weeks the Allies pushed the Germans back. Then by mid-April
1945 the Soviets had surrounded Berlin. Hitler had committed suicide and Germany signed an
unconditional surrender. The Allies declared May 8, 1945 V-E Day for “Victory in Europe.”
Unfortunately FDR couldn’t share the celebration because he had passed away on April 12, 1945
after becoming ill. Vice-president Harry S Truman then became president.
--As the Allies liberated areas that had been under German control, they found horrifying
evidence of Nazi brutality. Nazi leaders had developed what they called the final solution of the
Jewish question. Their solution was genocide—wiping out an entire group of people. Once the
war began, Nazis rounded up thousands of Jews, shooting them and throwing them into mass
graves. They also sent Jews to concentration camps—prison camps for civilians. They shaved
their heads and tattooed camp numbers on their arms. Eventually the Nazis built death camps
where they killed thousands of people every day. As many as 6 million Jews died in what has
become known as the Holocaust. Millions of others like Gypsies and Poles were also killed.
WAR IN THE PACIFIC
--After the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese continued to expand their empire attacking other
American bases and invading other countries like Thailand and Malaya. The Japanese then
landed in the Philippines and managed to take it as well. The American and Filipino troops
commanded by American general Douglas MacArthur were forced to retreat. Japan so far has
had a lot of victories but then in April 1942 U.S. troops began to win important battles. The
Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, and the Battle of Guadalcanal were all key Allied
victories because it halted Japanese expansion.
--General MacArthur adopted a strategy called island hopping which was to attack and capture
certain key islands. The U.S. then used these islands as bases for leapfrogging to others, moving
closer to Japan. American forces now closed in on Japan itself. In March 1945, they seized the
island of Iwo Jima and in June the island of Okinawa. The Japanese fought fiercely to defend
these islands so near to Japan. Most of Japan’s air force was destroyed during fighting and in a
desperate attempt to win they unleashed a corps of suicide pilots known as kamikazes. They
crashed planes loaded with explosives into American ships. Despite this, American troops were
able to capture these islands.
--During the war American scientists had been working on the Manhattan Project; a top-secret
operation created by FDR to create an atomic bomb. President Truman now had to decide
whether to use the bomb against Japan. The Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration, warning
that if Japan did not surrender, it faced “prompt and utter destruction.” The Japanese leaders did
not surrender, and Truman ordered the use of the bomb. On August 6, 1945 an American B-29
bomber called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Three days
later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The atomic bombs caused unimaginable
destruction. About 110,000 people were killed, with thousands more injured and then many died
later on from radiation. After the bombings, Japan agreed to surrender. August 15, 1945 was
proclaimed V-J Day, for “Victory over Japan.” WWII had finally ended. WWII was the most
destructive conflict in history. More than 40 million people died during the war; more than half
of these were civilians killed by bombing, starvation, disease, torture, and murder.