Chapter 24 The 1920s Web Prosperity during the 1920s Brief Post-World War 1 depression Remarkable period of growth began in 1922 and lasted until 1929 Shift from capital goods to consumer goods production – – Durables and perishables both Led to complete transformation of American life Stock buying also gained in popularity People’s Capitalism Proliferation of consumer credit to facilitate purchases Many poor excluded from consumer revolution Rise of advertising and mass marketing – – To generate demand for products that could make a product seem the answer to a consumer’s desires Advertisers played upon people’s emotions and vulnerabilities Changes in the Lives of Everyday Americans Changing attitudes toward marriage and sexuality – – – Greater openness in attitudes toward sex Push for compatibility and companionship in marriage Flapper culture among young women Popularity of celebrities – – First appearance of large sporting events and professional athletes Depended on journalists and radio promoters Business and Work during the 1920s Celebrating American business – Reverence for the corporation – Rise of welfare capitalism among employers Position of industrial workers – Aggregate demand for industrial labor slowed – Dramatic increase in available workforce – Became employer – S rather than worker’s market – Unions lost ground, government hostile to labor Women workers – Earned less than male workers, even for same jobs – Drawn to white collar work for better opportunities Concentrated in “female” professions – Female enrollment in college increased by 50 percent during decade The Politics of Business Warren G. Harding in office – Selected as Republican nominee because of his malleability – Aware of own intellectual shortcomings Made some excellent cabinet appointments Others, though, were disastrous – Plagued by scandals perpetuated by “Ohio Gang – Died in San Francisco mired in controversy Calvin Coolidge in office – Untainted by Harding scandals – Believed in minimalist government – Worked especially to reduce government’s control over the economy Revenue Act of 1926 Twice vetoed McNary-Haugen Bill Herbert Hoover and the Politics of “Associationalism” Hoover as commerce secretary for Harding and Coolidge Saw government as dynamic, even progressive,economic force Brought different functional groups together to manage economy Republican Foreign Policy Hoover hoped to apply “associationalism” to international relations – Shut out of key decisions by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22 – Five-Power Treaty Dawes Plan, 1924 – Reduced German economy – U.S. Aid to stabilize German economy Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928 – International compact outlawing war as a tool of national policy Hands on approach in Latin America Farmers Left Out of 1920s Prosperity Agricultural depression during 1920s – – Nonpartisan League of North Dakota publicized plight Farm Bureau also facing cultural crisis Farmers also facing cultural crisis – – – 1920 census reported U.S. 2as urban nation Economic and cultural vitality of nation shifted to the cities Forced rural Americans toward efforts to protect their way of life Urbanization, 1920 ©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Efforts to Protect “Traditional” American Values Prohibition Initially, broad support for Eighteenth Amendment (1920 – Simply encouraged lawlessness and organized crime – Ruralites continued to support Prohibition regardless of its defects Ku Klux Klan – Added Jews and Catholics to original focus on blacks – Preached message of “Anglo-Saxon” racial party, Protestant superiority, and traditional morality Efforts to Protect “Traditional” American Values (cont.) Immigration restriction – Johnson-Reed Immigration Restriction Act, 1924 Imposed national quotas for immigrants from outside Western Hemisphere Favored “old immigrants” over “new immigrants” Protestant fundamentalism – Literal interpretation of the Bible – Arose as reaction to liberal Protestantism and the revelation of modern science Scopes Trial – Became test case in struggle between fundamentalism and science – Symbolic victory for modernism Ethnic and Racial Communities European Americans – – – – Concentrated in cities of Northeast and Midwest Flourishing of ethnic associations Preservation of ethnic heritage and customs Strong desire to become citizens African-Americans – Continued migration from rural South to the urban North Ethnic and Racial Communities (cont.) – – Job and housing discrimination Vigorous and productive cultural life Jazz – Harlem Renaissance Black literary and artistic awakening Image of the “new Negro” Mexican Americans – – – Chief source of immigrant labor after JohnsonReed Act Agricultural jobs, construction, manufacturing Not generally interest in becoming citizens The “Lost Generation” and Disillusioned Intellectuals World War 1 created generation of disaffected, alienated writers and artists – Focused on psychological toll of living in postwar period Many came to question democracy itself – Web Many settled in Paris Spurred debate over proper role of government in economy and life in general