The Roaring 20’s
An era of prosperity,
Republican power,
and conflict
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1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the
"Jazz Age"
in sum, a period of great change in American Society modern America is born at this time
for first time the census reflected an urban society people had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard
of living
Age of Prosperity
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Economic expansion
Mass Production
Assembly Line
Age of the Automobile
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Ailing Agriculture…
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an agri. depression in early
1920's contributed to this
urban migration
U.S. farmers lost agri. markets
in postwar Europe
at same time agri. efficiency
increased so more food
produced (more food = lower
prices) and fewer labourers
needed
so farming was no longer as
prosperous, and bankers called
in their loans (farms
repossessed)
so American farmers enter the
Depression in advance of the
rest of society
Black Americans in
this period continued
to live in poverty
 sharecropping kept
them in de facto
slavery
 1915 - boll weevil
wiped out the cotton
crop
 white landowners
went bankrupt &
forced blacks off their
land
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Blacks moved north to take
advantage of booming wartime
industry (= Great Migration) - Black
ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem
within these ghettoes a distinct Black
culture flourished
But both blacks and whites wanted
cultural interchange restricted
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Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born
immigrant) established the
Universal Negro Improvement
Association
believed in Black pride
advocated racial segregation b/c of
Black superiority
Garvey believed Blacks should
return to Africa
he purchased a ship to start the
Black Star line
attracted many investments: gov't
charged him with w/fraud
he was found guilty and eventually
deported to Jamaica, but his
organization continued to exist
Republican Power
 President
Harding
 Elected 1920
 Legacy of
Scandals
 “Teapot Dome”
 Died in office
President Coolidge
“The business of America is business.”
 Fordney-
McCumber Tariff
 Smoot-Hawley
Tariff
 No help for farmers
 Foreign Policy
Consumer Economy
Culture of the Roaring 20’s
Radio
KDKA Pittsburgh
GE, Westinghouse,& RCA
form NBC
Silent Movies
Charlie Chaplin
“Talkies”
The Jazz Singer
Starring Al Jolson
Mary Pickford
“America’s Sweetheart”
Celebrities
Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb
Charles Lindbergh
The Spirit of St. Louis
Jack Dempsey
The 20’s is The Jazz Age
The Flappers
make up
cigarettes
short skirts
Writers
Musicians
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
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1920's also brought about
great changes for women...
1920 - 19th Amendment
gave them the federal vote
after 1920, social
circumstances changed too
as more women worked
outside the home
and more women went to
college and clamoured to
join the professions
women didn't want to
sacrifice wartime gains amounted to a social revolt
characterized by the
FLAPPER/ "new woman"
– (bobbed hair, short dresses,
smoked in public...)
A Society in Conflict
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Anti-immigrant
– National Origins Act
– Discrimination
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
– Italian immigrants
– Unfair trial
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for immigrants – the point of origin
had shifted to S & E Europe and new
religions appeared: Jewish, Orthodox,
Catholic
N. European immigrants of early 19c.
feared this shift and felt it would
undermine Protestant values
this fear was known as NATIVISM
many wanted Congress to restrict
immigration, leading to a quota
system that favoured n. areas of
Europe
fear of immigrants (from SE Europe)
led to a sentiment known as the Red
Scare (fear of comm. post-Bolshevik
Rev.)
basic comm. advocates a int'l
revolution by the proletariat/workers fears that this ideology could find its
way into the U.S.
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at this time, W.
Wilson was gravely
ill following a stroke
his Attorney
General, A. Mitchell
Palmer, wanted to
take a shot at the
presidency - he used
fears of both
immigrants and
communism to his
advantage
he had J. Edgar
Hoover round up
suspected radicals,
many of which were
deported (Palmer
Raids)
The Ku Klux Klan
Great increase
In power
Anti-black
Anti-immigrant
Anti-Semitic
Anti-Catholic
Anti-women’s suffrage
Anti-bootleggers
Scopes “Monkey”
Evolution vs. Creationism
Famous Lawyers
Trial
Science vs. Religion
Dayton, Tennessee
John Scopes
High School Biology teacher
Prohibition Volstead Act
18th Amendment
Gangsters
Al Capone
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PROHIBITION - on manuf.
and sale of alcohol
adopted in 1919 - 18th
AMENDMENT
an outgrowth of the longtime
temperance movement
in WWI, temperance became a
patriotic mvmt. - drunkenness
caused low productivity &
inefficiency, and alcohol
needed to treat the wounded
a difficult law to enforce...
organized crime, speakeasies,
bootleggers were on the rise
Al Capone virtually controlled
Chicago in this period capitalism at its zenith…
Prohibition finally ended in
1933 w/ the 21st Amendment
forced organized crime to
pursue other interests…