The Roaring Twenties
Chapter 31
Mr. Walters
AP US History
Big Ideas
• America turns inward after WWI
• Raised tariffs, restricted immigration, shield
away from foreign commitments……..
• Major cultural shift in youth.
• Mass Media creates a national culture.
• $$$$ CONSUMERISM! $$$$
• Human Morality?
• Science vs. Religion
Immigration
Post WWI, the US government acted to limit
migration from much of the world.
The Red Scare
• After the 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
in Russia, Americans
had a fear of
Communism.
• Laborers (unions)
were lumped together
with communists.
1919-20
Attorney General Palmer
• “Fighting Quaker”…tried to
round up “reds” in USA
• “Palmer Raids”
• 10,000 arrested
• Over 500 deported
Sacco and Vanzetti
• Two Italian-Americans
• Atheist, Anarchist, draft
dodgers
• Accused of robbery and
murder Boston 1921
• After six years, electrocuted
• Questionable trial
• Shows atmosphere of times
• http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=pDSEG4aa5G4
Racial Tension
• Race riots broke out in
the North
– White workers
feared competition
from minorities
• KKK gains power &
grows in membership
– More than 5 million
•Town of Rosewood , Fl is burned to
the ground after false claims of rape by
a African-American man.
•In Tulsa Oklahoma, a White girl claimed a 19 year-old
Black boy assaulted her in a public elevator. A riot broke
out resulting in the killing of 50 white men and 150 black
men, women, and children.
The Rebirth of the KKK
• Anti
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Foreign
Catholic
Black
Jewish
Pacifist
Communist
Internationalist
Anti-Evolutionist
Bootlegger
Gambling
Adultery
Birth Control
The Rebirth of the KKK
• Officials of the Klan
– Grand Goblins
– King Kleagles
– Kreatures
• “Impressive Displays”
were
– Conclaves, Flagwaving
Parades
• Weapon of choice was
– Cross Burning
Even up North……..
• Six circus workers were
accused of rape
• White mob stormed the jail
• 3 hanged on street light
Membership down severely
• By end of 1920s
• Embezzlement by leaders
• Money making racket exposed
Stemming the Foreign Flood
A. After the World War,
South Eastern European
immigration rose 600%
B. “100% Americans” Did
not like this
End of an Era
• “No Vacancy”; immigration slowed to trickle
• Cultural pluralism pushed aside
Prohibition
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Also known as the Noble
Experiment (The 18th
Amendment , later the Volstead
Act)
Prohibition outlawed the
distilling and sale of liquor.
Popular in the South/ West, not
so popular in the East
Wet= Drinking, Dry= Not Drinking
Prohibition did not work because
people wanted to drink, too few
to enforce it
Men and women drank bathtub
gin at Speakeasies
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Crime in the 1920s
• Gangsters like Al Capone
ran bootlegging and other
illicit activities like…
• By the 1930s organized
crime was a huge business
even in labor unions and
government contracts.
Crime in the 1920s
• St. Valentine’s Day
Massacre
• Gangs moved into
other activities like
prostitution,
gambling and
narcotics
He was finally jailed in 1932 for
falsifying his income-tax returns……… and died of syphilis 15 years later.
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Monkey Business in Tennessee
(Scopes Monkey Trial)
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Christian Fundamentalists believed in
a literal interpretation of the bible
and were against teaching evolution
(Darwinism).
In Tennessee, teacher John T. Scopes
went to trial for teaching evolution.
His lawyer was Clarence Darrow and
the prosecution was led by W. J.
Bryan.
Scopes was found guilty and fined.
He was later released.
Clash of values; continues to this
day…
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The Mass Consumer Economy
• Both the recent war and the tax
policies of Andrew Mellon, the
Secretary of the Treasury for
Presidents Coolidge and
Hoover led to massive
economic growth.
• Keep taxes low , little
government spending , laissez
faire / trickle down economics
The Mass Consumer Economy
• Powered by cheap energy,
factories turned goods for
consumption spurred by
the new arm of American
commerce advertising.
• Henry Ford mass
produced cars every 10
seconds……
• With production massive,
how to get people to want
to buy?
By 1929……
• 85% of towns and cities in
US had electricity
• This led to companies
producing new appliances
to make chores easier, like:
• Washing machines
• Vacuum cleaners
• Refrigerators
• Dishwashers
• More time for leisure
activities
The Mass Consumer Economy
• People consumed
goods by buying on
credit.
• Eventually bills come
due!
• Lack of credit
availability stalls the
economy.
Sports attract millions; segregated though…
Babe Ruth
Josh Gibson
Jim Thorpe
Man o War
Gertrude Ederle: 1st woman to swim English
Channel
1926
• 21 mile route ended up
being
• 35 due to nasty weather
• She still beat the record by
two hours!
Efficiency in Manufacturing
• Frederick W. Taylor
• “Father of Scientific
Management”
• Stop watch efficiency to
factories
Automobile Powers from the
1920s to 1970s
• The Big Three automakers
in the United States were:
– Chevrolet
– Ford
– Chrysler
• Revolution led by Henry
Ford and his “Fordisms”
(assembly line techniques)
Ford’s Model T “Tin Lizzie”
Wanted his workers to be able to
afford a car
• Moving assembly line saved
time and money
• Raised wages to $5 per day!
Figure 31-3 p712
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
• Car changes USA
• Stimulated steel,
rubber, paint, glass, oil
industries
• Increase in highways
• Decrease in railroad
use
• Americans more free
to move around
• Symbol of freedom,
equality for women,
sign of respect, wealth
• Led to consolidation of
schools, churches
• Some began to move to
“suburbs”
• Fatalities in large #s
• Air pollution
• Family unit splinters
• Gangster get a ways
With the low cost of the Automobile people moved
outside of the towns, called suburbs. With cars
people could drive to their job in the city even
though it was miles away. Set off a real-estate boom
41
• The Modern Woman in the
Driver’s Seat As part of its
• effort to sell to a mass market,
the Ford Motor Company
• used advertising to convey that
driving an automobile was
• respectable for women.
• A woman who drove was not only
• modern, but she also better
fulfilled her traditional duties
• as a household manager.
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