Do Now:
Roaring 20’s Vocabulary Quiz
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Normalcy
Speculation
Buy on margin
Installment buying
Laissez faire
Great Migration
Demographics
Per capital income
Harlem Renaissance
fundamentalism
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B.
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D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
Average income per person
What is usual/normal
Risk-taking for profit
Hands off approach to
economy
Period of African American
artistic expression
wave of immigrants to cities
Statistics on population
Christian religious movement
Borrowing money to buy
stocks
Paying for an item over time
THE ROARING TWENTIES
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES:
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Red Scare
Nativism
Economic Boom & Bust
Isolationism
Changes in society
Cultural Conflict
The Red Scare
The Russian Revolution:
Installation of the Communist government
Communism was openly hostile
to American values and beliefs
Schenck v. U.S. (1919):
Government can limit free speech
when there is a “clear & present
danger” to the nation
Palmer Raids:
Government action to identify and
root out groups who posed a
threat to the nation
Sacco & Vanzetti Trial
• Gunmen robbed and killed a
guard and paymaster at a shoe
factory.
• Two Italian immigrants were
arrested in connection with the
crime.
• Both were carrying guns, one
was the same model as the
murder weapon.
• Many suspected that they were
accused because they were
immigrants.
• Ultimately, both men were
convicted and electrocuted.
Red Scares America
The Republican Presidency
Warren G. Harding
Foreign Policy
Isolationism:
Avoid political and economic
alliances with foreign
nations
Fordney-McCumber Tariff:
raised rates on import tariffs.
discouraged imports on items
made by new American
industries
Disarmament:
Nations voluntarily give up their
Weapons or limit size.
At the Washington Conference,
Several major nations signed
Treaties limiting the size of their
Navies.
President Harding
Immigration
Nativism:
Grew stronger following
World War I
Immigrants might hold
dangerous political ideas
that may hurt our
government
Congress limited immigration
through passage of the
Quota system, limiting
the number of immigrants
entering the US from
each foreign nation
SCANDALS
CORRUPTION
TEAPOT DOME
 One official had stolen
government funds
 Others took bribes for
help in getting contracts
approved or laws passed
 Harding regularly held
Poker parties in the
basement of the White
House and served
bootlegged alcohol
 Secretary of Interior,
Albert Fall, secretly gave
oil drilling rights on
government land to 2
private companies in
return for illegal payments
and gifts
 No direct evidence that
Harding knew or was
involved in the scandal
The Coolidge Presidency
Laissez Faire
Kellogg-Briand Pact
 “The business of the
American people is
business”
 The government should
not interfere with the
growth of business
 This policy fueled the
economic boom of the
1920’s
 Some viewed the policy
as a failure to take action
 Coolidge continued the
isolationist policies of
Harding
 Under the pact, 15
nations agreed not to use
threat of war to settle
difference.
 A good idea, but not
realistic because it had
no provision for
enforcement
A BUSINESS BOOM
CAUSES OF THE CONSUMER ECONOMY:
depends on a large amount of buying
 Installment plan: lets consumers make partial
payments over a period of time
 Electric power: increased demand for new
household appliances
 Assembly line: reduced the time to produce
goods and increased that amount of goods
available for purchase
$$ Consumer Economy $$
Society in the 1920’s:
Women
• Flapper: young, bold,
rebellious woman of the
20’s
• Single women began
working until marriage
• Although women could
vote, they seldom did
and did not change
politics
Women….
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
Harlem Renaissance: African American
literary awakening; wrote about African
American culture and heritage
Lost Generation: group of writers who
were lost in a greedy, materialistic world
that lacked values
CULTURE AND CONFLICT:
PROHIBITION
Bootleggers: suppliers of illegal alcohol
Speakeasies: illegal bars
Growth of organized crime: began as
efficient organizations that controlled the
distribution of alcohol.
Later expanded into gambling, prostitution,
and racketeering.
Life of Organized Crime
CULTURE & CONFLICT:
RELIGION
• Clash between traditionalists and
fundamentalism challenged beliefs:
– Science and technology in everyday life
– Modern society caused people to question
existence of God
– Scholars cited contradictions in history and
the bible
SCOPES TRIAL: brought the conflict to Court
over issue of teaching evolution in school
CULTURE AND CONFLICT:
RACIAL TENSIONS
• The Great Migration caused tension in
Northern cities between whites & blacks.
• By 1924, KKK membership had grown to 4
million.
• KKK was no longer a southern
organization
• In 1925, the violence diminished when the
head of the Indiana Klan was imprisoned
for life
CULTURE & CONFLICT:
FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION
• NAACP: National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
• Marcus Garvey: dreamed of a new
homeland where African Americans can
live in peace
– UNIA: Universal Negro Improvement
Association sought to build up African
American self-respect and economic power
– Urged African Americans to return to Africa