Bell Ringer 3/1/06
“ We return. We return from fighting. We
return fighting.” (W.E.B DuBois)
What is this quote referring to?
Why did this quote prove to be true?
What was life like
during
?
Post War America
1920’s Culture
The flapper
 Short hair for women
 Dancing & Music
 Speakeasies
 Silent movies

“The Jazz Age was wicked
and monstrous and silly.
Unfortunately, I had a good time.”
Heywood Broun
How did technology impact society?
15 million cars were sold
 80% were bought on credit
 A Model T Ford cost $290 in 1920
 20% of U.S. homes had electricity by
the end of the decade
 10 million families owned radios by
1929
 Shifting of America from a rural country
to an urban country

Leisure Time???

Shorter work week and vacation time –
more free time to enjoy:
• Movies
• Reading
• Sports
• Music
Too much of a good thing????

Mass consumption, changing values,
new technologies – are they always
good???
– Many said NO
– Harlem Renaissance benefited and
reacted against it
Harlem Renaissance /Jazz Age
African American writers in NYC
 Well-educated
 Middle class group

– Alienated from society
Spoke against the bigotry on the time
and pride in African American culture
 W.E.B DuBois, Langston Hughes, Zora
Neale Hurston, Alain Locke, Duke
Ellington, Bessie Smith

THE FLAPPER
by Dorothy Parker
The Playful flapper here we
see,
The fairest of the fair.
She's not what Grandma used
to be, -You might say, au contraire.
Her girlish ways may make a
stir,
Her manners cause a scene,
But there is no more harm in
her
Than in a submarine.
Women in the 20s…….
By 1929, made up 22% of the workforce
 90% of married women did not work
 Work available to women were low
paying and of lower status
 Voted in 1920 election – not very many
participated
 Majority were not flappers, but were
helped by the technology
 Family size smaller, divorce laws still
favored men

Immigrants in the 20s ……
KKK
Quotas
Nativism
Struggle of OLD vs. NEW
Prohibition
 Minorities
 Cultural Values
 Women
 Scopes Trial

– Modernization of society
– Religion not as important
Who’s Who

Hand in:
– #1 Project
– #2 Sources
– #3 Rubric with your name on it!!!!
Harding vs. Coolidge
Harding (1920 – 1923)
 Former Newspaper
Publisher and not
experienced in
politics
 Scandals – theft of
Veteran supplies,
fraud, Teapot Dome
Scandal (bribery
and oil reserves)
Coolidge (1923 – 1928)
 Laissez-faire
economic policy and
committed to
business interests
 Small recession –
post war decline
 1923 – 1929
business booming
“Coolidge Prosperity”
Coolidge Prosperity???????????

Large Business prosper – Upper Class
prospers

Middle Class, Laborers, Farmers,
Native Americans, and African
Americans did not prosper
Election of 1928
Hoover (Rep.) vs. Alfred Smith (Dem.)
 Hoover – secretary of commerce
- Self Made Millionaire
- Humanitarian
- Leader in war effort and post
war reconstruction
 Hoover won 84% of the electoral vote

Roaring 20s End
Great Depression Begins
What was the Great Depression?
The worst economic crisis of the century
 Over 13 million people unemployed
 “Dust bowl” as a result of drought
 Farmers lost crops
 Many lost their homes

What caused the Great
Depression?
Stock market crash of 1929
 Unequal distribution of
wealth
 Excessive Buying on Credit
 Weak Business Structure
 Weak Banking Structure
 Inadequate Government
Policies
 Weak International economy

Stock Market Crash

Many stocks purchased on speculation
– Panic sets in as they are forced to produce
the money for the loans

Stock prices fell
– Panic selling

Huge sums of money lost
Thursday, October 24, 1929
Stock values fell $14 billion
Unequal Distribution of Wealth
No middle class
 Supply not equal to demand
 Credit cards created false demand

Excessive Buying on Credit
 Creates
a false demand
 Under consumption
 People unable to make installment
payments, therefore stop buying
Weak Business Structure

Business consolidation – makes a few
large companies for each industry

Profits and control were in the hands of
a few – fragile system
Weak Banking Structure

No FDIC – No government regulation

People pull money out – Panic

Banks close with people’s money
Inadequate Government Policies
No government regulation of stock
market
 Tax policies contributed to unequal
distribution of wealth

Antitrust laws were not enforced
 Federal Reserve Board made poor
decisions

Weak International Economy
WWI and the Stock Market crash
effected the world
 No U.S. foreign investment – no money
to pay America back
 Foreign countries had no money to buy
American goods

What was life like
in the 1930’s?
Hooverisms







Hoover Hog – armadillos that were baked in
the desert
Hoover Flag – empty pocket turned out
Hoover Blanket – Newspaper slept under
Hoover Car – Abandoned Cars
Hoover Bag – suitcase with holes
Hoover Shoes – shoes with holes in soles
Hoovervilles – shack towns of boxes and
crates.
“Hooverism”

Hoover’s response to the Great
Depression:
– Restore confidence in economy
– Promoted helping businesses to help
economy
– Reconstruction Finance Corporation
– Federal Work Projects to create jobs
– Halted war repayment by Europe
– Asked businesses to not lower wages or
prices
Failure of “Hooverism”
No direct relief – damaged image
 Economy was continuing to spiral and
Hoover continued to say things were
improving
 “Bonus Army” - march on Washington,
disbanded by army

Dustbowls
A traveler noticed a nice new hat by the side of the road, and he stopped to pick it up.
Under the hat was a man, buried up to his neck in the dust! As he dug the poor fellow
out, the traveler asked if he wanted a ride into town. "No, I'll get there myself," the
man replied, "I'm on a horse."
(Excerpt from THE DUST BOWL by Tricia Andryszewski, p. 33.)
FDR’s New Deal
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Elected in 1932 with 89% of the
electoral vote
 Government experience:

– NYS Legislature
– Asst. Secretary of the Navy
– Governor of NYS
3 R’s of the New Deal

RELIEF of those who were suffering

RECOVERY for the economy

REFORM to avoid future depressions
New Deal Programs Outcomes
Banking Emergency Act (FDIC) – restored
confidence, soon more deposits than
withdrawls
 Federal Emergency Relief Admin. (FERA)
– Helped to revitalize relief organizations and
encourage work
 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) –
Taught men and women to be independent,
increased self confidence and self esteem

New Deal Programs Outcomes
Public Work Administration PWA –
benefited America and American workers
 Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) –
Declared unconstitutional, did not raise prices
as hoped – just made people upset
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) - cheap
electric power, flood control, and recreational
opportunities to the entire Tennessee River
valley.

New Deal Programs Outcomes
Works Progress Admin. (WPA) –
decreased unemployment
 Social Security Act (SSA) - it did help
millions of Americans feel more secure.
 National Recovery Admin. (NRA) –
organized the relief effort, centralized
government efforts
 Rural Electrification Admin. (REA) –
gave several small farmers electricity

Wagner Act
Also known as the National Labor
Relations Act (1935)
 Guaranteed labor unions the right to
form unions and to practice collective
bargaining
 Progressive Legislation??????

So What?
Central
Bank,
Silver
Father
backing
of
money,
Coughlin
increase circulation
Government
Francis
Pension
Plan
Townsend
for Elderly –
no SSA
“Production for Use”
Upton – state ownership of
Sinclair land and factories
Table of Contents
#1 Outline/Concepts
#16 Hoover vs. FDR
#2 Twenties Talk
#17 Share our Wealth
#3 Sports Stars
#18 FDR’s New Deal
#4 Who’s Who
#19 You and the New Deal
#5 Roaring 20s Culture
#20 Be a New Deal Worker
#6 The Automobile
#21 No New Deal
#7 The New Woman
#22 The S.C. and New Deal
#8 Roaring 20s Packet
#23 FDR and the S.C.
#9 Great Migration
#10 Immigration
#11 Urban-Rural Change
#12 Roaring 20s Politics
#13 What caused the Great Depression?
#14 Hooverisms
#15 Images of the Great Depression
The New Deal and the Supreme
Court

NRA – Schechter Poultry Corp v. United
States (1935)
– NRA codes were too much like laws
– Executive was legislating
– Declared unconstitutional

AAA – declared unconstitutional
– Congress passed another similar law to
circumvent the Supreme Court.
The New Deal and the Supreme
Court

Court-Packing
– Conservative Court did not follow FDR’s
plan
– Democratic President and a Republican
Court
– Proposed a plan to increase the number of
justices
Third Term Controversy

Elected:
– 1932
– 1936
– 1940
– 1944
Republicans accused him of breaking
the unwritten constitution
 After death, 22nd Amendment was
proposed to limit to two terms
 1951 – 22nd Amendment ratified

The Results

Bank Failure

Unemployment
Loss of homes
 “Hoovervilles”

Here were all these people living in old
rusted-out car bodies. ... One family ... [was]
living in a piano box. This wasn't just a little
section, this was maybe 10 miles wide and 10
miles long. People living in whatever they
could junk together. ..."

Depression
Did everyone suffer during the
depression?
“The only thing we have to fear
is fear itself”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Our greatest primary task is to put people to work”
A Long Way From Chicago
By Richard Peck