Roaring 20’s
Roaring 20’s, Great Depression & New Deal Part I
Essential Questions
1) What is “modern culture” and how did the decade of the 1920’s reflect its meaning?
2) What happens when traditional and modern cultures interact?
I.
Science versus Religion
Traditional ideas
1. Fundamentalism --- Literal interpretation of the Bible (called for the end of teaching evolution)
Claimed man could not have evolved from apes (believe in Biblical creation theory). Belief held widely in
rural communities (urban v. rural clash)
2. Butler Law
Modern ideas
Theory of Evolution (ideas of Charles Darwin) “Origin of the Species”. Belief that man has evolved from
apes. Increasingly accepted idea, especially in urban areas (urban / rural divide)
Clash of ideas
Scopes Monkey Trial: John Scopes (biology teacher) challenged the Butler Law Scopes is arrested and
his trial was set. Scopes found guilty and fined $100 (law stays in effect till 1967)
II.
American Culture and Inventions
1. The AUTOMOBILE
-Henry Ford used mass production to produce enough autos to sell them at much lower prices.
Ford’s assembly line (1913) allows price of cars to be affordable for all. Not only a luxury any more, but
accessible to the middle class as well.
-Impact of the Automobile:
a. Paved roads (Route 66 Across America).
driveways.
b. Gas stations, repair shops, motels, traffic signals, bridges and tunnels
c. Replaced the railroad as the key promoter of economic growth (steel, glass, rubber, gasoline,
highways)
d. Distance no longer kept families isolated from one another
e. Allows urban sprawl
2. 1920’s Prosperity
-Standards of Living= Quality of life
a. Incomes rise (people have extra income)
-New Conveniences: Mass production brought radios, refrigerators, and other new products to the
marketplace.
a. Use of electricity
b. Electric irons
c. Refrigerators, cooking ranges, toasters, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, electric sewing
machine.
d. Effect on Women
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Roaring 20’s
Working class women could not afford labor-saving devices. Middle class women began to do
their own housework instead of hiring help.Thus, electric appliances led to no significant
decrease in household chores or to any changes in women’s position in society.
-Workers were still underpaid and unions were unable to protect their members because of anti-union
attitudes. This led to a widening gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ Mass media made this
worse by advertising goods that many American workers could not afford to buy.
3. Mass Media & Consumerism
-Mass media
a. Growing education led to increased literacy: Newspaper circulation, magazines
b. The radio: News, sports, entertainment, advertisements. 1920: First commercial radio station
By 1930: over 800 stations & 10 million radios
c. Movies “talkies” “Jazz Singer” released in 1927 – first major film w/ sound
4. Installment Plans-buying on credit
Introduction of the installment plan encouraged customers to change their attitudes about debt.
The ‘buy now, pay later’ philosophy helped the economy but later contributed to depression when
consumers’ borrowing capacity was reached.
6. A “Lost Generation”
-Post-World War I authors
-Lost values. No belief in human progress. A mood of futility and despair.
-Ernest Hemingway – “The Sun Also Rises”, “Farewell to Arms” Criticized the glorification of war
-Sinclair Lewis – “Babbit” First American to win Nobel Prize in Lit. Criticized Americans for their
conformity & materialism
-F. Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”. Put a negative twist on the wealthy and attractive people in
America.
7. Women in the 20’s
a. Flapper = an emancipated young woman who embraced the new fads, fashions, and urban attitudes
of the Roaring Twenties
-She wore: Close-fitting felt hats. Bright waistless dresses above the knee
Sleek pumps. Strings of beads and jewels. Short, bobbed black hair. Make-up
-She: smoked, drank alcohol in public, cursed, drove cars, dated, danced
b. Reality: Mass media promoted the idea of the flapper. Flapper was more an image of rebellious
youth than a widespread reality.Social morals loosened, but not as much as the flapper culture would
suggest. Most women continued the traditional roles as wife and mother.
c. Stats and details:
-More women were deciding not to marry. Marriages were based more on romantic love and
companionship.
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Roaring 20’s
- Birthrate declined throughout the 1920s. Birth control information became public in 1916 and clinics
were opened nationwide.
-Although women won the right to vote, women did not win new opportunities in the workplace and
continued to be concentrated in occupations such as teachers, nurses, telephone operators, secretaries.
They also worked as domestic servants, factory workers, and sweatshop laborers.
8. African Americans and the Harlem Renaissance
a. Great Migration, the large-scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern African Americans
to cities in the North. Several factors contributed to the tremendous increase in migration.
- To escape racial discrimination in the South
- A boll weevil infestation, aided by floods & droughts, had ruined much
of the South’s cotton fields.
- More job opportunities in the North
b. The Great Migration that brought African Americans to segregated neighborhoods in the cities of the
North & Midwest also brought about a cultural renaissance. Many African Americans moved to Harlem,
a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of New York’s Manhattan Island. In the 1920s, Harlem became
the world’s largest black urban community, with residents from the South, the West Indies, Cuba,
Puerto Rico, & Haiti. The Harlem Renaissance brought recognition & pride to black artists,
particularly musicians, but further pointed out their second-class citizenship.
c.Above all, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary movement led bywell-educated, middle-class African
Americans who expressed a new pride in the African-American experience. Writers of the time,
celebrated ties to African cultural traditions and black pride and questioned the position of
African Americans in American life.
- James Weldon Johnson: author. He is best remembered for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as
for his writing. Fought for anti-lynching laws.
- Langston Hughes: Hughes’s 1920s poems described the difficult lives of working-class African
Americans.
- Included in this Harlem Renaissance was the spirit of jazz music. It was born in the early 20th century
in New Orleans, where musicians blended instrumental ragtime & vocal blues into an exuberant new
sound. During the 1920s, Harlem pulsed to the sounds of jazz, which lured throngs of whites to the
showy, exotic nightclubs there, including the famed Cotton Club.
III.
Post-war political/social problems
1. Post War Fears
-Nativism: hostility towards immigrants - sweeps the nation
-Isolationism – U.S. shifts back to staying out of foreign affairs
-A great fear of communism exists in the United States . It is the beginning of the 1st Red Scare
2. Immmigration Quotas
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Roaring 20’s
-As anti-immigrant feelings turned to xenophobia, it also resulted in Congressional legislation
authorizing immigration quotas. These quotas were supported by arguments based on Social
Darwinism and Anglo-Saxon superiority. Immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe was
severely limited and Asians were barred entirely.
3. Red Scare
a. Red (Communist) Scare: Wave of panic throughout the U.S. Primarily due to Bolshevik
Revolution in Russia (Lenin). Communist Party is formed in the US
b. Palmer Raids: Arrests on suspected “communists” and undesirables in America
Mitchell Palmer – Attorney General of the United States leads the attack against communists
Violates civil liberties and deport hundreds without trials. Fails to turn up any evidence .Palmer
(potential Pres. Candidate) loses all credibility
4. Resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
a. Brief History of the Klan: Established in 1866 (Tennessee) by Nathan Forrest
Ex-Confederate Soldiers. Main goal was to stop blacks from voting. The Klan practically disappears
towards the end of the 1800’s
b. The KKK in the 1920’s. The film, “Birth of a Nation,” helps increase membership as did
advertising. Promoted “100% Americanism.” Oppose blacks, Roman Catholics, Jews,
radicals,and foreigners. Saw themselves as moral regulators, and they targeted bootleggers and
gamblers.Eventually lost power by b/c scandals and corruption undermined Klan’s claim to
moral leadership.
IV.
PROHIBITION
a. The Prohibition Debate
Debate over prohibition lasted throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Led by women’s and
religious groups (Anti-Saloon League). Also influenced by anti-German sentiment and grain
shortages during the war years.
b. 18th Amendment – “illegal to manufacture, sell, or transport alcoholic beverages in the U.S.”
c. Volstead Act – Provided enforcement for the 18th Amendment
d. Culture of Prohibition Era: “Speakeasies” --- Illegal bars that were part of “bootlegging” (the sale
of illegal liquor). Bootleggers --- People who obtained alcohol illegally and sold it. Rum-Runners
were People who used boats to smuggle alcohol
e. Organized Crime – Increases due to prohibition
f. Prohibition repealed in 1933 (21st Amendment)
Warren Harding & Scandal - Calvin Coolidge
The 1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Warren G. Harding
29th President (1921-1923)
Dies in 1923 from heart attack
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Roaring 20’s
Re-create America and go back to simpler days
Before the Progressive Era and World War
Like Wilson, he looked to
create a peaceful
U.S. and Europe.
The Ugly Side of the Harding Adm.
Ohio Gang – Harding’s friends who created great embarrassment and corruption
Teapot Dome Oil Scandal, Veterans Affairs, Office of Alien Property
One of the most corrupt cabinets ever
Scandal
Teapot Dome Scandal
Oil rich lands set aside for use by the US Navy
Albert Fall (Sec. of Interior) transfers land from the U.S. Navy to Interior Dept.
Land is then leased off the private oil companies
Fall takes a bribe
1st American to be convicted while a cabinet member
“Silent Cal” takes over
Harding dies suddenly on Aug. 2, 1923
Vice-President Calvin Coolidge takes over office
Coolidge began to clean America of scandal
He forces the resignation of scandalous officials and restores faith in the office of the President
Coolidge easily wins the Election of 1924 ‘
hands-off’ President
Pro-Business
Did not run for re-election in 1928 surprising the public
America & the World
How does G.B. and France pay back war loans to the U.S.?
$10 billion is owed to America
Fordney-McCumber T
goods to U.S.)
The Dawes Plan
Dawes Plan – American investors loan money to Germany, $2.5 billion, so they can pay back G.B. and
France (US gets paid back with their own money)
Creates resentment around the world
The Great Depression & New Deal
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
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Roaring 20’s
The Business of America
Coolidge once said, “The business of America is business.”
Gov’t was laissez-faire
Tariffs were high to protect American business
Wages were increasing along with productivity
Functions of the Stock Market and Banking
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Causes of the Great Depression
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Presidential Election of 1928
Republican domination in the 1920’s
The Candidates
Herbert Hoover – Republican candidate
Al Smith – Democratic candidate (Irish Catholic, not well known)
Hoover easily wins the election
444 electoral votes, Smith - 87 electoral
happy with Republican leadership
Causes of the Depression
Industrial failures (# 1)
Railroads, textiles and steel barely made a profit
Due to new forms of transportation, high tariffs, and war time debt.
Coal mining and lumbering not in such high demand after the war.
Even the automobile, construction and consumer goods industries began to weaken by the end of the
decade.
American industry is showing signs of weakening.
Causes (Con’t)
Living on Credit (# 3)
Consumers bought goods on credit – spending money they don’t actually have
Overspeculation (Buying on Margin) – Invest in more stock than they can afford
Consumers and investors build up large debts
Stock Market Crashes
Stock market prices begin to fall and confidence decreases.
Black Tuesday (Oct. 29, 1929) – Bottom fell out of the market
Shareholders sell their stocks before prices go down even more.
Many suffer huge debts while others lose most of their savings.
Investors lost about $ 30 Billion (same as US spent on WWI)
“The Big Bull Market was dead. Billions of dollars’ worth of profits – and paper profits – had
disappeared. The grocer, the window cleaner, and the seamstress had lost their capital [savings]. In
every town there were families which had suddenly dropped from showy affluence into debt… With the
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Roaring 20’s
Big Bull Market gone and prosperity going, Americans were soon to find themselves living in an altered
world which called for new adjustments, new ideas, new habits of thought, and a new order of values.”
~ Frederick Lewis Allen
The Collapse – An Overview
Great Depression – Period from 1929-1940 in which the economy plummeted and unemployment
skyrocketed.
The Statistics
Bank Failure – By 1933, 11,000 of 25,000 banks fail
Businesses fail (90,000 businesses total)
Unemployment rises drastically (25% or 13 million workers)
Economic Depression becomes a worldwide problem.
The Impact of the Great Depression on Society
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Impact in the City
Throughout the cities, the unemployed and homeless increase
Shantytowns – Little towns consisting of shacks spring up everywhere (also called Hoovervilles)
Soup Kitchens and bread lines (lines of people waiting to receive food provided by charities) become
common place
The American Family
Families stand as a symbol of strength, but even they begin to break under the pressures
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Roaring 20’s
Families entertain themselves by listening to radio and playing games
Monopoly – 1933
Many suffer the difficulties of unemployment and families lose their homes
Men of the Depression
Some men abandon their families because of shame and discouragement
Hoboes – Mostly men who wandered the country, sleeping under bridges and on railroads (approx.
300,000)
Very little relief to families during the early years of depression
Women of the Depression
Women still responsible for much of the household chores and raising children
Work diligently to save money and some even work
Many people become angered that women are working since many men were not.
Women suffer just as much as men even though they are not seen suffering as much
Children of the Depression
Poor diets and health problems (lack of milk)
Many schools lose funding and have to close down (children forces to work often times in sweatshops)
Many young teenagers leave home for adventure and work (many are killed by criminals or injured on
the trains)
African Americans & Hispanics
Unemployment is 30%-60% than whites
Numerous racial concerns
Scottsboro Boys
African American organizations become split because of goals (Fighting poverty v. Ending discrimination)
Many Hispanics were forced to relocate
Psychological Effects
Negatives
Between 1928-32, suicides rise more than 30%
Many more admitted to mental institutes
Health, marriage, and even the future of families are put off
Positives
There is a sense of brotherhood that is formed. People helping one another through difficult situations
(strong sense of charity)
Habits formed during the Depression shape an entire generation
Two Responses to the Depression
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Hoover’s Immediate Response
Tried to reassure the nation. Continue as usual.
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Roaring 20’s
problem solving, waste less, and focus on independence
Gov’t should play a limited role
Opposed any welfare programs (no direct aid to the people)
Direct aid = corruption, laziness, and a connection to socialism
Hoover’s response confused and angered many Americans
Quick Responses
Question # 1 – Think back to what you know of America? Is Rugged Individualism consistent with the
definition of America? Why or why not?
Question # 2 – What is the role of the federal government?
Boulder Dam
Construction of a dam on the Colorado River
Built mostly through Hoover’s efforts
Later referred to as the Hoover Dam
726 ft. high and 1,244 ft. long (tallest in the world)
Provided water supply and flood control throughout the west (still supplies LA and Las Vegas)
Hoover’s Aid – pt. I
Boulder Dam was an example of gov’t encouraging cooperation
Hoover believed in “trickle down” (top to bottom) economy
Committee for Unemployment Relief
Government committee that raised money for needy communities
Encouraged people and businesses to contribute to privately organized welfare funds called community
chests
Hoover’s Aid – pt.II
Federal Home Loan Bank Act
Lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and farmers in order to avoid foreclosure
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Government organization with the power to lend money from the national treasury
Lent $2 billion to banks, insurance companies, loan associations, railroads, and other businesses
Hoped to get business going again
Served as indirect relief (so it did not violate Hoover’s Rugged Individualism)
Too little, too late for Hoover
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Roaring 20’s
Bonus Expeditionary Army
10,000-20,000 WWI vets and families arrive in Washington D.C. in 1932
Led by Walter Waters
for their service
Hoover opposed the bill and it is eventually rejected by Congress
Most of the Bonus Army leaves, but 2,000 stay to meet w/ the President
Disbanding the Bonus Army
1,000 soldiers (led by Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower) arrive to remove the Bonus Army
B.A. is gassed (many injured, few die)
The public is stunned by military response (McArthur’s choice, not Hoover’s)
Hoover looks very bad and ensures that the Election of 1932 will go against him
Election of 1932
-nominated by Republicans
Franklin Delano
FDR easily wins election
Three “R’s” of the New Deal
Relief, Recovery, Reform
“The only thing to fear is fear itself”
From 1st Inaugural Address
The 1st “100 Days”
15 bills passed
Period when the New Deal was created
Programs designed to help the American people (“Alphabet Soup”)
Bills during this time reflected FDR’s stance on America and its needs
Fireside Chats
programs
Very easy for the average American to understand
Radio speeches range on all types of topics and used to convince Americans of the merit of his New Deal
programs
March 12, 1933 till the end of his Presidency
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Roaring 20’s
2nd New Deal
With general support among the public and backing by democratic Congress, FDR extended his New
Deal programs
pushed by his wife Eleanor Roosevelt
Most Famous New Deal Program
Social Security Act (1935) – Intended to protect Americans who were unable to support themselves
1) Provided unemployment compensation, 2) money for disabled workers and 3) money for children and
widows in case of death
Most well known for old-age pension (% of employee and employer’s money paid back after retirement)
Possibility of undergoing serious change in the near future
Attacks on the New Deal
Liberals feel FDR hasn’t gone far enough
Conservatives argue he has gone too far.
The Critics
American Liberty League (Al Smith) – Conservatives who were against the New Deal programs
Upton Sinclair (Socialist) – “End Poverty in California”
Sinclair runs for Governor of California as a Democrat
Charles Coughlin (Roman Catholic priest) – spoke against Roosevelt
Had a radio audience of 40-50 million.
He loses support because of anti-Semitic views
More Attacks
Dr. Francis Townsend
devised a plan that would provide monthly payments to the elderly (Townsend Plan - $ 200/month)
Huey Long (Senator from Louisiana) – “Share our Wealth”
Impassioned and fiery speaker
Limit fortunes to $ 3-4 million
$ 5,000 homestead and $ 2,500 income
Free college education
Popularity was rising fast but was assassinated (Could have been a factor in the 1936 Presidential
Election)
The Battle in the Courts
Older members of the Supreme Court call many New Deal laws unconstitutional
Court Packing controversy
FDR attempts to add more justices to the court
FDR tries to force some to retire and add more justices to the courts (not passed by Congress)
By the end of his 2nd term, FDR elected 3 new justices (all together, he elects 7)
All are pro-New Deal
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Roaring 20’s
Legacy of the New Deal
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
Ending the New Deal
Many begin to doubt FDR’s New Deal programs when depression does not end
Stock Market takes a downturn in 1938 and more Americans lose jobs
Americans begin to look again overseas
Many foreign problems
WWII begins (more Americans go back to work and wartime industry takes off again)
New Deal eases the suffering of people, but WWII ends the depression
Long Term Impact of the New Deal
Extended power of federal gov’t (#1)
Gov’t helps out banks, industry and agriculture
Involvement is permanent
Still manage mortgage loans, still pay subsidies, electricity, watch the stock exchange, etc
Extend power of the President (#2)
Despite all the controversy, FDR is one of the most loved Presidents
FDR sets example that President must have strong executive power and did much to broaden the
President’s role
Long Term (Con’t)
Deficit Spending (#3)
Spending more money than the gov’t has in taxes
Also called Keynesian economics (practiced by many Presidents in the future)
Federal Social Programs (#4)
Welfare State – view that the gov’t is responsible for the economic security of the people
Social Security, unemployment, federal housing, education, handicapped, mothers w/ dependent
children
Long Term (Con’t)
Concern for workers (#5)
Working to give workers more rights, safer workplaces, and freedom from racial or sexual discrimination
Conservation Gains (#6)
Conservation becomes permanent part of legislation
Mentality of saving farmlands, forests, and America landscape for future generations
Final Impact
Renewed Faith in Democracy (#7)
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Roaring 20’s
Great Depression questioned the concept of democracy (especially during a time of rising Communism
and Fascism)
Showed that the American form of gov’t was strong enough to protect its people
Prepared America for the struggle that was ahead and the struggles we still face today
Miscellaneous Culture of
the Great Depression
1920’s, Great Depression & New Deal
The Changes for Women
Frances Perkins becomes the 1st female cabinet member
Eleanor Roosevelt becomes active in politics and was a symbol of American women
Moderate, although not great, change in amount of women working and wage increase
Motion Pictures and the Radio
Both capture the imagination of the public
Comedies, musicals, love stories and gangster films were all popular
“Gone With the Wind” (1939). “Wizard of Oz” (1939), “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
Marx Brothers, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rodgers, Clark Gable
Presented all aspects of American life
Radio
Time for the family to gather together
FDR’s “fireside chats”
Orson Wells and “War of the Worlds”
Comedian Bob Hope began on the radio
News coverage on radio became common (crashing of the Hindenburg in 1937)
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