The 1920s
The Jazz Age
The Roaring Twenties
A Decade of Contrasts
Isolationism vs. Social Unrest
 Return to Normalcy vs. Political Turmoil
 Prohibition vs. Speakeasies
 Traditionalism vs. Modernism
 Economic Boom vs. Financial Bust

Isolationism vs. Social Unrest

November 11, 1918
– Armistice Day: Cease-Fire in Europe

June 28, 1919
– Treaty of Versailles Signed

November 1919
– U.S. Senate Rejected Treaty
• Fear of alliances, being drawn into future wars
• U.S. preferred a policy of isolationism
• U.S. did NOT join The League of Nations
A Gap in the Bridge . . .
Isolationism vs. Social Unrest

1919
– Racial Tension
– Returning African-Americans soldiers wanted
immediate equality
– Great Migration witnessed half a million Black
Americans move to the North
• Settled in areas previously dominated by Whites
• Return of White soldiers led to competition
– Summer of 1919
• Over 20 race riots throughout country
• Chicago Race Riot – 38 Dead, over 500 injured
Isolationism vs. Social Unrest

1919
– A Year of Strikes
• A General Strike in Seattle began a sweep of
strikes across the Nation
• Workers fought to keep gains achieved
during WWI and for higher wages
• Steelworkers strike – many are immigrants;
Company blamed strike on foreign radicals
Isolationism vs. Social Unrest

1919
– Red Scare Began
• Fear that Communists might seize power
– Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer led
series of “Palmer Raids”
• Raided headquarters of “radicals”
• Deported thousands without actual evidence
– Effect of Red Scare
• Americans link immigrants with radicalism
• Congress passed laws limiting immigration
Cleaning the Nest . . .
More Social Unrest: Nativism


Nativism Resurfaced
New Immigration Laws
– 1921 Emergency Quota Act
• Limited Immigration to 3% of total number of ethnic group
already in U.S.
– 1924 National Origins Act
• Made Immigration Restrictions permanent; Tightened
Quota System to 2%

The Case of Sacco & Vanzetti
– 1920 Anarchist immigrants arrested for murder
– 1927 Executed despite lack of evidence, obvious
prejudice of the judge
Close the Gate . . .
More Social Unrest: Nativism

Ku Klux Klan
– 1915 New Version Founded
– Central Message:
White Protestant hegemony threatened by
Catholics, Jews, Black Americans, Immigrants
– 1924 Membership reached 4 million
• Elected to State/Local Governments across U.S.

Eugenics
– Claimed human qualities inherited; fueled nativists’ claims
of superiority of “original” American born Protestants
– Warned against “mixing breeds”
– W. Wilson, H. Cabot Lodge embraced ideology
Normalcy vs. Political Turmoil

Republicans control White House during decade
 1920 Warren G. Harding elected President
– Promised “a return to normalcy” after war years
– Appointed “Ohio Gang”, his friends, to his Cabinet
Harding on his appointments: “They’re the ones that
keep me walking the floors at night”

The Teapot Dome Oil Scandal
– Albert Fall of the Ohio Gang leased Navy oil reserves
to private interests for bribes
– Some lands located in Teapot Dome, Wyoming
– Fall 1st Cabinet officer to go to prison
Harding’s Legacy . . .
Normalcy vs. Political Turmoil



1923 Harding died on tour of the West
Calvin Coolidge became president
“Silent Cal” on business:
– “The business of America is business”
– Preferred limited to no government
involvement
– A move toward laissez-faire economics

1928 Republican Herbert Hoover Elected
Pres.
– The New Era: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
Prohibition vs. Speakeasies


18th Amendment (The Noble Experiment)
Volstead Act
– Provided for Enforcement of Amendment
– Not enough funds or Agents

Led to an increase in organized crime
– Bootleggers smuggled alcohol in from Canada,
Caribbean
– Speakeasies emerged: secret bars, sold alcohol illegally
– Judges, police bribed
– Led to decrease in respect for law & order

21st Amendment
– 1933 Repealed Prohibition
Traditionalism vs. Modernism

Fundamentalism
– Religious movement (Traditionalism)
– Believed in literal interpretation of the Bible
– Fought against: modern consumer culture, relaxed
ethics, growing urbanism

1925 Scopes Trial
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–
–
–
–
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Debate over teaching of evolution in schools (Modern)
John Scopes challenged TN law, fired
Scopes defended by Clarence Darrow
William Jennings Bryan was prosecutor
Highlight of Trial: Scopes cross-examined Bryan
Scopes found guilty, fined $100
The Media’s Take on the Scopes Trial
More Modernism

The Changing Role of Women
– Empowered by work during WWI
1920: 19th Amendment
 The Flapper

– Embraced a “New Morality”
– Some women remained single, held jobs
– Cut hair short (bobbed)
– Hem lines rose, wore flesh-colored stockings
– Smoked, drank, danced
The Harlem Renaissance

What was it?
– Celebration of African-American
achievements in the arts, literature, and music

Key Feature
– Rise of Jazz
– Popularity of Jazz attributed to AfricanAmerican musicians
– The Cotton Club a popular hangout
• Black Performers, White Audience
More on The Harlem Renaissance

Musicians
– Duke Ellington
– Louis Armstrong
– Bessie Smith (blues)
• 1927 Highest Paid Black Artist in the World

Significant Writers
– Claude McKay
• Worked Expressed Proud Defiance of Racism
– Langston Hughes
• Poet, leading voice of the African-American
experience in the United States
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
“I, Too”
“Youth”
We have tomorrow
Bright before us
Like a flame
Yesterday, a night-gone thing
A sun-down name
And dawn today
Broad arch above the road we came
We march!
I, too sing America
I am the darker brother
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed –
I, too am America
African-American Politics

Marcus Garvey
– Jamaican immigrant
– Founded the Universal Negro Improvement
Association (UNIA)
– Promoted “Negro Nationalism”
• Opposed integration, emphasized Black
nationalism and Black Pride
– Opened the Black Star Line
– Started a “Back to Africa” movement
– Convicted of mail fraud, jailed, then deported
Modernism: Pop Culture

The Biggest Hero of the Decade
– Charles Lindbergh “Lucky Lindy”
– 1927 1st Person to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic
– Symbol of American ingenuity and courage

The Lost Generation
– Novelists disenchanted with life following WWI
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise
– Ernest Hemingway
• A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls
– Sinclair Lewis
• Main Street
Modernism: Pop Culture

Entertainment
– Talkies
• 1927 The Jazz Singer: 1st Movie with Sound
• 1928 Steamboat Willie: 1st Animated Movie w/ Sound
– 1920 First Commercial Radio Station
• Helped create a common national culture

Sports Heroes
– 1927 Babe Ruth: Hits 60 Home Runs
– Jack Dempsey: Heavyweight Champ
Economic Boom vs. Financial Bust

Republican Economic Policy:
– Pro-business, relaxed regulation
– Cut income taxes on highest income bracket

1922 Fordney-McCumber Tariff
– Highest American tariff ever to that point
– Protect American businesses
Economic Boom vs. Financial Bust

Time of “Prosperity”
– Rising Standard of Living
– Per Capita Earnings rose 22%
– New electrical conveniences: refrigerators, vacuums,
toasters
– Heavy investment in stock market: hoped for quick
profits to repay loans
– Businesses spending large amounts on expansion
– Buying goods on credit (installment plan)

Productivity increased
– Mass production created more supply, cut consumer
costs
Economic Boom vs. Financial Bust

Henry Ford & The Automobile
– Ford the 1st to use the moving assembly line
– Introduced installment plan

Impact of the Automobile
– New Roads Built: Route 66
– Led to urban sprawl: Live farther from work
– Families could vacation farther from home
– Liberated isolated rural families
– Led to new businesses: Service Stations, Hotels