Prosperity and Change
The United States between WWI and
the Great Depression
Postwar Adjustments
• As a result of WWI,
USA was world’s
largest CREDITOR
nation.
– In 1922, European
nations owed the US
$11.5 BILLION
– Britain and mainland
Europe were
completely destroyed
by WWI.
– USA became
ISOLATIONIST
Postwar Adjustments
• War ended in 1918. By
1919 4,000 men a day
were being discharged
from the armed forces.
• There was no plan to help
these men get back into
society.
• To free up jobs for
returning veterans many
women left their jobs
voluntarily or were fired.
Postwar Society
• In the 1920s,
America saw
major changes
in three areas:
– Society
– Media
– Culture
Social Changes
Social Changes: Women
• Women had been
working for decades, and
after women were
granted the right to vote
with the passage of the
19th amendment in 1920,
women began to push for
more independence.
• The FLAPPER epitomized
this new attitude
Flappers: New and Daring
1900’s woman
1920’s woman
Flappers: New and Daring
• Women began
breaking from
tradition, both
in work and
society.
– More makeup,
less fabric
– Drinking and
smoking… in
public!!
– Single women
were more
likely to go out
to bars, clubs,
etc.
“Breezy, slangy, and informal in manner; slim and boyish
in form; covered in silk and fur that clung to her as close
as onion skin; with carmined [vivid red] cheeks and lips,
plucked eyebrows and close-fitting helmet of hair; gay,
plucky, and confident.”
-Preston Slossen, 1930
Turn and Talk:
How did the flapper symbolize
change for women in the 1920s?
Women at Work
• During the 1920s,
about 15% of wageearning women
became
professionals and
20% percent held
clerical positions.
• Percentage of
working married
women increased
from 23% (1920) to
29% (1930).
• Businesses were
prejudiced against
women.
– No doctors or
lawyers; less pay
than men; quit if
pregnant.
On the Move
The Great Migration continued throughout the 1920s, but many new immigrants entered
the country at the same time.
Changing Demographics
Great Migration
Immigration
• African-Americans had
originally begun to move north
to escape the Jim Crow South
and work factory jobs left by
men that entered the armed
forces during World War I.
• Low wages and racism kept
African-Americans segregated
and facing discrimination. As a
result, many settled in poorer
neighborhoods that are still
inhabited today by the poor
and minorities.
• Since the late 19th century, Asian
immigration had been limited.
• After World War I and the
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia,
immigration from Europe saw
drastic reductions and laws that
put a quota (limit) on the number
of immigrants that could enter
the United States.
• Immigrants began to come more
from Canada and Latin America
than from Europe, but still sought
employment in the same areas.
The Great Migration
New Immigrants
Canadians
• Entered to work in northern
mills and factories after
immigration restrictions
during and after WWI
• EXAMPLES IN RI:
Woonsocket, West
Warwick, other industrial
areas saw influx of FrenchCanadiens.
Mexicans & Latin Americans
• Supplied most of the lowpaying jobs in the West
after restrictions were
placed on Asian immigrants
• Especially settled in cities,
forming their own Spanishspeaking barrios
(neighborhoods).
Turn and Talk:
What are demographics? What
conditions brought about
demographic shifts in the 1920s?
American Heroes
American Heroes
• Morals were changing,
and Americans were
looking for heroes.
• Many thought heroes
personified values of an
earlier time.
– Bravery
– Modesty
– Spirit & Vitality
American Charles Lindbergh made the
first transatlantic flight in 1927.
Sports Heroes
Gertrude Elderle (above) was the first
woman to swim the English Channel –
beating the men’s record for the feat by
two hours, and American heavyweight
boxer Jack Dempsey (left) was a
fearsome puncher and national hero.
Turn & Talk
What similarities/differences are
there between 1920s heroes and
today’s heroes?
Mass Media & Culture
Mass Media: Unifying the USA
• During the 1920s, movies
helped create a national
culture.
• Before that, America was
largely a collection of
regional cultures
– Interests, tastes, and
values varied from one
region to another.
– Most Americans did not
know much about the rest
of the country outside of
where they lived.
A National Culture
• Films, national news,
and radio broadcasting
produced the beginning
of a new national
culture.
• Mass media: Print, film,
and broadcast methods
of communicating
information to large
numbers of people.
Movies
-Between 1910-1930, the
number of movie theaters in
the USA rose from 5,000 to
22,500.
-By 1929, 80 million tickets
were sold each week
(population= 125 million).
-1927’s The Jazz Singer was
first movie with sound.
Speech, singing, music, and
sound effects would become
part of motion pictures
permanently.
-Newsreels played before
shows and during
intermissions gave audiences
a look at what was happening
throughout the United States.
Newspapers & Magazines
Newspapers
• Between 1914-1927, use of
newsprint nearly doubled.
• Newspapers merged, which
increased circulation, which
then increased advertising.
Magazines
• By 1929, Americans were
buying more than 200
million copies of magazines
annually.
• Many magazines that are
still in print today were
begun in the 1920s.
– Time
– Reader’s Digest
– Ladies’ Home Journal
Radio
-First radio waves had been sent in
1896 by Italian physicist Guglielmo
Marconi.
-First radios used in the USA were
mostly homemade.
-In 1920, electrical engineer Frank
Conrad set up a radio transmitter in
his garage in Pittsburgh, broadcasting
recorded music and baseball scores as
an experiment.
-Response was so great he began
broadcasting on a regular basis.
-Became nation’s first radio station,
KDKA.
-Radio began attracting advertisers,
and by 1922 there were 500 stations
nationwide.
-Between 1922 and 1929, the number
of households with radios increased
from 60,000 to 10.25 million!
Turn & Talk
What social changes were brought
about by mass media? Does mass
media bring about any social changes
today?