The Roaring 20 ’ s

The Roaring 20’s

America After WWI

Characteristics

• International political isolation that continued throughout the decade

– Fear of going into another war, desire to return to pre WWI lifestyles

• Increased nativist sentiment that rose throughout the decade– Prideful of ones nation (Red Scare and fear of communism), this lead to

an anti-immigration sentiment

• Economic prosperity followed by a sharp decline at the end of the decade

• As a WHOLE the 1920’s was changing by: – Modernization, Changing roles of groups of Americans, Laws limiting

rights

“A Return to Normalcy”

• Influenced Americans by:– Creating a desire for a

return to pre WWI lifestyle

– Increase industrialization

– Reduce economic dependence on nations outside the US

• Americans loved it and elected him

Republicans Rule the 1920s

• “HARD”-”COOL”-”HOOV”• All the presidents of the

1920s were Republican• The names of the 3

presidents are Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover

• Warren G. Harding died in office, probably due to shock

Warren G. Harding 1921-1923 (died in office)

Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929

Herbert Hoover 1929-1933

President Harding’s Corrupt Cabinet

• Secretary of the Treasury: Andrew Mellon, a wealthy financier

• Secretary of Commerce: Herbert Hoover, famous for his food raising efforts during WWI

• “Ohio Gang”: Harding’s old friends from Ohio who were corrupt and stole money from the government

Charles Forbes

• One of Harding’s old buddies• Head of the Veteran’s Bureau• Stole millions of dollars from the bureau

“I can take care of my enemies all right, but my…friends, they’re the ones that keep me walking the floors at night!” –Hoover

Herbert Hoover was very hard-working and honest, but his friends were not

After a bunch of betrayals, Harding died of a heart attack in August, 1923

The Teapot Dome Scandal

• Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall accepted a bribe to lease government land to oil executives

• One of these areas was called “Teapot Dome” in Wyoming

• Fall was sent to prison

Vice President Calvin Coolidge Becomes President

• “Silent Cal” spoke and spent little (Harding loved to throw parties and give long speeches)

• He forced corrupt officials to resign

• He was re-elected in 1924 with the slogan “Keep Cool With Coolidge”

From War Goods to Consumer Goods

• Coolidge cut regulations on businesses

• Americans’ incomes rose• People began to buy

refrigerators, radios, vacuums, and other appliances

• Businesses began to advertise their products

Buying on Credit

• Installment Buying= Buying on Credit (Buy now, pay later)

• Demands for goods jumped, but so did Americans’ debt

“If we want anything, all we have to do is go and buy it on credit. So that leaves us without any economic problems whatsoever, except that perhaps some day to have to pay for them.”

–Comedian Will Rogers

American Foreign Policy in the 1920s

• Most all Americans (including Harding and Coolidge) wanted to remain “isolationist”

HOWEVER:

1. The U.S. still needed to protect economic interests in Mexico

2. The U.S. gave $10 million in aid to Russia during a famine

3. The U.S. still signed the “Kellogg-Briand Pact” with 61 other nations (which outlawed war)

Women Gain the Right to Vote

• 19th Amendment in 1920 gave women the right to vote

• Carrie Chapman Catt set up the League of Women Voters

• This group tried to educate voters and ensure the right of women to serve on juries

Life Changes for Women

• Women were told to go back home when the men came home to the factories after WWI

• Many women stayed in the workforce as typists, cleaners, cooks, servants, seamstresses, teachers, secretaries, and store clerks

• Many women bought ready-made clothing instead of making their own

• Many women bought appliances to help them with housework after working a full day outside of the home

Impact of the Automobile• Car sales grew

rapidly in the 1920s because Henry Ford’s assembly line made them so cheap, began in 1904, right before WWI and the Great Migration

• General Motors also became a popular seller of cars

Changing Lifestyles Due to the Automobile

• Millions of jobs were created through factories, oil refineries, roads, highways, truck stops, gas stations, restaurants and tourist stops

• Many Americans began to move to the suburbs to escape crowded conditions in cities

Mass Culture

• Radio

• Movies

(Above, lines outside a movie theatre)

(Left, family listening to the radio

The Jazz Age• Fashion Fads,

flappers• Marathon Dancing

More FadsMore Fads

Flagpole sittingFlagpole sitting: : Where young Where young people would sit people would sit for hours and even for hours and even days on top of a days on top of a flagpole. (The flagpole. (The record: 21 days!)record: 21 days!)

The Dance Craze• The Charleston• Has a quick beat• Dancers kick out

their feet• Popular dance for

Flappers: Women who wore short skirts (to the knees), bright red lipstick, hair cut short, smoked and drank in public, and drove fast cars

New Music

Jazz: Born in New Orleans, created by African Americans, combination of West African rhythms, African American songs and spirituals, European harmonies

Jazz was a form of music that expressed the upbeat attitude of the decade.

A New Generation of American Writers

• Depressed about their awful experiences in World War I

• Criticized Americans for being obsessed with money and fun

• Many became expatriates (people who leave their own country to live in a foreign land) and moved to Europe

Ernest Hemingway

• Wrote about experiences of Americans during WWI and in Europe

• Wrote A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man in the Sea

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wrote about wealthy young people who go to constant parties but cannot find happiness

He wrote The Great Gatsby

His characters had flappers, bootleggers, and movie makers

The Harlem Renaissance

• In the 1920s, many African American artists settled in Harlem, New York City

• Black artists, musicians, and writers celebrated their African and American heritage

Langston HughesLangston Hughes• Most well-known of Most well-known of

the Harlem the Harlem Renaissance poetsRenaissance poets

• Also wrote plays, Also wrote plays, short stories, and short stories, and essaysessays

• First poem, First poem, ““The The Negro Speaks of Negro Speaks of RiversRivers””

• Encouraged African Encouraged African Americans to be Americans to be proud of their proud of their heritageheritage

• Protested racism and Protested racism and acts of violence acts of violence against blacksagainst blacks

Heroes of the 1920sHeroes of the 1920s

Athletes:Athletes:– Bobby Jones: Won nearly every golfing Bobby Jones: Won nearly every golfing

championshipchampionship– Jack Dempsey: Heavyweight boxing Jack Dempsey: Heavyweight boxing

champion for 7 yearschampion for 7 years– Bill Tilden and Helen Willis: Tennis Bill Tilden and Helen Willis: Tennis

championschampions– Gertrude Ederle: 1Gertrude Ederle: 1stst woman to swim the woman to swim the

English ChannelEnglish Channel

Babe Ruth

• Grew up in an orphanage

• Often in trouble as a boy

• Hit 60 homeruns in one season, and 714 overall

• Called the “Sultan of Swat”

Charles Lindbergh

• The greatest hero of the 1920s

• The first person to fly an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean alone

• Flew from New York to Paris

• Called “Lucky Lindy” because he had to fly for 33 ½ hours and didn’t carry a parachute, a radio, or a map

Scopes “Monkey” TrialA theory is an idea that is still being tested or challenged

•The Bible – Book of Genesis – Describes how God made the earth and the living creatures on it. The story tells of Adam and Eve and succeeding generations. This is the creationist theory.

•Evolution is the biological explanation of the origin of man from ape-like creatures over many thousands of years. (The Monkey Trial)

•John Scopes was a teacher in the public schools

•It was against the law to teach the theory of evolution to students

•John Scopes taught the theory of evolution

•The Law was called the Butler Law