Chapter 31 American Life in the Roaring Twenties

Chapter 31 American Life in the "Roaring Twenties, ” 1919– 1929

I. Seeing Red • Bolshevik Revolution(1919): Russian Communism – Effects on the United States: • A small Communist Party emerged • The big red scare of 1919 -1920 – Blamed for some labor strikes – Crusades against left-wingers / Eastern Europeans – Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer raids – Other events during the red scare • • • Deportation of radicals to Russia / Soviet Union Wall Street bombing (38 killed & ~100 wounded) criminal syndicalism laws passed by states Elected Socialist New York legislators denied their seats Sacco and Vanzetti trial

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II. Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK • A new Ku Klux Klan: – Antiforeign “nativist” movement – Extremist, ultraconservative uprising against: • Diversity and modernity of American culture. – Most popular in Midwest &Bible Belt South • Associated with Protestant Fundamentalism • Things of the KKK: – “Knights of the Invisible Empire” – “konclaves, ” parades, cross burning • Collapsed rather suddenly in the 1920 s. – Financial & criminal scandals – Open intolerance & prejudice fell out of favor

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III. Stemming the Foreign Flood • Isolationist America had little use for immigrants – “New Immigrants” from southern / eastern Europe – Congress passed the “Emergency Quota Act” (1921) • Newcomers from Europe were restricted to a quota • Immigration Act of 1924 – The national origins base shifted from 1910 to 1890 – Purpose to keep existing racial composition. – Japanese / Chinese immigrants not allowed – Departure in American policy – Encouraged ethnic enclaves

Immigration limit later cut to 2%. “National origins” quota based on 1890 census (not 1910) p 703

Figure 31 -1 p 704

IV. The Prohibition “Experiment” • Part of the progressive reform movement • Eighteenth Amendment (1919) • Implemented by the Volstead Act – Popular in the South, unpopular in East & in cities – Goal to end the cause of many social problems • Peculiar conditions hampered the enforcement – Tradition by a majority, many loopholes – Federal agencies were unstaffed, underfunded • “Noble experiment” was not entirely a failure – Bank savings increased – Absenteeism in industry decreased – Less alcohol after prohibition ended

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V. The Golden Age of Gangsterism • Prohibition spawned shocking crimes • Profits of illegal alcohol led to bribery of police • Violent wars in big cities between rival gangs – Chicago- most spectacular example of lawlessness • Al Capone Public Enemy Number One” – Gangsters and other profitable and illicit activities • Prostitution, gambling, narcotics, protection, kidnapping • Racketeers invaded local labor unions • Organized crime became big businesses • 1930 $12 to $18 billion

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VI. Monkey Business in Tennessee • Required educational in the 1920 s – High school graduation doubled • Change in educational theory: – John Dewey (progressive, permissive) “learn by doing” • “Education for life”, the workbench and blackboard • Science made advancements: – Massive health, nutrition, knowledge programs – “Fundamentalists” unhappy with “evolution” • “Monkey Trial” – HS teacher John Scopes in Dayton, Tenn. (1925) – Trial between Bryan and Darrow – Results Bryan won but looked foolish

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VII. The Mass-Consumption Economy • Economic Prosperity of the “roaring” twenties • The automobile – Created a shift in the character of the economy • Advertising – Increase knowledge & demand for new products • Sports – Became big business in the ‘consumption era’ – “Babe” Ruth, Jack Dempsey gained fame/fortune • Buying on credit – “Possess today and pay tomorrow” the message • Refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, cars and radios—now – Prosperity based on ‘credit’ was unstable

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VIII. Putting America on Rubber Tires • Automobile – New industrial systems • Assembly-line methods & Mass-production techniques – Americans adapted the gasoline engine • Ford and Olds developed the infant automotive industry • Detroit became the motorcar capital of America • Scientific Management • Stopwatch efficiency (Frederick W. Taylor) – Henry Ford • Model T (“Tin Lizzie”) -cheap, rugged, and reliable • Devoted himself to standardization • The moving assembly line—Fordism

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Figure 31 -2 p 712

Figure 31 -3 p 712

IX. The Advent of the Gasoline Age • Tremendous Impact of the self-propelled carriage – Dependent on steel, rubber, glass, highway construction • American standard rose to an enviable level. – The petroleum business expanded • Oil derricks shot up in California, Texas, Oklahoma – Delivery of perishable foodstuffs accelerated – Countless new roads • Motorcars were agents of social change: – – – At first a luxury, they rapidly became a necessity More freedom & equality for women and teenagers Isolation among the regions began to break down Consolidation of schools, churches, rural areas Automobiles fast, convenient, enjoyable, and exciting

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X. Humans Develop Wings • Orville and Wilbur Wright – “The miracle at Kitty Hawk” on December 17, 1903 • Airplanes (“flying coffins”) – Military, mail, and passenger lines – Charles A. Lindbergh -solo Atlantic flight • The impact of the ‘airship’ was tremendous – Gave the ‘American spirit’ another dimension – Gave birth to a new industry & lifestyle – Increased tempo of civilization • Communication, transportation, destruction – Decreased the ‘size’ of the world

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XI. The Radio Revolution • Guglielmo Marconi, invented wireless telegraph – Long-range WWI communication • Voice-carrying radio (Nov 1920) – Pittsburgh station KDKA -broadcast election results – At first local, then national commercial networks • Led to later achievements – Transatlantic radio, telephones, television, internet – Advertising “commercials” expanded radio – Help unite the nation culturally • Sports, news, music, comedy, national name brands • Politicians adjusted to and used the new medium

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XII. Hollywood’s Filmland Fantasies • The Great Train Robbery (1903) First serial • Birth of a Nation (1915) First full-length movie • Hollywood became the world’s movie capital – Used in World War I, anti-German propaganda: – The Jazz Singer (1927)—first successful “talkie” • Movies became more popular – Color films developed, movie “stars” • Effects of the new mass media – Critics, the lowering of community standards – Ethnic communities & diversity eroded • Standardization of tastes & language (fewer local dialects) – Development of “American mainstream”

XIII. The Dynamic Decade • Many changes in lifestyles and values: • Americans more rural than urban • More women employed, Equal Rights Amendment • “Flapper” symbolized a more independent lifestyle – Many taboos flew out the window • They danced to jazz, smoked & drank in public • Fundamentalists lost ground to the Modernists • Advertisers exploited sexual allure • New racial pride in northern black communities: • Harlem Renaissance (NYC) – Art, music, writings, perfermances • Marcus Garvey, Black political leader – United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

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XIV. Cultural Liberation: Literature • Modernism - “Lost Generation” – Questioned past traditions, typical conventions – H. L. Mencken – F. Scott Fitzgerald – Ernest Hemingway • Non-radical writers – Carl Sandburg – Sinclair Lewis – William Faulkner • Harlem Renaissance Writers – Claude Mc. Kay – Langston Hughes – Zora Neale Hurston

XIV. Cultural Liberation: (con’t) Performance • American composers & playwrights contribute • Jerome Kern • Oscar Hammerstein • Eugene O’Neill • Architecture • Frank Lloyd Wright • Harlem Renaissance: – A black cultural renaissance in uptown Harlem • Jazz artists – Louis Armstrong – Eubie Blake

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XV. Wall Street’s Big Bull Market • Economic conditions of the 1920 s – Consumer spending / confidence high – Speculation (land, stock) rampant & banks unstable – Buying stocks “on margin” for quick profit • Washington didn’t curb money-mad speculators – 1921 Congress moved toward economic sanity • Created the Bureau of the Budget – Helped create an annual budget – Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon • • Engineered a series of tax reductions from 1921 to 1926 Tax burden shifted from the wealthy to the middle class Reduced the national debt by $10 billion Accused of indirectly encouraging the bull market

Calvin Coolidge Presides over the “Jazz Age” Coolidge’s handsoff policies were sweet music to big business. p 725

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