The Roaring Twenties US History Recession From WWI

The Roaring Twenties US History

Recession From WWI • When the war ended, more than 2 million soldiers came home looking for jobs. • Factories stopped turning out war materials.

Warren G. Harding • Elected in 1920 and brings in all his old friends into office (“Ohio Gang”) • A series of scandals took place including, Teapot Dome.

Teapot Dome Scandal • The most serious scandal during the Harding administration. • It involved Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall. Two oil executives had bribed Fall. • In return, he secretly leased them gov’t land in California and at Teapot Dome, Wyoming.

Coolidge Prosperity • Harding dies, Calvin Coolidge takes office. • Coolidge wants to repair the damage caused by the scandals and forces officials to resign. • Industry begins to boom and new products become available (electric refrigerators, radios, phonographs, etc. )

Business • Allowing installment buying or buying on credit. • Soaring stock market, corporations sold stocks to investors.

Vocabulary • Bull Market: Ordinary people became rich overnight and this drew others to buy stocks. Such a period of increased stock trading and rising stock prices in know as a “bull market”. • On Margin: Many people bought stocks “on margin” which meant that an investor bought a stock with just a 10% down payment.

Foreign Affairs • In the Soviet Union, Lenin was creating a communist state. • Americans don’t like this, but we still give them $20 million in aid when a famine hits Russia in 1921. • An arms race in Europe had helped caused WWI. Now people are favoring disarmament.

Kellogg-Briand Pact • Signed in 1928 • The United States and 61 other nations signed this treaty that outlawed war.

Prohibition • Bootleggers smuggled in liquor from Canada and the Caribbean. • Illegal bars, speakeasies, opened in nearly every city and town. • Rise of organized crime and Gangsters.

New Rights for Women • The 19 th amendment was ratified in 1920 giving women the right to vote. • Equal Rights Amendment: stated that no one can be denied of things on account of sex. • Women began to work.

Impact of the Automobile • Car prices fell because factories became more efficient with the assembly line. • More roads were paved and new highways were built. • Gas stations, tourist camps, and restaurants sprang up everywhere. • By 1929, 4 million Americans owed their jobs to the auto industry.

Creating a Mass Culture • Radio • Movies-In the 20’s millions of Americans went to the movies weekly. • New music: Jazz; Louis Armstrong • Writers: F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Fashion and Fads • Flagpole sitting • Dance Marathons • Flappers: Young women who rebelled against traditional ways of thinking and acting. They wore their hair cut short and short dresses.

Harlem Renaissance • In the 20’s, large numbers of African American musicians, artists, and writers settled in Harlem (NYC) for a rebirth of African American culture. • Langston Hughes: best known poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

Heroes of the 20’s • Athletes: Baseball and Babe Ruth • Aviator: Charles Lindbergh--the first person to fly across the Atlantic alone (1927)