US History 1920's

1929 Stock Market Crash

--amricans believed prosperity would go on forever and market went up all through out 20s BUT until in 1929 it started to drop a bit, we started having a major panic -when that panic hit there was too much instability and it crashed -the sell orders (of stock) exceed the buy orders by a huge amount, so there was nobody to buy the stock -and they also had to pay back broker

The Palmer Raids

-1919 Attorney Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant -them and their agents hunted down suspected communists, socialists and anarchists (ppl who opposed any form of govt) -abused ppls civil rirghts, invading private homes and offices and jailing suspects without allowing them a legal counsel -100s of foreign born radicals were deported w/o trials -Palmers raids dialed to turn up evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy/explosives -many thought he was just looking for a campaign issue to gain support for his prez aspirations, many decided that he didn't know what he was talking about soon enough

Identify a few artists from the Harlem Renaissance

-F Scott Fitzgerald made term "Jazz Age" to describe the 1920s -in This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby he showed negative side of the periods gaiety and freedom, portraying wealthy and attractive ppl leading imperiled lives in gilded surroundings -Hemingway wounded in WWI became best known expatriate author -in his novels The Sun Also Rises and A farewell to Arms he critized the glorification of war -he also introduced a tough, simplified style of writing that set new literary standard -zora neale Hurston portrayed lives of poor unschooled souther blacks and much of her work celebrated what she called the common person's art form, the simple folkways and values of ppl who survived slavery through their ingenuity and strength -jazz was born in New Orleans where musicians blended instrumental ragtime and vocal blues into an exuberant new sound -in 1918 Joe King Oliver and his Creole jazz band traveled to Chicago carrying jazz with them -1922, a young trumpet played Louis Armstrong joined his group aka Creole Jazz Band -his talent rocketed him to stardom in the jazz world -famous for astounding sense of rhythem and ability improvise, he made personal expression key part of jazz -after 2 yrs in Chicago in 1924 he joined fletcher Henderson's band then the most important jazz band in NYC -Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, a jazz pianist and composer, led his ten-piece orchestra at the Cotton Club -he won renown as one of Americas greatest composers

Black Figures

-Frederick Douglas -WBE Du Bois -The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged blacks to protest racial violence -W. E. B. Du Bois, founding member of NAACP, led parade of 10000 black men in NY to protest such violence -he also used the NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, as platform for leading a struggle for civil rights -Booker T. Washington (kinda)

Harlem Renaissance

-HR represented a portion of great social and cultural changes that swept America in 1920s -period was characterized by new ideas, changing values and personal freedom as well as important developments in art literature and music -most of the social changes were lasting -many blacks that migrated north moved to Harlem, a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of NYs Manhattan Island →became worlds largest black urban community with blacks from all over the world -harlem suffered from overcrowding, unemployment, and povert like any other urban neighborhood -however there was a flowering of creativity called the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and artistic movement celebrating black culture

Rebellion in the 20's

-HR, youth, women -new women → equality -going to bars, smoking → was a way of asserting equality -1919 ability to vote, didn't really change anything except provided them with more power -they had more independence when men were away at war, but when they came back were asked to leave work force -rejection of old values →comes out of age of disillusionment (1920s going to war and then coming back) -youth culture -jazz, drinking → caused many problems: severe tensions between old vs. young, women vs. flapper, rural vs. urban, white vs. eclectic Americans

Science and Religion

-battle raged between fundamentalist religious groups and secular thinkers over the validity of certain scientific discoveries →class between traditional and modern ideas -protestant movement grounded in a literal, nonsymbolic interpretation of the Bible known as fundamentalism -they were skeptical of some scientific discoveries and theories, they argued that all important knowledge could be found in the Bible -believed that the bible was inspired by god, therefore its stories in all their detail were true -rejected theory of evolution by Darwin and how humans evolved from apes

Black Culture

-became accepted by whites -jazz spread to cities and became most popular music for dancing -many whites came to harlem included the famed Cotton Club to hear the jazz -white America will accept jazz and poetry of Langston hues and stuff like that -the process of black culture moving into white culture starts in the HR

Great Migration

-between 1910 and 1920 in the Great Migration, thousands of blacks left their homes in South and moved north to big cities in search of jobs -critical urge for blacks to have their own communities -Harlem, Oakland ect -blacks started to feel safe and as they go north and find safety and secuiryt, their culture starts to flourish -white America goes that's awesome, youth culture especially will gravitate towards the jazz and louis Armstrong -new negro: they are proud of their culture, heritage and assert their equality in white America: we are not inferior Radio: introduces black culture to white America

Massive Immigration

-different immigrants than the traditional immigrants →many eastern Europeans, jews, cahtolics -this freaked out protestants -split: rural and urbal -rural: traditional American values →KKK

Raids

-during war govt wouldn't allow workers to strike bc nothing could interfere with war effort -AFL pledged to avoid strikes -however in 1919 saw more than 3000 strikes which 4 mil workers walked off the job -employers didn't want to give raises or want their employees to join unions -employers attempted to show that union members were planning a revolution -they labeled striking workers as communists The Boston Police Strike, The Steel Mill Strike, Coal Miners Strike

Rise of KKK

-example of rural America trying to fight back new urban culture -as result of Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings, diff groups of bigots used abti-communism as an excuse to harass any group unlike themselves → KKK, devoted to 100% Americanism -1924 reached 4.5 mil members -believed in keeping blacks in their place, destroying saloons, opposing unions and driving roman catholics, jews, and foreigners out of the country -KKK members paid to recruit new members into their world of secret rituals and racial violence -though Klan dominated state politics in many states, by end of decade its criminal activity led to a decrease in power

The Scopes Trial

-example of rural urban split -1925 Tennessee passed first law that made it a crime to teach evolution -the American Civil Liberties Union promised to defend any teacher who could challenge the law -John T. Scopes, young bio teacher in Dayton, TN accepted the challenge -in his class, he read a passage from civic biology about evolution and was arrested -the ACLU hired Clarence Darrow, most famous trial lawyer back then, to defend Scopes -William Jennings Bryan, 3 time democratic candidate for prez and a devout fundamentalist served as special prosecutor -Scopes trial was a fight over evolution and role of science and religion in public schools and in American society -trial opened 1925 -Darrow called Bryan an expert on the Bible -to handle the throngs of Bryan supporters, judge Raulston moved court outside where Darrow relentlessly questioned Bryan about his beliefs -eventually he asked Bryan if he believed the earth was made in 6 days and he replied not 6 days of 24 hours and bryan admitted that the bible might be interpreted in different ways -In spite of admission scopes was found guilty and fined $100 -law remained in effect

Mass Pop Culture

-explodes bc of mass communication, radio, phonograph, theres a lot of firsts (first to fly across atantlic), things get poularized by mass media, radio, paper Expanding News Coverage -growing mass media shaped culture -newspaper circulation rose as writers and editors learned how to hook readers -mass circulation magazines also rose, many summarized weeks news domestic and foreign Radio Comes of Age -radio was most powerful communcations medium to emerge -shared national experience of hearing news as it happened was a big thing -wide world could also tune into Americans America Chases New Heroes and Old Dreams -many had money and leisure time to enjoy -ex:: baseball, crossword puzzles ect

Electrical Conveniences

-gasoline powered much of economic boom -use of electricity also transformed the nation -factories used electricity to power their machines -development of electrical current made it possible to distribute electric power over long distances →no longer electricity restricted to cities but now transmitted to suburbs -most farms still lacked power though -more and more homes had electric irons, well off ones used electric refrigerators, cooking ranges and toasters -electrical appliances made lives of housewives easier, freed them for other community and leisure activites and coincided with growing trend of women working outside of home

Federal Reserve

-independent govt agency -manages American fiscal policy -they have ability to put money in or out of the market -try to control inflation -monetary supply, if economy is heating up and going up, then they will withdraw money to slow it down -interest rates -prime rate %25 -federal reserve did not act in the stock market crash

Name two or three industries that died in the 20's

-iron and railroad industries weren't very prosperous and farms nationwide suffered with new machinery, farmers were producing more food than needed which drove down food prices Steal, coal, cotton (?)

Labor Movement

-loses appeal! -in spite of limited gains, 1920s hurt labor movement -union membership dropped from more than 5 mil to 3.5 mil -membership declines because: 1. much of work force consisted of immigrants willing to work in poor conditions 2. since immigrants spoke many languages, unions had difficulty organizing them 3. farmers who migrated to cities to find factory jobs were used to relying on themselves 4. most unions excluded blacks

Rural and Urban Differences

-lured by jobs and freedom, people came to move to cities from rural areas -many people left farms and town to live in cities -agricultural world left behind was still the same with small towns and conservative moral values and close social relationships

Economic Trouble

-mal distribution of wealth, only a portion of the country is gaining (top 1-10%) →60% are living below poverty line (1929) ($25,000 is the poverty line) -Wages actually decrease 1923-1929 -farm sector is in depression throughout 1920s -huge concentration of wealth in the 1 percent, not helping the economy as much as the middle class would, not making the right type of purchases (mostly buy luxurious items) which would be beneficial to the economy -keep building houses, over expanded and housing market collapsed and residential construction collapses late in the decade too -price of houses lowers, drives value down -federal reserve constricts the money supply 27% decrease 1929-1933 (wanted to stop people from investing so much in the stock and not really knowing anything about what theyre doing) →business owners cant get loans and now have to fire ppl -Fordney McCumber 1922 → increased tariff rates -Hawley Smoot 1930 → Pushed tariff rates even higher -by increasing tariff rates you're decreasing foreign trade therefore your products aren't going overseas and shutting down that sector of the economy -housing, wages, fed reserve all crushed

Ideology of the 20s

-most Americans focused on present with little concern on future -rebelious, new values --> wanted to have fun and go out dancing and drinking

The Red Scare

-panic in US began in 1919 after revolutionaries in Russia overthrew the czarist regime -waving their symbolic red glad, communists or "reds" cried out for worldwide revolution that would abolish capitalism everywhere -a communist party formed in the US -70k joined including some from the IWW (industrial workers of the world) -when bombs were mailed to govt and business leaders, public grew fearful that communists were taking over -After WWI US sends soldiers to Russia to support the Menshelviks(white rushia) against the Bolsheviks (communist/red Russia) in 1919 -communist parties started rising up in almost all major cities -most Americans afraid of communism -attorney general raided them and threw them in jail deported them, when all they believed was a different ideology

Sacco and Vanzetti

-shoemaker and fish peddler both were Italian immigrants and anarchists and evaded the draft during WWI -1920 they were arrested and charged with robbery and murder of a factory paymaster and his guard -witnesses said criminals appeared to be Italians -the accused asserted their innocence and provided alibis -judge made prejudicial remarks -nevertheless jury found them guilty and sentenced them to death -protest rang out everywhere -ppl thought sacco and Vanzetti were mistreated bc of their radical beliefs, other thought it was bc they were immigrants -after reviewing the case and interviewing Vanzetti, govt decided to let executions go forward -they were anarchists and not given fair trial, found guilty, against the plees against many Americans, they executed them

Speakeasies and Bootleggers

-to obtain liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons and nightclubs know as speakeasies -they could be found everywhere, in penthouses, cellars, office buildingsm rooming houses tenementsm ect -to be admitted one had to present a card or use a password -inside were fashionable middle class and upperclass men and women -soon enough people grew bolder in getting around the law -learned how to distill alcohol and built their own stills -sacramental wine skyrocketed (prescribed alcohol for medicinal and religious purposes) -ppl also bought liquir from bootleggers who smuggled it in from Canada cuba and west indies -business of evading the law became a sport -prohibition contributed to organized crime in nearly all big cities -chicago became notorious as home of Al Capone, a gangster whose bootlegging empire netted over 60 mill per yr -he took control of Chicago liquor business by killing of his competition -by mid 1920s only 19% of Americans supported prohibition -rest who wanted it changed or repealed believed that prohibition caused worse effects than initial problem -rural protestant Americans defended the law that they felt strengthened moral values -it remained in force until 1933 when it was repealed by the 21st amend

How did the US change during the 1920's?

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Impact of the Automobile

1.→american landscape -construction of paved roads -route 66, proved ppl a route west from Chicago to ca -many settled in towns along the route 2.→architectural styles changed -new houses came with garage or carport and driveway and smaller laws as result -car also launched rapid construction of gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps and shopping centers -1st automatic traffic signals put up in Detroit -holland tunnel, first underwater tunnel for cars opened in 1927 to connect nyc and Jersey -Woodridge Cloverleaf, first cloverleaf intersection built in new jersey -cars liberated isolated rural families, now could travel to city for shopping and entertainment -also gave families opportunity to vacation in new and faraway places -allowed women and young ppl to become more independent through increased mobility -allowed workers to live miles from their jobs resulting in urban sprawl as cities spread in all directions -car industry provided economic base for many cities -industry drew ppl to oil-producing states like ca and TX -car became status symbol for individual families and rest of world -auto industry symbolized success of the free enterprise system and the Coolidge era -nowhere else in world could ppl withlittle $$ own their own car

Prez Harding

1919-23 -prez main prob that he didn't understand many of the issues -his administration began to unravel as his corrupt friends used their offices to become wealthy through graft -Charles R. Forbes, head of the Veteran Bureau, was caught illegally selling govt and hospital supplies to private companies -colonel Thomas W. Miller, head of Office of Alien Property was caught taking a bribe

Define all of the major economic weaknesses of the 1920's.

Add more. As productivity of goods increased, business expanded. However as the number of businesses grew, so did the income gap between workers and managers. Workers salaries increased but did not match the rate of prices further increasing. Additionally, farmers were producing more food than needed, which drove down food prices immensely. National economics also suffered with income taxes being the lowest for people who were the wealthiest.

Why was Communism perceived as a major threat to the US?

After the Russian Revolution in 1919, people feared that communism would take over the world, including the United States. This was important because communism was the opposite of capitalism, and would destroy it. In a business-based society, this was detrimental. This fear was realized with the case of Sacco and Vanzetti in May 1920. These two Italian immigrants believed that wages were too low, and most of society thought that they believed this because they were Communists. They were arrested and charged with the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster, and executed. The "reds" protested because they thought the two were being mistreated for radicalism. Additionally, Communism was a threat to property and business owners, because under it the government would own everything. This would go against everything America had worked for since progressivism.

Why were the 20's known as the "Roarin" 20s?

After the war ended, soldiers had much time to spend with their families and rebuild the relationships they had before WWI. Additionally, the African Americans who had been oppressed for decades sparked the Harlem Renaissance and worked for equal rights. The economy boomed with the development of durable goods such as the automobile and the radio, which also connected people with each other more than ever before, and the stock market boomed. All in all, the advances made during this decade and the increase in morale gave it the name "roaring".

Name some industries that prospered.

Automobile, technology (radio, electrical appliances), movies, The Young Airplane Industry

Why was there such social turmoil early in the 20s?

In August 1919, Jay Edgar Hoover was appointed to be Attorney General Palmer's special assistant. Together, they hunted down all Communists (70,000 were in the US party), socialists, and anarchists. The development of nativism contributed to this hysteria. For example, the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 created a "quota system" where only a certain amount of immigrants from each country were allowed to enter the US. Everyone who wasn't a native-born American was considered a Communist Additionally, after the war the cost of living doubled but wages didn't. In 1919, there were over 3,000 strikes and over 4 million workers walked off the job. This created havoc and social turmoil because employers felt and voiced that the strikers were people trying to enforce Communism.

Define the new "modern" aspect of the economy.

New technological advances were being made during this time, with things like cars and electrical appliances becoming new and popular contributors towards the economy. The car industry provided an economic base for many cities and it also became a status symbol for individual families as more and more families started to move out of the city and move into the suburbs owning their new cars. Gasoline also powered much of the economic boom during this time. The use of electricity transformed the nation as factories started to use electricity to power their machines and the development of the electrical current made it possible to distribute electric power over long distances. More and more homes now had electric irons and some even had electric refrigerators, toasters, ect. Another aspect of the modern economy was the new method of advertising. With new goods flooding the market, advertising agencies no longer just informed the public about products and price, but now hire psychologists to study how to appeal to peoples desire for youthfulness, beauty, and wealth. The use of slogans began to come a very popular method to strengthen the appeal of a product. The new technology ranging from the new model A automobile to everyday home appliances were a big step towards the modernized world and economy

How did Prohibition impact American society?

No alcohol drives drinking underground, which causes many law-abiding citizens who use to drink to be angry. Being good, law-abiding citizens they believed that the law was absurd and that they didn't have to follow it. This spreads to a type of if-I-can-get-away-with-it-then-it's-all-good ideology. Drinking was also part of some people's cultures and therefore was hard to enforce the law since so many people did not follow it. As people tried to get around the law, it started to become more of a sport with all sorts of ways for the business to e vade the law.

Presidents of the 20's

Repubs Harding, Coolidge and Hoover -do nothing presidents -economic policies, don't want to regulate economy -increase tariffs, supports business owners -low interference in business -high tariffs to protect businesses -sec of treasury, Andrew Melon, scales back on taxing wealthy -no regulation of business

Why were durable goods not good for the economy?

They were not good for the economy because when people lost their jobs, they couldn't spend money any longer. Therefore all durable goods such as automobiles, housing and appliances didn't sell when people were losing their jobs and had to become frugal without receiving a paycheck anymore. Consequently, this forced people working in those industries out of their jobs and would leave the economy in shambles.

Why were there so many strikes early in the 20's?

Though the cost of living increased, wages didn't. People felt that they wouldn't be able to survive. Additionally, unionism declined so people needed a new way to voice their views to the public. The steel strike in late 1919 also showed employees' resistance to long workdays. These conditions had been improved in the past (during progressivism), but had returned during the war. This is because immigrants were the majority of the unskilled workforce during WWI because the Americans were fighting. However, the immigrants had standards for working conditions that were much lower. Therefore, employers felt they could return to factory conditions that benefited them much more than the employees (as far as pay and length of workday) in the past.

The Twenties Women

Young Women Change the Rules -rebellious, pleasure-loving atmosphere →women began to assert their independence, reject values of 19th century and demand same freedoms as men The Flapper -flapper: an emancipated young woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes of the day -new fashion -women became more assertive -in their bid for equal status with men, many started smoking, drinking, talking about sex openly -marriage views changes. Many middle class men and women began to view it as an equal partnership The Double Standard -magazines, newspapers, advertisements promoted image of the flapper -even though many young women donned the new style and flouted tradition, flapper was more of an image of rebellious youth than a widespread reality and didn't reflect the attitudes and values of many young people -traditionalists in churches and schools protested new casual dances and womens acceptance of smoking and drinking -casual dating also became more accepted -double standard: set of principles granting greater sexual freedom to men than women, required women to observe stricter standards of behaviour than men did →as result women were pulled back and forth between old and new standards -many women broke old stereotypes by doing work once reserved for men like flying airplanes, driving taxis, and drilling oil wells -fearing competition for jobs, men argued that women were just temporary workers whos real job was at home

Prohibition

class notes: -social experiment to dry out the us and reduce booze -outlawed sale and production of alcohol -speakeasy → underground bar -bootlegging → selling of booze, became a huge industry →lead to rise of organized crime →Al Capone -once prohibition ends expansion of other illegal things, like drugs, prostitution, loansharks rises -moveable morality: before prohibition people were very law abiding good citizens but after ppl started to ignore the law 18th amendment, banning the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol took effect 1920 -prohibition was a failure -drinking was part of some peoples culture and it was hard to enforce the law -reformers had long considered liquor a prime cause of corruption and thought that too much drinking led to crime, wife and child abuse, accidents on job and other probles -support for prohibition came largely from south and west with big population of native born protestants -the church-affiliate Anti-Saloon League led the drive to pass the prohibition amendment -Woman's Christian Temperance Union also helped and considered drinking a sin -at first saloons closed their doors and arrests for drunkness declined but after WWI people just wanted to have and enjoy life and were tired of making sacrifices -immigrants were angry at govt, thought drinking was merely a part of socializing -govt failed to budget enough money to enforce the law -The Volstead Act made a Prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department in 1919 but the agency was uderfunded -required to much work effort and money

Why did the urban youth culture try to change but not rural youth?

→Agricultural recession and farming is much more mechanized so not as much labor on the farm is needed → that surplus labor (young kids who wanted to experience life) move to the urban areas -kids want to leave their strict parents

Themes in poetry or art

→Concepts of glorification of war -blacks vs. the white world -blacks are equal (or trying to be)

Communism

→an economic and political system based on a single-party govt ruled by a dictatorship -to equlize wealth and power, communists would put an end to private property, substituting govt ownership of factories railroads and other businesses

The "New Negro"

→blacks were proud to be black -expressed pride in their black experiences →wrote about trials of being black in a white world -advocated for their rights, fighting to empower themselves -not the typical farmer in the south anymore