THE ROARING TWENTIES

1920 – 1929

THE ROARING TWENTIES

Were an exciting time

Full of social and cultural changes

TIRED OF TENSIONSAmerican people were tired of the tensions of reform and war

Average people wanted to return to normal times

Wanted the nation to be less involved in world affairs and more involved in activities at home

THE 19TH AMENDMENT 1869: The National Women’s Suffrage

Association had been formed

Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

1920: The 19th Amendment was ratified

Gave women the right to vote

AMERICANS RETURN TO NORMAL

Republican Warren G. Harding was elected President in 1920

Received the greatest percentage of votes ever gained by a candidate

Promised a return to “normalcy”

Looking for quick solutions for the nation’s problems

HARDING AS PRESIDENTPassed the Emergency Quota Act

Limited immigration to the US

New Tariff Act was written

Raised the tax on imported goods

A Veterans Bureau was establishedGave aid to ex-soldiers and families

Generally, not an effective President

THE TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL

2 Oil businessmen gave the Secretary of the Interior $400,000

Secretary arranged for them to rent some government oil reserves

Harding didn’t know until the scandal became public

COOLIDGE AS PRESIDENT1923: Vice President Calvin Coolidge became President

Friend and supporter of the business community

Government regulations controlling big businesses hurt the American economy

A PERIOD OF SOCIAL CHANGES

Industry thrived

Most Americans were making more, so they spent more

Had more leisure time and money for things like movies or music clubs

Americans became more mobile with the car

Telephone improved communication

WOMEN BECAME MORE INDEPENDENT

Many young women in the 1920s were called flappers

Recently won the right to vote

Changes in their hair and dress

Women wanted to gain more social freedom

RADIO CHANGED AMERICAN LIFE

By the mid-1920s, most middle class families had a telephone, radio, and phonograph in their home

Radio brought an unlimited source of free information and entertainment right into the home

JAZZ CAPTURES THE SPIRIT Improvised

Created a truly American style

The earliest type of Jazz was Dixieland in the South

New dances, like “The Charleston”

Older Americans were concerned about its effect on young people

AMERICAN WRITERS Tried to tell the story of what was

happening in America

F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great GatsbySinclair Lewis: Main Street and Babbit

Ernest Hemingway: Farwell to Arms

Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence

John Dos Passos: Three Soldiers

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE

An area in New York became a creative

center for many African Americans

Writers, poets, musicians, entertainers,

and students increased African American

pride

Focused on African American dreams,

disappointments, and discrimination

DISCRIMINATION PROBLEMSSome Americans wanted to deny

equality and freedom to those different

“American First” became their slogan

The new Ku Klux Klan was formed in the South in 1915

Wanted to define an American as white, protestant, and native born

1924: THE IMMIGRATION ACT Limited the number of immigrants

allowed in the US from Southern and Eastern Europe

Immigrants from Japan were not allowed in the US

Felt these immigrants were a threat to society

Feared that the communist revolution in Russia would spread

PROHIBITION

1919: The 18th Amendment was ratified

Made it illegal to sell alcohol in the US

1933: The 21st Amendment repealed the Prohibition amendment

THE “DRY DECADE” Bootleggers continued to make and sell

alcohol illegally

Speakeasies, where liquor was sold, became popular meeting places

Organized crime made millions of dollars and became powerful

Reformers tried to do a good thing, but brought a high rise in crime

THE ELECTION OF 1928

Calvin Coolidge ran for re-election

Didn’t pay attention to the decline of society

Too many good things were happening

Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover

A “self-made” man

Democrats nominated Al Smith

Governor of New York

Voters picked Hoover for President

THE ELECTION OF 1928

THE STOCK MARKET CRASH

Stock market continued to rise through 1928 and most of 1929

People took savings out of the bank to buy stock

Price was actually higher than their true value

Stock prices dropped sharply

There were more sellers than buyers

OCTOBER 19, 1929Stock market crashed

People tried to sell, but there were no buyers

The US was in the worst economic depression in US History

The “Roaring Twenties” came to a crashing end

1930s would be called the “Great Depression”