The Roaring 20’s

1919-President Wilson returns from Paris Peace Conference

Senate rejects Treaty of VersaillesU.S. negotiates a separate treaty with GermanyLeague of Nations went against policy of

isolationismWilson suffers a stroke1920 Presidential Election

James Cox (D) vs. Warren Harding (R)Harding promised a “A Return to Normalcy”Harding wins in a landslide

“A Return to Normalcy”

The Jazz AgeAfrican-American musicians bring Jazz music

north The FlappersConsumer productsRadio-KDKA in Pittsburgh (1921)Automobile-From 1.2 in 1913 to 26.2 million

in 1929Most popular brand is the Model TSports-Baseball-Babe Ruth

What made the 1920’s roaring?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Ford_Modell-T_side_20020707.jpg

18th Amendment (January 1919)bans the manufacturing, distribution, and selling of alcohol

Why prohibit alcohol?1 saloon for every 150-200 AmericansCompetition among saloon owners

caused other vice activities (gambling, numbers) to take place in the saloon

Reduce crimeReduce other social problems

Prohibition“The Noble Experiment”

Enforcement becomes difficultPossession of alcohol during prohibition

was still legalOrganized crime“Speakeasy”Bootlegging18th Amendment is repealed in 1933 with

the 21st Amendment

Causes-Communist takeover of Russia, Anti-German feelings after World War I, and labor issues

“Palmer raids” under Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer

Raids led by J. Edgar Hoover6,000 people arrested and questioned

between November 1919 and January 1920

Crackdown on civil liberties comes shortly after Schenck v. United States (1919)

The Red Scare

1920s-Increase in wagesOpen Shop vs. Closed Shop“Welfare Capitalism”Key Labor figure is John L. Lewis

(United Mine Workers)Unsuccessful strikes in Pennsylvania,

Kentucky, and West Virginia

Labor Issues

Marcus Garvey and the “Back to Africa” movement

Born in Jamaica and came to Harlem in 1916

Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL)

Negro World Newspaper Permanent home in LiberiaArrested for mail fraud in 1919

Race

End of WWI causes a new wave of immigration to the United States

New immigrants were mainly Catholics and Jews from eastern and southern Europe

Prejudice from Protestants and isolationists

Concern that immigrants were taking away jobs and lowering wages

Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924Resurgence of the Ku Klux KlanNew Klan founded in 1915

Nativism

KKK not just strong in the SouthHostile towards blacks, Catholics, Jews,

foreigners, and suspected CommunistsWhite robesCross burning, whipping, tar and

feathering victimsFraud and corruption caused KKK’s

membership and influence to decline in the mid 1920s.

Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola SaccoItalian immigrants living outside of BostonApril 15, 1920- Two people are killed

carrying a payroll deposit from a shoe factory to the bank

Eyewitnesses told police suspected criminal looked Italian

Sacco and Vanzetti were known anarchistsLanguage barrier at the trialBoth convicted and eventually executed in

1927

Sacco and Vanzetti

New Negro Movement by Alain LockeHarlem becomes a thriving area during the

1920’sKey figures-Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong,

Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Josephine Baker

Apollo TheaterCotton Club

The Harlem Renaissance

State of Tennessee v. Scopes (1925)High School biology teacher John Scopes was

accused of teaching evolution which violated Tennessee law

Like the Plessy case, it was a test case bought by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

William Jennings Bryan vs. Clarence DarowCovered by the national mediaScopes found guilty but the verdict was later

overturnedScopes was never retried

Scopes-Monkey Trial

Charles LindberghMay 20-21, 1927-Lindbergh flew from Roosevelt Field

(Long Island) to Paris non stop3,600 miles in a single engine, single seat plane-“Spirit

of St. Louis”Orteig Prize-New York Hotel Owner Raymond Orteig

offered a $25,000 prize to any aviator who flew non stopSix previous pilots had lost their lives trying to cross the

AtlanticSuccess of Lindbergh’s flight leads to the development

of American commercial aviationTicker Tape Parade in Lower Manhattan

“Lucky Lindy”

Biggest scandal during President Harding’s administrationTeapot Dome, WyomingSeveral oil producing areas designated as Naval Oil

ReservesReserves were on public land1921-President Harding signs an executive order

transferring control of the oil reserves from the Navy Department to the Department of the Interior

DOI director Albert Fall then leased oil reserves to Henry Sinclair and Edward Doheny

Fall received over $400,000 in payments and giftsWall Street Journal exposed arrangement

Teapot Dome Scandal (1922-1923)

“The business of America is business”Calvin Coolidge takes over as President on

August 2, 1923Elected in 1924Laissez Faire EconomicsReduction of TaxesRejects subsidy for farmers

“Silent Cal”

Dawes Plan (August 1924)Designed to help Germany pay the $33

billion in reparations as required by the Treaty of Versailles

U.S. would give loans to Germany to help them pay the reparations

Foreign Policy

Uneven distribution of wealthOverproduction by business and

agricultureLower demand for consumer goodsBuying stock on marginStock Market Crash in October 1929Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930)

The Start of the Great Depression