The Roaring Twenties Part 2

Politics and Prosperity

Karl Marx

1818 - 1883

Wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848

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Communism• A political and economic ideology

– Government ownership of all land and property

– A classless society where wealth is distributed according to people’s needs

– A single political party controlled by the government

– The country’s needs are always more important than the individual

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Bolsheviks

• Communists rebels who overthrew the Russian government in Nov. 1917

• Russian word for “majority”• Led by Vladimir Lenin• Their emblem was a red flag• Their army was called the Red Army

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Vladimir Lenin –Leader of 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia

Lenin dies in 1924 – Body encased in glass mausoleum

Lenin’s embalmed body

The Red Scare• An intense fear of communism and

other radical political ideas that spread through the U.S. in the 1920’s

• Triggered by Communist take-over of Russia and Hungary and labor strikes in the U.S.

• Suspected communists were arrested and charged with sedition

• Many were jailed, removed from office, or exiled

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Sedition

Any action or language that incites rebellion against the

authority of the government

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The Red Scare:

Democracy in danger?

Anarchists

People who oppose any form of political

authority

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Sacco-Vanzetti Trial• April 1920 – Braintree, MA• Guard and paymaster at a shoe factory

were robbed and killed• 2 Italian immigrants were arrested• Convicted and sentenced to death• Many believed that it was fear of their

radical anarchist political beliefs that led to an unfair verdict

• April 1927 - Both were electrocuted after years of appeals

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Bartolomeo Vanzetti & Nicola Sacco

The guilty verdict was protested

internationally

A mob in Mexico protests the execution

Warren G. Harding

• 29th President• 1921 – 1923• Republican• From Ohio• Campaign called

for a return to “normalcy”

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“Normalcy”

Harding’s suggestion that the U.S. wished to return to a calm, normal way of life after the stressful events of the previous decade, such as Progressivism, World War I, and the Red Scare

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Harding’s Policies

• Isolationism – U.S. would not join the League of Nations

• Disarmament – nations should voluntarily give up their weapons

• Immigration restrictions• Tariffs raised to protect American

business from foreign competition

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Teapot Dome Scandal

• Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, gave drilling rights on government owned naval oil fields in Wyoming to 2 private oil companies

• Received nearly $400,000 illegally• No evidence that Harding was involved• Fall was fined $100,000 and sentenced

to a year in prison

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Teapot Dome, Wyoming

Whom is this

cartoonist blaming for the Teapot Dome

scandal?

Calvin Coolidge• 30th President• 1923 - 1929• Republican• Massachusetts• VP under Harding

- Takes office when Harding dies in Aug. 1923

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continued

Calvin Coolidge• A man of few words –

“Silent Cal”• “The chief business

of the American people is business.”

• Took a laissez-faire approach to business

• The government should leave business alone and let it grow

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Kellogg-Briand Pact

• 1927 - Agreement written by U.S. Secretary of State, Kellogg, and French Foreign Minister, Briand

• 60 nations pledged not to use the threat of war against each other

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Consumer Economy

An economy that depends

on a large amount of

spending by consumers

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Larger profitsfor business

Wages for workers increase

People consume products

Consumer Economy

Cycle

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GNP Increased• Gross National Product• The measure of a country’s

productivity• The total value of goods and

services produced annually

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New Electric Gadgets Available to the American

Consumer

• Radios• Toasters

• Vacuum cleaners • Sewing machines

• Refrigerators • Coffee pots

• Ovens• Irons

1920’s General Electric

Electric Range

Electric refrigerators replaced “iceboxes”

Catalogs sold everything for the home – including the home

And what was the greatest

invention of the age?

Henry Ford

• 1896 – invented the quadricycle

• 1899 – started the Detroit Automobile Company – made 22 cars

• 1900 – business failed

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continued

Henry Ford

• 1901 – There were over 50 companies making cars, but only the wealthy could afford them

• Ford wanted to “democratize the automobile” by making them cheaper

• 1903 – Started the Ford Motor Company

• Mass produced the Model T using assembly line production

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Assembly Line

• A process in which each worker completes a single specific task in the production process

• At the end of the line, the product is complete

• Ford’s assembly line produced a Model T every 24 seconds

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How did Henry Ford convince investors to

back his plan to produce cheap reliable

cars after his first venture had failed?

Question -

Answer

Ford, at the age of 38, entered a race against the most famous racer in the country, Alexander Winton.

Ford’s “Sweepstakes” had 26 horsepower.

Winton’s “Bullet” had 70 horsepower.

In a 10 lap race, Ford came from behind in the 7th lap to beat Winton by a wide margin, averaging 45 mph.

What made the difference?

Winton’s car began to misfire badly, but Ford’s car had a spark coil insulated with a porcelain case designed by a dentist. (The forerunner of the spark plug)

Ford won $1000 and a punch bowl, and found financial backers for his new car company.

Ford gaining on Winton in Oct. 1901 race in Grosse Point, MI

Ford (the man)

Ford (the car)

Henry Ford’s “Sweepstakes”2 cylinders – 539 cubic inches – 26 hp –

top speed 72 mph

Ford and the 1921 Model T

Model T – 15 million sold between 1908 and 1927

1927 Model

1923 Ford Grain Truck

How did Americans afford

all these new toys?

Installment Plans• Manufacturers attracted consumers

by allowing payments over time• Items most likely bought on credit:

– Cars– Furniture– Vacuum cleaners, radios, refrigerators– Washing machines

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Speculation• The practice of making high-risk

investments in hopes of getting a huge return

• The rapid rise of stock prices throughout the 1920’s convinced people that they could “get rich quick”

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Buying on Margin• Common people with little money

would buy stocks by putting 10 – 50 percent down and borrowing the rest owed

• If the stocks went down in price, the investor still owed the full amount for them plus the interest on the loan

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Welfare Capitalism• In order to prevent more labor

strikes, employers began to improve conditions by offering– Higher wages– Paid vacations– Health insurance– English classes

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Herbert Hoover

• 31st President• 1929 – 1933• Republican• New York• Continued to

keep government out of business

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