Transcript The 1920’s Boom to Bust

The 1920’s
Boom to Bust
I. Moral Change
Clarence Darrow defending John Scopes
Progress vs. Tradition
A. Cities-Held more people & more
opportunity.
Also held alcohol, gambling, & clubs.
B. Scopes Trial
John T. Scopes was tried for teaching
evolution in a high school classroom.
He was found guilty and fined, but the
decision was set aside because of a
technicality.
Clarence Darrow and William J. Bryan
I. Moral Change
C. Prohibition-the "Noble Experiment"
18th Amendment, January, 1920-prohibited
sale, manufacture, and transportation of
alcoholic beverages. Results:
1. Drunkenness declined.
2. Speakeasies operated.
3. Bootlegging & smuggling flourished.
4. Organized crime controlled many
public officials.
5. 1933-21st Amendment repealed 18th.
II. Women & Blacks Experience Change
A. 19th Amendment-Ratified in 1920, gave
women the right to vote. Women had
worked in many different jobs during
WWI, so it was a natural step.
B. Flappers-wore shorter hair and shorter
skirts. Women became interested in
politics and social issues.
Jeannette Rankin-1st woman
elected to the House of
Representatives, she opposed
World War I and World War II.
II. Women & Blacks Experience Change
C. Black Americans Migrate NorthwardBlacks went to Northern cities such as
New York and Chicago for work. They
faced prejudice from white workers who
were
afraid they would lose jobs.
II. Women & Blacks Experience Change
D. Black Leaders:
W.E.B. DuBois-wanted blacks to
strive for higher education in
industrial America.
Marcus Garvey"Back to Africa"-encouraged blacks to
return to Africa.
"Black is Beautiful"-encouraged
blacks to be proud and not
imitate whites.
II. Women & Blacks Experience Change
D. Black Leaders:
Niagra Movement led to the founding of the
NAACP.
NAACP-National Association for the
Advancement of Colored Peoplefounded by DuBois, Ida Wells-Barnett and
others, it helped to bring
attention to lynching and
other social injustices.
II. Women & Blacks Experience Change
E. Harlem Renaissance
Rise in art, literature, music, drama, and
dance from black Americans.
Langston Hughes-poet
Louis Armstrong-musician
Duke Ellington-musician
III. Popular Culture Changes
A. Idols
1. Charles Lindbergh-flew solo
across the Atlantic
2. Babe Ruth-baseball player for the New
York Yankees, Lou Gehrig-”The Iron Horse”
III. Popular Culture Changes
A. Idols
3. Red Grange-college football
player at the University of Illinois
4. Jack Dempsey-boxer
5. Charlie Chaplinactor/comedian
III. Popular Culture Changes
B. Writers
1. F. Scott Fitzgerald-This Side of
Paradise and The Great Gatsbyabout our material society.
2. Sinclair Lewis-criticized
American materialism
3. Ernest Hemingway-A Farewell
to Arms-expressed disgust
over the glorification of war.
III. Popular Culture Changes
C. Serious Social Problems
1. Communism-Americans feared a
communist movement in the United
States.
Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer raided the offices of
anarchists, socialists, &
communists, arresting
hundreds of individuals.
III. Popular Culture Changes
C. Serious Social Problems
2. KKK-as a result of new successes by
blacks and immigrants, the Klan
became much more active in the 1920's.
The group even marched on
Washington D.C.
III. Popular Culture Changes
C. Serious Social Problems
3. Workers strike:
Steelworkers began a
strike in Sept. 1919
demanding shorter
hours and better conditions.
Coal miners walked out in Nov. 1919 and
President Wilson had to help mediate
the dispute.
III. Popular Culture Changes
C. Serious Social Problems
*4. Sacco and Vanzetti Trial-Italian
immigrants who evaded the draft in
WWI
and were considered
"anarchists."
They were found guilty
of robbery and murder.
Even though the
evidence was not clear,
they were both
executed.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
*American foreign policy was that of
isolationism, the belief that the U.S.
should set itself apart from the affairs of
others.*
We continue this tradition until World War
II forces us to become involved all over
the world.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
A. Warren G. Harding won the
Election of 1920. He
promised a "return to
normalcy" and he rejected
the League of Nations.
1. Peace-Harding convinced 5 major
nations to reduce arms after WWI.
Several nations also aligned to
preserve peace in Asia.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
A. Warren G. Harding
2. Reparations-Serious debts existed for
France and Great Britain after WWI.
The U.S. refused to lower tariffs on
goods from these countries to help
them out. The U.S. loaned money to
Germany, who used these loans to help
pay reparations to France and Great
Britain, who in turn paid debts to the
United States.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
A. Warren G. Harding
3. Nativists-Congress introduced a quota
system, giving each European nation a
limit of immigrants that it could have
in the United States. Also, in 1924,
Japanese immigrants were "ineligible"
for citizenship.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
A. Warren G. Harding
4. Scandals:
Several of Harding's advisors had taken
bribes and illegal kickbacks from
businesses.
Teapot Dome Scandal-Naval oil
reserves were leased to private
companies by the Secretary of
the
Interior, who became
very rich in
the deal. President
Harding died
soon after this
IV. Harding and Coolidge
B. Calvin Coolidge
1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported
businesses
by keeping taxes low and
profits high. Sec. of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon continued to expand
profits for businesses.
Advances: Electricity became common,
Chevrolet became a competitor to
Ford,
retailers introduced credit &
installment plans, and advertisers made
Americans
desire products more
IV. Harding and Coolidge
B. Calvin Coolidge
1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported
businesses by keeping taxes low and
profits high. Sec. of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon continued to expand
profits for businesses.
Advances: Electricity became common,
Chevrolet became a competitor to Ford,
retailers introduced credit & installment
plans, and advertisers made Americans
desire products more than ever.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
B. Calvin Coolidge
1. Prosperity-Coolidge supported
businesses by keeping taxes low and
profits high. Sec. of the Treasury
Andrew Mellon continued to expand
profits for businesses.
Advances: Electricity became common,
Chevrolet became a competitor to Ford,
retailers introduced credit & installment
plans, and advertisers made Americans
desire products more than ever.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
B. Calvin Coolidge
2. Slipping Economy
Railroads-faced government regulation
and competition from new
transportation.
Textiles-foreign textiles were cheaper
than American.
Coal Mining-other energy sources cut
the need for coal.
IV. Harding and Coolidge
B. Calvin Coolidge
2. Slipping Economy
Farmers-had increased production
during WWI, borrowing
money to
expand. When the
demand for
agricultural
products declined,
farmers had no way to repay
debts. Coolidge vetoed several
attempts to set up price
supports
for farmers.
V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929
A. Election of 1928-Coolidge chose not to
run. Herbert Hoover is elected.
A former Secretary of Commerce, he had
never run for office before. He
immediately began to
improve relations in Latin
America, recalling Marines
from Haiti and Nicaragua.
V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929
B. Signs of Economic Slowdown
Construction declined, lack of consumer
buying, production declined, prices fell,
crops demands were low. All of these
factors meant that prosperity was slowly
ending.
V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929
C. The Crash
Stock prices had been on the rise for over a year.
Millions of dollars were made as speculators
bought low and sold high.
Buying on the margin (paying only a % of the
stock's cost, then paying it back when the price
rose) became common.
V. Stock Market Crash-October 1929
C. The Crash
October 24-13 million shares sold, causing prices to
fall.
October 29-Black Thursday-Bottom fell out of the
market. Investors tried to sell off everything
before prices fell too far. 16 million shares were
sold and millions more could not find buyers.
By mid November, $30 billion in wealth had
disappeared.