america in the “roaring 1920s”: economic triumph and cultural tensions
TRANSCRIPT
America in the “Roaring 1920s”: Economic Triumph and Cultural Tensions
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• For– Christian Values– Individualism– Liberty– Justice– Education– Patriotism– Brotherhood– Nationalism– Representative
Government
• Against– Godlessness– Dictatorships– Anarchy– Communism– Fascism– Nazism– Internationalism– And all other Anti-
Americanisms
The Klan in the 1920s
If We Must Die-Claude McKay If we must die, let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursèd lot.If we must die, O let us nobly die,So that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monsters we defyShall be constrained to honor us though dead!O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!What though before us lies the open grave?Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
Response to Racism/Nativism
Birth of a Nation Within our Gates
1919 Turning Point“Red Summer”
• 19th Amendment• Treaty of Versailles and 14
Points rejected.• Prohibition begins• Solders return looking for
work.• Labor strikes• Race Riots
– Tulsa– Chicago
• Palmer Raids• Rescission (19210• Farmers lose Europe markets
The Red Scare• 1917 Russian Revolution• America fears
– Communist– Anarchist– Immigrants
• Palmer Raids– Bomb outside US AG
Mitchel Palmer + other attacks
– 4,000 suspects rounded up– J. Edgar Hoover lead raids– 600 immigrants deported
• Sacco & Vanzetti– Convicted of murder
during a robbery. – Thought the robbery was
to gain funds for anarchist.– Executed in 1927, despite
world-wide protest for their released
– Conviction and execution were thought to be due to anti-immigrant bias
3 Republican PresidentsHarding
Coolidge Hoover
Pro-BusinessLaissez-faire
Limited GovernmentIsolationism
Harding 1921-1923• “Return to Normalcy”
– High tariffs– Low income tax– Restrict Immigration
• Washington Naval Conference– Arms reduction
• Ohio Gang– Personal friends to cabinet
who were dishonest
• Teapot Dome & other Scandals
Coolidge 1923-1929
• “Silent Cal”• “The Business of
America is Business”
Hoover 1929-1933
• “Rugged Individualism”– Individuals, given equal
opportunities can succeed.
• Government interference in business would undermine prosperity
Rising Wages for American Workers
New Goods for the “Average” American
Henry Ford’s Model T
Production
• Assembly lineSkilled workers no longer needed
The Radio and Electrical Appliances
New Temptations to Buy
1. Easy Credit and
Buying “on Margin”
The Birth of Modern Advertising
Speculation/Uneven Prosperity
Speculation• Purchase of an item not for
personal use, but to sell it for a profit in the future.
• 1920s stock speculation & Real Estate
Uneven Prosperity• Wealth was concentrated at
the top of the highest income levels.
• Many Americans in poverty– Farmers
• Overproduction– Railroads– Textile workers
• Foreign competition– Minority Groups
5 Cultural Tensions
Alcohol: Prohibition v. Personal Choice
Women: Family Values v. Flappers & Female Independence
C. Explaining the World: Science v.
Religion (The Scopes Trial)
The Scopes Trial
Eugenics & Social Darwinism
• Superiority of the “Anglo-Saxon Race”– Northern European Male– Anti-Immigrant• Eastern and Southern Europe
– Reduce inferior races • by preventing mentally ill from having children• Forced sterilizations• Segregation Laws• Marriage restrictions
New Restrictions on Immigration
The Immigration Act of 1924
Immigration Acts of 19211924 & 1929
• Keep out immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.
• Quotas for each nation – Favored • Great Britain• Ireland• Germany
• Nativist & Anti-Catholic feelings
Tin Pan Alley
• Music Publishing• Song-writing• Blues• Jazz• Ragtime• Sheet music• Vaudeville shows
Lost Generation
• WWI left brutal scars on young adults
• Writers protested the materialism of the 1920s
• Some moved to Paris• F. Scot Fitzgerald• Sinclair Lewis• Ernest Hemingway
Opportunities and Oppression for African-Americans “New Negro”
http://library.sc.edu/digital/collections/greenbook.html
Marcus GarveyCapitalism/Nationalism
– African American soldiers in WWI witnessed a more tolerant Europe.
– Spoke out against racism– Racial unity through self
help– Disillusionment from the
Great Migration– Advocated Back to Africa
Movement (Liberia)
W.E.B. Du BoisCapitalism
• NAACP• “The Crisis”• Full Civil Rights and
Political Representation.• Elite of ‘Talented Tenth.’• The Soul of Black Folks
A. Phillip RandolphSocialist
• Head of Railroad Porter’s Union.
• The Messenger• Opposed US
involvement in WW1• March on Washington
1963
Harlem Renaissance• Awakening of African
American Culture.– Visual Arts– Poems– Music– Dance– Theater
• Optimistic• Pride• Celebration of being
African American
• Langston Hughes• Alain Locke• Zora Neale Hurston• Louis Armstrong• Duke Ellington• Bessie Smith
POP Culture