THE ROARING 20’S!CHAPTERS 26-28

And all of the tensions that surround it

26.4 Growing Political Tensions• 34 total bombs were sent

out by radical groups

• Radicalism is a point of view favoring extreme change, especially in social or economic structures

• Basically, they were favoring the ideas of Karl Marx and wanting communism (public ownership of the means of production)

The first Red Scare• Anarchists oppose all

systems of government, and while many are peaceful… others aren’t.

• Red was slang for communist

• The Palmer raids arrested over 6,000 suspected radicals and many Foreign-born suspects were deported without trial… only evidence of violence was three pistols

Civil Liberties Suffered• During this time the big

debate was “how much power was to much power?”

• 30 states passed sedition laws, which made stirring up opposition to the government a crime, books were banned from public libraries

• Palmer was THIS close to the white house… but called that a plot to overthrow the government would begin in New York on May 1st, 1920… all were on alert, when nothing happened… oops

26:5 Increasing Social Tensions• Between 1905 and 1914 a

million people immigrated to the US each year

• Nativists favored immigration reform, as did unions

• Congress passed the Emergency Immigration Act… introduced the quota system… maximum number of immigrants from each country was set at 3% of a country’s residents in the US in 1910

More in Immigration• In 1924, lowered it

down to 2% and 164,000 total immigrants per country

• The new law also banned anyone from Asia

• By 1929, that number was lowered to 150,000 each year

• NEVER discriminated based on religion

Revival of the KKK • Portrayed itself as a

defender of American Values, had to be a native born white Protestant

• In the early 1920’s the Klan had between 3-4 Million members

• Won control of state legislatures in Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas and Indiana and even marched on DC… kept violence to at night

American Civil Liberties Union attacks the KKK

• Founded by a group of pacifists and social activists to protect freedom of speech

• Did defend unpopular people

• Fought to protect immigrants rounded up in the Palmer Raids

• Also defended the rights for Trade Unions to organize and hold meetings, and also opposed censorship

26:6 Enduring Racial and Religious Tensions• Asians were barred from becoming

citizens and in several states from owning land

• Also, more than 70 blacks were murdered by lynch mobs in 1919

• 38 people killed and 500 injured in Chicago riots of 1919 when a black man was killed swimming on the white part of lake Michigan

• Marcus Garvey started a Back-To-Africa movement with over 2 million followers, collected money to start businesses, but was arrested for mail fraud and sale of stock in one of his businesses

Jews and Catholics also… (sigh)

• Lots of anti-semitism was stirred up by the influx of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe

• Catholics were also targeted because people thought that if one was elected, the pope would be in power

27:3 Engaging the World in an Era of Isolationism

• US was distrustful of Europe, especially the Senate and while tried to join the World Court… was not allowed in 1926

• Washington Naval Conference tried to limit the amount of large warships through disarmament, but the opposite happened

• Then there was the Kellogg-Briand Pact… 62 countries rejecting war as an instrument of national policy

The Dawes Plan

• By 1923, Germany was getting hosed and not making reparations payments because of rapid inflation and the invasion by France

• So the Dawes Plan was created

27:4 The Republican Boom Years• By 1929 the US was

producing 40% of the world’s manufactured goods

• Ford in 1926 was selling his cars for $290 down from $950 in 1908

• In 1914 he upped the pay of his workers to $5.00 per 8 hour day, from the $2.40 for a 9 hour day by the rest of the industry

• Could make a new car every 10 seconds

Rise of new Industries• Cars improved the Rubber,

Steel, and Oil industries and created the highway as well as service industries like as stations and repair shops.. by 1920 1 of every 8 American workers were involved with the Auto industry

• 1927 introduced the Airplane industry and BOEING!

• By 1929 Radios were big business with Americans spending $850 million that year along on sets and parts

Big Business gets even BIGGER!

• They were consolidating: aka merging or combining

• By 1910 there were hundreds of auto companies, by 1929 Ford, GM and Chrysler built over 90% of the cars in the US.. GM topped Ford by building different styles of cars at different price points

• Holding companies bought up 5,000 small utilities companies by buying their stock and led to a drop in electricity price

• Even led to revolutionizing the grocery business!!!

Speculators aim to get rich QUICK• Led by Ponzi Schemes

Examples of Get Rich Quick Schemes

• Florida Land Boom: People bought up lots of land in Florida.. then a Hurricane hit and people lost lots of money

• THE STOCK MARKET! Doubled between 1928 and 1929

Left out of the Boom: Poverty• More than half of families

earned less than $1500 per year in 1929, but needed $2500 to live decently

• A surplus in food led to a drop in crop prices and hurt farmers

• Finally Unskilled workers were hurt bad as they were being replaced by machines and new forms of energy (bye bye coal miners)

28.2 Americans Buy into Consumer Culture

29:4 Prohibition!

• St. Valentines Day Massacre

• Al Capone’s gang dressed as police officers raided a rival gang, stole their beer, and shot them up

• Prohibition gave rise to organized crime

The Dry Perspective• Prohibition improves

society

• Stopping people from drinking would lead to a happy and healthier society

• Taming of city life hopefully leading to adoption of ‘Country’ values

• Also associated beer drinking with foreigners

More on the Dry perspective• Dropped national

consumption per capita from 2.6 gallons per to 1.0. (seems low…)

• Poor workers didn’t like it at all, but did save money.

• What other things have we done this to… has it worked or hasn’t it?

The Wet Perspective• Restricts freedom and breeds

crime

• Opposition in large communities and immigrant communities

• Said the federal government tried to legislate morality, others said because better booze was in the cities… think about it :)

• Prohibition started in October of 1919

More Anti Prohibition• Not enough people to

enforce it… needed 250,000 officers just for the Volstead Act

• People began to make their own alcohol in bathtubs, or bootleg it from Canada

• Twice as many speakeasies, or underground drinking hangouts popped up as there were formally bars

• NYC alone had 32,000 speakeasies

Production, transportation and sale of alcohol led to Mobs

• Bribed politicians to keep their supply going

• Eliminated rival gangs

• Had a 1,000 member gang!

• Capone finally went to jail… for tax evasion of all things

• BY 1933 they got rid of the amendment… but it led to the start of NASCAR also!