The Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression and the New Deal

Social values

• Abstract standards or realistic variables in social life which are believed to be important and/or desirable.

Benchmarks • Describe changes in society and culture that led to conflicts in values in the 1920s (Scopes trial, influx of immigrants and the rise of the KKK, anti-immigration movements, prohibition, speakeasies and organized crime) • Describe the significance of the literature, arts, and feminism of the 1920s, including the "Lost Generation," the Harlem Renaissance, and flappers • Describe the innovations in transportation and communication and the impact they had on American society (mass production (e.g. Model T) increased mobility and how mass communication (e.g. radios) contributed to the birth of a mass popular culture)

• Analyze the causes of the Great Depression (disparity of wealth, speculation, the plight of farmers, and bank failures) • Describe the effects of the Great Depression (mass unemployment and homelessness) • Explain how programs in FDR's New Deal, including the FDIC, AAA, WPA, and Social Security, attempted to resolve problems brought on by the Great Depression • Explain the purpose and/or role of government programs and policies, including unemployment, minimum wage, and Social Security, and their effect on the nation's economy

WW I was over, all our soldiers came home. During thewar, Russia had a civil war, where Lenin and his communists killed the entire Russian royal family and madethe country communist.

Czar Nicholas andhis family“Communism sucks!”

That meant that everyone shared the wealth, no rich, no poor. The people lost many rights like freedom of speech and they could not choose their own leaders. They also felt that God was not important--everyone should put theircountry before anything else.

One of their slogans was “Workers Unite!” because they were for the working man and against the rich. This scared Americans--would communism come to America and threaten our way of life?

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The Red ScareThe Russian Revolution scared a lot of Americans aboutCommunism--it threatened the American Way of Life!

Communism went against everything that America represented; capitalism, private ownership and freedomof speech.

“Put them out andkeep them out”

We were worriedthe Russians wouldtry to make America communist.This made us morefearful of immigrants.

Swat the fly, butuse common sense.

Better Dead Than Red

Palmer RaidsIn 1919, the Justice Department was headed by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. He set up aspecial force to find Communists, socialists and anarchists.

They jailed thousands of people, sent immigrants back to their countries and even expelled people who were elected to office because they had socialist beliefs.

A. Mitchell Palmer

Someone blew upPalmer’s house, butthe bomber forgotto get out in time

Palmer Raids always left a mess

Sacco and Vanzetti Backlash against immigrants

On April 15, 1920, a gunman robbed and killed the guard at a shoe factory in Massachusetts. Saccoand Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and werearrested for the crime. They both had guns, andSacco’s was the same kind used in the crime. They were executed in 1927. Many felt that therereally wasn’t enough evidence against them, butthat they were singled out because they wereimmigrants.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Keep ‘em out!

Nativists ruled! Many felt immigrants couldn’ttotally be loyal to the U.S. Many citizens didn’tlike immigrants who were Catholic and Jews.They feared immigrants would take jobs, or thatthey might be communists or socialists.

By the 1920s the U.S. was really getting tired of all theimmigrants coming in to our country.

KKK - They were haters!

The Ku Klux Klan was an organization of people thatwere against Blacks, immigrants and Jewish people.

They worked to intimidate people through lynchings,beatings, burnings and other forms of terrorism. They dominated through fear.

Interesting fact: they wore white sheets to signifyThe ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers

“Hey, let’s wear silly costumes and hate anyone who’s not like us!”

We Were Haters!• The KKK had a big resurgence in the 1920s because ofimmigration.

• The KKK became so dominant Oklahoma in 1923 thatthe governor declared martial law to keep the Klanunder control

• By 1924, the Klan had 4-5 million members.

• Congress limited immigration and set up a quota,or a numerical limit on immigrants from eachcountry. Asian immigration was banned altogether.

As the number of immigrants from Europe decreased,immigrants from Canada and Mexico came into the U.S.to fill the low-paying jobs.

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Put Down That Glass! The 18th Amendment Breaks Up the Party

• Prohibition made it illegal to make or sell alcohol• The rich opened speakeasies, private clubs where alcoholwas sold• Poorer people made “bathtub gin” and sometimes diedfrom drinking it• Pharmacists wrote prescriptions for “medicinal” alcohol• Production of legal sacramental wine increased byhundreds of thousands of gallons

The Thug Life Organized Crime is Top Dog

What is organized crime?

• Organized crime got its stronghold by controlling mostof the smuggling and distribution of illegal alcohol• Many government officials took bribes from criminals• Al Capone was one of the most well-known criminals of this era, he was eventually jailed for tax evasion and became mentally ill from syphilis

The Lost Generation

• Writers who believed they were lost in a greedy, materialistic world that lacked moral values• Many lived in Greenwich Village in New York City• Many began to dislike America and moved to otherplaces like Paris• Thought the rich were shallow and self-centered• F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby• Ernest Hemingway wrote The Sun Also Rises

Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsbyexplored thelives of shallowrich people.

Hemingwayeventually committedsuicide

Prejudice against Blacks was at an all-time high

In 1919, race riots erupted in 25 cities, things weretense

The Tulsa race riot started when A white girl said that a nineteen-year-old colored boy attempted to assault her in a public elevator. A mob of Whites went on a rampage that killed fifty white men; between 150 and 200 colored men, women and children; the destruction by fire of $1,500,000 worth of property; and the looting of many homes.

They were other race riots too - Whites attacking Blackneighborhoods because of rumors of a crime.

In St. Louis, Whites were believing rumors that Blacks were buying up guns. The riot began when whites heard that a robbery had taken place. Over 200 were killed and many Blacks left St. Louis after that.

“By afternoon the crowd invaded the area south of Broadway Homes were set on fire. Negroes who attempted to escape the flames were picked off one at a time. Another Negro was lynched from a telephone pole. Encouraged by mobs who shouted, "Burn 'em out." the rioters destroyed over 200 homes.”

The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of African American literature, arts, and music;A direct result of the Great Migration - Blacks were experiencing the good life in the North

• Huge increase in the number of Blacks living in Harlem inNew York City• In the 1920s many writers emerged• They wrote about the Black experience• Dorothy West wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God

I, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong…Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed--I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes

Poet LangstonHughes

Jazz and the Blues became very popular. For the firsttime, Black culture transferred into White culture.

Black pride groups, like the NAACP (started by W.E.B. DuBois) helped blacks to feel empowered.

Marcus Garvey, born in Jamaica, started a movementfor U.S. Blacks to think about moving back to Africa, where there would be no discrimination against them.

“Look to Africa, for there a king will be crowned.”

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Garvey's goal was "to unite all people of African ancestry of the world to one great body to establish a country and absolute government of their own.”

DuBois thought Garvey was crazy. Garvey called DuBois “purely and simply a white man's n**ger,"

Rastafarians consider Garvey areligious prophet. “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.”

Flappers - A New Immoral Woman!

They were the “new” women. They had bobbed hair, shortdresses, they smoked and drank, they danced exotic dances and they also had two important things:• Birth control - diaphragms were introduced by MargaretSanger• The Vote

The new American woman was more free, sexually, politically, and socially.

Oh, thoseimmoralflappers!

“My candle burns at both ends. It will not last the night.But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--it gives a lovely light.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Scopes “Monkey Trial” 1925

• Science was becoming more advanced: people were beginning to understand how science explained the world around us• Teacher John Scopes didn’t like that there were laws that made teaching the Theory of Evolutionillegal• He convinced a friend to file a suit against him and was charged with illegally teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution• His lawyer was Clarence Darrow• William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor

In a brilliant move, Scopes attorney Clarence Darrowput the other attorney on the stand to testify as anexpert on the Bible. Under intense questioning, William Jennings Bryan admitted the Bible shouldnot be interpreted literally. What did he mean?• This was the first trial ever broadcast over radio• Scopes was declared guilty and fined $100• William Jennings Bryan died a few days after the trial ended

It was so hot and crowded they moved the trial outsideDarrow cross examines Bryan

John Scopes during sentencing, Clarence Darrow ison the left

This problem still stands today. There are continuing arguments about what teachers should teach students: Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, nothing, or the Theory of Intelligent Design.

Have You Driven a Ford Lately?

• Henry Ford did not invent the automobile• He envisioned a car for the masses that the average worker could afford• The first Model T came out in 1909• He sold 11,000 the first year• He made headlines by paying his workers $5 a day--almost double the going rate• He hated the unions and wouldn’t tolerate laziness• He perfected the assembly line

By 1914, Ford was producing one car every 24 seconds

The Model A Changes America

• More roads were built all across America• People traveled more, bought more and newbusinesses sprung up: roadside diners, gasstations, motels, etc. Americans had freedom!

Interesting fact: Ford was a lifelong anti-Semiteand even bought a newspaper to get his opinionsout to the public

Henry Ford

Radios changed mass popular culture

• The growth of radio was huge• By 1922 more than 500 stations were on the air• People heard news faster, listened to moreentertainment• Families would often gather around the radioin the evenings to listen to their favorite shows

This is what kids did before video games

How did things start to go wrong?

• Between 1914 and 1926, average wages rose more than26%• The number of U.S. millionaires more than doubled• More than ever before people were buying on credit,using installment plans, even though interest rates were often 11% - 40%• People were buying things they really couldn’t afford

Consumers were buyingup electric refrigeratorslike crazy, no need forice block delivery

No more woodfor the stove!

American consumerism was at an all time high

• Between 1913 and 1927, the number of electric powercustomers quadrupled• General Electric became one of the world’s largestcompanies• They made toasters, sewing machines, coffee pots, ironsand vacuum cleaners, etc.• With the advent of the Model T, many people traveledand businesses sprouted up all along the nation’s newhighways• Business was booming everywhere

“I must have thatcool new inventionthe vacuumcleaner!”

Some were super rich…..

…and some were super poor.

How did the stock market crash on Oct. 29, 1929? Black Tuesday “The Great Crash”

• It was mainly the rich who were getting richer• 71% of Americans made less than$2,500 year• Nearly 80% had no savings• Big increase in personal debt• Many borrowing money to invest in the stock market• In the late 1920s, the economy slowed, many goods,little demand

Prices for crops went down, farmers couldn’t paytheir loans.

Farmers had been busy producing extra food forthe countries in WWI that couldn’t grow their own foodbecause of the battles. Once the war ended, the demand for American crops went way down.

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Wall Street

• Stock prices started dropping, everyone was selling their stocks at once, nobody buying

• Many firms went bankrupt, banks unable to collect on loans

Bank Runs! Banks would not make new loans, banks were closing, many people lost their life savings,

• Domino theory - people had less money to buy products, factories closed, people lost jobs• By 1932 32% of Americans unemployed• Soup lines became a common sight

The Great Depression had begun, a severe economicdecline that lasted until WWII, in 1941.

Depression-era soup lines

What was it like?

• 1931 Henry Ford shuts down his plant, putting75,000 people out of work• People had no money, so many businesses failed• Many banks shut down, people couldn’t pay their loans• The world economy was affected too, worldwidedepression

The Effects of the Depression

• 1931 there were 15,000 homeless in New York City• They created shanty towns called Hoovervilles,to make fun of President Hoover

The Bonus Army15,000 to 20,000 World War I veterans from across the country, marched on the Capitol in June 1932 to request early payment of cash bonuses due to them in 1945. Six futile weeks of lobbying Congress raised government fears of riots, and on July 28, cavalry, infantry, tank troops and a mounted machine gun squadron dispersed veterans and their families with bayonets and tear gas.

Public opinion denounced President Herbert Hoover for the resulting bloodshed and helped force him from office.

The Dust BowlNo, it’s not a football game

• environmental crisis, drought and dust storms• The Dust Bowl was in the Great Plains, in the middleof the U.S.• Lots of land was tilled for farming and left open, and drought caused the land to dry up and blow away• They left their farms in droves, heading for cities,California

Made our country even poorer!

Life sucked in the Dust Bowl

Being Poor Sucks

• Adults and children didn’t eat well so they got sickeasier• Most had no medical care• People lived in crowded, dirty conditions• Many social problems• Minorities got booted out of their jobs so whitescould have them• Way more discrimination in general X

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected presidentIn 1933. He won the election because he promised thegovernment would get involved to solve the economiccrisis.

“So first of all let me assert my firm belief that theonly thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

FDR at his inaugural address

FDR

Fireside Chats

Franklin Delano Roosevelt soothed the fearsof the nation by making radio broadcasts

• Told people to start trusting their banks and deposit their money instead of hiding it at home

“Hoarding has become an exceedingly unfashionablepastime.”After the broadcast he said, “I think it’s time for a beer.”

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FDR created public works programs, government fundedprojects to build public facilities. One of those was the Civil Works Administration (CWA)

The CWA gave jobs to people to build roads, parks, airports, etc. They employed 4 million Americans.

He also created the Civilian Conservation Corps thatput 2.5 million young, unmarried men to work restoringand maintaining beaches, parks and forests.

Most of thepublic did notknow thatRoosevelt wasin a wheelchair

The Public Works Administration (PWA) hired a lotof men to build things like dams, bridges, highways

The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)worked to help farmers get a fair price for the cropsthey raised. They paid farmers not to grow certaincrops and animals. Lower production would help raiseprices.

The WPA, or Works Progress Administration, was anotherprogram where the government hired workers to complete public projects.

Basically, the government was our biggest employer. Wasthis socialism? Some thought so. The wealthy criticize the New Deal.

The Social Security system was started. It gave monthlychecks to old people, widows, and disabled people.

Now people could collect unemployment benefits

So what was the result?

• More people came to believe that government shouldsolve citizens’ problems• The government had to borrow a lot of money to payfor all the programs• Unions became more popular with workers• Many projects completed because of the New Dealare still used today• The New Deal helped many Americans make it throughthe Great Depression• Many felt the New Deal set America on the path tosocialism