AMERICA'S PRESENT NEED IS NOT HEROICS, BUT HEALING; NOT NOSTRUMS [SOLUTIONS], BUT NORMALCY; NOT REVOLUTION, BUT RESTORATION; NOT AGITATION, BUT ADJUSTMENT; NOT SURGERY, BUT SERENITY; NOT THE DRAMATIC, BUT THE DISPASSIONATE; NOT EXPERIMENT, BUT EQUIPOISE [EQUILIBRIUM] ; NOT SUBMERGENCE IN INTERNATIONALITY, BUT SUSTAINMENT IN TRIUMPHANT NATIONALITY. 

- WARREN G. HARDING

WHAT DID THE PUBLIC PERCEIVE “NORMALCY” TO MEAN? Foreign Policy:

Domestic Policy:

CLASS DISCUSSION: WHAT WOULD A “RETURN TO NORMALCY” MEAN FOR AMERICA AFTER WORLD WAR I?

AMERICANISMCall it the selfishness of nationality if you will. I think it's an inspiration to patriotic devotion to safeguard America first, to stabilize America first, to prosper America first, to think of America first...Let the internationalist dream, and the Bolshevist destroy... we proclaim Americanism...

-- Warren G. Harding Campaign Speech (1920)

PARTICIPATION IN WWI TRANSFORMED THE UNITED STATES

IN THE 1920S The US was the

richest and most developed country in the world.

Mass production, high wages, new consumer goods and forms of entertainment labeled the decade the “Roaring Twenties”

What do these images reveal about

America in the 1920s?

IN THE 1920S, AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY “RETURNED TO NORMAL” BY EMBRACING ISOLATIONISM. The US rejected the Treaty of Versailles and

never joined the League of Nations.

Many citizens felt the US was “duped” into joining WWI and became committed to neutrality.

HOWEVER, US ISOLATIONISM WAS SELECTIVE BECAUSE THE US DID PLAY A ROLE IN WORLD AFFAIRS. The US hosted a

naval conference aimed to reduce the military strength of all nations.

The US loaned European nations billions of dollars to help rebuild after WWI – Dawes Plan

The US joined other world powers in a commitment to world peace by signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact

REPUBLICANS RETURN TO NORMALCY

Pro-Business Kept taxes low so

Americans could spend their wages

Kept government interference in business to a minimum

Allowed private enterprise to flourish.

TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL Oil companies bribed government officials for

prime oil leases on government land. Secretary of the Interior: Alfred Fall got over

$300,000 worth of bribes

Teapot Dome, Wyoming

*First cabinet member to go to jail*

WHAT DOES THIS IMAGE AND QUOTE REVEAL ABOUT AMERICA IN THE

1920S?

“The chief business of the American people

is business.”

-President Calvin Coolidge, 1925

“COOLIDGE PROSPERITY” Low Taxes Balanced Budgets Robust Economy

NO NEW PROGRESSIVE REFORMS Americans felt confident that reforms had

Limited the influence of monopolies Cleaned up cities Regulated the economy

As workers’ wages rose and their hours declined, Americans were happy to spend their money.

THE CULTURE WAR – “NORMALCY” UNDER ATTACK

THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION

PALMER RAIDS JANUARY 1920TARGET:“Radical” Immigrants Communists Socialists Anarchists

Thousands ArrestedHundreds Deported

“WHERE THE BLAME LIES”

IMMIGRANT ARRIVALS

1921 1925 1928Eastern Europe

138,000

10,000 14,000

Southern Europe

299,000

8,000 22,000

Asia 25,000 4,000 4,000Mexico 31,000 33,000 40,000TOTAL 805,00

0294,000 280,000

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONSEmergency Quota Act

(1921)

3%Of people from that country living in the

U.S. in 1910

National Origins Act (1924)

2%Of people from that country living in the

U.S. in 1890

1920S: CONSUMERISM

PRO-BUSINESS POLICIES AND MASS PRODUCTION DEVELOPED DURING WWI AND LED TO AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION FOR CONSUMER GOODS. High wages for

workers Cheap products

for Americans to buy

Availability of cheap credit

Decade of SPEND, SPEND, SPEND!!!

INSTALLMENT BUYING

HENRY FORD’S AFFORDABLE AUTOMOBILE

Automobiles transformed AmericaHenry Ford’s assembly line

made cars affordable; By 1929, 1 of 5 Americans owned a car

Car manufacturing became the biggest industry in America

Cars gave people freedom and became a symbol of status

THE 1920S LED TO AN ERA OF MASS ENTERTAINMENT IN MOVIES, MUSIC, AND SPORTS

1920S: HARLEM RENAISSANCE

The Harlem Renaissance was the flourishing of

black culture

Jazz blended African and European musical traditions into a distinctly “American”

style of music

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were

popular jazz musicians

The most popular author was Langston Hughes, who wrote poems and novels about black pride

WHAT DO THESE IMAGES REVEAL ABOUT AMERICA IN THE 1920S?

Women’s roles changed in the 1920sIn 1920, women gained

the right to vote (But, many women

did not vote)

New fashion trends, voting rights, and more leisure time led to an increased

sense of freedom

THE GREAT MIGRATION 1916-1930 African Americans Leave the South Move to North and Industrial centers

REASONS FOR MIGRATION

Employment Opportunities

Educational Opportunities

Escape Injustice Escape Lynching

Pull Factors Push Factors

1920S: SPORTS

1920S: MOVIES AND RADIO

“Talking” movies helped grow Hollywood and celebrity movie stars

By 1929, over 100 million people went

to movies each week

“The Jazz Singer” was the first “talking” picture

New roads, gas stations, and shopping

centers were built

Country Club Plaza, the First

Shopping Center

Airplanes captured the attention of

Americans in the 1920s

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first trans-Atlantic

solo flight, becoming the biggest celebrity of the 1920s