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