The Pendulum Swings: From World War I to the

1920sBy: Kara Karn

World War I

President Woodrow Wilson, America’s 28th president, (1913-1921) leads the United States into the Great War.

After the war, the U.S. suffered a recession; however, in the early and mid-part of the 1920s, the economy was prosperous.

The War Ends!

• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the world became quiet.

• Nine million men died.• It was not fought as soldier against

soldier.• It was fought with new weapons:

machine guns, tanks, grenades, and poison gas.

Another War?

• The pandemic (Greek pan “all” and demos “people”) of 1918 lasted nine months and killed 20 million people.

• This was more deaths than the total deaths of four years of war.

I had a little bird,And his name was Enza;I opened the window,And in flew Enza.

What Happened to the American Dream?

• After all they fought for, many soldiers returned to find themselves without job opportunities.

• This caused disillusionment. The youth that ushered in the 1920s questioned the society in which they lived.

• This was the first rebellion of youth.

A New President

• Warren Harding became the 29th president (1921-23).

• Two years and five months later he died of heart failure.

• His vice president, Calvin Coolidge, took office.

Silent Cal

• “Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.”

Life In America in the 1920s

• Alcohol– Prohibition –

18th Amendment (1920)

– Made it illegal to sell liquor anywhere in the U.S.

Organized Crime

• Since it was illegal, gangsters took over selling alcohol.

• People who sold liquor were called “bootleggers.”

• Since it was prohibited, drinking became “fashionable” with women and young people.

• Ships bringing alcohol from foreign ports were called “rumrunners.”

• Bars were called “speakeasies.”

“Yes, it’s a noble experiment.”

• Prohibition cartoon: Social Issuesc. 1917-18

Women’s Suffrage

• Women obtain the right to vote with the 19th Amendment.

• In 1920, women went to the polls.

Flappers• Clothing—women

were arrested for showing too much leg.

• Parents were appalled that their daughters “bobbed” their hair and wore lipstick and rouge.

• They drove cars, had jobs, went to the movies, and danced.

Advances

• Rockets in space idea began—Robert Goddard

• New breathing device—iron lung

• Birth control clinics—Margaret Sanger

• Discovery of Penicillin

More Advances• Talking movie pictures

(1927)—Al Jolson stars in The Jazz Singer

• First demonstration of television

• Mickey Mouse (1928)—Walt Disney produced the first animated sound film, Steamboat Willie

• First Miss America (1921)• Model A (1927)

Who’s Who

• Writers—Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Musicians—George Gershwin and Aaron Copeland

• Harlem Renaissance—Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Jean Toomer, Duke Ellington

• Sports players—Babe Ruth

A Materialistic Age

• During this time, there were more rich people than ever before in our history.

• The stock market went up and land values soared.

• By 1929, almost every family had a car and a radio.

Youth Rebellion

• Anti-anything!• Image was

everything• Sexual

revolution• Fad contests—

the fastest, the longest

A Spokesman for His Age

• Francis Scott Fitzgerald ( )

• He died at age 44.• He coined the

name the “jazz age.”

• He wrote five novels, 150 short stories, and numerous essays.

A Social Historian• His writing is truly

autobiographical.• He and Zelda lived

the fast and frantic lifestyle of the 1920s.

• He has a witty style and places importance on the unity of time and place.

• He revised and revised!

The Great Gatsby

East Meets West

• Class matters• West Egg—

home of Gatsby and Nick

• East Egg—home of Tom and Daisy

• Valley of Ashes—home of Myrtle

The Buchanan HomeColonial “Old” money in East Egg

Gatsby’s HomeContemporary “new” money in West Egg

Nick Carraway’s HomeBungalow “middle-class”

Themes

The American Dream

•Artificial world—money doesn’t buy happiness. But, it is the driving force.

•Capitalism—haves vs. have-nots. New vs. old money.

•Lack of humanitarian love—classes.

Repeating the Past

• Watch for ideas about time and regaining what’s lost.

Immorality

• Immorality seemed to control the 1920s. Organized crime ran rampant, people were partying all the time, and affairs were common play.

A Critical Eye

• The eyes of T. J. Eckleburg, a billboard, is compared to the eyes of God or society looking over the Valley of Ashes. The unmoving eyes on the billboard look down on the Valley of Ashes and see all the immorality and garbage of the times.