TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA Chapter 25

Patterns of Economic Growth Second Industrial Revolution – Electricity replaced steam – Modern assembly introduced New technologies meant new industries and business – Examples: automobiles, radio, motion pictures, marketing, advertising, etc… – Big business weakened regionalism, brought uniformity to America U.S. developed the highest standard of living in the world

Economic Weaknesses Railroads poorly managed Coal displaced by petroleum Farmers faced decline in exports, prices Growing disparity between income of laborers, middle-class managers Middle class speculating with money (stock market)

Change in Cultural Life City Life in the Jazz Age – Harlem Renaissance-African Americans prominent in music, poetry Rapid increase in urban population – Skyscrapers symbolized the new mass culture – Communities of home, church, and school were absent in the cities Decade was notable for obsessive interest in celebrities and sports – Celebrities -Charles Lindbergh, Gertrude Ederle – Sports-Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, etc… Women starting to challenge conformity (equal rights) – Flapper Girls (minority) – Sexual revolution 1925: Scopes Trial discredited fundamentalism among intellectuals – Fundamentalists vs. Modernists "Exiled" American writers put U.S. in forefront of world literature – Alienation from 20’s mass culture – T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc…

The Rural Counterattack Rural Americans identified urban culture with Communism, crime, immorality Progressives attempted to force reform on the American people – Upsurge of bigotry – An era of repression

Red Scare 1919: “Red Scare” – Illegal roundups of innocent people – Forcible deportation of aliens – Terrorism against “radicals,” immigrants – Sacco and Vanzetti executed 1925: Klan membership hit 5 million – Violence, internal corruption resulted in Klan’s virtual disappearance by : National Origins Act – Quotas favored northern Europeans – Mexican immigrants exempted from quota

Prohibition 18th Amendment gave federal government power to pass Volstead Act of 1920 that prohibits production, sale, or transport of alcoholic beverages Consumption of alcohol reduced Prohibition resented in urban areas Bootlegging became big business (crime increases)

Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover Return to "normalcy" – Tariffs raised – Corporate, income taxes cut – Spending cut – Government-business cooperation Republican presidents appealed to traditional American values Coolidge represented America in his austerity and rectitude Hoover represented the self-made man Urban wing of the Democratic party emerged as the most powerful force – Still divided between rural and urban democrats

The Old and the New Old historical view: The Depression ended the spirit of the twenties New historical view: The twenties laid the foundations of modern America