WARREN G. HARDING 29 th President, served with a focus on peace abroad and prosperity at home.
ASSEMBLY LINE Manufacturing using a conveyor belt to move materials to workers who stay in one place to work.
INSTALLMENT BUYING Paying for items in small monthly payments.
TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL Corruption by a Harding cabinet member, who took bribes to allow oil drilling on public lands.
CALVIN COOLIDGE 30 th president, served with a pro-business aim.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE ECONOMICS Theory that business, if free of government regulation, will act in ways that benefit the nation.
HARDING AND THE “RETURN TO NORMALCY” 1) Harding promised to make America normal again. This appealed to people after World War I 2) Harding’s cabinet was a mix batch. He had some really excellent people working for him, and he had some unqualified or corrupt buddies working with him. 3) Harding’s friends back in Ohio were known as the “Ohio Gang” and they used their government positions to make money illegally.
CONTINUED 4) The worst scandal was called the Teapot Dome Scandal. Albert Fall took bribes and made illegal deals with oil executives to drill on oil-rich government land in Teapot Dome, Wyoming. 5) There were other rumors of corruption and Harding was alarmed. He went on a speaking tour in 1923 and learned about even more scandals. 6) He died while on the speaking tour, Americans mourned his death, but were shocked when the scandals became public.
COOLIDGE TAKES OVER 1) Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president when Harding died. 2) Coolidge worked quickly to clean up the scandals. 3) Coolidge was elected president in 1924 after taking over for Harding. 4) He believed in laissez faire which meant that businesses, if left unregulated by the government, would act in a way that would benefit the nation.
CONTINUED 5) Coolidge also believed that it was not the government’s job to help people with social and economic problems. 6) Coolidge was an isolationist. He believed that the United States should stay out of other nations’ affairs except in self defense. 7) Coolidge’s major peace effort was the Kellogg-Briand Pact of ) This pact was signed by 15 nations who pledged not to make war against one another except in self-defense.
TECHNOLOGY CHANGES AMERICAN LIFE 1) The economy was booming in the 1920s 2) Part of the “roar” in the Roaring Twenties was the growth in the nation’s wealth. 3) The average annual income per person rose more than 35 percent during the period- from $522 to $716.
CONTINUED 4) Automobiles had the greatest impact on life during the 1920s 5) In 1920, Ford produced more than a million automobiles, one per minute. Each car cost $335. 6) Ford used an assembly line to speed up production and lower costs and prices.
CONTINUED 7) Other advances in technology improved life. New machines turned out products faster and cheaper. 8) Some consumers used credit and paid for purchases through installment buying. 9) Fuel became cheap too. Petroleum and electricity became widely available which made life easier and led to new inventions like the vacuum cleaner, washers, sewing machines, toasters, and fans.
THE AIR AGE BEGINS 1) the 1920s also marked the beginning of the air age. 2) Former military pilots from WWI worked as stunt fliers and flight instructors. 3) The Post Office began air mail service. 4) Transatlantic flights by Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart helped promote commercial air transportation. 5) Pan American Airways became the nation’s first passenger airline.
QUESTIONS 1) How did corruption affect the Harding administration? 2) How do you think new technology helped businesses grow during the 1920’s?
1) COOLIDGE BELIEVED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD A) leave business alone B) engage in war C) help farmers D) raise taxes
2) WHAT DID CONSUMERS RELY ON TO PAY FOR SUCH PRODUCTS AS AUTOMOBILES IN THE 1920S? A) savings B) investments C) weekly wages D) credit
3) WARREN G. HARDING'S PRESIDENCY WAS LARGELY RUINED BY A) World War I B) high tariffs C) corruption in his cabinet D) the return of business monopolies
4) THE GREATEST IMPACT ON LIFE DURING THE 1920S WAS.. A) World War I B) The Great Depression C) Air Travel D) The automobile
5) HARDING WON THE ELECTION IN 1920 BY A LANDSLIDE BECAUSE… A) He promised to return America to normalcy B) Calvin Coolidge was his running mate C) Wilson hand picked Harding D) The media loved Harding and talked about him constantly
FLAPPER A young woman eager to try the latest fashion, dance, or fad.
POPULAR CULTURE Movies, fashions, songs, slang, and other expressions of culture that appeal to many people.
PROHIBITION Legal ban on alcohol imposed by the Eighteenth Amendment.
AL CAPONE The most ruthless crime boss of the era. He lived in Chicago.
SPEAKEASIES Nightclubs that illegally served alcohol.
YOUTH IN THE ROARING TWENTIES 1) Young people as a group rebelled against the values of the past and the authority of their elders. 2) The under-25 generation wanted fun and freedom, they also wanted to experiment with new fashions, attitudes, and ways of behavior. 3) Young people stayed in school longer, college, wore daring new clothes, silly fads, and participated in new songs and dances.
CONTINUED 4) Men wore extra wide floppy pants and slicked their hair down close to the head. 5) Women wore a shorter hairstyle called a bob to match a shorter dress that they wore. 6) The Charleston was a favorite dance, dance marathons became the rage. 7) Other fads included crossword puzzles, mah- jongg, and flagpole sitting.
NEW ROLES FOR WOMEN 1) The symbol of the 1920s American Woman was the flapper. 2) Flappers often wore bobbed hair, makeup, and dresses that fell to just below the knee. 3) Women had more personal freedom, they drove cars, played sports, went to college, and took jobs. 4) Women could now vote and many even ran for political office.
PROHIBITION AND LAWLESSNESS 1) The 18 th amendment went into effect in 1920 (prohibition). 2) Saloons were forced to close their doors, but some Americans did not consider drinking harmful or sinful. 3) People that wanted to drink found a way. Illegal nightclubs called speakeasies sold liquor. 4) People called bootleggers made a living transporting and selling alcohol.
CONTINUED 5) Organized crime grew in nearly every major city. The most ruthless crime boss was Al Capone in Chicago. 6) Al Capone had a private army of 700 criminals and took control of over 10,000 speakeasies. 7) People saw prohibition as a failure and it was repealed in 1933 by the 21 st Amendment.
1) WOMEN IN THE 1920S HAD A ) less personal freedom B) new job opportunities C) widespread political power D) no educational choices
2) HOW DID THE 19TH AMENDMENT CHANGE WOMEN'S LIVES IN THE 1920S? A) Women were able to vote for the first time. B) Women were able to enroll in colleges for the first time. C) Women were able to become doctors for the first time. D) Women were able to join the military for the first time.
3) WHAT WAS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FORM OF MASS MEDIA IN THE 1920S? A) the movies B) television C) radio D) vaudeville
4) PROHIBITION ENDED WHEN A) Congress passed an anti-prohibition law B) bootleggers opened speakeasies C) it was repealed by the 21st Amendment D) the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional
5) THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE WAS UNIQUE BECAUSE IT A) took place in New York B) gave hope to the Lost Generation C) satisfied a yearning for heroes D) gave expression to African-American culture
JAZZ AGE Name for the 1920s, because of the popularity of jazz—a new type of American music that combined African rhythms, blues, and ragtime.
MASS MEDIA Communications that reach a large audience.
HARLEM RENAISSANCE A burst of African-American culture in the 1920s and 1930s.
LANGSTON HUGHES Harlem Renaissance poet
MORE LEISURE TIME FOR AMERICANS 1) Appliances and shorter working hours gave Americans more leisure time. 2) Higher wages also gave them money to spend on leisure activities. 3) People went to movies, museums, and public libraries. 4) Americans spent about $4 billion on entertainment– a 100 percent jump in a decade.
MASS MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE 1) New types of mass media, radio and movies. 2) The first commercial radio broadcast took place in 1920 and soon others began to emerge. 3) Americans were better informed than before and listening to the same radio programs united the nation. 4) Movies gave people an escape into worlds of glamour and excitement.
CONTINUED 5) Movies also spread American popular culture to Europe. 6) Most films were silent (think Charlie Chaplin), but The Jazz Singer introduced sound in ) Walt Disney’s cartoon Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse was introduced in 1928 with sound and within a few years all movies had sound and talking.
A SEARCH FOR HEROES 1) Another leisure activity was watching sports and listening to them on the radio. 2) baseball, football, hockey, golf, tennis, and boxing saw a rise in attendance. The biggest one was boxing. 3) People went to these sporting events after being able to hear about them on the radio. 4) Sports figures became heroes because they captured the rag to riches story.
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE 1) Military service and work in war industries gave African Americans a new sense of freedom. 2) New York became the unofficial capital of black America. Harlem became the world’s largest black urban community. 3) The migrants from the South brought new ideas and new music. Jazz! 4) Harlem produced a burst of African-American cultural activity, Harlem Renaissance. 5) It was called a renaissance because it symbolized a rebirth of hope for African Americans.