A Clash of Values The Roaring 20s

Presidents Wilson suffered from a stroke in late 1919 He remained secluded from the public until the end of his presidency On the promise for a “return to normalcy”, Warren G. Harding won the election of 1921 Harding died of a sudden fatal heart attack in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge, his vice president, was sworn into office Coolidge was president until 1929 and had the nickname “Silent Cal”

Harding Coolidge

Teapot Dome Scandal Albert Bacon Fall Edward Doheny Harry Sinclair

Nativism and Immigration Policies Nativism -emphasis on traditional or local customs, in opposition to outside influences. Anti-immigration sentiment

National Origins Quota and Emergency Quota Act Emergency Quota Act signed by Harding in 1921 Restricted annual admission to 3% of the population of each ethnic group from the 1910 census National Origins Act passed in 1924 Set quotas at 2% of each national group represented in the U.S. census in 1890 Also included the entire population of a group, not just immigrants

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Italian immigrants Anarchists Found guilty of a crime they most likely did not commit Executed

Return of the Ku Klux Klan William J. Simmons Pledged to preserve America’s white, Protestant civilization Targeted Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and others 1924 membership was close to 4,000,000 (about 4% of the population) What is this poster trying to convey?

The Birth of a Nation First true blockbuster movie -1915 About the Civil War and Reconstruction Glorified the Ku Klux Klan Was very popular for many, very controversial for others Was screen in the White House under Wilson

Clash of Cultures Women gained the right to vote in 1920 Took jobs to gain fiscal independence New ideas of romance and marriage Fashion changed “New Morality”

Eugenics Buck v Bell –mother and daughter who were determined to be “feebleminded” An estimated 65,000 Americans were sterilized without their own consent or that of a family member. 

“Flappers”

Religious Fundamentalism Many Americans feared that the country was losing its traditional values Creationism vs. Evolution Scopes Monkey Trial John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, and Clarence Darrow

Prohibition The Eighteenth Amendment The Volstead Act U.S. Treasury Department had the power to enforce Prohibition 540,000 arrests made Americans still ignored the law

Speakeasies Secret Bars Bootlegging Smuggling liquor from Canada and the Caribbean Organized crime became huge Al Capone

Al Capone

Repeal of Prohibition The battle to repeal Prohibition began almost as soon as the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified Twenty-first Amendment 1933

Let’s Review -Choose one of the questions below Why did Nativism strengthen during the 1920s, and how did the government deal with the tensions? Nativism: emphasis on traditional or local customs, in opposition to outside influences. Why do you think some Americans feared the “new morality”? New Morality: The trend that glorified youth and personal freedom - particularly to the status of women.