The United States of America The Roaring 20’s

The Roaring 20’s Isolationism Woodrow Wilson returns from Paris to “sell” the treaty and the LON. Americans are not interested. The US seeks to avoid foreign entanglements. The Republican controlled Congress doesn’t ratify the treaty, and doesn’t join the L.O.N. 1920- Harding elected President

The Roaring 20’s Republican Presidents Warren Harding (1920-1924) “laissez faire”. Rewarded friends with high office. (Warren Harding) Calvin Coolidge (1924-1928) “laissez faire”. Rode economic wave of “roaring twenties”. (Calvin Coolidge) Herbert Hoover (1928-1932) “laissez faire”. Did nothing to alleviate the Depression. (Herbert Hoover)

The Roaring 20’s Economic Isolation In an attempt to protect and encourage domestic markets and production, the US applied import duties on goods coming into the U.S Fordney-McCumber (1922) and Smoot-Hawley (1930) tariffs encouraged Americans to buy American goods rather than more expensive foreign goods. This is one example of U.S. interwar isolationism

The Roaring 20’s Economic Boom The gov’t cut taxes to increase disposable income laissez faire policies were embraced (minimal gov’t involvement and intervention in economic affairs) This allowed more money to be spent on consumer goods that were mass produced for the first time such as: radios washing machines vacuums, and Model T Fords. Between 1923 – 1929 wages rose by 8%.

The Roaring 20’s Economic Warning Signs (not recognized or heeded) Many bought goods on credit (another 1920’s invention) This initially helped stimulate the economy as goods continued to sell without money to back up the purchase. In the 1920’s farmers were overproducing food with new machinery But they couldn’t sell mass quantities to Europe and other export markets as they enforced retaliatory tariffs.

The Roaring 20’s Society After the war (suffering, death, destruction), people were ready to embrace and enjoy life. Mass production of consumer goods, electric appliances (radios, washing machines, refrigerators, even lights!), and cars created a perfect storm of mass society, mass culture and mass consumption. Jazz grew in popularity. It was fun, fast, and matched the carefree mood of the nation . Radio allowed it to be distributed across the nation and consumed by all of society

The Roaring 20’s Women Women enjoyed increased roles and influence; they campaigned for prohibition- and got it! The 18th Amendment forbade the manufacture or sale of alcohol, by 1918 2/3’s of the U.S. were already “dry”. Empowered, women sought and got the vote. Some others, mainly the younger generation, flouted convention and morals. The popular style followed by many young women was that of the “Flapper”. It grew out of the new Jazz age, and promoted a style of dress, dance, and leisure.

The Roaring 20’s The Rise of Gangsters Gangsters stepped in to supply illegal liquor. Bootlegging was the name of this illegal liquor trade, and “speakeasies” was where it was sold and consumed. By 1928 30,000 speakeasies were operating in New York, twice that which were operating legally pre – 1920! Al Capone controlled bootlegging in Chicago making $100 million + per year. Judges, politicians, police were bribed and/or turned a blind eye. Capone was arrested, not for bootlegging, but for tax evasion.

The Roaring 20’s Exclusion in the 20’s By 1925, the Ku Klux Klan had 5 million members, mostly in the southern states. Activities included lynching, burnings, beatings, not just blacks, but also Jews, Catholics, Communists. In 1921 & 1924, the U.S. Congress passed immigration acts that cut immigration from Southern & Eastern European countries, closing the “open door”. This feeds the notion of an “inferior race” and intolerance that the KKK fostered. Ku Klux Klan members parade in Washington, D.C., during the 1920s, a decade in which Klan membership grew into the millions and the group exerted significant political influence. -LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The Roaring 20’s Institutionalized Racism In Southern States (not at a federal level) the “Jim Crow” laws stopped blacks from using the same buses, hotels, and schools as whites. U.S. Congress did nothing to prevent this and it becomes a state versus a federal government issue in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as an issue of racial equality (Civil Rights Movement).