America in the “Roaring 1920s”: Economic Triumph and Cultural Tensions

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 The Klan in the 1920s

If We Must Die-Claude McKay If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursèd lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Response to Racism/Nativism Birth of a NationWithin our Gates

1919 Turning Point “Red Summer” 19 th Amendment Treaty of Versailles and 14 Points rejected. Prohibition begins Solders return looking for work. Labor strikes Race Riots – Tulsa – Chicago Palmer Raids Rescission (19210 Farmers lose Europe markets

The Red Scare 1917 Russian Revolution America fears – Communist – Anarchist – Immigrants Palmer Raids – Bomb outside US AG Mitchel Palmer + other attacks – 4,000 suspects rounded up – J. Edgar Hoover lead raids – 600 immigrants deported Sacco & Vanzetti – Convicted of murder during a robbery. – Thought the robbery was to gain funds for anarchist. – Executed in 1927, despite world-wide protest for their released – Conviction and execution were thought to be due to anti-immigrant bias

3 Republican Presidents Harding Coolidge Hoover Pro-Business Laissez-faire Limited Government Isolationism

Harding “Return to Normalcy” – High tariffs – Low income tax – Restrict Immigration Washington Naval Conference – Arms reduction Ohio Gang – Personal friends to cabinet who were dishonest Teapot Dome & other Scandals

Coolidge “Silent Cal” “The Business of America is Business”

Hoover “Rugged Individualism” – Individuals, given equal opportunities can succeed. Government interference in business would undermine prosperity

Rising Wages for American Workers

New Goods for the “Average” American Henry Ford’s Model T

Production Assembly line Skilled workers no longer needed

The Radio and Electrical Appliances

New Temptations to Buy 1. Easy Credit and Buying “on Margin”

The Birth of Modern Advertising

Speculation/Uneven Prosperity Speculation Purchase of an item not for personal use, but to sell it for a profit in the future. 1920s stock speculation & Real Estate Uneven Prosperity Wealth was concentrated at the top of the highest income levels. Many Americans in poverty – Farmers Overproduction – Railroads – Textile workers Foreign competition – Minority Groups

5 Cultural Tensions Alcohol: Prohibition v. Personal Choice

Women: Family Values v. Flappers & Female Independence

C. Explaining the World: Science v. Religion (The Scopes Trial)

The Scopes Trial

Eugenics & Social Darwinism Superiority of the “Anglo-Saxon Race” – Northern European Male – Anti-Immigrant Eastern and Southern Europe – Reduce inferior races by preventing mentally ill from having children Forced sterilizations Segregation Laws Marriage restrictions

New Restrictions on Immigration

The Immigration Act of 1924

Immigration Acts of & 1929 Keep out immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Quotas for each nation – Favored Great Britain Ireland Germany Nativist & Anti-Catholic feelings

Tin Pan Alley Music Publishing Song-writing Blues Jazz Ragtime Sheet music Vaudeville shows

Lost Generation WWI left brutal scars on young adults Writers protested the materialism of the 1920s Some moved to Paris F. Scot Fitzgerald Sinclair Lewis Ernest Hemingway

Opportunities and Oppression for African-Americans “New Negro”

Marcus Garvey Capitalism/Nationalism – African American soldiers in WWI witnessed a more tolerant Europe. – Spoke out against racism – Racial unity through self help – Disillusionment from the Great Migration – Advocated Back to Africa Movement (Liberia)

W.E.B. Du Bois Capitalism NAACP “The Crisis” Full Civil Rights and Political Representation. Elite of ‘Talented Tenth.’ The Soul of Black Folks

A. Phillip Randolph Socialist Head of Railroad Porter’s Union. The Messenger Opposed US involvement in WW1 March on Washington 1963

Harlem Renaissance Awakening of African American Culture. – Visual Arts – Poems – Music – Dance – Theater Optimistic Pride Celebration of being African American Langston Hughes Alain Locke Zora Neale Hurston Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Bessie Smith

POP Culture