Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA America Past and Present

The Second Industrial Revolution U.S. developed the highest standard of living in the world The 1920s and the second revolution Electricity replaced steam Modern assembly introduced p.720

The Automobile Industry Auto makers stimulated sales through model changes, and… …advertising/marketing crucial to growth Auto industry fostered other businesses Autos encouraged suburban sprawl p.720-721

Patterns of Economic Growth New technologies meant new industries: radio and motion pictures 1929 ~ Successful NBC Radio Network Structural change Professional managers replaced individual entrepreneurs Corporations became the dominant business form Marketing & national brands spread Big business weakened regionalism, brought uniformity to America p.721-722

Glenwood Stove Ad p.721

Glenwood Stove Ad The American economy of the 1920s saw explosive growth in the consumer-goods industries p.721

Economic Weaknesses Railroads poorly managed Coal displaced by petroleum Farmers faced decline in exports, prices Had expanded production to meet WWI needs Weakest part of the economy Growing disparity between income of laborers, middle-class managers Middle class began to speculate in the stock market ~ 1920s were prosperous p.722-723

City Life in the Jazz Age Rapid increase in urban population Skyscrapers symbolized the new mass culture & most visible symbol of the new cities Communities of home, church, & school were absent in the cities New ideas, new creativity, new perspectives Tribune Tower, in Chicago, won $50k prize for building design p.723-724

Women & the Family Ongoing crusade for equal rights 19th Amendment ~ 1920 Women’s Suffrage “Flappers” sought individual freedom Most women remained in domestic sphere Discovery of adolescence Teenaged children no longer needed to work Indulged their craving for excitement p.724-725

The Roaring Twenties Sports, like golf and baseball, became much more part of national popular culture Crime waves flourished as well Decade of celebrities Gertrude Ederle ~ Olympic Gold Medallist First woman to swim across the English Channel ~ 1926 Died 2003 at 98 Charles Lindbergh First to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean ~ 1927 Spirit of St. Louis p.726-727

The Flowering of the Arts Alienation from 20s’ mass culture "Exiled" American writers put US in forefront of world literature T.S. Eliot Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald Writers like Sinclair Lewis & H.L. Mencken criticized flaws and contradictions of 1920s Harlem Renaissance ~ African Americans prominent in music, poetry Langston Hughes p.727-732

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 p.732-733

The Fear of Radicalism 1919: “Red Scare” Illegal roundups of innocent people Forcible deportation of aliens 1927: Sacco & Vanzetti electrocuted (Italians) Accused of robbery & murder Shaky evidence & inappropriate trail proceedings p.733-734

Prohibition 18th Amendment gave fed govt 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/crime became big business Lucrative smuggling business p.734-735

The Ku Klux Klan 1925 ~ Klan membership hit 5M Attack on urban culture Defense of traditional rural values Targets: Catholics, Jews, African Americans, women Violence & internal corruption resulted in a large reduction in Klan activity by 1930 p.735-736

Immigration Restriction 1924 ~ National Origins Act 150k person quota on immigration Quotas favored northern Europeans Mexican immigrants exempted from quota p.736-737

The Fundamentalist Challenge Fundamentalism ~ Stress on traditional Protestant orthodoxy, biblical literalism 1925 ~ Scopes Trial discredited fundamentalism among intellectuals Re: Teaching evolution in school Dayton, Tennessee John Scopes ~ Bio Teacher Fundamentalists strengthened grassroots appeal in new churches p.737

Politics of the 1920s Republican party apparently dominant Urban wing of the Democratic party emerged as the most powerful force p.737-738

Harding, Coolidge, & Hoover Republican presidents appealed to traditional American values Harding died in office of heart attack Bribery scandals broke after his death Teapot Dome ~ Naval oil reserves Coolidge honesty & integrity reassured the nation following Harding death/scandal Hoover represented the self-made man p.738

Republican Policies Return to "normalcy" Tariffs raised Corporate, income taxes cut Spending cut Coolidge blocked Congressional aid to farmers as unwarranted interference Government-business cooperation p.738-739

The Election of 1924 Beginning in 1922, the Democrats made inroads into the GOP’s majority in Congress. Large cities were swinging toward the Democratic column, foreshadowing increases in strength in urban areas p.740

The Election of 1928 Democrat Al Smith carried urban vote Governor of New York Roman Catholic Republican Herbert Hoover won race Midwesterner Protestant Beneath the surface, there were striking similarities between the candidates Religion the campaign’s decisive issue p.740-741

p.741

The Old & the New Old historical view ~ The Depression ended the spirit of the twenties New historical view ~ The twenties laid the foundations of modern America p.741

Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA End Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA America Past and Present