The Roaring 20s The Decade of Change

A Little Review…… What Have We Learned Thus Far? The 1920s cover the decade after WWI 1918: WWI ends – The period after war is known as demobilization Turbulent time in America after WWI – High unemployment: Soldiers returning home from war, want their jobs back Who does this displace? – Economy suffers America is in debt because of the war Money spent on the war Loss of war industries

How Does America Pull Itself Out of This Depression During Demobilization? Republican presidencies and administrations – Pro-business Cut taxes for the rich: Will allow them to spend more money in the market, thus putting money back into the economy Increase taxes on American exports – As little government in business as possible

So Now We’re In the 20s, First Things First: Racial Relations and Tensions in the 1920s Race: a social construction brought during slavery by whites initially for economic purposes, but was used to discriminate against all other ethnicities that were not “purely white” (Nordic); very racist ideology 1 Race (as it refers to people) = Human Race – Different ethnicities and cultures exist THIS IS WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT!!!

So How Did Race Play A Role in the 1920s Reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan – Large Influx of immigrants, African Americans in the North and propaganda, such as D.W. Griffith’s, Birth Of A Nation, allowed this violent group to recreate itself – KKK Targets: Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Immigrants, Homosexuals, other non-white minorities

Racial Events of the Early 20 th Century including the 1920s Rosewood Massacre Leo Frank and the murder of Mary Phagan Marcus Garvey: Pride in being black and the UNIA (Black nationalism) 1924 Immigration Act 1924 Citizenship Act The Sweet Trials Etc. Etc. (These were the presentations we covered)

So All Of This Gives A Background Of Some of the Changes During the 1920s……. But Coming Closer To Home Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company Who actually invented the car? So what was so important about Henry Ford if he didn’t invent the car?

Revolutions in The Auto Making Industry: The Assembly Line! The assembly line came out of scientific management practices Cut production of a car in half With mass production of cars, the price of a car was able to be lowered – Model T $850 (1909)  $290 (1924)

The Assembly Line Also Changed America and American Culture Ford Motor Company – Lowered the work day: 8 hours a day – Raised wages: $5.00 a day for male employees Tourism – Auto-touring – Growth in hotel and restaurant industries Family Life – Teenagers can be more mobile; are not restricted to hanging out with family only – Families are able to spend their time in other ways – Less time traveling to places Unforeseen Circumstances – Pollution – Traffic jams – Parking Issues – Rising Accident Rate

Other resources on Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company and the Model T How To Drive a Model T: Family Road Trip With The Model T: welcome.html welcome.html The Life Of Henry Ford: Virtual Tour of Fair Lane (no not the mall): Your next trip! :

The Automobile is Important Because….. It will forever change America By allowing people more freedom, through mobility, idea are going to be able to spread and ideas are going to change about being able to advance culture in a more self-pleasing and desirable way that will help to define the 1920s as the “Roaring 20s”