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Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA
America Past and Present
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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
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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
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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
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Glenwood Stove Ad p.721
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Glenwood Stove Ad The American economy of the 1920s saw explosive growth in the consumer-goods industries p.721
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Immigration Restriction
1924 ~ National Origins Act 150k person quota on immigration Quotas favored northern Europeans Mexican immigrants exempted from quota p
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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
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Politics of the 1920s Republican party apparently dominant
Urban wing of the Democratic party emerged as the most powerful force p
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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
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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
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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
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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
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p.741
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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
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Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA
End Chapter 25 TRANSITION TO MODERN AMERICA America Past and Present
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