1. Chapter 20 From Business Culture to Great Depression: The Twenties, 1920–1932

2. THE TWENTIES The Century: America’s Time-1920-1929: Boom to Bust (Peter Jennings, ABC NEWS, 46m)

3. The Presidents, 1913-1945 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EthSRi-VxaQ
(Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover)

4. The 1920s: “Boom Time to Bust” all in the space of a decade
The decade that followed World War I is known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties.
-Flappers--liberated young women; the “new woman”
-Speakeasies—nightclubs that sold liquor in violation of prohibition
-Soaring stock market-fueled by easy credit and a get-rich-quick outlook
-radio and movies spread mass culture from coast to coast; “cult of celebrity” develops
-decade of revolt against morality and mores of the nineteenth century especially with women: cut hair short, skirts much shorter, smoking, drinking, getting jobs
-cities, especially NYC, lead the way
Political Radicalism/Progressivism purged from political landscape; conservatism on the upsurge; make $$; take care of one’s self

5. 1920s was a decade of prosperity for many Americans
THE 1920S: The Business of America: A Decade of Prosperity “The Chief business of the American people, is business.” President Calvin Coolidge, c. 1923
1920s was a decade of prosperity for many Americans
*Automobile* was backbone of economic growth
Annual automobile production tripled during the 20s from 1.5 to 4.8 million
Emergence of General Motors (GM), which soon surpassed Ford production
Stimulated the expansion of steel, rubber, and oil production, also road construction, growth of suburbs and the tourism industry
U.S. companies produced 85% of the world’s cars and 40% of its manufactured goods
America, the land of commerce and industry. Still is to this day.

6. Focus on a “standard of living” becomes fixated in Americans’ minds
THE 1920s: The Business of America: “Birth of a ‘New Society’“ of Consumption and Entertainment
Focus on a “standard of living” becomes fixated in Americans’ minds
Proliferation of consumer goods; buying often done on credit or installment plans
Telephones, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators (reduced demand for domestic servants)
More $$ spent on leisure-vacations, movies (emergence of Hollywood), sporting events
Radios and phonographs (record players)
Creation of a new celebrity culture: opera tenor Enrique Caruso, Charlie Chaplin, Babe Ruth (baseball), Jack Dempsey (boxer), Charles Lindbergh (aviator)
CL 1927 first non-stop solo trans Atlantic flight. Super Hero of his day. Women wanted him; men wanted to be like him.
Purchase of goods through going into consumer debt had replaces 19th century values of THRIFT AND SELF DENIAL

7. The spread of the telephone network
Charlotte Perkins Gilman—womens’ independence lies in work
The spread of the telephone network
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8. Figure 20.1 Household Appliances, 1900–1930
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9. During the 1920s, radio penetrated virtually the entire country.
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10. Electric washing machines and Hoover vacuum cleaners
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11. 1920s America: The Limits of Prosperity
The fruits of increased production were very unequally distributed
By 1929, an estimated 40% of the population still lived in poverty

12. 1920s America: The Farmers’ Plight
Farmers did not share in the prosperity of the decade
California received many displaced farmers from other parts of the country

13. 1920s America: The Image of Business
Businessmen like Henry Ford and engineers like Herbert Hoover were cultural heroes.
Numerous firms established public relations departments

14. 1920s America: The Decline of Labor
Business appropriated the rhetoric of Americanism and industrial freedom as weapons against labor unions.
Propaganda campaigns linked unionism and socialism as examples of the sinister influence of foreigners on American life.
During the 1920s, labor lost over 2 million members

15. 1920s America: The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
The achievement of Women’s Suffrage in 1920 eliminated the bond of unity between various activists
Alice Paul’s National Woman’s party proposed the ERA
Tried to pass the ERA in the 1980s during the Reagan Era and failed

16. 1920s America: Women’s Freedom
Female liberation resurfaced as a lifestyle, i.e. the Flapper
New freedom for women lasted only while she was single

17. The Twenties: Business and Government: The Retreat from Progressivism
Progressivism disintegrated as a political movement
Leisure activities and consumption replacing politics as the focus of public concern
Voter participation fell drastically
Shift from public to private concerns; focus on self and immediate needs, not for the good of the nation
“The American citizen’s first [concern] is no longer that of a citizen but that of a consumer.”
Gimme, gimme, gimme. Self denial and thrift, respected in the 19th century, was over.

18. Pro-business era; Republicans and Big Business joined at the hip
The Twenties: Business and Government: The Republican “Pro-Business” Era
Pro-business era; Republicans and Big Business joined at the hip
1920s golden age for Republican business leaders (wanted lower taxes on business profits and personal incomes, higher tariffs (import taxes), continue to crush unions)-Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, both Republican presidents happy to oblige.
“Never before, here or anywhere else, has a government been so completely fused with business.”
Pres. Harding resumed practice of obtaining court injunctions to suppress strikes
WSJ
PROGRESSIVE IDEAL OF A SOCIALLY ACTIVE NATION STATE IS OVER/KAPUT/RESURGENCE OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISM SUPPORTED BY CONSERVATIVE SUPREME COURT UNDER CJ WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT
1894? Pullman Strike—Eugene Debs jailed for breaking injunction

19. The Twenties: Business and Government: Corruption in Government-The Harding Scandals
President Warren G. Harding ( ) “Return to Normalcy” after an entire era of Progressive Reform and World War I
Reflecting the “Get Rich Quick” ethos of the era, Harding’s administration became one of the most corrupt ever in American history
Harding surrounded himself with cronies who used public office for private gain
Most notorious scandal was the “Teapot Dome” scandal-Sec’y of the Interior Albert Fall received $500,000 from private businessmen to whom he leased gov’t oil reserves at Teapot Dome, WY.

20. A 1924 cartoon commenting on the scandals of the
Harding administration.
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21. The Twenties Business and Government: The Election of 1924
President Calvin Coolidge continued President Warren G. Harding’s economic and social policies
-elected in a landslide
-highly conservative decade
-pro-big business, anti-Progressive
-vetoed legislation to help farmers
-described Progressive ideas such as greater taxation of the wealthy, conservation of natural resources, public ownership of the railroads, farm relief, and the end of child labor as “communistic and socialistic.”
Anything that smacked of Progressivism was communistic/Progressive candidate Robert La Follette ran on a traditional Progressive platform and won 1/6 of the national vote, but carried only his home state of Wisconsin

22. The policies of President Calvin Coolidge
were music to the ears of big business
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23. The Twenties Business and Government: Economic Diplomacy
1920s reflected a retreat from Woodrow Wilson’s “Internationalism” toward “Isolationism”
U.S. remained outside the League of Nations
Tariffs (taxes on imported goods) raised to highest levels in history (cutting off American consumers from foreign goods)
U.S. marines dispatched to Nicaragua to suppress a nationalist revolt that threatened U.S. economic interests (did not leave until 1933)

24. 1920s America: The Birth of Civil Liberties—The Free Mob
Wartime repression continued into the 1920s
In 1922 the film industry adopted the Hays Code
Even as some Europeans turned in increasing numbers to American popular culture and consumer goods, some came to view the country as a repressive cultural wasteland

25. The new regard for free speech went beyond political expression
1920s America: The Birth of Civil Liberties-The Court and Civil Liberties
Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis began to speak up for freedom of speech
The new regard for free speech went beyond political expression
Anita Whitney was pardoned by the governor of California on the grounds that freedom of speech was the “indispensable birthright of every free American.”

26. 1920s America: The Birth of Civil Liberties—A Clear and Present Danger
The ACLU was established in 1920
In its initial decisions the Supreme Court gave the concept of Civil Liberties a series of devastating blows

27. 1920s America: The Culture Wars: The Fundamentalist Revolt
Many evangelical Protestants felt threatened by the decline of traditional values and the increased visibility of Catholicism and Judaism because of immigration
Convinced that the literal truth of the Bible formed the basis of Christian belief, fundamentalists launched a campaign to rid Protestant denominations of modernism
(Billy Sunday)
Much of the press portrayed fundamentalism as a movement of backwoods bigots
Fundamentalists supported Prohibition, while others viewed it as a violation of individual freedom

28. Federal agents pour confiscated liquor into a sewer in 1920
HOOCH down the drain
Federal agents pour confiscated liquor into
a sewer in 1920
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29. A 1923 lithograph by George Bellows
RAVING LUNATIC
A 1923 lithograph by George Bellows
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30. 1920s America: The Culture Wars: The Scopes “Monkey” Trial
Young teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in school in TN
Renowned labor lawyer Clarence Darrow defended Scopes
Darrow examined William J. Bryan as an expert on the Bible
Fundamentalists retreated for many years from battles over public education, preferring to build their own schools and colleges
Bryan stated that he did not believe the earth was created in 6 24hr days

31. Because of extreme heat, some sessions of
the Scopes trial were held outdoors
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32. The Anti-Evolution League selling its
publications outside the Tennessee
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33. 1920s America: The Culture Wars: The Second Klan
Few features of urban life seemed more alien to small-town, native-born Protestants than immigrant populations and cultures
Klan was reborn in Atlanta in 1915 after the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager accused of killing a teenage girl
By the mid-1920s the Klan had spread to the North and West

34. A Ku Klux Klan gathering in Jackson
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35. 1920s America: The Culture Wars: Closing the Golden Door
Efforts made to restrict immigration from Europe and most other parts of the world
In 1924, Congress permanently limited immigration for Europeans and banned it for Asians

36. The Only Way to Handle It, a cartoon endorsing
immigration restriction.
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37. 1920s America: The Culture Wars-The Illegal Alien
To satisfy the demands of large farmers in California who relied heavily on seasonal Mexican labor, the 1924 law established no limits on immigration from the Western Hemisphere
The law established a new category of “illegal alien” and a new mechanism for enforcement, the Border Patrol

38. Table 20.1 Selected Annual Immigration
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39. 1920s America: The Great Depression-The Election of 1928
Herbert Hoover seemed to exemplify what was widely called the new era of American capitalism
Hoover’s opponent in 1928 was Alfred E. Smith of New York
Smith’s Catholicism became the focus of the race

40. A 1928 campaign poster for the Republican ticket
Of Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis.
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41. Map 20.1 The Presidential Election of 1928
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42. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
**On October 29, 1929, soon known as **Black Tuesday**, the stock market crashed.
A panic ensured, and in *five hours* $10 billion in market value disappeared.
The United States quickly found itself in the *Great Depression, the greatest economic calamity in modern history.**

43. Oct. 29—Dies Irae, a 1929 lithograph by James N. Rosenberg
Day of Wrath
Oct. 29—Dies Irae, a 1929 lithograph
by James N. Rosenberg
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44. Three months before the stock market crash
Everyone was invested in the Stock Market, even working-class people. Life savings were invested—and lost.
Three months before the stock market crash
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45. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
Signals of impending disaster were visible before October 1929.
Southern California and Florida had experienced spectacular real-estate booms and busts which resulted in failed banks and foreclosed mortgages.
The highly unequal distribution of income and persistent depression in farming areas reduced Americans’ purchasing power.
Sales of new autos and household consumer goods stagnated after 1926, and European demand for American goods also declined.

46. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
A fall in the stock market bubble that had been created in the 1920s by speculators was inevitable, but when it happened, it was so severe that it destroyed many investment companies, wiping out thousands of investors and squelching consumer confidence.

47. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
Around 26,000 businesses failed in 1930, and those that survived cut back on employment and investment.
The gold standard-based financial system could not effectively meet the downturn; Germany defaulted on its reparations payments to France and Britain, which in turn stopped repaying debts to the U.S.
Banks failed throughout the world as depositors withdrew money, and millions of families lost their life savings.

48. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
Stocks momentarily rebounded but soon resumed their precipitous decline.
In 1932, the economy hit rock bottom, with GNP down by a third, prices down by 40 percent, and more than 11 million workers—25 percent of the labor force—unemployed. Those who had jobs faced reduced wages and hours.
Every industrial economy suffered, but the United States was hit hardest.

49. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
The Depression quickly transformed American’s lives, as hundreds of thousands took to the road to look for work, stood in bread lines, erected shack cities called “Hoovervilles,” and cities exhausted their poor relief.
The Depression actually reversed the long-standing migration of Americans from farms to cities, as people tried to find land to grow food for their families.

50. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—The Coming of the Depression
The suicide rate rose to its highest level in American history, and the birthrate dropped to its lowest. Also damaged was the public image of big business and Wall Street, which were shown to have thrived on the shady dealings, such as the sale of worthless bonds.

51. Unemployed men, lined up at the New York
Municipal Lodging House in 1930.
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52. A Hooverville—a shantytown created by
homeless squatters—outside Seattle
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53. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—Resignation and Protest
Many Americans responded to the Depression with resignation or blamed themselves for their economic woes.
Others responded with protests that were at first spontaneous and lacking in coordination, because the unions, socialist groups and others that might have led them had been devastated in the 1920s.
In early 1932, 20,000 unemployed World War I veterans who marched on Washington to demand early payment of a bonus due in 1945 were dispersed by federal troops.

54. Police battling “bonus marchers” in Washington, D.C., July 1932.
World War I vets. What a thanks from a grateful nation.
Police battling “bonus marchers” in Washington,
D.C., July 1932.
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55. America in the 1920s: The Great Depression—Resignation and Protest
Throughout America, demonstrations of the unemployed demanded work and relief. Farmers protested low prices by temporarily blocking roads to prevent goods from getting to market.
The small Communist Party was the only group that seemed able to channel and direct the discontent. Communists formed unemployed councils that organized marches, demonstrated for public assistance, and opposed evictions of unemployed families.
*The newspapers worried that America was close to revolution.*

56. Communist Party headquarters in New York City, 1932.
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57. The 1920s-America and the Great Depression—Hoover’s Response
To many Americans, President Hoover’s response to the Depression seemed inadequate and lacking in compassion. His advisors told him that depressions were a normal function of capitalism that removed uncompetitive firms and encouraged moral virtue among the unfortunate. Businessmen vehemently opposed federal assistance to the jobless and many suggested that individuals would survive the depression through thrift. Federal policymakers who had never faced an economic crisis of this magnitude did not realize how consumer spending supported much of the economy.

58. The 1920s-America and the Great Depression—Hoover’s Response
Most did not believe that federal assistance to the unemployed would spur economic recovery. Hoover maintained his commitment to “associational action,” strongly opposed direct federal economic intervention, and believed that private charity and voluntary action by business to keep up investment and employment would suffice. He called together business and labor leaders and established commissions to encourage firms to coordinate maintaining prices and wages without government regulation. Hoover’s public reassurances that the economy was recovering clashed with reality and made him seem ignorant of the problems facing many ordinary Americans.
Associational Action= voluntary action from business leaders and corporations

59. An unemployed man and woman selling apples on a city street
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60. The celebrated photographer Dorothea Lange took this
photograph of an unemployed man on a San Francisco
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61. The 1920s-America and the Great Depression—The Worsening Economic Condition
Some of Hoover’s actions, such as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, which raised already high taxes on imported goods, caused other nations to retaliate, and decreased international trade, exacerbated the crisis.
A tax increase Hoover won from Congress in order to balance the budget further reduced consumers’ purchasing power.
By 1932, even Hoover conceded that voluntary measures were insufficient.
He signed laws creating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which loaned money to failing banks, railroads, and other businesses, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which gave aid to homeowners threatened with foreclosure.

62. The 1920s-America and the Great Depression—The Worsening Economic Condition
Although he had vetoed bills to create employment with public-works projects like road and bridge construction, he now approved $2 billion for such projects and local relief.
But Hoover refused to do anything further, including direct aid to the unemployed which, he told Congress, would be a “disservice” to the jobless.

63. The 1920s-America and the Great Depression—The Worsening Economic Condition
In the mid-1920s, some intellectuals had worried that the prevailing notion of freedom in America celebrated unbound economic enterprise yet accepted limits on free speech and expression and other civil liberties.
Though the prosperity of the 1920s reinforced this laissez-faire conception of freedom, the Great Depression and Hoover’s failed response discredited it.

64. Figure 20.2 The Stock Market, 1919-1939
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65. Interesting websites The Scopes Trial:
(Part of the Famous Trials in American History series, this site covers every aspect of the Scopes trial debate.)
The Roaring Twenties:
(This site is an excellent resource for links to relevant information on 1920s America.)