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1920’s. Society, Prosperity and Crash. 1920’s Society: Civil Rights. African Americans Nearly 800,000 moved North Large African American communities were started in Detroit, Chicago and New York City KKK Carried out kidnappings, beatings and lynchings to terrorize African Americans
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1920’s Society, Prosperity and Crash
1920’s Society: Civil Rights • African Americans • Nearly 800,000 moved North • Large African American communities were started in Detroit, Chicago and New York City • KKK • Carried out kidnappings, beatings and lynchings to terrorize African Americans • Targeted Catholics, immigrants, Jews and suspected radicals • Fighting for Rights • NAACP organized the antilynching committee to generate support for antilynching legislation • Immigration • Immigration Act of 1924-limited immigration to 2% for each nationality already in America • This law did not apply to Asians, who were barred • Mexican Americans • Restrictive legislation did not apply to Mexicans • Employers in the Southwest encouraged them to come because it was cheap labor • Some found their way into urban areas and worked in factories • Native Americans • In 1924 Native Americans were granted citizenship • Native Americans lived in poverty
1920’s Society: Prohibition and Organized Crime • 18th Amendment-Prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol • Volstead Act-Passed by Congress to enforce prohibition • In some areas prohibition was enforced strictly, in many areas it was unpopular and ignored • Speakeasies, underground night clubs where alcohol was sold illegally, were frequented by many • Bootlegging, smuggling alcohol, became a profitable business • Prohibition led to a widespread breakdown of law and order. • It led to the outbreak of Organized Crime • 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition
1920’s Society: Women and Religion • 19th Amendment-allowed women the right to vote • 1920’s gave rise to the “New Woman”, a woman that was stylish, adventurous, independent and career minded • Women who adopted this new style were called Flappers • Religious leaders preached sermons and wrote books denouncing the evils of popular entertainment and alcohol • Fundamentalists believed that every word in the bible should be regarded as literally true • Scopes Trial • Exposed a deep division in American society between traditional religious values and new values based on scientific ways of thought
1920’s Society: Entertainment • Sports, Radio, Movies, Books, Magazines and Music were all popular forms of entertainment • Jazz became very popular in New Orleans • Harlem Renaissance-African American artists expressed pride in their culture and heritage
Prosperity and Productivity • After recovering from the turbulent demobilization period the US economy boomed • Gross National Product(GNP-total value of all goods and services produced in a year) increased from $70 Billion in 1922 to $100 Billion by 1929 • The Economic Boom was caused by tax cuts, increase in the availability of electricity and an increase in the efficiency of factories • The average wage went up and purchasing power increased by 32% from 1922 to 1928 • With an increase in income people began to buy new electrical appliances like radio’s, phonographs, sewing machines, mixers, washing machines and food grinders • Henry Ford established an automobile company in 1903 and by 1908 had developed the Model T-a study low-cost automobile. It was an instant success and by 1914 250,000 were sold a year • Ford developed the assembly line-a technique where workers stood in one place as parts moved past them on a conveyor belt • Ford ‘s assembly line cut the assembly time for the Model T in half, allowing manufacturers to reduce the price of cars-In 1909 in cost $850 and in 1924 it was $290 • In the 1920’s the automobile industry was the nations biggest business. It consumed large quantities of glass, rubber, steel and other materials • By 1929 more than 1 million people worked in the automobile industry or related business
Impact of Prosperity and Productivity • The assembly limited worker’s to one or two specific tasks • Work was repetitive and dull • To avoid high turnover Ford increased wages and shortened the work day to 8 hours • New electrical devices made house work easier and caused unemployment to hit domestic servants, laundries and delivery services • “The extensive use of this new tool[the automobile] by the young has enormously extended their mobility and the range of alternatives before them; joining a crowd motoring over to a dance…twenty miles away may be a matter of a moment’s decision, with on one’s permission asked” • Marketing • To allow consumers to purchase more items installment plans were created • The installment plan allowed people to pay for items over time • By 1926 75% of car buyers used credit • Producers began to make goods more appealing to look at as well as functional • Producers began to release items that would eventually go out of style and then release newer models to boost sales • Advertising • Before WWI advertising totaled $500 million and by 1929 it was $3 billion • Commercial messages appeared in magazines, newspapers, billboards and over the radio • Most ads targeted women and played on a consumers fears and hopes • Companies used slogans, jingles and celebrity testimonials • Retail • Chain style stores spread across the US
Prosperity Shatters • The 1920’s was a time of economic prosperity, but some warned that trouble was on the horizon • Credit • Purchases by credit reached $7 billion by 1929 • Interest rates were low and many used credit • Economists warned that in a downturn debt could cripple consumers • Stock Market • Investors poured millions into the market throughout the 20’s • Bull Market-upward trend in prices • Bear Market-downward trend in prices • Buying on Margin-purchasing stocks with borrowed money, investor puts up 10% and then borrows the rest • Buying on Margin was dangerous because if prices fell the investors would be deep in debt • Black Thursday-October 24, 1929-Rising interest rates caused many to sell shares at a high rate which caused prices to plunge • Black Tuesday-October 29, 1929-Prices sank, investors panicked and dumped 16 million shares. • Brokers demanded cash to cover loans and by November people had lost nearly $30 billion
The Great Depression • Banking Crisis • Stock Market caused the banks to fail • Borrowers began to default on loans • Banks closed do to depreciating assets and little income • Customers lost their money when the banks closed • People panicked and tried to withdraw money, which also caused banks to close • Between 1930 and 1932 5,000 banks closed • In 1930 a failed New York bank wiped out 400,000 depositors • Business Failures • Debt, the Stock Market Crash and Consumers unable and unwilling to purchase goods caused businesses to fail and unemployment to rise • GNP fell from $103 billion in 1929 to $56 billion in 1933 • Nearly 60,000 businesses went bankrupt by 1932 • In 1932 unemployment was at 23.6% • Causes of the Great Depression • Income Gap and Consumer Debt • During the 1920’s the income of the wealthy increased by 63%, while the income for the poor decreased by 4% • People had purchasing power because of credit and when it went bad, debt was to high and the consumer did not have any power because they did not have any money • Business Cycle • Natural up and downs of the economy • Global Depression • WWI Debt caused many nations in the world to go into a depression • Many nations could not purchase American goods, which created a surplus in American warehouses • High Tariffs like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, made it difficult for other nations to purchase American goods. • High Tariffs are designed to protect American Industry, but in times of depression it can hurt your economy
Hard Times • Unemployment continued to rise and in some cities it was 80% • Wages fell dramatically sometimes as low as 10 cents an hour • City dwellers faced unemployment and poverty and had to wait in breadlines for small amounts of bread and soup. Homeless people built shantytowns or makeshift shelters made out of whatever was available • Farmers could not afford their mortgages and lost farms and equipment. They had to kill livestock and let crops rot. • Family Strains • Marriage Rate fell • Birthrates declined • Keeping families together and feeding children was difficult • Suicide rates went up • Popular culture was still a way to escape • Movies were cheap, Disney cartoons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck provided a way to escape your problems • Radio programs like the Lone Ranger, Little Orphan Annie and the Shadow allowed people to forget their problems when the hero triumphed over evil and they always provided a hopeful message
