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Happy Monday!!!. Take out your vocab so I can come around a check it Did you know: there are 216 noodles in a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Can you identify these 1920s slang word? 1. Applesauce 6. Flat tire 2. Big cheese 7. Lounge Lizard 3. Bee’s knees 8. Sheba
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Happy Monday!!! • Take out your vocab so I can come around a check it • Did you know: there are 216 noodles in a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Can you identify these 1920s slang word? 1. Applesauce 6. Flat tire 2. Big cheese 7. Lounge Lizard 3. Bee’s knees 8. Sheba 4. Giggle water 9. Shiek 5. Jalopy 10.The Real McCoy
Interwar Period the Roaring 20’s
Postwar Trends • League of Nations left much of America divided • Returning soldiers faced unemployment or took jobs away from women and African-Americans • Many responded by becoming fearful of outsiders • Nativism- prejudice against foreign-born people • Isolationism- policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs
Communism • People feared the spread of communism-economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship • In order to equalize wealth and power, communism would put an end to private property, substituting gov’t ownership of factories, RR, and other businesses • The panic in the US began in 1919 after revolutionaries in Russia (Bolsheviks) overthrew the czarist regime • A Communist party formed in the US and 70,000 joined • Called it the “Red Scare”
Limiting Immigration • “Keep America for Americans” became the attitude of most Americans • As a result of the Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings, the KKK rose again • Devoted to “100% Americanism” • Targeted African-Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews and other foreign-born people • Congress responded to the nativist pressure by limiting immigration from certain countries • The Emergency Quota Act 1921 set up a quota system that established a maximum number of people who could enter the US from each country • Law prohibited Japanese immigration
Harding struggles for peace • Problems surfaced regarding arms control, war debts and reconstruction of war-torn countries • 1921, President Warren G. Harding invited several nations to the Washington Naval Conference • Sec. of State urged no more warships be built for 10 years, suggested that the 5 major powers (US, GB, Japan, France and Italy) scrap many of their largest warships • Later in 1928, 15 countries signed the Kellog-Briand Pact which denounced war as a national policy (unfortunately there was not way to enforce)
High Tariffs and Reparations • New issues arose when it was time for GB and France to pay back the $10 million they borrowed from the US • They had 2 options:(1) selling goods to the US (2) collecting reparation from Germany • 1921, America adopted the Fordney-McCumber Tariff which raised taxes on US imports to 60% • Made it impossible for GB and France to sell enough goods to pay the debt • GB and France looked to Germany • When Germany failed to make the payments, France marched in • US Banker Charles G. Dawes steps in and came up with the Dawes Plan- US investors loaned Germ $2.5 billion to pay back GB and France who would then pay back the US
Scandal Hits Harding • Harding cabinet included the “Ohio gang”, some of Harding’s poker buddies who soon caused embarrassment • Used their offices to become wealthy through graft • EX: head of Vet. Bureau was caught illegally selling gov’t and hospital supplies to private companies • The worst example was the Teapot Dome Scandal • Gov’t had set aside oil-rich lands at Teapot Dome, WY and Elk Hills, CA for use by the US Navy • Sec. of Interior got the reserves transferred to the Interior Dept. and then leased the land to 2 private oil companies • Harding dies of a stroke in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge become president (and reelected the next year)
Industry flourishes • Calvin Coolidge (R ) was very pro-business • He and his successor (Herbert Hoover) favored gov’t policies that kept taxes down and business profits up • Goal was the keep gov’t interference minimal • High tariffs on imports, wages rose and so did productivity
Impact of Automobile • With the automobile came paved roads • Route 66- from Chicago to California with little towns on the way • New houses had garages or carports and a driveway • Gas stations, repair shops, motels, tourist camps and shopping centers, Traffic signals early 1920s, Holland Tunnel (1st underwater tunnel) in 1927 • Liberated rural families to travel into the city for shopping and entertainment • Urban sprawl -cities spreading in all directions • Became a status symbol
Airplane Industry • Began as a mail carrying service for the USPS • With the development of weather forecasting, planes began carrying radios and navigation instruments • 1927 Pan American Airways inaugurated the 1st transatlantic passenger flight
Electrical convenience • Gasoline powered much of the economic boom of the 20’s but electricity transformed the nation • Electricity was no longer restricted to central cities but spread to the suburbs • By the end of the 1920’s more and more homes had electric irons and wealthier homes had refrigerators, cooking ranges and toasters
Mass Advertising • Advertising agencies hired psychologists to study how to appeal to people’s desire for youthfulness, beauty, health and wealth • Brand names became familiar and luxury items soon became necessities • Mouthwash was a big example
Superficial Prosperity • During the 20’s most Americans believed prosperity would go on forever • Industries provided another solution to the problem of luring customers • Easy credit or “a dollar down and a dollar forever” • The “installment plan” enabled people to buy goods over an extended period of time without having to put down much money at the time of purchase
City Life • Between 1920-1929, nearly 2 million people left rural areas for cities every year • City dwellers read and argued about major issues • City dwellers tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating • Major battle between traditional and modern values
Prohibition • 18th amendment went into effect in January 1920 • Manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal • However, alcohol was allowed for medical and religious purposes • Reformers thought drinking led to crime, wife and child abuse, accidents on the job and other serious social problems • Support came from south and west and Protestants • Was very hard to fund and enforce!
Speakeasies and Bootleggers • To get liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons called speakeasies • Spoke quietly inside to avoid detection • Had to have a card or a secret password • People also learned to distill alcohol in secret • Bootleggers (smuggled in boot legs)
Organized Crime • Prohibition contributed to organized crime in every major city • Chicago was notorious because of Al Capone • Bootlegging empire netted over $60 million/year
Science v. Religion • Fundamentalists-skeptical of scientific knowledge • Literal interpretation of the Bible • Rejected to theory of evolution • Strong support in south and west
Scopes Trial • March 1925, Tennessee passed that nation’s first law that made it a crime to teach evolution • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised to defend any teacher who challenged the law • John T. Scopes, a young biology teacher, accepted the challenge • Was arrested and put in jail for reading an article in class about evolution
Scopes Trial cont. • The ACLU hired Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes • William Jennings Bryan served as special prosecutor • Trial was a fight over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools and American society • Bryan was questioned for his religious beliefs • Ended up admitting that the Bible might be interpreted in different ways • Scopes was found guilty and fined $100
Women of the 20s • In the rebellious, pleasure-loving atmosphere of the 20s, many women began asserting their independence and demanded the same freedom as men • Flapper-an emancipated young woman who embraced new fashions and urban attitudes • Close-fitting hats, waist less dresses an inch above the knee, skin toned stockings, boyish bob hairstyles • Began smoking cigarettes, drinking in public, talking openly about sex • Danced the foxtrot, tango, Charleston
Pop culture • More people went to high school- taxes to finance schools increased • Increased literacy • Radio became the most powerful communication medium • Heard news as it happened, sports, radio shows • Spent time working crossword puzzles, playing mahjong, dance marathons, sports • Negro National baseball league • Babe Ruth- Yankees
Entertainment and Art • Movies- first without sound then with sound called “talkies” • Jazz music • Literary boom- F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway
Harlem Renaissance • Literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American culture • Great Migration brought African Americans to the north • Many moved to Harlem, a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of NYC • Became the world’s largest black urban community • Suffered overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty
Authors • Harlem Renaissance encouraged a new pride in African-American experiences • Wrote about the trials of being black in a white world • Claude McKay-novelist, poet, urged African Americans to resist prejudice and discrimination. Wrote of the pain of life in the black ghettos • Langston Hughes-poet, described difficult lives of working-class African Americans • Zora Neale Hurston-portrayed the lives of poor Southern blacks
Jazz • Born in the early 20th century in New Orleans • Blended instrumental ragtime and vocal blues • Joe “King” Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band brought it north • Famous jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith
Happy Wednesday!! • Take out your 20s packet so I can come around and check it • Did you know: The “ZIP” in zip code stands for zone improvement plan
Interwar Period Causes of the Great Depression
The Good Times • The 1920’s were a time of superficial prosperity • Businesses were doing well • Wages were increasing • People bought all kinds of “luxury” items • Cars, toasters, washers, vacuums, sewing machines • People thought the good times would continue forever and bought fancy items on credit or with installment plans, assuming they would just pay it later
Trouble Ahead • As the 1920s advanced, economic prosperity slowed, but few noticed • Industries were in trouble • Railroads, lumbering and mining industries were no longer making profits • Companies had to start laying people off • People without jobs do not have money to spend, which hurts other businesses • People were also laid off b/c a lot of companies began using machines to do the work
Trouble Ahead 2. Farmers were in Debt • During WWI, farmers produced a lot of crops and sold a lot of crops • After WWI farmers should have slowed production, but they didn’t • They were unable to sell all their crops • Farmers needed money and took out loans • Many farmers never repaid their loans which caused rural banks to fail • Many farms were foreclosed on • Congress tried to help and passed price-supports (McNary- Haugen Bill) • Gov’t would buy excess for and sell it overseas • President Coolidge vetoed the bill
Trouble Ahead 3. Consumers had less money to spend • As businesses failed, wages were cut and people could not spend money on “extra” items • Since nobody was buying, more businesses failed, causing more unemployment, which caused even less money to be spent in stores
Trouble Ahead 4. Living on credit • People were living above their means • People could not afford to buy items out right so they paid for them on credit and assumed they would pay it back later • Credit Cards • Installment Plans -paying off the total cost in monthly payments • Buying Stocks on the Margin- many wanted to invest in the stock market, but could not afford to pay the full amount of the stock so they borrowed from a broker (took out a loan to pay for it) • Many couldn’t pay back the full amount of their loans or were so strapped for cash they couldn’t spend money on other items, which hurt other businesses, causing more people to become unemployed
Trouble Ahead 5. Uneven distribution of wealth • Rich got richer, poor got poorer • Most earned less than $2,500 a year • Had no savings • Relied on credit
Hoover takes over • 1928- Hoover wins the election • Little focus on the economy • People think the good times will continue • People believed investing in the stock market was the key to riches • Dow Jones Industrial Average was high (Bull Market) • People began engaging in Speculation • Buy low, sell high • Make quick money • Many didn’t realize the risk, thought the market would continue to increase • People began buying Stocks on the Margin • Many couldn’t afford to pay the full amount of the stock so they borrowed money from a broker • Makes the market appear stronger than it actually is • If Stock price declines, people have no way of paying off the loan • The government did little to discourage excessive borrowing
The Stock Market Crashes • By early September 1929 many began to question the strength of the market • People began selling their stocks • Black Tuesday- October 29, 1929 • Confidence in the market collapsed • People began selling their stocks for pennies • 16 million stocks sold • Could not pay back their loans • Caused banks to close, by November investors had lost 30 billion dollars