Chapter 24 THE NEW ERA

The Conflicting Zeitgeist of the Twenties

Extreme, reactionary conservatism2. Unprecedented economic and social change

Causes of conservative reaction:*turmoil of Progressive Era*Disillusionment of Wilsonian idealism*Accelerated change in 20s

Black Sox Scandal

Say it aint so, Joe

Manifestation of Conservative Reaction:*Red Scare Palmer raids*Anti-unionism*Nativism, Racism, Klan*Partnership of Business & Gov

Change:Economic Change: 2nd Industrial revolutionSocial Change: New National Culture-Auto

Resulting Change in Social Values:*Consumption Ethic*Revolution of Manners & Morals

The New Era:

America becomes an urban, middle class, consumer-oriented society

The Economy

2nd Industrial Revolution

Production up 60%

Without increase in workforce

Economic boom result of:

Condition of European industry

Technology and industrial expansion

AutoSteelGlassRubberOil/GasToolsHousesRoadsStoresInsurance

Welfare Capitalism

Attempt to avoid labor problems

Shorter week

Higher wages

Paid vacation

Most bosses dont follow Fords lead

Some try Company Union

Unskilled worker wages up 2% from 1920-26

Ave. income: $1500

Min. for decent living: $1800

Women in Labor force

Pink Collar:

Low paying service jobs

African-Americans

Kept out of professions and skilled labor

Forced into menial jobs

Farmers

*1/4 income of nonfarmer*3 million leave agriculture*Some lose farm to banks

Farmers want

Parity-guaranteed fair price

Want gov. to buy surplus at parity & sell to Europe

Consumerism

By the 1920s there are many Americans that can afford more than subsistence items

Middle class buying new appliances, watches, fashion and especially. . .

Advertising

Ads no longer simply conveyed information, but identify the products with glamour and convince people the purchase of these products would be a fulfilling experiences

Advertising given a boost by the increase in national publications

The Lost Generation& American Literature

Gertrude Stein by Pablo Piccasso

One of the centers of an artistic colony

Stein wrote what is referred to as abstract literature

A rose is a rose is a rose

Ernest Hemingway

Sun Also RisesFarewell to ArmsOld Man and the SeaFor Whom the Bell Tolls

Writes clear, clean prose w/o excess

Iceberg Principle or Theory of Omission

Do not tell everything

Allow reader to determine for self

William Faulkner

Yoknapatawpha Cycle

Stories of the American South and human destiny

Sound & Fury-seen through eyes of a man with mental illness

Scott and Zelda

Great GatsbyThis Side of ParadiseTender is the Night

Names the Jazz Age

Sinclair Lewis

BabbitMain StreetElmer Gantry

All stories set in Midwest

Critique and satire of the Middleclass1st American Nobel for Lit.

H. L. Mencken

Eugene ONeill

Anna ChristieDesire Under the ElmsLong Days Journey into NightThe Iceman ComethEmperor JonesLong Voyage HomeMourning Becomes ElectraMoon for the Misbegotten

T. S. Eliot

Thomas Wolfe

Charles and Mary Beard

Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes

Prohibition

18th Amendment and Volstead Act go into effect January 1, 1920

Only 1500 Federal agents to enforce it

Purple Gang

Alphonse Capone

Arthur FlegenheimerDutch Schultz

Lucky Luciano

Louis Lepke Buchhalter

Albert AnastasiaLord High Executioner

Flaming Youth

Cotton Club

Mob run

White customers

Black entertainers

Satchmo

Louis Armstrong

AGE OF CELEBRITY

Charlie Chaplin

Mary PickfordAmericas Sweetheart

Douglas Fairbanks

Rudolph Valentino

Clara Bow

The It Girl

The first talkie1927

1928Steamboat Willie

Jack Dempsey

Bobby Jones

Red GrangeThe Galloping Ghost

George Herman RuthThe BabeThe Sultan of SwatThe Bambino

Lindbergh lands in Paris

Takes off from New York at 7:52 am on May 20, 1927

3,610 miles

33 / hours

12

1920 KDKA in Pittsburg is the first radio station

By 1923 there are over 500 stations

1927 the first national radio network

ational roadcast ompanyNBC

Rise of Nativism

1921 new law quota system

Immigration from a country not to exceed 3% of 1910

National Origins Act 1924

2% based on 1890 census

Banned all immigration from East Asia

Rise of the New Klan

Not just about hating African-Americans anymore

Also hate Catholics, Jews, Immigrants

See themselves as guardians of societys traditional values*racial purity*gender roles

Want compulsory school Bible reading and no divorce

Fundamentalism

American Protestants divided

Modernists: Middle class, urban-adapt religion to science & society

Fundamentalists: Mainly rural-traditional faith, literal interpretation of Bible

John Scopes

Warren G. Harding

Ohio Gang

Harry Daugherty & President

Harry Daugherty*Boss of Ohio*Attorney General*accused of fraudulent handling of German assets seized during war

The head of the Veterans Bureau was selling medical supplies intended to treat vets in VA hospitals

He escapes to Europe

His assistant takes one for the teamCharles Forbes

Albert Falls

Teapot DomeTeapot Dome

Harding goes to Alaska

Dies on the way home

Calvin Coolidge

Herbert Hoover

Al Smith

Andrew Mellon

Key Supreme Court Decisions

Lochner v. New York

Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co.

Adkins v. Childrens Hospital

U.S. v. U.S. Steel