The Jazz Age

1920’s America

The Jazz Age (TEKS)71. Analyze causes and effects of significant issues such as immigration (quotas), the

Red Scare (Sacco and Vanzetti), Prohibition (the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act), and the changing role of women (flappers). (TEKS US 5A) (TAKS 1)

72. Analyze the impact of significant individuals such as Clarence Darrow, William Jennings Bryan, Henry Ford, and Charles A. Lindbergh (John Scopes). (TEKS US 5B) (TAKS 1)

73. Analyze the effects of changing demographic patterns resulting from migration within the United States (the First Great Migration). (TEKS US 10A) (TAKS 2)

74. Identify and analyze methods of expanding the right to participate in the democratic process, including lobbying, protesting, court decisions, and amendments to the United States Constitution (Scottsboro case). (TEKS US 18A)

75. Evaluate various means of achieving equality of political rights, including the 19th Amendment (protest marches and rallies). (TEKS US 18B) (TAKS 4)

76. Evaluate the effects of political incidents such as the Teapot Dome on the views of U.S. citizens concerning the role of the federal government. (TEKS US 15C)

The Jazz Age (TEKS)

77. Describe qualities of effective leadership (Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover). (TEKS US 19A)

78. Analyze causes of economic growth and prosperity in the 1920s. (automobile industry, mass productionof consumer goods, advertising, and installment plans). (TEKS US 13A) (TAKS 3)

79. Describe how the characteristics and issues of various eras in U.S. history have been reflected in works of art, music, and literature such as the paintings of Georgia O'Keefe. (TEKS US 20A)

80. Describe the impact of significant examples of cultural movements in art, music, and literature on American society, including the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes, Jazz Age, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington). (TEKS US 20B)

81. Identify examples of American art, music, and literature that transcend American culture and convey universal themes (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner). (TEKS US 20C)

82. Analyze the relationship between culture and economy and identify examples such as the impact of the entertainment industry on the U.S. economy (talking movies, sports, and advertising). (TEKS US 20D)

Key Terms: The Roaring 20’s

• Anarchist: Person who oppose all forms of government—or believe there should be no government

• Eugenics: a pseudo-science (false science) that deals with improving hereditary traits; emphasized that human inequalities were inherited and warned against breeding the “unfit” or “inferior”; reinvigorated the nativist arguments for strict immigration control

• Ku Klux Klan: the new KKK targeted Catholics, Jews, immigrants and other groups believed to be “un-American”

• Emergency Quota Act: passed in 1921, established a temporary quota system limiting immigration; discriminated against people from southern and eastern Europe

• “Flapper”: a young, dramatic stylish and unconventional woman of the 1920s (she smoked cigarettes, drank prohibited liquor, and dressed in attire considered to be too revealing)

• Fundamentalism: a conservative religious movement that believed the US was losing its traditional values in the 1920s; the name was derived from pamphlets published by oil millionaire Lyman Steward; rejected evolution, believed in creationism

Key Terms: The Roaring 20’s• Evolution: the belief that human beings “evolved” from lower forms of life over

the course of millions of years• Creationism: the belief that God created the world as described in the Bible;

“literal” interpretation• Police powers: a government’s power to control people and property in the

interest of public safety, health, welfare and values• Speakeasy: secret, illegal bars; a place where alcoholic beverages are sold illegally• Red Scare: a nationwide panic that Communists or “reds” might seize power

occurring at the end of WWI through the 1920’s; Palmer Raids; fueled anti-immigrant legislation in the 1920s

The 1920’s• An era of rapid change, rising ethnic

tension and cultural conflict.

• Referred to by many terms. For example: – The “Roaring 20s”– The Jazz Age– The end of the 1920s marks the start of

the “Great Depression”

• The 1920s was a period when many Americans believed American society was losing its “traditional” values. Many Americans took actions to preserve these “traditional” values.

• Many Americans embraced new American values. They wanted a freer lifestyle and greater individualism.

Nativism in the 1920s

• In the 1920s, economic recession, increased immigration to the United States from Europe, and racial and cultural conflict created an atmosphere of fear and intolerance.

• These conditions led to a resurgence of “nativism.”– Nativism is a preference for

native-born people and a desire to limit immigration.

Nativism in the 1920s• Large numbers of immigrants

migrated to the United States in the 1920s following the end of WWI

• The majority came from southern and eastern Europe.– These immigrants were

considered to be racially inferior and a threat to political stability and order

– Many Americans feared losing their jobs to these newcomers.

Nativism in the 1920s• The experience of two Italian

immigrants reflected the fears and prejudices of 1920s society.– Nicola Sacco ( a shoemaker) – Bartolomeo Vanzetti (a fish

peddler), • Accused of robbing and killing two

employees of the Slater & Morril Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts.

• Sacco And Vanzetti did not get a fair trial because they were immigrants and anarchists

• Anarchist: people who opposed all forms of government

Sacco and Vanzetti: “Trial of the Century”

• Both men proclaimed their innocence

• Found guilty on July 14, 1921; later executed on August 23, 1927.

Woody Guthrie: Two Good Men(words and music by Woody Guthrie)

• Two good men a long time gone, Two good men a long time gone (Two good men a long time gone, oh, gone), Sacco, Vanzetti a long time gone, Left me here to sing this song.

• Say, there, did you hear the news? Sacco worked at trimming shoes; Vanzetti was a peddling man, Pushed his fish cart with his hands.

• Sacco was born across the sea Somewhere over in Italy; Vanzetti was born of parents fine, Drank the best Italian wine. Sacco sailed the sea one day, Landed up in Boston Bay;

• Vanzetti sailed the ocean blue, Landed up in Boston, too.

• Sacco's wife three children had, Sacco was a family man; Vanzetti was a dreaming man, His book was always in his hand.

• Sacco earned his bread and butter Being the factory's best shoe cutter; Vanzetti spoke both day and night, Told the workers how to fight.

• I'll tell you if you ask me 'Bout this payroll robbery; Two clerks was killed by the shoe factory On the street in South Braintree.

• Judge Thayer told his friends around He would cut the radicals down; Anarchist bastards was the name Judge Thayer called these two good men.

• I'll tell you the prosecutors' names, Katsman, Adams, Williams, Kane; The judge and lawyers strutted down, They done more tricks than circus clowns.

• Vanzetti docked here in 1908; He slept along the dirty streets, He told the workers “Organize”And on the electric chair he dies.

• All you people ought to be like me, And work like Sacco and Vanzetti; And every day find some ways to fight On the union side for workers' rights.

• I've got no time to tell this tale, The dicks and bulls are on my trail;But I'll remember these two good men That died to show me how to live.

• All you people in Suassos Lane Sing this song and sing it plain. All you folks that's coming along, Jump in with me, and sing this song.

“Scientific” Racism

• Racist ideas from the 1920s were reinforced by the beliefs put forth by the eugenics movement.

• Eugenics is a false science that deals with “improving” hereditary traits.– Viewed human inequality as

inherited– Warned against breeding

“unfit” or “inferior” peoples

Return of the Ku Klux Klan

• The “new” Ku Klux Klan flourished in the 1920s.– The old KKK arose in the

South after the Civil War to intimidate newly freed African Americans.

• In the 1920’s, the KKK targeted other “undesireables” including Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and other groups believed to be “un-American.”

Restricting Immigration

• Fear of immigrants led to the restrictive immigration policies in the 1920s.

• In 1921, President Harding signed the Emergency Quota Act, which established a temporary quota system, limiting immigration.– Discriminated against people

from southern and eastern Europe

Restricting ImmigrationThe National Origins Act of 1924

• This act made immigrant restriction a permanent policy.

• The law tightened the quota system, setting quotas at 2% of each national group residing in the country in 1890, favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe.

• Amended in 1929: • limit of 150,000 immigrants admitted

each year• resulting in 87% of the immigrants

admitted from northwestern Europe. • immigration from Italy fell more than

90%.

National Origins Act of 1924

• This act, passed in 1924, made immigrant restriction a permanent policy. The law tightened the quota system, setting quotas at 2% of each national group residing in the country in 1890, favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. – A second part of the act took effect in 1929. It replaced the

1924 quotas with a limit of 150,000 immigrants admitted each year; % allotted based on 1920 census, resulting in 87% of the immigrants admitted from northwestern Europe. The law's impact varied widely by country. Immigration from Great Britain and Ireland fell 19%, while immigration from Italy fell more than 90%.

Sponge/Quiz

1. Flapper_______

2. Ku Klux Klan_____

3. Fundamentalism_____

4. Eugenics_____

5. Anarchist_____

A. Opposed all forms of government

B. A pseudo-science that studies hereditary traits

C. Targeted “anti-American groups

D. A conservative religious movement

E. An unconventional women of the 1920’s

National Origins Act of 1924President Coolidge signs the immigration act on the White House South Lawn along with appropriation bills for the Veterans Bureau. John J. Pershing is on the President's right.

Immigration inspectors via 1924

Prohibition

• The movement to ban alcohol had been increasing over the 1800s.

• Supports believed Prohibition it would – Reduce unemployment– Reduce domestic

violence– Reduce poverty

18th Amendment

• Passed in 1920, the 18th Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol.

• To enforce the amendment, Congress passed the Volstead Act. – The act gave the U.S. Treasury

Department the responsibility of enforcing the 18th Amendment

– The act greatly expanded federal police powers.

Speakeasies

• Many Americans ignored the law.

• Flocked to secret bars called speakeasies to secretly purchase alcohol.– NY City had about

32,000 speakeasies.

• Led to the rise of organized crime.

Prohibition and organized Crime

• Led to the rise of organized crime.

• Organized crime became big business

• Al Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters of the era.– Ran bootlegging and

other criminal rackets

21ST Amendment

• The ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933 ended federal Probition.

Assignment

• Based on your knowledge of the three terms above, describe and explain the meaning of the cartoon shown above.

Flappers and the New Morality• In the 1920’s, a “new morality”

stressed and celebrated the loving family and marriage as an important to personal success.

• Women began to enter the workplace also influenced the culture and morality of the 1920s.

• Work gave women more:– Independence

• Cars and independence

– Wages to participate in an expanding consumer culture

– A way to escape parental authority

Flappers and the New Morality

• The flapper—a young, dramatic, stylish and unconventional women.– Smoked cigarettes– Drank prohibited alcohol– Dressed in “revealing”

attire or clothing• Stylish hats• Shorter hemline• Bold colors

Flappers and “The Charleston”

• Flappers danced the “dance craze” of the 1920s, called “the Charleston.”– A form of dance that

rebelled against older, more formal dancing styles.

Growth and Prosperity in the 1920’s

• Mass production: the production of large quantities of goods using machinery and often an assembly line process

• Assembly line: a production system with machines and workers arranged so that each person performs an assigned task again and again as the item passes before him or her

• Welfare capitalism: system in which companies enable employees to buy stock, participate in profit sharing, and receive benefits such as medical care

• Open shop: a workplace where workers are not required to join a union

Key Terms

• Stock Market: a system for buying and selling shares of companies

• Bull Market: a long period of rising stock prices• Margin: buyers of stocks make only a small cash down

payment, sometimes as low as 10 percent of the price• Margin Call: to protect a loan, a broker can issue a margin

call, a demand the investor repay the loan at once• Speculation: instead of investing in the future of

companies, investors buy stocks to make money quickly• Installment plan: buying an item on credit with a monthly

plan to pay of the value of the good

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity in the 1920’s

• Stock market (buying on margin) creates quick wealth • Boom in speculation • uneven prosperity • mass consumption - advertising, installment purchases • Warren Harding's "Return to Normalcy" - "America First" campaign

encouraged industrialization and a strong economy independent of foreign influence.

• reduced taxes - tax burden of middle Americans decrease while most lower income Americans were relieved of their tax burden altogether

• increased production efficiencies - such as assembly line production • new/improved industries - auto, aviation

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Stock market (buying on margin) creates quick wealth– The stock market was

established as a system for buying and selling shares of companies.

– Bull Market: A long period of rising stock prices

– A long “bull market” convinced many Americans to invest in stocks• By 1929, 10% of American

households owned stocks

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Boom in speculation– As the stock market continued

to rise, many investors began buying stocks on margin• They pained only a small cash

down payment• Margin call: when a broker

demanded the investor repay the loan at once

– Speculation: • Buyers seeking to make a quick

buck bought and sold shares of companies, betting shares of the company would continue to rise

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Uneven prosperity– Uneven distribution of

income• Overproduction• More efficient machinery• Most Americans did not

earn enough to purchase all of the goods produced– In 1929, top 5 percent of

all American households earned 30% of the nations income.

– 2/3rds earned less than $2,500 per year

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Mass consumption - advertising, installment purchases – Advertisers created

appealing, persuasive messages that linked their clients’ products with qualities associated with the modern era, such as progress, convenience, leisure, success, fashion, and style.

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Warren Harding's "Return to Normalcy" - "America First" campaign (1921-1923) – Encouraged

industrialization and a strong economy independent of foreign influence.

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• reduced taxes - tax burden of middle Americans decreased while most lower income Americans were relieved of their tax burden altogether

• Andew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• Increased production efficiencies - such as assembly line production – First adopted by Henry

Ford– The assembly line

divided operations into simple tasks that unskilled workers could do and cut unnecessary motion to a minimum.

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• New/improved industries, such as auto and aviation– Henry Ford’s assembly-line

product was the Model-T (also called “Tin Lizzie” or Flivver.”)

– Ford’s assembly line process made the automobile available to millions of American consumers.

– Auto industry spurred growth in other industries, such as rubber, plate glass, nickel and lead.

Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity

• New/improved industries, such as auto and aviation (cont’d)– Airline industry begins to take

off in the 1920s.– Post Office expanded air mail

service– Air Commerce Act: provided

federal aid for building airports– Charles Lindbergh (1927)– Amelia Earhart (1937)– By end of 1928, 48 airlines

were serving 355 American cities.