Unit Overview This unit bundles student expectations that focus on the political, economic, social, and cultural changes taking place during the 1920s, sometimes referred to as the Roaring Twenties. This unit is primarily a study of contrasts in society. Following the end of the First World War, Americans weathered a temporary economic depression moving from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy from 1919-1921. The remainder of the decade was characterized by unprecedented economic prosperity, supported by the pro-business policies of three presidential administrations. This prosperity was coupled with isolationist foreign policies, and heightened fears of communists, immigrants, and anarchists that manifested in the rise of nativism. The time period was also characterized by changing social values which threatened traditional values, as evidence by prohibition and the Scopes Trial. During the 1920s African-Americans migrated in large numbers to northern cities as a flourishing of African-American culture reached a pinnacle with the Harlem Renaissance. The crash of the stock market in 1929 brought the economic prosperity of the decade to an end, but the legacy of culture change continued.
Unit Vocabulary
migration – movement from one place to another consumerism – increased buying of products tradition – relating to long established styles or ideas modernity – relating to recent or contemporary styles or ideas red – American slang referencing communism Related Vocabulary prosperity normalcy lynch nativism flapper jazz immigration racism
Monday October 26th and Tuesday October 27th
Major Eras in U.S. History from 1877 to Present
The 1920’s (often called The Roaring Twenties) was an era in U.S. history that was characterized by international isolationism in reaction to involvement in the First World War coupled with a fear of the spread of communism or a Red Scare and nativist sentiments; economically the nation prospered as mass production and mass consumerism fueled an economic boom that eventually ended with the crash of the stock market; socially the period was characterized by drastic social changes as women pressed for more rights, and African American culture experienced a renaissance with the Jazz Age; prohibition resulted in the time period being one of the most violent and crime ridden in U.S. history
clip from The Great Gatsby (2013)
1920 Presidential Electoral Map
1924 Presidential Electoral Map
clip from Metropolis (1927)
Impact of Progressive Era Reforms
Eighteenth Amendment – effectively made the manufacturing, sale and/or distribution of alcohol illegal; gave rise to the creation of a widespread black market for alcohol; resulted in the rise of organized crime groups established to illegally supply alcohol; clandestine taverns/bars known as speakeasies were established; federal agents worked extensively to fight against organized crime associated with the prohibited distribution of alcohol; crime rates rose; was eventually repealed with the Twenty-first Amendment Nineteenth Amendment– prohibited discrimination in voting on the basis of gender, thereby granting women the right to vote
18th Amendment (often called Prohibition) prohibited the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages
map showing the steady growth of the temperance movement
(2019) TED Ed video on the efforts to ratify the 19th Amendment
Causes and Effects of Significant Events and Social Issues in the 1920s
Immigration- during the 1920s immigrants came seeking a better life in the United States as large numbers of came from Eastern and Southern Europe; immigrants moved into cities creating over-crowded conditions; immigrants supplies labor for factories in the cities; Congress responded to growing concerns about immigration with passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, which instituted a quota system to regulate immigration; the act was primarily aimed at immigration from Eastern and Southern European nations, banned Arab and Asian immigration, and severely restricted immigration from Africa
Social Darwinism - belief that Darwin’s principles of natural selection could be applied to development of individuals and groups of people as a justification for why some had more power than others; the idea was rooted in a desire by some to maintain the economic and social divisions in society as well as to justify nativist and racist policies; provided a rationalization for the eugenics movement
Scopes Trial – sometimes referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial was conducted in 1925. Substitute teacher John Scopes was tried for violating a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in publicly funded schools. The trial featured Clarence Darrow as defense attorney and William Jennings Bryan as prosecuting attorney. Scopes was found guilty, yet the conviction was later overturned on a technicality. The debate surrounding the trial illustrated the growing cultural conflict in the United States during the early 20th century between those in support of more traditionalist values and those in support of more modernism.
Eugenics – study of human improvement by genetic means, which advocates for higher reproduction of those deemed to have strong genetic traits and reduction of reproduction of those deemed to have undesirable genetic traits; racialism veiled as an attempt to better society and the human race; resulted in discrimination and persecution towards target groups and individuals such as Hitler’s actions in the Holocaust
Race relations - from 1910-1920 many African Americans had migrated to industrial cities in the North filling jobs in a labor shortage that had occurred because of the First World War; African Americans in northern cities still faced discrimination and segregation, yet many African American men found fewer barriers to voting in the North and as the population of African Americans in the North increased they became influential in elections; the Harlem Renaissance coupled with the idea of the “New Negro” gave African Americans a sense of optimism that the American system would ultimately work for them; these social changes coupled with immigration resulted in a backlash from some Americans evidenced in the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, increasing nativist sentiments, the institution of Jim Crow laws, the creation of immigration quotas, and the rise in the number of lynching’s
Nativism – fearing that immigrants took jobs away from soldiers returning from the First World War coupled with the influx of immigrants prior to the First World War mainly from Eastern and Southern Europe and not from western Europe as had been in the past resulted in an anti-immigrant sentiment fostered in nativism, discrimination, heightened racial tensions, and the rejuvenation of the Ku Klux Klan
Red Scare - a reaction not only to the communist revolution in Russia, but also to the influx of immigrants to the United States prior to First World War and fears of labor agitation; after a plot to mail bombs to prominent political leaders and businessmen was uncovered, US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer order what would become known as “Palmer Raids”; the raids were intended to find leftist, anarchist agitators for deportation; the Red Scare culminated in the deportation of hundreds suspected of having communist, socialist sympathies
Prohibition – rooted in the belief that alcohol was leading to the decline of society, alcohol was blamed for many of society's ills, among them severe health problems, destitution, and crime; largely led by women, the temperance movement was finally successful in 1920 in getting the 18th Amendment ratified; the prohibition on the sale of alcohol resulted in the formation of a large organized crime network that met the demand for alcohol; crime rates in nation soared Changing role of women – during the 1920s some women began to exert a sense of independence after having worked outside their homes during the First World War and gaining the right to vote, yet the majority of women still held very traditional roles; working in the labor force and having political rights raised the expectation of some women resulting in a small increase in the number of women attending college; these social changes became embodied in the flappers of the 1920s who joined in the exuberant spirit of the times and challenging traditional ideas by cutting their hair short, wearing short skirts, and putting on make-up, along with drinking and smoking in public, much to the disapproval of many more conservative women; the changing fashion for women reflected a rejection of the constricted styles of the Victorian era
(2015) video on the Red Scare of the 1920s
During the 1920's the Immigration Acts decreased the number of immigrants settling in the US
(2017) video from the State Bar Association of Georgia on the impact of the Scopes Trial
Impact of Significant Individuals
Henry Ford – founder of Ford Motors, innovated the auto industry with the assembly line and invented the Model T and Model A cars, with an affordable price
Marcus Garvey – publisher, journalist, and Black Nationalist; founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
Charles Lindbergh – first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean
(2017) video on the innovations found on the Model T
(2020) video from NBC News on the life of Marcus Garvey
(2015) video on the restoration of Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis
Wednesday 28 October
Causes and Effects of Changing Demographic Patterns Resulting from Migration Within the United States
The Great Migration of African Americans to the North (roughly 1910-1930) Cause: escape racism; left sharecropping and tenant farming in the South for economic opportunities in industrial centers in the Northeast and Midwest Effect: large increase in the African American population of cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and New York City
map of the Great Migration routes
graph of African American Population Living in the American South
Immigration quotas – concerns over immigration rose in the 1880s and continued with the influx of immigrants from Europe during and after the First World War. Immigration restrictions started early in 1917 based on national security concerns. Congress implemented a literacy test to limit immigration in 1917. By 1920, many veterans were entering the civilian work force at the same time factories were retooling after ending war production. Unemployment along with a recession prompted further public concern about immigration. Further exacerbating the 1920 recession was the low prices on agricultural products in the United States as well as those imported from Europe. The recession ended in July 1921, yet the high unemployment generated support for limits on immigration. Congress passed the Emergency Quotas Act in 1921. This law set the quota of legal immigrants to 3% of their current ethnic makeup in the United States. This quota was changed three years later by the National Origins Act of 1924 that reduced the percentage to 2% as well as effectively barred immigration from Asian nations.
2nd November or 3rd November Causes of Economic Growth and Prosperity in the 1920s
Stock market investment especially done by buying on margin created quick wealth
Warren Harding’s “Return to Normalcy”, referring to life before the First World War became synonymous with a return to pro-business, laissez-faire economic policies, including raising protective tariffs and reducing taxes
Taxes were lowered for all Americans significantly reducing the taxes paid by wealthy Americans; taxes on luxury items were eliminated; taxes on many foodstuffs and consumer goods were lowered or eliminated; the elimination of taxes on freight and transportation added to the profits of businesses
Increased production efficiencies from assembly line production and standardization of product sizes, weights, and packaging units increased efficiency and thereby production of goods to meet rising consumer demand; eager consumers began using installment plans to purchase goods