Topic 9: The New Era 1920-29

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company who revolutionized manufacturing in the early 20th century. He perfected the assembly line method of production, making automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans. Ford's innovations transformed both the automobile industry and American society by making cars accessible to ordinary people rather than just the wealthy. His manufacturing methods became a model for mass production across many industries and helped fuel the consumer culture of the 1920s.

Assembly Line

The assembly line was a manufacturing method where workers remained stationary while products moved along a conveyor belt, with each worker performing one specific task. Perfected by Henry Ford in the 1910s and widely adopted in the 1920s, this system dramatically increased production efficiency and reduced costs. Ford's factories could produce a Model-T every ten seconds by 1925 using this method. The assembly line became fundamental to mass production and helped make consumer goods affordable for average Americans, fueling the economic prosperity of the 1920s.

Model T

The Model T was Ford's affordable automobile produced from 1908 to 1927 using assembly line methods. During the 1920s, it became the symbol of mass production and consumer accessibility, with millions of Americans owning cars for the first time. By the decade's end, nearly 27 million cars were registered in America, with the U.S. owning 80% of the world's automobiles. The Model T transformed American society by enabling greater mobility, changing courtship patterns, and spurring the growth of gas stations, motels, and suburban development.

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator who completed the first nonstop solo flight from New York to Paris on May 21, 1927. Armed with only basic supplies, he successfully navigated across the Atlantic Ocean in thirty-three hours, becoming an instant international hero. Lindbergh restored American faith in individual achievement and technological progress after the devastation of World War I. Some historians call him the "hero of the decade" because he demonstrated that technology could inspire rather than destroy, helping Americans look optimistically toward the future.

Radio

Radio was a new form of mass communication technology that became widespread in American homes during the 1920s. By 1930, around half of American homes contained a radio, bringing entertainment, news, and music directly into living rooms through advertisements and sponsorships. Radio helped create a national popular culture by broadcasting jazz music, soap operas, sports events, and other programming across the country. This technology broke down regional barriers and helped spread new cultural trends, making the 1920s truly a national cultural experience.

Nativism

Nativism was the political and social movement favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, which gained significant strength during the 1920s. Many middle-class white Americans, anxious about social changes, blamed Eastern European, Latin American, and other immigrants for various social problems. This sentiment led to discriminatory policies and contributed to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, which expanded its targets beyond African Americans to include immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. Nativism reflected broader cultural tensions between traditional American values and the changing demographics of the modern era.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two Italian anarchists executed in 1927 for robbery and murder in Massachusetts, despite questionable evidence against them. Their case became a symbol of 1920s nativism and fear of foreign radicals, with many believing they were convicted more for their political beliefs and Italian heritage than actual guilt. The trial attracted worldwide attention and protests, highlighting the tensions between immigrants and native-born Americans during this period. Their execution demonstrated how fear of radicalism and anti-immigrant sentiment could override justice in 1920s America.

Emergency Immigration Act

The Emergency Immigration Act was legislation passed by Congress in 1921 as a temporary measure to restrict immigration to the United States. This law established the first numerical limits on immigration and served as a precursor to more permanent restrictive legislation. The act reflected growing nativist sentiment and fears about foreign influence in American society following World War I and the Red Scare. It marked a significant shift from America's traditionally more open immigration policies and set the stage for even more restrictive measures that would follow.

National origins Act

The National Origins Act was permanent legislation passed in 1924 that established country-of-origin quotas, limiting annual immigration from each nation to 2% of that nationality's population living in the U.S. in 1890. By using 1890 as the baseline, the law effectively excluded most immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia while favoring Northern Europeans. The act explicitly banned all Asian immigration but temporarily exempted Mexican immigrants to satisfy agricultural interests in the South and West. This law institutionalized nativist preferences and remained the basis of American immigration policy for decades.

The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation was a groundbreaking 1915 film directed by D.W. Griffith that depicted the Reconstruction Era Ku Klux Klan as heroes protecting white racial purity and feminine virtue. Despite its technical innovations in filmmaking, the movie promoted racist stereotypes and glorified the original KKK's violence against African Americans. The film's popularity and cultural impact contributed to the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915, helping the organization expand nationwide during the 1920s. It demonstrated how new mass media could spread and legitimize racist ideologies, making it one of the most controversial films in American history.

Scopes Monkey Trial

The Scopes Monkey Trial was a famous 1925 court case in Dayton, Tennessee, where high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution in violation of state law. The trial pitted fundamentalist Christianity against modern science, featuring famous attorneys William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Though Scopes was convicted, the trial became a national spectacle broadcast on radio, highlighting the cultural divide between traditional religious beliefs and scientific modernism. The case symbolized the broader "culture war" of the 1920s between old and new values in American society.

Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual flowering of African American arts, literature, and music centered in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s. Writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, along with musicians like Duke Ellington, created works that challenged racial stereotypes and celebrated Black culture and heritage. This movement coincided with the concept of the "New Negro," representing African Americans who rejected subservience and demanded full citizenship rights. The Harlem Renaissance established a foundation for later civil rights movements and demonstrated the rich cultural contributions of African Americans to national culture.