HOTA- Chapter 34: American Life in the "Roaring Twenties"

Red Scare

The big "red scare" of 1919-1920 resulted in a nationwide crusade against left-wingers whose Americanism was suspect. It was a period of fear and persecution in the U.S. that was fueled by the fear of communism and radical leftist ideologies and resulted in widespread government repression and the persecution of individuals and groups believed to be associated with these ideologies. Hysterical fears of red Russia continued to color American thinking for several years after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids were a series of government actions conducted in 1919 and 1920 aimed at arresting and deporting radical leftists, especially anarchists and communists. These raids were spearheaded by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and were a response to the rising fear of communism and anarchist violence following WWI. The raids targeted labor leaders, immigrants, and anyone suspected of being a socialist or anarchist, heightening the era's xenophobia and anti-radical sentiment.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Antiredism and antiforeignism was reflected in a notorious case regarded by liberals as a "judiciary lynching" Niola Sacco and Bartalomeo Vanzetti were convicted in 1921 for the murder of a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard. This trial highlighted the intense anti-immigrant sentiment and political paranoia during the Red Scare. The case dragged on for 6 years until 1927, when the two men were condemned to electrocution. Communists and other radicals were thus presented with two martyrs in the "class struggle."

Emergency Quota Act of 1921

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was a U.S. federal law that established temporary limits on immigration by imposing quotas based on national origins. Newcomers from Europe were restricted in any given year to a definite quota, which was set at 3% of the people of their nationality who had been living in the U.S. in 1910. This legislation reflected the nativist sentiment and xenophobia prevalent in the post WWI era. This implementation of this act marked a significant shift in U.S. immigration policy, leading to a decline in immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Immigration Act of 1924

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924. Quotas for foreigners were cut from 3% to 2%. The national origins base was shifted from the census of 1910 to that of 1890 when comparatively few southern Europeans had arrived. The Act had long-lasting effects on U.S. immigration patterns, contributing to a dramatic decline in immigration numbers and shaping the ethnic makeup of the nation for decades.

Volstead Act

The Volstead Act was legislation enacted in 1919 to provide for the enforcement of the 18th amendment, which established prohibition. It detained intoxicating liquors and outlined the legal framework for the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. This act played a significant role in shaping the social and cultural landscape of the 1920s, while reflecting broader tensions in American society. The Volstead act faced widespread resistance and led to the rise of organized crime as illegal operations flourished.

Al Capone

Al Capone was a notorious gangster and crime boss during the Prohibition era, who rose to infamy in the 1920s due to his involvement in organized crime, bootlegging, and violent crime in Chicago. Capone's wealth was primarily derived from illegal alcohol sales during Prohibition, making him the richest criminals of all time. In 1931, Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, highlighting the government's struggle to combat organized crime effectively.

Scope's Monkey Trial

Scope's Monkey Trial was a landmark legal case in 1925 that debated the legality of teaching evolution in public schools. This trial highlighted the clash between modernists and traditionist values during the 1920s, reflecting broader societal tensions regarding science, religion, and of education in a rapidly changing America. This historic clash between theology and biology proved inconclusive.

Andrew Mellon

The recent war and Treasury Secretaery Andrew Mellon's tax policies favored the rapid expansion of capital investment. As the nation embarked on the most materialistic period in its history, Mellon's philosophy was one of debt reduction, tax reduction, and a balanced budget. His tax reform scheme, known as the Mellon Plan, reduced taxes for business. During much of his tenure, general prosperity and times in peace enabled Mellon to implement his measures.

Bruce Barton

A founder of this "new profession" of advertisingCh was Bruce Barton, prominent New York partner in a Madison Avenue firm. In 1925, Barton published a bestseller, The Man Nobody Knows, setting forth the provocative thesis that Jesus Christ was the greatest adman of all time. "Every advertising man ought to study the parables of Jesus," Barton preached. His work in advertising helped to shape the consumer culture of the end, influencing how people perceived and interacted with products and brands.

Henry Ford

In the 1920s, assembly-line production reach such production in Henry Ford's famed Rouge River plant near Detroit that a finished automobile emerged every ten seconds. Ford put America on rubber tires; his high and hideous model T ("Time Lizzie") was cheap, rugged, and reasonably reliable. Ford's assembly line model significantly lowered production costs, making automobiles affordable for the average American and expanding the consumer market.

Charles Lindbergh

In 1927 modest and skillful Charles A. Lindbergh, the so-called Flyin' Fool, electrified the world by the first sole west-to-east conquest of the Atlantic. Seeking the $25,000 prize, the lanky stunt flier courageously piloted his single-engined plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, from NY to Paris in a grueling 33 hours and 39 minutes. Lindbergh's exploit swept Americans off their feet. His achievement did much to dramatize and popularize flying, while giving a strong boost to the infant aviation industry.

D.W. Griffith

Spectacular among the first full-length classics was D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), which glorified the Ku Klux Klan of Reconstruction days and defamed both blacks and Northern carpetbaggers. White southerners would fire guns at the screen time during the attempted "rape." The film sparked significant controversy and debate about race relations in America, and led to protests from civil rights groups, including the NAACP, who condemned its racist themes and hisorical inaccuracies.

Sigmund Freud

Justification for this new sexual frankness could be found in the recently translated writings of Dr. Sigmund Freud. This Viennese physician appeared to argue that sexual repression was responsible for a variety of nervous and emotional ills. Thus not pleasure alone, but health, demanded sexual gratification and liberation.

H.L. Mencken

A patron saint of many young authors was H.L. Mencken, the "Bad Boy of Baltimore" who admired their critical attitude toward American society. In the pages of his green-covered monthly American Mercury he wielded a slashing rapier as much as a pen. He assailed marriage, patriotism, democracy, prohibition, Rotarians, and the middle-class American "booboisie." Mencken's writings reflected the disillusionment and skepticism that characterized the 1920s, a period of rapid social and cultural change.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The war had jolted many young writers out of their complacency about traditional values and literary standards. F. Scott Fitzgerald became an overnight celebrity when he published This Side of Paradise in 1920. He found "All gods deads, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." He followed this melancholy success with The Great Gatsby (1925), a brilliant evocation of the glamour and cruelty of an achievement-oriented society.

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, who had seen action on the Italian front in 1917, was among the writers most affected by the war. He responded to pernicious propaganda and the overblown appeal to patriotism by devising his own lean, word-sparing but word-perfect style. Hemingway spoke with a voice that was to have many imitators but no equals. In The Sun Also Rises (1926), he told disillusioned, spiritually numb American expatriates in Europe. In A Farewell to Arms (1929), he crafted one of the finest novoels in any languages about the war experience.

Sinclair Lewis

Chief chronicler of midwestern life was spendly, red-haired, heavy drinking Sinclair Lewis. A master of satire, he sprang into prominence in 1920 with Main Street, the story of one woman's unsuccessful war against provincialism. In Babbitt (1922) he affectionately pilloried George F. Babbitt, a prosperous, vulgar, middle-class real restate broker who slavishly conformed to the respectable materialism of his group. The word Babbitting was quickly coined to describe his all-too-familar lifestyle.

Eugene O'Neil

Eugene O'Neill, a New York dramatist, laid bare Freudian notions of sex in plays like Strange Interlude (1928). A prodigious playwright, he authored more than a dozen productions in the 1920s and won the Nobel Priaze in 1936. O'Neill experimented with new dramatic techniques and darmked tackle such controversial issues such as interracial marriage, the equality of the sexes, the power of the unconscious mind, and the hold of materialism on the America social.

Claude McKay

A Jamaican born poet, Claude McKay was a prominent figure in the artistic and literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance. His most famous work, "If We Must Die," was first published by the Communist magazine Liberator in 1919. It was written in response to the Red Scare. His work significantly impacted the Harlem Renaissance by using his writing to explore themes of racial pride, resistance to oppression, and the black experience. He would later influence a generation of writers such as Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was an influential African American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright, prominent during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. His works celebrated African American culture, life, and identity using jazz rhythms and vernacular speech to convey the experiences of black Americans. Hughes became a leading voice of his generation, reflecting the struggles and aspirations of the African American community during a time of racial discrimination and cultural flourishing.

Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston was a world-renowned writer and anthropologist, and her work often depicted African American life in the South. Her work in anthropology examined black folklore and would influence many writers. She was a prominent wirter in the Harlem Renaissance in which she left a legacy of broken literary norms by focusing on the experience of Black women. Her most prolific work Their Eyes were Watching God as being cited as one of 100 greatest literary works of all time

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was a groundbreaking American jazz musician known for his virtuosic trumpet playing and unique vocal style. He played a crucial role in popularizing jazz music during the 1920s, contributing to its evolution as a major cultural force in America. His popularity transcended racial barriers during a time of segregation in America, making him an important figure in breaking down racial divides in music.

Margin

Margin refers to the practice of buying stocks with borrowed money, putting down only a small percentage of the stock's price and borrowing the rest from brokers or banks. Since margin buying allowed investors to purchase stocks with borrowed money, which inflated stock prices beyond their actual worth. When stock prices began to decline, those who had bought on margin were forced to sell their shares to cover their debts. This panic selling intensified the downard spiral of stock prices, ultimately leading to the stock market crash.