1920s america

improvements for women

-got the vote in 1920

-25% increase in women in the work force by 1929, gave them a new found sense of independence and less reliance on their husbands

-greater freedom of movement

-time saving products, eased burden of housework

-challengd conservative norms, in regards to dress and everyday life, as in greater liberation. created divisions in society

-1900, 80% didn’t have sex before marriage

-1920, only 31%

-flappers in northern states as middle class women

things which stayed the same for women

-although they got the vote, they were rarely elected. politicians wanted their votes rather than being candidates

-men got jobs back after ww1, less skilled jobs and earned less than men

-equal rights amendment failed, proposed full equality for women

-flappers mainly middle and upper class women from northern states. working class women too busy working or too poor

-traditional beliefs remained in rural areas, church ran the area

-groups made to protest the flappers behaviour

sex and the cinema

-The hays code intduced after states threatened to ban many movies

-onscreen kiss could only last 3 seconds

-hollywood started to boom with companies like WB

-first talkie in 1927- the jazz singer

-star system- media has full access to the star through magazines and that. realised the star was more important than the movie

-1929, 500 films made a year

-weekly audience of 35 mil in 1919 to 100 mil in 1930

went to cinema multiple times a week, copied their favs

divide between generations, mainly about scenes showing sex before marriage, contraception. older wanted these things banned, younger wanted more

music, radio and dancing

-more access to radios and music

-opportunities for black musicians

-older thought it was corrupting because music like jazz had african american origins

-60 million heard fight between two boxers in 1927

-dances like tango and charlseton

big culturual divide between older and younger particularly about dancing and music

the car

-freedom particularly to young people

-teenagers could get away from their parents to go to the cinema or club

young got more rebellious, some thought it was leading to moral decline of young people, said it would make crime more comomon

people could live in suburbs and drive to work in the city, suburbs introduced when the car was invented basically

when was prohibition made

1920-33, volstead act

why prohibition passed?

-many brewies run by germans, believed to be the enemies, drinkers accused of being unpatriotic

-in rural areas, people agreed to stop drinking because they were devout christians who believed alcohol destroyed family life

-after russian revolution, it was claimed boshevism survived on alcohol

-anti-saloon league, backed by churches, claimed it caused violence. poverty, addiction and debt

how was prohibition enforced

-gov created 1500 prohibition agents. increased to 3000 by 1930, had 18,600 miles of coastline each.

-isadore einstein and moe smith made 4392 arrests by walking into a speakeasy and sneaking alcohol into a flask.

-impossible to enforce in big cities

-poorly paid prohibiton agents

consequences of prohibition

-rise in organised crime, al capone made 10 million a year

-rise in alcohol related deaths, people were making alcohol in their bathtubs. moonshines had such strong alcohol they caused serious illness. went from 98 in 1920 to 800 in 1926

-levels of consumption fell by 30%

-divided the country between dries and wets

why did prohibition fail

-rise in organised crime, valentines day massacre 1929 said to have pushed gov to end it

-wall street crash left economic reasons to get rid of it, the government could tax alcohol and jobs could be made in breweries

-organisations like Against the Prohibition Amendment campaigned against it. Franklin d roosevelt elected and repeales volstead act.

who was al capone

-born 1899

-joined five points gang, moved to chicago where leader torrio retired and he took over

how did al capone get control of chicago

-bought up law enforcement

-for 250,000 he had his own govenor elected- big bill thompson

-popular among the locals, seen as a sort of robin hood. spent 30 000 on a soup kitchen for the unemplyed, bought wealth and excitement to chicago

how did the st valentines day massacre happen

-3 men dressed as policeman walk into garage where 7 north siders were waiting for a consignment of liqour

-disarmed them and shot them with two more men alongside

-walk back to car together

-capone becomes public enemy no1

late 1800s imiigrants came from

ireland, poland, russia, germany

-1850-1914, 10% of the population of europe migrated

open door policy

anyone can come freely, with no restrictions and they will be welcomes

reasons why immigrants weren’t welcomed

-believed they were out to steal jobs

-different culture and language

-couldn’t speak english

-threat of communism, suspicion about communism

actual experience for immigrants

poor working and living conditions, many poorly educated and couldn’t speak english sp they had to take low paying jobs

faced prejudice

immigration laws

1917 : literacy test, had to pass reading and writing tests. many poorer immigrants hadn’t recieved an education and therefore failed tests

1921: the emergency quota act, restricted immigrant per year to 357,000, only 3% of population of any ethnic group already in usa in 1910 could come to america. favoured britain and western european

1924: national origins act, reduced prior number to 150,000 and cut quota to 2%, base on population in 1890. also restricted southern and eastern europeans, prohibited immigration from asia. didnt apply to mexicans because they were and important source of labour for farmers

why did the red scare happen

-russia 1917, communists overthrew their leaders. they believed in better working conditions and that they had the right to protest working condition. very unamerican ideas, should work no matter what.

Mitchell Palmer, head of law and police faced a terrorist attack from what appeared to be a communist

Palmer raids

1919

-6000 potential communists sent to prison over 33 cities

-looking for evidence of a plan to overthrow the government, all they found was 3 pistols

main causes of the boom

state of mind

new ways to buy and sell

new industries

government (republican) policies

ww1

usa industrial strength

how did state of mind cause the boom

-believed they had a right to prosperity

-aim to have big house, lost of consumerism because the more you consumed the better your life was supposed to be

-during war time thrifting was good, now its bad

how did new ways to buy and sell cause the boom

-incentive increased by ads, like large colourful billboards and cinemas/ radios playing ads

-could get things delivered through catalogues

-buy now, pay later schemes, 6/10 cars and 8/10 radios bought this way

how did new industries cause the boom

-produced steel, glass, machinery

-boom in consumerism, telephones, radios, vacuums, washing machine. mass produced so cheaper

-companies like hoover became a household name

-marketing and sales techniques used during the war to get people involved in the effort

-skills from wartime used to set up companies for cars, cigs and clothing

-henry ford revolutionised cars. used up 75% of glass in 1920, 1929 4-8m cars made

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how did republican government policies cause the boom

-1920-1932 all presidents were republican

-Laissez-faire : gov shouldn’t interfere with people’s lives, should leave the businessman alone. believed it was how prosperity came about

-tariffs : made expensive to import foreign goods. 1922 harding introduced the Fordway-Mclumber tarrif which made imported food expensive. forced to buy only american made things.

-low tax : benefits for the wealthy. believed it would get reinvested

how did ww1 cause the boom

-lent money to allies, sold arms and ammunitions and food to uk and france. took over european trade- exports to areas controlled by eu colonies increased

-took over germany as the most successful chemical industries

-produce plastics and other materials

-second industrial revolution

how did usa industrial strength cause the boom

-rich in natural resources : oil, coal, iron, steel, coal, large textile industry

-growing population, large work force

-didn’t need to export or import, large home market

-leading industry by ww1

-first in developing new tech like cars and telephones

-most efficient agriculture in the world

who didn’t benefit from the boom

-people in traditional industries, less demand for natural fibres like cotton, shorter dresses required less material, price of natural fibres dropped, so did wages, oil instead of coal

-native americans, land siezed by mining companies, forced to live in reseravations (very bad soil) and lost their traditional way of life, extreme poverty, poorly educated

-farmers, exports less in demand after ww1, some countries introduced similar tarrifs, new tech meant they produced more food than they could sell. 600 000 farmers lost their farms in 1924

-african american workers, most worked as labourers on farms, knows as sharecroppers bc they give a share o crop to land lord. only found low paying jobs, many factories were white only

the model t ford

-slow, hard to drive, nicknames tin lizzie

-price never increased bc every car was the same- standardised

-by 1929, production more than one a minute bc of assembly lines. less skilled workers, allowed lower wages. mass production

-$300 in 1928

-freedom, work in city and living in suburbs

materials for car production

used up

-20% american steel

-80% rubber

-75% glass

by end of 1920s american cars used up 7b gallon of petrol a year. jobs in oil industry and made texans rich

influence ford had on american society

-union hater. violently anti-trade union. encouraged employees to resist them. had a network of spies to find union members, beat them up and sack them

-charity giver. built a hospital. maintained an orphanage. have millions to schools. build a museum that showed interesting history

-pacifism. opposed ww1. ship set sail to europe in 1915 to stop the sides from fighting, later made ornaments for american forces. made lots of money from the war

push factors for immigrants

-many european cities were overcrowded. not much land and expensive land

-little opportunity. between 1800-1900 much of europe divided by class where the rich owned the best land and businesses

pull factors for immigrants

-opportunites for new businesses. us beginning to lead in steal, coal, textiles, car, electricity. lots of jobs

-’the american dream’. right to achieve prosperity and success. in the declaration of independence,’all men are created equal’ 'with a right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.atractive to immigrants

-us gov nnounced american workers were getting paid 2x other workers. also said standard of living was the highest it had ever been

sacco and vanzetti, the crime

-both men were italian immigrants, poorly educated and spoke little english. both anarchists(skeptical of authority)

-april 1920, robbers stole $15000 from a shoe factory in massachusetts and shot 2 staff

-1 month later, sacco and vanzetti arrested and charged

sacco and vanzetti, prosecution

-no conclusive evidence

-arrested with guns that had the same bullets as those who were shot

-’acted guilty’ when arrested

-vanzetti had a previous conviction

-61 witnesses apparently

-judge used derogatory words to describe them

sacco and vanzetti, defense

-107 alibies

-nearly all witnesses disagreed about what they were wearing

-several other men confessed

-not a crime to carry a loaded gun

sacco and vanzetti, significance

-although they claimed to be the land of the free where anyone can prosper, still lacking in education and methods of democracy were cruel and inneffective

-long way to go towards immigrants and foreigners.

kkk origin

-formed in 1866 during civil war

-protect whites from black people freed from slavery.

-went into decline in 1877.

-remerged in 1915 with ‘birth of a nation’, portrayed klan in a heroic way

kk growth in 1920s

-author of birth of a nation met 2 publicists and signed a contract hat gave them 80% of the profits from dues of new members. clarke and tyler began selling membership, eg robes at $10.

-strongest in northern states.

-by 1924, membership increased to 4 million. mainly middle and upper working class

-enabled a way to become middle class by contact with businessmes and politicians

-broader agenda, few black ppl living in north and high levels of immigrations. began targeting jews, mexicans, catholics and nightclubs, bootleggers etc.

kkk impact in politics

-impact in politics. many politicians were klan members (16 senators, 75 congressmen etc)

-ppl couldnts speak out about it without being fired

-by 1924 limits in place favouring immigrants from NW. law enudred till 1965.

kkk intimidation and terror

-1922, new imperial wizard Evans made it more violent.

-violence escalated with multiple lynchings, shootings and whippings

-main targets were poc, but also targeted white people who were considered immoral or traitors to their race.

-opposed womens fight for freedom

kkk membership decline in 1925-29

-by 1929, fell to under 200,000

-counter attacks by the clergy, the press and politicians.

-newspapers carried stories reporting on the violence, hypocrisy and internal divisions, eg david stephenson grand dragon who was convicted of the rape and murder of a woman on a train

-others convicted of corruption and bribery

-caused damage bc klan regarded itself as upholding moral christian values

-its success also caused its downfall bc its immigration policies achieved their aims, only in florida was the klan still a factor in 1930s.

jim crow laws definition

collection of state and local statues that legalised racial segregation. existed for about 100 yrs until 1968. supposed to help southern stated return to a before war class structure by marginalising black americans

cycle of prosperity

-car industry- mass production and standardisation lead to increased car sales

1-more jobs in motels, diners

-more oil used and more roads build

-more ppl with jobs mean they can afford to buy a car, repeat

2-more standardised parts needs

-more jobs in other industries, like steel, class, rubber

-more ppl with jobs means they can afford a car, repeat