1920s America

Palmer Raids

• 1921 government surprise raids where officials rounded up many immigrants to deport them because they feared communists

Red Scare

• Americans were terrified of communism and thought it would spread to the US so led to the Palmer Raids

• Lost of suspicion towards immigrants and labor unions

Harding’s return to normalcy policy

• Revenue Act: Tax cut for wealthy and investing into the market

• Harding Election: Campaigned on the “return to normalcy”

• McCumber Tariff: Tariff on imported goods to protect American businesses

Coolidge views on business and government 

• Favored low taxes, less regulation, and policies that help industries grow

• Thought government should balance the budget and spend carefully

Harding Scandals

• Teapot Dome Scandal: Gov. officials secretly leased federal oil reserves and took bribes

• “Ohio Gang”: Harding’s friends in his cabinet used their positions for personal gain 

• Charles Forbes and the Veterans Bureau: Charles was head of Veterans Bureau, which was supposed to help WW1 Vets. instead he stole gov. $ for his personal use and took bribes 

Naval Disarmament

• Countries agreed to stop building huge warships

• Countries destroyed 30 naval ships and could not build any new ones for 10 years

• Promoted peace and stability around the world 

Sacco and Vanzetti

• Italian immigrants 

• Arrested for robbery and murder 

• Evidence against them was weak

• Many people believe they were convicted and eventually executed because they were immigrants and radicals 

Thayer’s Behavior

• Thayer oversaw the trial 

• Very biased against Sacco and Vanzetti 

• Didn’t like Sacco and Vanzetti because of their political beliefs 

• Case made national & international headlines

• Case sparked protests around the world 

Economic Boom of 1920s

• Wages are double what they were before war 

• Buying credit became common / many people had it 

• Federal Gov. stayed out of business as much as possible 

• Companies used radio, magazines and billboards for advertising 

Resurgence of the KKK and their Nativist agenda

• KKK grew a lot in 1920s and it wasn’t just in the south, it spread to the north as well

• KKK targeted immigrants and African Americans

• KKK had 4 million members both men and women

Immigration polices of the 1920s and their targets

• American’s feared immigrants would bring radical ideas 

• Limited number of immigrants from any country to 3% of the number already in the US

• Targeted countries the US thought were bringing in radicals 

Mass Production and mass consumption/consumerism

• Mass production made items cheap 

• Americans bought many things using credit 

1920s foreign policy

• Avoided getting involved in foreign wars

• Focused on domestic growth instead of global conflicts 

Prohibition impacts

• Intended for people to stop drinking to reduce crime and improve health

• Created the Mafia which smuggled alcohol (bootlegger) across the Canadian boarder 

• Created “hidden bars” called speakeasies 

• Law enforcement was bribed so bars would not get shut down

• Many people made their own booze 

Scopes Trial: Conflicting views and prominent attorneys

• Teachers were not permitted to teach about evolution 

• Scopes was told to test the law and teach about evolution 

• Made international news because it mixes religion and science 

• Scopes has a high profile lawyer Clarance Darrow (from chicago) 

• Williams Jennings Bryan (prosecution) represented the Butler Act to not mix religion and science and to take the bible literally 

Liberalization of urban women

• More women worked and gained financial independence 

• Women adopted new fashions: little clothing, more makeup, bobbed hair

• Women drank/smoked, went out more, had premarital sex, went on birth control 

• Women earned the right to vote 

Radio and impact on sports growth

• Widely popular in American homes 

• People received news instantly live 

• Live broadcasts of sports allowed people to tune in from anywhere which increased national interest in sports teams 

Charles Lindbergh importance

• made first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic ocean in 1927

• New York → Paris

• Flight took 33.5 hours

Dawes Plan and impact on Germany

• Restructure Germany’s reparation payments after WW1 to make them smaller and manageable 

• Stabilized Germany’s economy temporarily

• Doesn’t work because other countries involved in WW1 also needed to restructure their debt 

Factors that contributed to the stock market crash

• tariffs, credit, construction and office space over expansion, unemployment interest rates hike, consumer sales decline in retail and automobile industry 

Hoover’s response to the crash

• Created Reconstruction Finance Corporation: loaned $2 billion to businesses and banks to stabilize finances 

• $160 Billion income tax cut: less tax you pay, the more money you have to spend 

• Did not give direct aid to unemployed 

Bonus March

• WW1 Vets were scheduled to get a financial bonus in 1945

• 20k veterans marched to Washington, D.C. to demand an early payment 

• Hoover ordered US Army to forcefully remove WW1 vets using tear gas 

Fordney-McCumber and Smoot-Hawley tariffs and European response

• Fordney-McCumber: protect US industries by raising taxes on imported goods

• Made foreign goods more expensive which encouraged Americans to buy US products 

• European countries struggled to sell goods to US

• Smoot-Hawley: Tariff to protect American jobs and businesses 

• European nations retaliated with their own tariffs

Hooverville

Shantytowns of unemployed and homeless people under the hoover administration 

Impact of inexperienced and amateur investors on the market crash

investors without knowledge of the market served to artificially inflate the stock market than it should have been 

Cultural Icons

• Rudolph Valentino: “Latin lover”, famous actor, died at 31 (1926) 

• Clara Bow: “it girl”, famous actress, sex symbol 

• Babe Ruth: best baseball player OAT, international celebrity 

• Jack Dempsey: heavy weight champ from 1919-1926, cultural icon 

• Bobby Jones: best golfer in the world in the 1920s, retired in 1930 at 28 yrs old 

• Red Grange: “galloping ghost”, played for Chicago Bears, major reason for rise in popularity in NFL

• Charles Lindbergh: nonstop solo flight across Atlantic 

• F. Scott Fitzgerald: Iconic author in 1920s, global fame after “The Great Gatsby” 

• Duke Ellington: Jazz pianist, composer and band leader, accelerated national popularity of jazz

• Coco Chanel: 1920s French Designer, created new style for millions of women, signature scent Chanel #5 

Hoover tax cuts goals 

• Hoover hoped that if people kept more of their paycheck, they would spend more money, which would keep businesses running, and keep the economy from crashing