Roaring Twenties: Social Science Notes (2025–2026 Resource Guide)

Introduction

The Roaring Twenties resource guide frames the decade as bookended by World War I and the Great Depression, highlighting its outsized role in American memory and culture through literature, film, music, and mass entertainment.
The period saw parallel global waves of American influence in Hollywood and jazz, contributing to a glamorous image of the United States worldwide.
The 1920s are presented as a historical hinge: a shift from horse-drawn era to a modern, urban, technologically advanced society, with innovations fueling mass communication, mass consumption, and mass entertainment.
Core tensions run through the era: cultural flowering and structural racism, immigrant nativism, religious diversity vs. fundamentalism, expanding gender freedoms vs. traditional norms, and booming wealth alongside deep poverty—reshaping American life while foreshadowing future conflicts.
The decade’s fascination with speed and efficiency is linked to anxieties about technology replacing human connection and a consumerist material culture that remains relevant today.
Key figures introduced include Babe Ruth as a symbol of the celebrity athlete and the broader rise of African-American and Jewish-American creative expression amid backlash from the Ku Klux Klan and anti-immigrant sentiment.
The guide emphasizes the interconnectedness of postwar internationalism with domestic politics, illustrating how American ideals collided with political realities on the world stage.

Section I: Post-War America — The Dawn of a New Era

1919: A Tumultuous Year

World War I left a staggering human toll: total casualties estimated at
$ext{over }37{,}000{,}000$
(combat deaths, missing in action, and wounded).
A global influenza pandemic opened in 1919, following the war, killing an estimated $20{,}000{,}000$ worldwide and infecting roughly one in five people.
- The Spanish flu originated in the United States; early outbreaks occurred in spring 1918 at training camps.
On the home front, 1919 featured a wave of labor unrest across major industries and major cities, including a spate of dynamite bombings targeting political figures.
Racial violence exposed gaps in American democracy even as President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed victory for world democracy.
Wilson’s presidency and legacy became a focal point of contention as the United States negotiated peace.

“Peace Without Victory”: Wilson’s Fourteen Points & the Paris Peace Conference

Wilson arrived in Paris on December 16, 1918, to great fanfare and global attention.
Wilson had campaigned in the U.S. as the man who kept the U.S. out of war, but his internationalism shaped the postwar order.
The Fourteen Points emphasized:
- Self-determination for small nations, freedom of the seas, free trade, and an end to secret diplomacy.
- The creation of a general association of nations to peacefully resolve conflicts (the forerunner to the League of Nations).
Wilson made the establishment of the League of Nations his top priority; his speech on the Fourteen Points was broadcast internationally via radio, making him a global figure.
Wilson’s ideals found resonance among colonized and independence-seeking peoples worldwide.
However, French Premier Georges Clemenceau and British Premier David Lloyd George resisted Wilson’s idealism, seeking a punitive peace that would exact punishment from Germany.
The Paris Peace Conference produced a compromise treaty that did not fully realize Wilson’s vision of a liberal international order.

The Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) & Its Aftermath

The Versailles Treaty imposed harsh terms on Germany: demanding responsibility for the war, ceding colonies, limiting armed forces, and yielding territories to France.
War reparations were set at an astronomical $21{,}000{,}000{,}000$ (in 1919 dollars).
The treaty included the Covenant of the League of Nations, the centerpiece Wilson fought to secure.
Wilson’s health deteriorated during the Paris negotiations; historians note he likely suffered a Spanish flu relapse and possibly a minor stroke.
The U.S. Senate, controlled by Republicans, would not ratify the treaty as written, blocking U.S. membership in the League of Nations.
The Treaty’s fate hinged on Article X of the League’s Covenant, which caused Reservationist opposition led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.
Lodge, Senator William E. Borah, and other opponents argued that League membership would erode American sovereignty and entangle the United States in foreign obligations.
Wilson refused to modify his treaty with Lodge’s reservations, setting the stage for a deadlock that ultimately led to the Senate’s rejection of the treaty in 1919 and March 1920 (49–35 vote on the revised treaty). This rejection marked a historic turning point in U.S. foreign policy and the fate of the League.
Wilson undertook a cross-country tour (length:
$9{,}981$ miles) to rally public support for the League and the treaty; the tour strained his frail health and contributed to the stroke that followed.
The cross-country tour highlighted tensions between executive leadership and a Republican-controlled Senate and underscored the constitutional divide over foreign commitments.

Consequences of the Treaty Debate

After Wilson’s stroke, the League’s prospects weakened. Lodge introduced forty-two amendments to the treaty; Wilson refused to negotiate with the Lodge reservations.
Democratic allies joined the Irreconcilables to vote down the treaty, marking the first time the United States rejected a major international agreement.
The absence of U.S. leadership weakened the League and demonstrated limits of Wilsonian idealism in a divided America.
Yet Wilson’s internationalist legacy persisted; his ideas influenced future U.S. diplomacy and helped shape the later creation of the United Nations (1945).
The debate contributed to a broader postwar shift toward isolationism in the 1920s, even as internationalism re-emerged later during World War II.

The Erosion of Civil Liberties, Labor Strife, and the Red Scare

Wilson’s absence coincided with massive domestic upheaval in labor and civil liberties:
- The Seattle general strike (February 1919) involved more than 100 unions; it lasted five days and required federal troops to intervene.
- By year’s end, the U.S. faced
- $3{,}600$ strikes
- Involving more than $4{,}000{,}000$ workers.
The AFL (membership grows to $4{,}169{,}000$ by 1919) versus the IWW (peak $60{,}000$ ) highlighted internal tensions within the labor movement.
End of wartime economic boom and defunding of wartime defense contracts led to increased unemployment and inflation, fueling labor activism across steel, coal, and other industries.
The Red Scare intensified, driven by fears of Bolshevism after the Russian Revolution (1917) and domestic anxiety about radical political ideologies.
The Espionage Act (1917; amended 1918) and the Sedition Act restricted speech opposing the war or government policy; these laws were used to prosecute dissidents and suppress radicalism.
The Palmer Raids (Nov. 1919–Jan. 1920) targeted radicals, resulting in roughly $2{,}000$ arrests and the deportation of hundreds of suspected radicals; 249 suspected subversives were deported on Dec 21, 1919.
The GID (General Intelligence Division) within the Justice Department, led by J. Edgar Hoover (later FBI), compiled a large surveillance archive (about $200{,}000$ cards) cataloging suspected radicals.
The Supreme Court addressed civil liberties in wartime cases:
- Schenck v. United States (1919): established the lear and present dangernd allowed suppression of speech that undermines national defense during wartime; major decision by Justice Holmes.
- Debs v. United States (1919): upheld a conviction for an antiwar speech under the Sedition Act.
- Abrams v. United States (1919): limited the earlier free-speech approach; Holmes dissented, warning against chilling free expression and defending the marketplace of ideas.
The period also saw the Sacco and Vanzetti trial (1920s): two Italian immigrants and avowed anarchists were executed in 1927 amid concerns about xenophobia and political persecution.

A Watershed Moment for African American Culture and Politics: The Great Migration & Harlem Renaissance

The Great Migration (1915–1970s) saw more than six million African Americans and Black Caribbean immigrants relocate from the rural South to cities in the North and West for employment and to escape Jim Crow oppression.
By 1920, urban concentrations grew: Detroit (+ $611{,}3\%$ ), Cleveland (+ $307{,}8\%$ ), Chicago (+ $148{,}2\%$ ) since 1910; New York and Philadelphia also saw significant growth.
The Harlem Renaissance emerged as a cultural revolution: African American art, literature, and music in the 1920s highlighted Black pride and cultural innovation, centered in Harlem as a national hub.
Jazz rose to global prominence, born in New Orleans and spreading with migrant musicians. Notable figures included Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Paul Whiteman.
The transport and recording technologies aided the spread of jazz: electrical recording (1925) and radio expanded audiences; London, Paris, Berlin, and Shanghai all developed vibrant jazz scenes.
The era also faced backlash against jazz as morally dangerous by some conservatives, who linked it to Prohibition-era vice and perceived erosion of traditional values.

Jazz Conquers the Globe

Jazz spread from New Orleans along the Mississippi to Chicago and beyond, becoming a global sensation:
- Armstrong’s rise to fame in the 1920s transformed trumpet playing and introduced scat singing.
- The Cotton Club and Roseland Ballroom in New York helped define jazz as the soundtrack of the era.
- Kansas City became a outpost of the swing style, shaped by Count Basie and the city’s clubs.
African American soldiers in World War I helped introduce jazz to Europe; some stayed in France after the war.
The broader social context included debates over modernity, immigration, race, and gender roles that jazz often symbolized and complicated.

The Red Summer of 1919: Race Riots and Violence

The term Red Summer describes a wave of racial violence in 1919, including 76 lynchings—the highest total since 1904.
Between 1915 and 1919, roughly 18 major race riots occurred in cities like Philadelphia, Houston, Washington, D.C., Knoxville, and Omaha.
Elaine Massacre (1919) in Phillips County, Arkansas, involved violent retaliation against Black sharecroppers seeking labor rights; hundreds of Black residents were killed or displaced.
The Chicago riot of July 27, 1919, after the death of Eugene Williams, resulted in 38 deaths and hundreds of injuries, with significant destruction of Black neighborhoods.
The riot atmosphere included federal troops deployed to restore order in D.C. and Minneapolis and widespread vigilante violence in urban areas.
Wilson faced concerns about the international image of the United States in light of domestic racial violence, particularly in the capital.

Marcus Garvey and the UNIA

Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Harlem (1887–1940s), advocating Black self-determination and a mass movement for global racial pride.
Garvey’s UNIA grew rapidly: over 1,000 branches in 38 states and 41 countries; membership estimated around 2 million; The Negro World newspaper had tens of thousands of subscribers.
The UNIA’s mass meetings, including a 25,000+ turnout in Harlem (Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall in Aug 1920), showcased Garvey’s charisma and organizational reach.
Garvey’s rhetoric (e.g., frica for the Africansnd self-reliance) contrasted with established Black leadership (e.g., W. E. B. Du Bois and the NAACP), creating tension within the Black freedom movement.
Federal surveillance of Garvey intensified; Garvey’s anti-colonial, nationalist message attracted scrutiny within the federal government.
Garvey faced legal challenges, culminating in a 1923 conviction for mail fraud related to the Black Star Line; he was deported in 1927. Garvey’s legacy influenced later Black nationalist movements, including leaders like Malcolm X, and helped shape the broader era of the New Negro Movement.

Constitutional Amendments & the End of the Progressive Era

The Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) and the Volstead Act enforced a nationwide ban on beverages containing more than 0.05% alcohol starting January 17, 1920.
Prohibition grew out of the temperance movement, aided by religious groups, progressive reformers, and wartime xenophobia; it was stronger in the South and Midwest with dry counties and local bans in many states by 1915.
Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act’s precursor, arguing for due process and following established legal procedures; however, the amendment passed despite resistance.
Prohibition produced sweeping enforcement costs and a new black market for illegal alcohol, with criminal organizations profiting from speakeasies and bootlegging.
By 1930, over one-third of federal inmates were incarcerated for Prohibition offenses; enforcement agencies faced limited resources, corruption, and public opposition.
Prohibition spurred better-organized political mobilization for reform and helped galvanize support for women’s suffrage, though the Nineteenth Amendment had already been ratified.
The Eighteenth Amendment’s enforcement contributed to calls for repeal and ultimately to the Twenty-First Amendment (1933).

The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage

The Nineteenth Amendment (ratified August 18, 1920) guaranteed women the right to vote; it followed a long struggle that began with state-level victories beginning in 1869 (Wyoming).
By 1920, women’s suffrage had gained momentum through both progressive and wartime activism, including Жен (suffrage) campaigns and strategic political advocacy.
The 1920 election saw roughly 35% turnout among eligible women; 1924 turnout was about 34%—signaling that enfranchisement did not immediately translate into a new political bloc.
The American suffrage movement split between more radical approaches (Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party) and more conservative strategies (Carrie Chapman Catt and NAWSA).
NAWSA peaked at about 2 million members in 1920; by 1930, its successor, the League of Women Voters, had about 100,000 members, reflecting organizational fragmentation.
The NWP’s push for an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) faced significant opposition and ultimately failed; the ERA revival in the 1970s faltered due to political opposition and concerns about existing protective laws for women (e.g., maternal protections).
The Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act (1921) provided federal funding for maternal and child health care but was phased out in 1929 when appropriations were halted.
The Nineteenth Amendment did not immediately transform political power dynamics, but it catalyzed broader social changes and the emergence of new feminist movements.

A Return to Normalcy: Republican Rule Returns to Washington

President Warren G. Harding and the Election of 1920

Harding, a midwestern Republican with a reputation for ordinary honesty and pragmatism, won the 1920 election in a landslide, capturing 60.3 ext{%} of the popular vote and $404$ electoral votes to Cox’s loss.
He campaigned on the slogan “Return to Normalcy,” offering a sense of stability after the upheaval of World War I and the uncertain postwar period.
Despite a national economic downturn that persisted into 1921, Harding’s message energized a wartime-weary public with optimism for peace and prosperity.

Foreign Affairs: The Washington Naval Conference (1921–1922)

Harding’s administration prioritized naval disarmament and international security, hosting a nine-nation conference in Washington, D.C. to address potential naval arms races.
Delegations included the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Italy, China, and others; the conference produced a tripartite framework: the Five-Power Treaty, the Four-Power Treaty, and the Nine-Power Treaty.
- Five-Power Treaty established a cap on capital ships with a 5:5:3 ratio for the United States, Britain, and Japan (for fifteen years).
- Four-Power Treaty committed the U.S., Britain, Japan, and France to respect each other’s Pacific interests and maintain open lines of communication in crisis.
- Nine-Power Treaty supported the Open Door Policy in China, preserving equal trading rights.
The conference yielded broad international support and helped avoid a renewed naval arms race, though some historians criticize it for undermining U.S. naval primacy and leaving room for future aggression, particularly from Japan.
Critics note the conference delayed major conflicts but did not provide a lasting solution to Pacific power dynamics; shipbuilding data underscore this critique (the U.S. built only $11$ ships 1922–1929, compared with Japan’s $125$ ).
The conference was praised for bipartisan support and public diplomacy, yet its long-term strategic impact remains debated.

Domestic Scandals and the Economy

The 1920s also featured significant domestic scandals that traumatized public trust in government:
- Ponzi’s Scheme (early 1920s): an investment fraud that drew $30{,}000–40{,}000$ investors and valued the scheme at $15{,}000{,}000–20{,}000{,}000$ ; Ponzi was indicted on mail fraud charges in $1920$ and served time in federal and state prisons.
- The Teapot Dome Scandal (1921–1923): bribery and corruption involving the transfer of federal oil reserves (Elk Hills and Teapot Dome) to the Interior Department and exclusive drilling rights sold to private oilmen. Central figures included Albert Fall (Secretary of the Interior), Edward L. Doheny (oil financier), and Harry F. Sinclair (oilman). Fall was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison and a $100{,}000$ fine; Doheny escaped conviction; Sinclair faced contempt charges.
President Harding’s unexpected death on August 2, 1923, while traveling on a cross-country tour, precipitated a period of national mourning and public reevaluation of the administration’s integrity.
Vice President Calvin Coolidge ascended to the presidency (1923). His style contrasted with Harding’s—frugal, reserved, and focused on stability and business growth; Coolidge’s leadership aimed to restore confidence and reduce the influence of political cronyism.
The Teapot Dome scandal left a lasting legacy on perceptions of government integrity and shaped later discussions about executive accountability.

The Coolidge Administration: The Gospel of Business

Coolidge emphasized pro-business policies and a fiscally conservative approach, promoting economic growth and limited government intervention.
He sought to continue the Republican agenda while distancing the party from the corruption scandals that tainted the Harding era.
The era’s economic expansion would eventually confront structural vulnerabilities leading into the 1930s, but Coolidge’s early years were marked by a sense of restoration and measured optimism.

End of Survey Notes

This outline captures the major and minor points from the provided transcript, including essential dates, numbers, legislative acts, court cases, and the interplay between domestic policy, culture, and foreign affairs during the Roaring Twenties.
All numerical references have been included in LaTeX-friendly format within the notes where appropriate to support precise study and recall.