The New Era

CHAPTER 22

The New Era — The 1920s

Republican dominance, consumer culture, cultural conflict, and the contradictions of the 'Roaring Twenties'


CORE TOPICS

Republican Politics (1921–1933)

Three consecutive Republican presidents shaped the decade — Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover — sharing a pro-business, low-tax, high-tariff, limited-government ideology.

  • Warren G. Harding promised a "return to normalcy." His administration was plagued by the Teapot Dome Scandal — secretly leasing federal oil reserves to private companies for bribes.

  • Calvin Coolidge took over after Harding's 1923 death. Famous for: "The chief business of the American people is business." Championed tax cuts for the wealthy (from 66% to 20%).

  • Herbert Hoover won 1928 election over Democrat Al Smith (attacked for being Catholic and anti-Prohibition). Boasted poverty would soon be "banished."

  • 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote. The Equal Rights Amendment was introduced but defeated.

  • Labor unions declined sharply under anti-union court rulings and public sentiment.


Consumer Culture

The 1920s saw a mass consumer economy fueled by new technology, advertising, and easy credit.

  • Henry Ford's assembly line produced a Model-T every 10 seconds by 1925. Car registrations surged from 9M (1920) to 27M (1929).

  • Over 60% of cars sold on credit by 1927; installment buying expanded to nearly all major purchases.

  • Consumer spending on appliances grew over 120% between 1919–1929.

  • Department stores, mail-order catalogs, and national advertising shaped a new culture of consumer desire.


Popular Culture & the Culture of Escape

Americans embraced entertainment as escape from postwar anxiety and the stress of modern industrial life.

  • Film: Weekly attendance rose from 16M (1912) to 40M (early 1920s). Jewish immigrant moguls built Hollywood. The Jazz Singer (1927) introduced synchronized sound.

  • Radio: ~Half of U.S. homes had one by 1930. NBC and CBS dominated. "Soap operas" were born.

  • Jazz: Originated in Black New Orleans communities; spread via radio and records nationwide.

  • Sports Heroes: Babe Ruth (baseball), Jack Dempsey (boxing), Red Grange (football), Charles Lindbergh (first solo transatlantic flight, 1927).


The New Woman & The New Negro

  • The Flapper: Bobbed hair, short skirts, jazz, defiance of Victorian norms. Popularized by movie stars like Mary Pickford.

  • Harlem Renaissance: African American artistic and intellectual flowering in Harlem, NYC. Writers, musicians, and artists asserted a new Black cultural identity.


Culture Wars: Nativism, Fundamentalism & the KKK

  • Immigration restriction: Congress passed strict quota laws targeting Southern/Eastern Europeans.

  • Prohibition (18th Amendment, 1920): Banned manufacture and sale of alcohol. Led to bootlegging and organized crime.

  • Fundamentalist Christianity: Reacted against Darwinism. The Scopes Trial (1925) put evolution on trial in Tennessee.

  • KKK Revival: Membership reached millions. Now targeted Catholics, Jews, and immigrants in addition to Black Americans.


KEY TERMS — CHAPTER 22

Return to Normalcy

Harding's 1920 campaign slogan promising stability after WWI upheaval

Teapot Dome Scandal

Harding admin bribery scheme involving federal oil leases in Wyoming

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote (1920)

18th Amendment

Prohibition — banned alcohol manufacture and sale

Equal Rights Amendment

Proposed by Alice Paul; introduced but defeated in Congress

The Flapper

Symbol of the New Woman — defied gender norms of the era

Harlem Renaissance

Black cultural and artistic movement centered in Harlem, NYC

Fundamentalism

Religious movement opposing modern science, especially evolution

Scopes Trial (1925)

Tennessee teacher tried for teaching evolution; symbolic cultural clash

Installment Buying

Purchasing on credit; fueled 1920s consumer boom

Jazz Age

Alternative name for 1920s, referencing African American musical innovation

Model-T / Assembly Line

Ford innovations that democratized automobile ownership


PEOPLE TO KNOW — CHAPTER 22

Warren G. Harding

29th president; promised "normalcy"; presidency defined by Teapot Dome corruption

Calvin Coolidge

Took over after Harding's death; pro-business, minimal government; "Silent Cal"

Herbert Hoover

Won 1928 election; his name became synonymous with Depression-era failures

Alice Paul

Suffragist leader who pushed for the Equal Rights Amendment

Henry Ford

Industrialist whose assembly line and Model-T transformed consumer culture

Al Smith

Democratic 1928 presidential candidate; Catholic, anti-Prohibition; lost to Hoover

Babe Ruth

"Sultan of Swat"; home run records made him more famous than the president

Charles Lindbergh

First solo nonstop transatlantic flight (1927); "Hero of the decade"

Mary Pickford

Silent film star; "America's Sweetheart"; popularized the flapper image