Chapter 22 - The New Era

I. Introduction

• The context of the $1920s$ in America represents a decade of paradox, characterized by massive economic expansion and deep-seated social friction.

• Warren G. Harding’s inauguration on March $4$, $1921$, signaled a shift away from Wilsonian idealism toward "normalcy," a term he used to describe a return to pre-war stability, isolationism, and laissez-faire economics.

• Major themes include:

  • Post-WWI Aftermath: The transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy led to initial inflation followed by a massive boom.

  • Racial and Political Repression: The First Red Scare ($1919-1920$), fueled by the Bolshevik Revolution, led to the Palmer Raids and a crackdown on suspected radicals and labor unions.

  • Nomenclature: The era is variously dubbed the Jazz Age (coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald), the Age of Loosened Morals, and the Prosperity Decade.

• Key changes included:

  • Technological Advancements: The proliferation of the automobile and electrical appliances revolutionized daily life.

  • Mass Culture: The synchronization of American habits through national radio broadcasts and Hollywood cinema.

• Counter-reactions: The decade saw a sharp rise in nativism, the defense of traditional Protestant values, and a legislative push for immigration restriction.

II. Republican White House, 1921-1933

• Contextual background:

  • The nation was reeling from the loss of over $115,000$ soldiers in World War I and the devastating Spanish Flu epidemic ($1918-1920$), which infected nearly $20\%$ of the global population and killed approximately $700,000$ Americans.

  • Labor unrest peaked in $1919$ with over $3,000$ strikes, contributing to a public desire for conservative governance.

• Harding's Administration:

  • Implemented the Emergency Quota Act of $1921$, which capped immigration to $3\%$ of the number of people from any country living in the U.S. as of the $1910$ census.

  • Appointed a "Cabinet of Best Minds," including Herbert Hoover (Commerce) and Andrew Mellon (Treasury), but also the "Ohio Gang," who were responsible for widespread corruption.

  • Teapot Dome Scandal: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was convicted of leasing navy oil reserves in Wyoming to private companies in exchange for bribes.

• Coolidge Administration ($1923-1929$):

  • Calvin Coolidge assumed office after Harding’s sudden death. He believed that minimized government interference was the key to prosperity.

  • Mellon Plan: Under Secretary Mellon, the top marginal tax rate was slashed from $66\%$ to $20\%$, and the federal debt was significantly reduced.

III. Culture of Consumption

• Economic Drivers:

  • Henry Ford and the Assembly Line: Ford’s techniques reduced the price of the Model T from over $\$800$ to under $\$300$, making car ownership accessible to the working class.

  • Electrification: By the end of the decade, nearly $70\%$ of American homes had electricity, sparking demand for vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and refrigerators.

• Selling Mrs. Consumer:

  • Christine Frederick’s 1929 monograph emphasized that women made $90\%$ of household purchasing decisions, leading advertisers to target women's emotions and social status.

  • The shift from "needs" to "wants" was facilitated by the professionalization of the advertising industry (e.g., Bruce Barton).

• Credit Revolution:

  • The "buy now, pay later" mentality took hold; by $1927$, over $60\%$ of cars and $80\%$ of radios were bought on installment plans.

IV. Culture of Escape

• Mobility and Leisure:

  • The automobile broke down rural isolation and facilitated the rise of the "Sunday drive."

  • Tourism grew as families visited newly established National Parks.

• The Rise of Cinema:

  • Hollywood became the world’s film capital. The transition from silent films to "talkies" began with The Jazz Singer in $1927$.

  • Weekly movie attendance reached $40$ million by $1922$ and soared to $100$ million by $1930$.

  • Films promoted a standardized version of the "American Dream."

• Radio and Sporting Icons:

  • KDKA in Pittsburgh became the first commercial radio station in $1920$.

  • Media created national heroes like Babe Ruth (baseball), Gertrude Ederle (swimming), and Charles Lindbergh, whose $1927$ solo transatlantic flight epitomized modern bravery.

V. “The New Woman”

• The Flapper Image:

  • Represented a break from the "Gibson Girl" ideal. Flappers wore shorter skirts, bobbed their hair, smoked in public, and frequented speakeasies.

• Political and Social Reality:

  • While the $19th$ Amendment ($1920$) gave women the vote, the female electorate was not a monolithic voting bloc.

  • Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party introduced the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in $1923$, which faced opposition from those fearing it would eliminate protective labor laws for women.

  • Margaret Sanger pioneered the birth control movement, though she faced significant legal hurdles through the Comstock Laws.

VI. “The New Negro”

• The Great Migration: Hundreds of thousands of Black Americans moved from the rural South to Northern urban centers (New York, Chicago, Detroit) to escape Jim Crow and find industrial jobs.

• Harlem Renaissance:

  • A cultural blossoming in Harlem that emphasized Black pride and intellectualism. Alain Locke’s The New Negro ($1925$) served as a manifesto for this movement.

  • Poetry by Langston Hughes and Claude McKay expressed defiance against racism, while Zora Neale Hurston explored Black folklore.

• Marcus Garvey and the UNIA:

  • The Universal Negro Improvement Association promoted "Pan-Africanism" and economic independence.

  • Garvey’s "Back to Africa" movement and the Black Star Line shipping company garnered over $1$ million followers before his deportation for mail fraud.

VII. Culture War

• Nativism and the Red Scare:

  • The trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti ($1921-1927$) became a symbol of anti-immigrant and anti-radical prejudice, as they were executed for a crime many believed they did not commit.

• Immigration Quotas:

  • The National Origins Act of $1924$ further restricted immigration, setting quotas at $2\%$ of the $1890$ census levels, specifically targeting Southern and Eastern Europeans and banning Asian immigration entirely.

VIII. Fundamentalist Christianity

• Conflict with Modernism:

  • Fundamentalists insisted on a literal interpretation of the Bible, leading to a clash with "modernists" who sought to reconcile faith with Darwinian evolution.

• The Scopes Monkey Trial ($1925$):

  • High school teacher John Scopes was tried for violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited teaching evolution.

  • The trial featured a dramatic showdown between William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, highlighting the divide between rural, religious tradition and urban, secular modernity.

IX. Rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

• Second Klan Resurgence:

  • Founded at Stone Mountain, GA, in $1915$, the new KKK targeted not only Black Americans but also Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.

  • Promoted "$100\%$ Americanism" and peaked in the mid-$1920s$ with membership estimates between $3$ million and $5$ million.

  • The Klan exerted massive political power in states like Indiana and Oregon before declining due to internal scandals and corruption.

X. Conclusion

• Economic Fragility: Though the decade appeared prosperous, wealth was highly concentrated (the top $0.1\%$ shared as much wealth as the bottom $42\%$). Agricultural prices collapsed throughout the decade, leaving farmers in a permanent depression.

• The Crash: The speculative bubble in the stock market burst on October $29$, $1929$ (Black Tuesday), exposing the underlying weaknesses of the New Era.

• Legacy: The $1920s$ laid the groundwork for modern American consumer culture and civil rights struggles, while its failures necessitated the massive governmental shifts of the New Deal.