c. 1920-1929:
The Roaring Twenties
Essential Questions
- How did the booming economy of the 1920s lead to changes in Americans life?
- How did domestic and foreign policy change direction under Harding and Coolidge?
- How did Americans differ on major social and cultural issues?
Learning Objectives
You will learn:
- How, why and to what extent a consumer based economy flourished in the United States in the 1920s
- How and why the birth of the automobile industry impacted the economic and cultural development of the United States at the beginning of the 20th Century
- How the invention and use of radio impacted the economic, political and cultural development of the United States
- How aviation and the airplane industry developed from the Wright Brothers initial flight and how it affected American culture
- How “the lost generation” of American writers expressed the cultural struggle between modernism and tradition during the 1920s
- How “modernism” developed and challenged conventional or traditional practices of American society during the 1920s
- How and in what ways defenders of tradition reacted to modern thought and rapid change in American society of the 1920s
- How the administrations of Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover reverted to conservative government practices based on lower taxes and deregulation of industries
- How scandals influenced the Warren G. Harding administration
- How the Harlem Renaissance raised awareness of issues affecting the lives of African Americans in the 1920s through various forms of expression such as literature, art, music and drama.
- How speculation in the stock market led to the “Black Tuesday” crash of October 29, 1929 and the global impacts of the crash
- How and why Prohibition became “the law of the land” and why it was later repealed
Politics of the 1920s
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The Teapot Dome scandal was the greatest political scandal to rock the U.S. government until the Watergate Affair that led to Richard Nixon's resignation of the presidency.
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Politics of the 1920s
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Politics of the 1920s Quizlet
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Italian anarchist immigrants Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of armed robbery and murder based on flimsy evidence and executed. They exemplify American nativist sentiment during the post-World War I Red Scare.
Society of the 1920s
This “new breed” of women – known as the flapper – went against the gender proscriptions of the era, bobbing their hair, wearing short dresses, listening to jazz, and flouting social and sexual norms. While liberating in many ways, these behaviors also reinforced stereotypes of female carelessness and obsessive consumerism that would continue throughout the twentieth century. Library of Congress.
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Babe Ruth’s incredible talent accelerated the popularity of baseball, cementing it as America’s pastime. Ruth’s propensity to shatter records made him a national hero. Library of Congress.
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Side view of a Ford sedan with four passengers and a woman getting in on the driver’s side, ca.1923. Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-54096.
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Society of the 1920s
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Society of the 1920s Quizlet
“Women competing in low hurdle race, Washington, D.C.,” ca. 1920s. Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-65429)
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This photo by popular news photographers Underwood and Underwood shows a gathering of a reported three hundred Ku Klux Klansmen just outside Washington DC to initiate a new group of men into their order. The proximity of the photographer to his subjects for one of the Klan’s notorious night-time rituals suggests that this was yet another of the Klan’s numerous publicity stunts. Underwood and Underwood, “Klan assembles Short Distance from U.S. Capitol,” (ca. 1920’s). Library of Congress.
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During the Scopes Trial, Clarence Darrow (right) savaged the idea of a literal interpretation of the Bible. “Dudley Field Malone, Dr. John R. Neal, and Clarence Darrow in Chicago, Illinois.” The Clarence Darrow Digital Collection, University of Minnesota.
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The Harlem Renaissance
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Garveyism, criticized as too radical, nevertheless formed a substantial following, and was a major stimulus for later black nationalistic movements. Photograph of Marcus Garvey, August 5, 1924. Library of Congress.
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The Harlem Renaissance Quizlet
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Assignments and Readings
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1920s Obituaries
| 1920s_obituaries_2.pdf |
Let America Be America Again
| let_america_be_america_again.pdf |
Old Time Radio
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Scopes: The Battle Over America's Soul
| scopes_the_battle_over_americas_soul.pdf |
Primary Sources
Warren G. Harding and the “Return to Normalcy” (1920)
Republican Senator and presidential candidate Warren G. Harding of Ohio delivered the following address to the Home Market Club of Boston on May 14, 1920. In it, Harding outlined his hope that the United States would, after a decade of progressive politics and foreign interventions, return to “normalcy.” In November, Harding received the highest percentage of the popular vote in a presidential election up to that time.
Crystal Eastman, “Now We Can Begin” (1920)
In the following selection, Crystal Eastman, a socialist and feminist, considered what women should fight for following the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote.
Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1921)
Inspired by the writings of Booker T. Washington, Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey became the most prominent Black Nationalist in the United States. He championed the back-to-Africa movement, advocated for black-owned businesses—he founded the Black Star Line, a transnational shipping company—and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Thousands of UNIA chapters formed all across the world. In 1921, Garvey recorded a message in a New York studio explaining the object of the UNIA.
Hiram Evans on the “The Klan’s Fight for Americanism” (1926)
The “Second” Ku Klux Klan rose to prominence in the 1920s and, at its peak, claimed millions of Americans as members. Klansmen wrapped themselves in the flag and the cross and proclaimed themselves the moral guardians of America. The organization appealed to many “respectable,” middle-class Americans. Here, Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans, a dentist from Dallas, Texas, outlines the Second Klan’s potent mix of Americanism, Protestantism, and white supremacy.
Herbert Hoover, “Principles and Ideals of the United States Government” (1928)
Republican Herbert Hoover embodied the political conservatism of the 1920s. He denounced the regulation of business and championed the individual against “bureaucracy.” In November 1928, Hoover, a Protestant from the Midwest, soundly defeated Al Smith, an Irish Catholic from New York City. Here, in a speech delivered in late October, Hoover outlined his vision of American government.
Advertisements (1924)
In the 1920’s Americans across the country bought magazines like Photoplay in order to get more information about the stars of their new favorite entertainment media: the movies. Advertisers took advantage of this broad audience to promote a wide range of goods and services to both men and women who enjoyed the proliferation of consumer culture during this time.
Republican Senator and presidential candidate Warren G. Harding of Ohio delivered the following address to the Home Market Club of Boston on May 14, 1920. In it, Harding outlined his hope that the United States would, after a decade of progressive politics and foreign interventions, return to “normalcy.” In November, Harding received the highest percentage of the popular vote in a presidential election up to that time.
Crystal Eastman, “Now We Can Begin” (1920)
In the following selection, Crystal Eastman, a socialist and feminist, considered what women should fight for following the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote.
Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1921)
Inspired by the writings of Booker T. Washington, Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey became the most prominent Black Nationalist in the United States. He championed the back-to-Africa movement, advocated for black-owned businesses—he founded the Black Star Line, a transnational shipping company—and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Thousands of UNIA chapters formed all across the world. In 1921, Garvey recorded a message in a New York studio explaining the object of the UNIA.
Hiram Evans on the “The Klan’s Fight for Americanism” (1926)
The “Second” Ku Klux Klan rose to prominence in the 1920s and, at its peak, claimed millions of Americans as members. Klansmen wrapped themselves in the flag and the cross and proclaimed themselves the moral guardians of America. The organization appealed to many “respectable,” middle-class Americans. Here, Imperial Wizard Hiram Evans, a dentist from Dallas, Texas, outlines the Second Klan’s potent mix of Americanism, Protestantism, and white supremacy.
Herbert Hoover, “Principles and Ideals of the United States Government” (1928)
Republican Herbert Hoover embodied the political conservatism of the 1920s. He denounced the regulation of business and championed the individual against “bureaucracy.” In November 1928, Hoover, a Protestant from the Midwest, soundly defeated Al Smith, an Irish Catholic from New York City. Here, in a speech delivered in late October, Hoover outlined his vision of American government.
Advertisements (1924)
In the 1920’s Americans across the country bought magazines like Photoplay in order to get more information about the stars of their new favorite entertainment media: the movies. Advertisers took advantage of this broad audience to promote a wide range of goods and services to both men and women who enjoyed the proliferation of consumer culture during this time.
Slideshows
Videos
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Digital History Textbook
The Jazz Age: The American 1920s
The 1920s was a decade of major cultural conflicts as well as a period when many features of a modern consumer culture took root. In this chapter, you will learn about the clashes over alcohol, evolution, foreign immigration, and race, and also about the growth of cities, the rise of a consumer culture, and the revolution in morals and manners.
The 1920s - An Overview
The Postwar Red Scare
Postwar Labor Tensions
Prohibition
Race
The Great Migration
The Ku Klux Klan
Sacco and Vanzetti
Immigration Restriction
Fundamentalism and Pentecostalism
The Scopes Trial
Leopold and Loeb
Politics During the 1920s
The Democratic Convention of 1924
The Election of 1928
Herbert Hoover
The Consumer Economy and Mass Entertainment
The Formation of Modern American Mass Culture
Low Brow and Middle Brow Culture
The Avant-Garde
The New Woman
The 1920s was a decade of major cultural conflicts as well as a period when many features of a modern consumer culture took root. In this chapter, you will learn about the clashes over alcohol, evolution, foreign immigration, and race, and also about the growth of cities, the rise of a consumer culture, and the revolution in morals and manners.
The 1920s - An Overview
The Postwar Red Scare
Postwar Labor Tensions
Prohibition
Race
The Great Migration
The Ku Klux Klan
Sacco and Vanzetti
Immigration Restriction
Fundamentalism and Pentecostalism
The Scopes Trial
Leopold and Loeb
Politics During the 1920s
The Democratic Convention of 1924
The Election of 1928
Herbert Hoover
The Consumer Economy and Mass Entertainment
The Formation of Modern American Mass Culture
Low Brow and Middle Brow Culture
The Avant-Garde
The New Woman