THE NEW ERA: THE NEW ERA NON CHAPTER 24


Sister Aimee Semple McPherson: Miracle healer in Pentecostal tradition started in Southern CA Sister Aimee brought Hollywood pageantry into preaching: mega-churches, radio, spectacle Brought positive message of hope, uplift to unchurched westerners Evangelism suited to the new consumer age Sister Aimee Semple McPherson


Slide3: Sister Aimee Semple McPherson


The Urban Role in the New Era: Transformation in the roles & styles of women: shorter dresses & hair, less restrictive clothing, greater freedom of choice Franker acceptance of sexuality —> birth control 1920: over 50% of Americans live in cities —> but "city" = 2500+ people The Urban Role in the New Era


The Roaring Twenties Economy: 1920's: manufacturing rose 64% — output/work hour rose 40% — economy grew by 7%/year — average income increases 20% huge increase in the variety & quantity of consumer goods Americans enjoyed world's highest standard of living Economic problems: Americans save little — borrow on credit —> debt rises more quickly than income The Roaring Twenties Economy


Booming Construction Industry: Construction booms in economic rebound following WWI Many cities turn to new "skyscraper" style —> 1929 Empire State Building: 86 stories Residential construction building doubles —> huge increase in suburban building: Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, etc. Gasoline taxes introduced to finance massive road building for cars and suburban commuters Booming Construction Industry


Slide9: Woolworth Building NYC


The Automobile: Number of cars nearly X 3 during 1920's Automobile and construction industries cause huge boom in national economy Ratios of cars to people: US—> 5:1 — GB—> 43:1 — Russia—> 7000:1 By 1930 25% of Americans work in car-related industry The Automobile


Henry Ford: Henry Ford made cars affordable for middle class Americans by pushing standardization and mass production to extremes Henry Ford: "Everybody wants to be somewhere he ain't" 1908 Model T Ford: every car alike: same engine, body, and color (black) Ford copies the moving assembly-line style of manufacturing perfected by Chicago meat-packing business Henry Ford


Ford's Doctrine of High Wages I: Workers with extra money in their pockets would buy enough to finance the booming economy Ford increased wages and cut length of working day to an 8-hour, five day workweek Hires substantial numbers of African American workers and promotes them to real responsibility Ford's Doctrine of High Wages I


Ford's Doctrine of High Wages II: Repetitive work —> worker dissatisfaction Speed-up of assembly line and management rules restricting talking and distractions angers workers General Motors differentiates itself from Ford by offering greater range of diversity and quality than Ford Ford's Doctrine of High Wages II


America's Love Affair With Cars: Car changes face of America Spread of paved roads —> urban sprawl, realm estate booms, new roadside culture Cars give young unprecedented freedom from paternal authority Car advertising moves into the realm of personal preference & begins to appeal to women and men America's Love Affair With Cars


The Business Culture: Calvin Coolidge: "The business of America is business. The man who builds a factory builds a temple. The man who works there worships there." Wartime contributions of American business and post 1922 boom reconciles many Americans to business goals Wave of business mergers leads to oligopolies in major industries—> national chains begin to replace "mom and pop" stores: A&P grocery stores The Business Culture


Managerial Elite: Corporations control most of nation's investment capital Shareholders passive owners—> control in hands of corporate leadership Stock ownership widely dispersed —> few investors own more than 1 or 2 % of any corporation New corporate managers less adventurous than "robber barons" —> new goals are productivity and stability of corporation Managerial Elite


The American Plan & Welfare Capitalism: Rash of postwar strikes leads business leaders to hostility to unions Big business associations promote "American Plan": no "closed union shop" Employers made workers sign agreement disavowing union membership —> "yellow dog contracts" The American Plan & Welfare Capitalism


Welfare Capitalism: Welfare capitalism: large companies promise their workers safer, cleaner working area, better cafeterias and bathrooms, recreational activities and facilities, health and safety insurance —> but must join company union, not worker's unions Most workers unorganized and AFL membership and strikes sink to record lows $2,000 minimal annual income —> average worker's wage: $1300 High poverty rate among American working class —> extensive child labor Welfare Capitalism


Slide24: Assembly Line Workers in the 20’s


The Consumer Culture: Late 19th century industrial boom produced producer goods —> 1920's boom targetted consumer goods National prosperity depends on whether consumers buy new goods —> lower production costs —> lower prices —> more sales —> higher profits —> more jobs Wives and husbands "professional consumers" for the home—> foods, furniture, clothing, credit Consumption the key to national economic prosperity The Consumer Culture


The Power of Advertising: New advertising emphasized satisfying real or imagined consumer desires, not purported facts about products Health, popularity, social status important consumer desires Model of WWI-era political propaganda used to persuade consumer Behaviorist John Watson leaves Johns Hopkins to work for Madison Avenue advertising agencies The Power of Advertising


Installment Buying & Credit: Installment buying a "respectable way" to borrow money from the retailer —> "buying on time" 1919: General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) —> loan consumer the money to buy the car Huge increase in consumer debt Installment Buying & Credit


American Mass Society & Culture: Mass marketing and mass distribution leads to higher standard of living & standardization of goods and services National marketing begins to replace local values, norms, and styles American Mass Society & Culture


The New Woman: Flappers: makeup, long-waisted dresses, little underwear, unbuckled galoshes [that "flap"] Female drinking, smoking, economically and socially free —> liberated or decadent? 1900-1930: young women move to cities for work, esp. during WWI Old restrictions on "decent" female behavior break down in less-supervised cities The New Woman


Slide31: Louise Brooks: The Classic Flapper


Slide32: The New Woman Bares Her Skin


Slide33: The New Woman of the 1920’s


Margaret Sanger: During and after WWI, birth control clinics appear in a few major cities Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, begins to find receptive audience among middle class women With less fear of pregnancy, unmarried women felt less guilt about enjoying sex Popular Freudianism—> sexual pleasure is healthy, repression is unhealthy Margaret Sanger


Slide35: Margaret Sanger: Advocate for Birth Control


Limits of Popular Image of Women I: Small growth in women's participation in labor force 1930: 60% of female workers either African American or immigrants —> most domestic servants or garment workers "Labor-saving" devices at home did not bring leisure —> higher standards of cleanliness Limits of Popular Image of Women I


Slide37: Household Appliance Inventions


Limits of Popular Image of Women II: New opportunities in personal grooming fields —> most low-paying Professional men resist opening up career fields to women —> opportunities for women restricted in medicine and law A few women elected state governors —> little political activity by women —> widely involved in educational & welfare programs 1921 Sheppard-Towner Federal Maternity & Infancy Act established rural pre-natal and infant centers —> allowed to lapse by 1929 Limits of Popular Image of Women II


The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): League of Women Voters: encouraged informed voting with non-partisan publicity Alice Paul's National Women's Party demands Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Many women's groups and social welfare agencies oppose ERA because they fear losing special legal protections offered to women The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)


Slide42: Alice Paul: Advocate for the ERA


The Popularity of Hollywood Movies: Hollywood movies publicize the "new woman", especially as temptress and trendsetter Movies redefine standards of physical beauty and standards of decency & etiquette Nickelodeons — silent, individual "flickers" — original form of movies at amusement parks By the 1920's hundreds of millions saw movies every week The Popularity of Hollywood Movies


Slide44: Mary Pickford: America’s Sweetheart


Slide45: Rudolph Valentino Charlie Chaplin


The Radio: Radio broadcasting begins in 1920's Popular entertainment offered for "free", subsidized by advertisers "Amos 'n Andy" a comedy satirizing lazy, comical African Americans most popular radio show Audiences for live entertainment declines as millions of Americans stay at home and listen to radio as family entertainment The Radio


Slide49: The New Parlor Activity: Listening to the Radio


Slide51: Amos & Andy


New Print Media: Time magazine started in 1920's —> snappily-written re-write of weekly stories —> beginning of Henry Luce Time-Life empire Newspaper chains begin to link country together National media publicize celebrities and heroes and sports stars —> national notoriety New Print Media


Charles Lindbergh: Lucky Lindy: May 20, 1927 Charles Lindbergh completes first solo trans-Atlantic flight from Long Island to Paris in his plane, The Spirit of St Louis —> 33 hour flight Eight others had died trying! Lindbergh becomes a world-wide hero Lindbergh becomes symbol of reconciliation of man and machine, individualization & industrialization Charles Lindbergh: Lucky Lindy


Slide55: Lucky Lindy’s Flight


Slide56: Sister Aimee Semple McPherson Sister Aimee Semple McPherson Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis


Slide60: Lindbergh’s NYC Welcoming Parade


Youth Culture: Majority of teenagers in high school for the first time during 1920's College enrollment reaches 10% Teenage culture begins to emerge —> school, friends, athletics, clubs, sororities, dating, proms, movie-going Greater tolerance for premarital sexual activity —> "necking" and "petting" parties Not sexual promiscuity, but earlier intimacy between future spouses Youth Culture


Spectator Sports: Shorter work hours lead to more recreational & leisure activities College football and professional baseball major spectator sports Babe Ruth of NY Yankees became national idol Energetic dancing — "Charleston" —reflect growing influence of popular African American culture Spectator Sports


Slide64: Babe Ruth: The Great Bambino


Slide66: Red Grange: The Galloping Ghost


Jazz: Rhythmic, compelling music grew out of New Orleans brothels and gambling dens Blended blues, syncopated ragtime, marches Highlighted improvisatory musical genre White groups introduce white audiences to new jazz styles; "Jazz is the folk music of the machine age." Jazz


Slide70: Jazz Great Louis Armstrong


Slide71: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra


Slide72: White Jazzmen


The Art of Alienation: WWI generation continues rebellion against Victorian purity —> new target: progressive moralism War experience alienates artists and writers from official authority, small town life, big business, conformity, and materialism Unconventional bohemian life-styles of Greenwich Village, NY and Paris Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot pioneer new poetic styles reflective of the new mood of alienation Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Possos, and Sinclair Lewis pioneer new narrative prose styles The Art of Alienation


Slide74: Ezra Pound


Slide75: T.S. Eliot


Slide78: Ernest Hemingway


Slide79: Sinclair Lewis


Slide80: John Dos Passos


Slide81: John Dos Passos’ U.S.A. Trilogy: An American Masterpiece ~ the best fictional portrait of America in the 20’s


Marcus Garvey: One million blacks leave rural South for urban North during WWI for better jobs —> riots and unemployment dash hopes of rapid progress Marcus Garvey, Jamaican, brings Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to US in 1916 in hopes of restoring black pride by returning African Americans to Africa and Africa to Africans (decolonization) Half a million black Americans join his movement —> first mass movement of African Americans in history Garvey convicted of mail fraud in 1925 and sentenced to prison for watering stock in Black Star shipping line to return blacks to Africa Marcus Garvey


Slide83: Marcus Garvey


Slide87: Marcus Garvey’s Arrest


The Harlem Renaissance: Renaissance of black writers, painters, musicians in Harlem, NY Young black artists found their subjects in the street life of the urban ghettoes Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes prominent new black writers Alain Locke's The New Negro—> anthology of black writings of the 1920's reflecting an emerging new black racial consciousness The Harlem Renaissance


Slide89: Zora Neale Huston


Slide90: Claude McKay


Slide91: Langston Hughes


Slide92: "Words Like Freedom" There are words like Freedom Sweet and wonderful to say. On my heartstrings freedom sings All day everyday. There are words like Liberty That almost make me cry. If you had known what I know You would know why. -Langston Hughes


Slide93: Alain Locke


The WASP Reaction: Small town WASP reaction against new developments of the post-WWI era: movies, literature, theatre, gambling, drinking, dancing, Sabbath-breaking Value small town/rural qualities: neighborliness, small communities, sameness of race, religion, ethnicity Growth of cheap mass media made it impossible for local elites to monopolize cultural influences and values The WASP Reaction


Sacco & Vanzetti: 1921: two radical anarchists, Sacco & Vanzetti, convicted of robbery and murder in Boston Case achieves international notoriety when liberals and progressives complain about unfair trial and proclaim their innocence Local judicial, & political elites refuse to grant retrial—> Sacco & Vanzetti executed in 1927 Case became symbol of American bigotry and prejudice Sacco & Vanzetti


Slide101: Sacco & Vanzetti


Post World War I Nativism: Post WWI immigration quickly resumed its high pre-war levels —> nearly one million/year Most immigrants Catholics or Jews WASP Americans warn that Americans might become hybrid race —> labor unions support restricting immigration Post World War I Nativism


Mexican American Immigration: Mexicans fleeing chaos and bloodshed of Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 come to US —> population X 2 in Texas, X 4 in CA WWI labor shortages and growth of farming lead to relaxed enforcement of immigration laws Single young Mexicans migrate to northern urban centers —> settle in immigrant Mexican barrios Mexican American Immigration


National Origins Acts: 1921 Senators Lodge(MA) and Hiram Johnson(CA) introduce legislation to limit annual immigration to 350,000 Quota parcels out available spaces by admitting up to 3% of nationalities living in US as of 1910 1924 Act: cuts annual number to 150,000 and uses 1890 as base year —> effectively eliminates Japanese and Eastern Europeans( esp. Jews) Congress creates Border Patrol to eliminate illegal immigration from Mexico The nearly free flow of immigrants coming to America is ended National Origins Acts


Slide106: U.S. Immigration 1880-1930


The Prohibition Amendment: Nativists saw alcohol as a common abuse amongst immigrants—> Irish, Germans, Italians Progressives stressed the inefficiency (absenteeism, lateness) and public health aspects 1920: 18th Amendment passed —> not total: private citizens could still drink, but they could not make, sell, transport, or import drink of .5% alcohol or more Aim of amendment to rduce consumption of alcohol by taking the profit out of it —> reduced by 50% The Prohibition Amendment


Consequences of Prohibition: Enforcement underfunded and understaffed Urban speakeasies and rural moonshine distillers still common Public moves alcoholic preferences from beer & wine to hard liquor —> less bulk, greater safety and profits Women's rights expanded as speakeasies allow women in, when saloons & taverns kep them out Violent gangster culture flourishes —> Al Capone leads Italisn gangs to Chicago prominence Consequences of Prohibition


Slide114: Prohibition Speakeasie & Al Capone


Fundamentalism vs. Darwinism: Many rural Protestants felt threatened by secularism —> scientific "value neutrality" and "relativism" Darwinism & pragmatism left traditional religious and moral teachings open to doubt or disbelief Biblical literalists begin "fundamentalism" —> "Biblical inerrancy": every word of the Bible is literally true Fundamentalists claim to be traditionalists, but really radical modernists —> abandon interpretive tradition Fundamentalism vs. Darwinism


The Scopes Monkey Trial: Darwinism denied the divine origins of mankind —> fundamentalist Southern Baptists especially disturbed TN "Primitive Baptists" convince TN state legislator to make the teaching of evolution a crime —> other southern states pass similar laws TN skeptics supported by new Americans for Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenge constitutionality of law Trial stimulated local Dayton, TN economy —> championship boxing match: Clarence Darrow vs. William Jennings Bryan Major issue: how much should religious belief influence public education in a nation where church and state were constitutionally separated The Scopes Monkey Trial


Slide117: Clarence Darrow & William Jennings Bryan


The New KKK I: 1919: 70+ African Americans lynched, 11 were burned to death Black veterans of WWI are determined to fight back —> 11 whites killed in Tulsa riot KKK were worried about the changes and conflicts in American society which they attribute to new immigrants, rebellious women, and uppity African Americans New KKK accepted only native born WASPs —> hooded Klansmen also attack Mexicans, Japanese, Jews The New KKK I


Slide119: The New KKK


The New KKK II: KKK headquarters in Indianapolis, IN —> 33% members come from larger cities KKK drew on small town American values and "secret societies" —> family-oriented with extensive female membership Most members came from working and middle classes —> KKK offers them status, security, and the promise of restoring white supremacy to US Violent methods: whispering campaigns, boycotts, floggings, cross-burnings, kidnappings, acid mutilations, murder 3 million members by 1925 —> Klan candidates won political office and control of state legislatures in IN, TX, OK, & OR The New KKK II


Warren G. Harding & The Politics of Normalcy: Republican domination of White House and Congress from 1920-1932 Weak presidents gave way before strong Cabinets and Congress Harding made some strong cabinet appointments: Hughes, Wallace, Hoover —> also corrupt cronies from Ohio Teapot Dome Scandal : Harding-appointed interior secretary convicted of accepting bribes for leasing naval oil reseves to private companies Warren G. Harding & The Politics of Normalcy


Slide124: President Warren G. Harding


Slide126: Harding’s Teapot Dome Scandal


Calvin Coolidge: Coolidge handled Harding's scandals with dignity and efficiency Coolidge believed in small-town democracy and minimal government "One of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business." "Civilization and profits go hand in hand." Calvin Coolidge


Slide128: President Calvin Coolidge


Slide129: Coolidge, Mellon, Hoover: The Republican Triumverate


Andrew Mellon's Trickle Down Theory: Mellon believed that prosperity "trickled down" from the rich to the poor in an expanding economy Rich would invest profits —> expand production —> higher more —> competition for skilled workers —> higher wages and better working conditions Mellon preached tax cutting on wealthy as best way to stimulate economy —> Congress cuts taxes by 50% Andrew Mellon's Trickle Down Theory


Associationalism: Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover advocated progressive brand of capitalism —> associationalism Cooperation between business and government through trade associations, groups of corporations organized by industry Role of government —> promote cooperation among businesses, advise on how they can act in public interest, ensure that everyone plays by the rules Blended individualism of the past with the progressive emphasis on planning and cooperation for the future Associationalism


Consequences of the Mellon & Hoover Approaches: Both ended up placing government in the hands of business Mellon's tax policies helped concentrate more wealth in fewer hands and corporations Hoover's associationalism put more corporate power in fewer hands and enabled them to use the government for their own selfish purposes Federal government continues growth begun during WWI —> pretense of laissez-faire dropped Consequences of the Mellon & Hoover Approaches


The Farmers Begin to Suffer: Agriculture still a major segment of US economy —>33% of US depends on farming Farmer's income shrinks by 50% during 1920's Causes of farmer's decline: 1) US withdraws wartime price supports for wheat; 2) Ended food program for war refugees; 3) European farmers ramp up production—> surplus drives down international prices; 4) New dietary habits of urban population leads to lower per capita consumption; 5) New synthetic fibers drive down demand for cotton and wool Farmer's efforts to organize politically and economically lead to increased federal support —> nothing stops slide The Farmers Begin to Suffer


Workers in the 1920's: Coolidge ran a "businessman's government" No gains for workers in wages, hours, or better conditions Promises of "profit sharing" largely talk —> used to weaken union movement Workers in the 1920's


Troubles With Europe: German bankruptcy and hyper-inflation weaken European economy Dawes' Plan: US will loan Germany money to repay France & GB —> they will take German repayments and use them to repay loans to US 1921 Five-Power Agreement: first disarmament treaty in modern history —> sea powers (GB, US, Japan, France, Italy) agree to freeze battleship construction for 10 years 1928 Kellog-Briand Pact: major nations sign pact "outlawing war" as a means of settling differences Troubles With Europe


Slide136: Signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928


The Election of 1928: Calvin Coolidge: "I do not choose to run." —> Republicans nominate Herbert Hoover Democratic Party split between Southern & Western rural native whites and Northern urban ethnic immigrants Al Smith, NY Governor, nominated by Democrats —> urban, sophisticated, "wet", rumored to be alcoholic, and Catholic Surge of national prosperity made Republican Hoover impossible to beat Major US cities go Democrat for the first time — Western farmers switch to Democrats The Election of 1928


Slide139: President Herbert Hoover


The Great Bull Market on Wall Street: 1928: greatest bull market in history : investment —> speculation —> gambling Easy credit of 1920's fueled market spree: flow of gold into US to pay WWI debts, expanding money supply, large corporate profits, lower corporate taxes Brokers loans and low margin requirements make it too easy for investors to overextend —> too exposed to ups and downs of market Federal Reserve attempts in 1929 to raise interest rates and dampen market speculation were too little, too late The Great Bull Market on Wall Street


The Great Crash: October 1929: Black Thursday: panic spreads among investors—> "Sell! Sell!" became the terrified cry from the NY Stock Exchange After temporary quiet, the market completely crashed on Tuesday October 29, 1929: THE GREAT CRASH Industrial stocks lose 50% value in one month —> continues for four years Stocks lose 80% of value Great Crash did NOT cause the Great Depression, but did damage the economy and broke the unbounded optimism and trust which fueled it The Great Crash: October 1929


The Slide in Global Perspective: Beginning of the greatest depression in the history of the modern world US experienced the worst depression —> shock waves spread to all across the globe Failed US banks —> no German loans —> no European repayments —> more failed US banks Efforts of each country to go off the gold standard, devalue currency, and erect high trade barriers —> mutual collapse and poverty —> world trade declines by 70% in three years Collapse of world crop prices forces rural banks to close —> collapse of US banking system The Slide in Global Perspective


The Causes of the Great Depression I: Consumer spending slowed to halt in 1928-29 —> warehouses filled with unbought inventory Huge increases in corporate profits fueled business investment in technology and new production —> workers more productive, but not better paid —> not able to purchase the mass goods and services they produced People made up the gap between income and purchases by borrowing —> consumer debt rose 250% in 1920's Extremely unequal distribution of wealth placed bulk of wealth in hands of richest 1% —> working classes had shrinking % of wealth The Causes of the Great Depression I


Bank Failure: Greedy bankers, no longer conservative guardians of deposits, diverted more funds into risky investments offering sky-high returns Decentralized US banking system left no way to handle failed banks 50% of US banks still outside Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve controls on member banks pretty weak Bank Failure


Corporate Structure: No government monitoring of stock exchanges Insider stock trading , bribery, and corruption were rampant Government non-enforcement of anti-trust laws led to continued business consolidation —> corporate power unchecked High corporate profits from expanding sales and lower taxes —> no need to borrow from banks —> Federal Reserve powerless to cool investment with higher interest rates —> no caution exercised by investment banks on corporate activity Corporate Structure


Economic Ignorance: Few understood the interdependence of national economies —> protective measures taken by all countries just made matters worse Few understood the connections between Federal Reserve actions expanding the money supply and lowering interest rates —> made speculation and stock market gambling even easier —> no recognizable connection between stock price and corporate performance Economic Ignorance