The 1920s saw significant economic, social, and political changes in the United States. Economically, the country prospered after WWI as Europeans paid back loans and Germany paid reparations, while Henry Ford's assembly line made cars more affordable. Socially, new technologies like radios and movies became popular, and women gained more freedom as flappers. However, not all groups shared equally in prosperity, and the decade also saw a rise in nativism as expressed by the KKK's resurgence and passage of national origin quotas severely restricting immigration.

1. The
Roaring
1920s

2. Economic Changes

3. After WW1… The U.S. experienced an economic boom (good
times!) because…
1) The Allied powers paid the U.S. money that was loaned
during the war and Germany paid reparations to the Allies
including the U.S.
2) Henry Ford invented the assembly line making the Model T
automobile affordable for the masses.
3) Being able to drive, Americans began to move to the
suburbs (community located near a city)
4) Americans started buying on credit they bought vacuum
cleaners, refrigerators, and washing machines.
Economy Booms

4. 1907 average price
of a car was $2,000
1908 Ford
automobiles $800
1914 Ford $500
1925 Model T $350
Effect of the Assembly line

5. Goods Americans were able to buy
in the 1920s

6. Glenwood
Stove Ad
1920s consumerism led to luxury living:
New appliances like refrigerators,
washing machines, & vacuums

7. 1920s advertising

8. NBC was the 1st successful radio network
1920s consumerism led to luxury living:
Radios & movies boomed
100 million Americans went to the
movies in 1929 per weekThe first “talkie”

9. • How were Americans buying the new
consumer goods?

10. • During the ‘Roaring 20s’, Who did not
experience the economic boom?

11. Sharecroppers in the South (1920)
• During the ‘Roaring 20s’, Who did not
experience the economic boom?

12. Political Changes

13. President Calvin Coolidge:
•was the 30th president.
•Was pro-business (he wanted the U.S. to
focus on making and selling products)
•Kellogg-Briand Pact: signed an agreement
that outlawed war.
Political changes Back to normalcy
President Warren G. Harding:
•was the 29th president.
•wanted to return to normal times.
•Tea Pot Dome Scandal: scandal where a
close aide/friend of President Harding
accepted bribes and sold U.S. oil to
companies illegally.

14. • What was the main concern of the
presidencies of Coolidge and Harding?
“The chief business of the American people is
business…the man who builds a factory builds a
temple—the man who works there worships there”
Calvin Coolidge (30th President 1923-1929)
Warren G.
Harding (29th
President 1921-1923)

15. Social Changes

16. • What happened in the 1920s?

17. • What happened in the 1920s?

18. • What happened in the 1920s?

19. • Great Literature

20. • Women in the 20safter the 19th amendment (suffrage)
women became more confident. This new “modern
woman” was known as a flapper. They worked as nurses,
teachers, and politicians.
• The new youth culture after WW1, younger Americans
moved to cities where they followed all the new fads of the
time! They went to dance clubs, wore new fashions, and
drove fast cars.
Social changes A changing society

22. Women and the Family– “Flappers” rebelled against Victorian customs
– Divorce rates doubled
But…most women looked forward
to lives as a mother and a wife

23. • How did women’s attitudes change in the
1920s?
Before

25. Police officers overseeing the dumping of beer
The US is voted “Dry” of
alcohol as the 18th
amendment was passed
prohibiting the selling,
making, and
consumption of alcoholic
beverages.

26. Prohibition (the 18th amendment) The
ban on alcohol during the 20s led to;
Moonshiners: people who made
alcohol illegally.
Bootleggers: people who transported
alcohol illegally.
Speakeasies: illegal bars that were
open and served alcohol during
Prohibition.
Organized crime (gangs): the most
famous American gangster of the 20s
was Al “Scarface” Capone. He
controlled the alcohol business during
Prohibition and accumulated over 100
million dollars.
Social changes A changing society

28. Al Capone, a famous American
gangster was one of many who
became rich by selling alcohol illegally
during the Prohibition era. He is
famous for also killing his gangster
enemies.
The St. valentine’s Day
massacre where Al Capone
ordered the killing of 7 enemies
is an example of the increased
violence and crime of the
1920s brought by Prohibition.

29. Many Americans were opposed to the 18th amendment
and continually broke the law by becoming
“moonshiners”—making alcohol illegally at night to avoid
getting caught.
The alcohol was taken to
places called “speakeasies”
since if allowed in you had to
speak softly so that the police
wouldn’t find you and arrest
you for breaking the law and
drinking alcohol. The picture
above shows an example of
how you would be greeted at
the door of a speakeasy. Most
speakeasies would ask you for
a password to ensure you are
not a cop.

31. • The Scopes Monkey Trial
Creationism theory
states that God created
the universe including
human beings.
Theory of Evolution (supported by
Scientist Charles Darwin that states that
human beings evolved from apes) In 1925 in Tennessee a 24 year
old teacher decided to test a
law that made it illegal to teach
Charles Darwin’s theory of
evolution (the theory or idea
that states that humans evolved
(came) from apes/monkeys
rather than from God).
The teacher risked being arrested
because he felt that it was unfair
because of separation of church and
state.
The Scopes Monkey Trial ended with
the teacher John Thomas Scopes as
guilty and the judge fined him $100.

32. Nativism in the 1920s
•Against all immigrants:
•The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited the number of
immigrants coming to the U.S. from any country to 3% of the
number of residents from that same country living in the United
States as of the U.S. Census of 1910. Immigrants from Western
European countries (England…) were still allowed to come.
•Against immigrants from Asia:
•The Quota Act of the National Origins Act of 1924 did not
allow immigrants from Asia to come to the U.S.

33. •Against African Americans:
•Race Riots the influx of African
Americans moving North increased the
tension between whites and blacks, this
led to several riots in many northern
cities. The most famous race riot was
the ‘Chicago race riot’ that began
in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 1919 and
ended on August 3.During the riot,
dozens died and hundreds were injured
Nativism in the 1920s
•Against minorities:
•The Ku Klux Klan membership to the KKK increased during the
1920s. There were about 3 to 8 million klan members in the U.S.
*NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People)—organization founded by W.E.B. DuBois to oppose
the attacks of the KKK.

34. • Estimated income of bootleg liquor
industry in 1929: $3 billion
• Entire US federal budget in 1929: $2.9
billion
Estimated number of speakeasies (illegal
saloons/bars) in US during prohibition:
• Revival of the KKK
• Membership in the Ku Klux Klan during the 1870s:
500,000
• Membership in the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s: 4
million
• Membership in the Ku Klux Klan during the 1960s: 20,000• The movie Birth of a Nation, held the
record for most watched movie for 22
years.
• The Film that finally broke Birth of a
Nation's record: Walt Disney's Snow White

35. The KKK provided a sense of identity to its
members: Women’s Order, Junior Order for
boys, Tri-K Klub for girls, Krusaders for
assimilated immigrants
Klan violence met resistance &
membership declined by 1925

36. Nativism in the 1920s
•Against communists:
•Communism is a system of government in which the government
owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as
land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property.
In 1917 Russia became the first communist country after its ‘Bolshevik
revolution’.
•Some Americans, especially the wealthy and those in government
positions disliked and feared communism because they thought
that poor Americans would also rise up and eliminate the
government. A person that doesn’t like rules or a government is
known as an anarchist.
•The Sacco and Vanzetti trial trial in which two Italian immigrants
were convicted of murder and executed. Many Americans considered
the verdict of the trial unfair and driven by dislike and fear of
immigrants and communism.
•The Palmer Raids attempts by Mitchell Palmer, the U.S. Attorney
General, to arrest and deport communists from the United States.

39. 1. Which events best support the image of the 1920’s as a decade of nativist sentiment?
1.the passage of the National Origins Act and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
2.the Scopes trial and the passage of women’s suffrage
3.the Washington Naval Conference and the Kellogg-Briand Pact
4.the growth of the auto industry and the Teapot Dome Affair
2. In the 1920’s, the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Sacco-Vanzetti trial were typical of the
1.rejection of traditional customs and beliefs 3. acceptance of cultural differences
2.increase in nativism and intolerance 4.support of humanitarian causes
3. Which feature of the immigration laws of the 1920’s was different from prior laws?
1.Quotas were set to limit immigration from many countries
2.Preference was granted to Chinese immigrants
3.Refugees from war-torn Europe were encouraged to enter the United States.
4.Efforts were made to stop illegal immigration from Latin America.
4. The data in the chart support the idea that the immigration laws of 1921 and 1924 were primarily designed to
1.stop illegal entry into the country 3. admit skilled workers
2.encourage immigration from southern Europe 4. reduce immigration from specific regions
5. The data in the chart above is an example of a
1. nativist law 3. unfair law against Americans
2. a fair and balanced law 4. problem for African Americans