1920s – Great Depression – New Deal – Rise of Fascism / Militarism up until WWII –

US History Notes

2 Views • Positive – The 1920s looked great if you grew up in the

1930s.
o Dancing, fads, sports, gangsters, money, etc.
• Negative Reality – ¼ of the population in poverty,
corruption, crime, discrimination of blacks, foreigners.
o Wages were low, etc.
1920 President
• Warren G. Harding (1920-1923)
• Newspaper man of Marion, Ohio.
• Senator and conservative Republican
• Slogan “return to normalcy”
• He liked to be liked, and most of America liked him.
o Prohibition didn’t stop him
o Golfed whenever, etc.
o Media didn’t care; they would be attacking the
President if they wrote about him.
o Possibly the worst corrupt President, though the
Ohio Gang was behind much of the corruption.
Andrew Mellon o Harding himself was like Grant, unaware of
what happened

Washington Conference • Secretary of the Treasury (1921-1932) – longest ever

1921 in position.
• A favorite of big businesses, he did what benefited
them.

• Hosted by Charles Evans Hughes

• After WWI, people were against anything war related.
• Disarmament was a big thing, so this covered that.
• The big countries were the US, Britain, France, Italy,
and Japan.
• Limited arms, and tried to limit submarines.
• Also tried to ban poison gas, which was finalized at the
Geneva Convention in 1926.
Administrative Scandals • Charles Forbes
(p488) • After WWI, a cabinet office was created called the
Veterans Bureau
o To take care of Veteran physical problems.
o Set up hospitals and clinics.
o Forbes was put in charge of this.
o He needed to order a lot of equipment, so he
would buy two with government money for the
price of one, and sell them both for lower
prices, pocketing money.
o The book keeper felt guilty, and shot himself in
a park.
o He left the info on where the purchasing books
were.
o Forbes was sent to prison for embezzling, and
Harding was not aware of this.

• Harry M. Dougherty
• Appointed Attorney General of the US.
• Took bribes from gangs who didn’t want to be
arrested.
• He lied to Harding until he was busted.

• Teapot Dome
• Government bought oil fields for the navy to utilize.
Harding
o Elk River CA and Teapot Dome in Wyoming
• Albert Fall – Got them to transfer down a level to the
interior dept.
• Contacted Harry Sinclair and sold them for cheap to
his gas stations
• Fall got money back, Government got them in 1923.

• July 23 – Harding went to Alaska, 1st President to do so.

• On the way back, he got a message regarding some
scandals.
• He knew then he should have been more responsible.
• Before returning, he became severely depressed and
Calvin Coolidge • This Vice President becomes President after Harding’s
death.
• He was informed at 2 A.M. of his new job.
• “Silent Cal” – only said things once, so you would
never get caught.
• Born in Vermont to a poor family, hard working and
honest.
• Went to Amherst for schooling, became a lawyer.
• The Governor of Massachusetts during the Boston
1919 Police Strike, when he called the National Guard
to help.
1924 Election
o Every police officer who didn’t return was fired.
• The perfect opposite of Harding, he liked as little
government as possible, as so did the people.

• The Republicans nominated Coolidge again for

President.
• The Democrats nominated John W. Davis
o Only succeeded in the South.
1928 • Coolidge won the election
• He was pro-business and advertising
o Madison Avenue – Ad places were formed.
• He gave veterans of WWI bonuses
o Large bonds, but not payable until 1945.

• Economy had recovered and was booming.

Election of 1928
• Coolidge could have ran again, but he choose instead
to retire.
o He took a better paying newspaper job.
o Spent the summer and fall fishing in northern
WI.
• Coolidge died in 1933 – he was very popular, good but
not great.

• Republican candidate – Herbert Hoover of Iowa “Who

Hoover • Stock Market crashed soon after he was elected,
depression began.
Video – A Walk Through
The 20th Century • Miss America Pageant started in Atlantic City, NJ in
1921.
• Flapper – term for women in 1920s
• Movies – The big fad of the 20s, inexpensive at a dime
or nickel.
o Before 1927, they were silent with captions,
overacting, etc
• 1927 – The 1st Talkie movie – “The Jazz Singer” with Al
Jolson
o Basically ended the silent movies.
o Rudolph Valentino – actor guy.
• Stuff at the movies: news, cartoons, serials, etc.
o 1928 popular cartoon – Felix the Cat
o The “Steamboat Willie” cartoon was by Walt
Disney, and starred Mickey Mouse voiced by
Walt.
• Serial – like a soap opera, with an exciting ending.
o The ‘Perils of Pauline’ was the most popular.
o Cliff hangers – kept you coming back for more.
• Feature Films – fairly short, the entire movie was about
2 hours
• 1928 – The 1st Academy Award was given to “Wings”.
• Sports were very popular in the 1920s.
• The most popular was baseball, with the World Series.
o They Yankees dominated due to George “Babe”
Ruth.
o He was a tremendous hitter, the 1st great
homerun hitter.
• 1921 – Ruth broke the record hitting 51 home runs.
NFL • Only 2 of the original teams are left today, the Packers
and Bears.
Bobby Jones
• Founded the Masters golf tournament in 1934
o He was a great amateur golfer
Boxing
• The best boxer was Jack Dempsey.
o He got tough by coming from mining towns
• 1926 – He was upset by Jean Tunney
• 1927 – A rematch was held in Soldiers Field
o Over a million people came to watch this event,
Charles Luneburg a record.
o Tunney wins the “long count fight”, and both
retired.

• 1927 – Flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop in

Radio his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.
• He became the 1st Time Magazine person of the year
• He was the ultimate hero of the 1920s.

• A big invention along with the car

• It was very large and sat in the living room
• There was only 1 band, AM, since FM was for the
government.
Margin Rules • News, sports, music, and radio shows played.
• Soap operas began on the radio.
• 1920s – government regulated the station name
letters
o W was in the East, K in the west

• You put down a little bit of money and your broker

loans the rest. In the booming 20s economy, you
Stock Market • In the 1920s, it mostly continued to rise.
• But many speculators knew it was going to come
down.
• Those who heard this began to sell, along with big and
October 29, 1929 little businesses that caught on as well.
• The Stock Market crashed, the date is known as “Black
Friday”.
o 50% of value was lost
o Some stocks dropped to $0.
Installment Plan • This was a factor in sending the country into a
depression.
Sacco vs. Vanzetti • You could buy large items, such as the radio, by simply
putting down a fraction of the price, and paying later
over time.
Scopes Monkey Trial
• A case about two anarchists who were accused of
murder.
• They became famous because of how they were tried.
• It was one of the most famous cases.

• Came out of Fundamentalism, or believing the Bible

word for word.
o This conflicted with the theory of evolution.
o It was illegal to teach evolution in Tennessee.
• John Scopes taught his class this
• He was arrested, but was defended for free by
Clarence Darrow, an agnostic attorney who was one of
the best.
• William Jennings Bryan prosecuted, he was a
fundamentalist.
• The media came from all over to report this.
• Scopes admitted, and the Jury found him guilty.
• Darrow called Bryan up to be a witness to the Bible
1929 Smoot-Hawley Tariff • This raised the tariffs to the highest level on record,
50-80%
• It stopped trade almost entirely, and destroyed
Stock Market Crash overseas trade.

• It caused a loss of about $40 billion, and stocks

dropped by 40%.
• The market bounced back up a month later as
expected.
• Consumer confidence was destroyed.
• Unemployment went up to as much as 33%, and was
counted at 12 million by 1932.
• “Hoovervilles” were shanty houses that the poor lived
Anti-Depression Action
in.
o Hoover believed that you should teach a person
how to fish, not give them a fish.
o As a result, people blamed Hoover for their
miseries.

• 1. Proclaimed the depression as “temporary”

• 2. 1929 – 1931 The Federal Government did nothing
o It was the job of State and Local government
o Men went from town to town for work, known as
hobos.
• 3. 1932 Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Factors o Lends money to banks, companies, and direct
relief
o Gives credit to farmers
o Eases rules on bankruptcy
o Created jobs in construction and conservation
fields.
 Boulder Dam was built this way.
 Now known as Hoover Dam after the
President
Bonus Army • Many WWI veterans had bonds, and they wanted them
now. They marched to D.C. to demand their payment
then, not the 1940s.
• 15,000 marched, and the House said ok, but the
Senate said no.
• They waited and waited, but received the same
results.
• Hoover told Douglas MacArthur to make them leave
the area.
o Tanks were sent, people were tear gassed, etc.
o They were driven out of the city.
1932 Election
• This was not planned, so MacArthur was sent to the
Philippines.
• People blamed Hoover for this attack.
• Hoover was unpopular, and avoided the Olympics
because of this.

• Hoover was nominated again by the Republicans

• The Democratic nominee was Franklin D. Roosevelt
with John Nance Garner as his Vice.
New Deal o His song was “Happy Days are Here Again”.
• FDR won, and called for a New Deal
o This would bring us out of the depression.
o We could not stand around anymore.
• Hoover left and became a millionaire, and translated
Radio
books a lot.
o Lived until 1964, being 90 years old.

• Created many various agencies in the government.

• FDR was intelligent in the media, using radio to send
messages.
o Gave fireside chats for people sounding right
there.
FDR • Had an attempted assassination, but the bullet struck
the mayor of Chicago instead, the attacker was
Zangara.
• Could have been very history changing, but FDR
Video: New Deal entered the office.

• People did not want charity; they would rather get a

job.
• FDR proclaimed a bank holiday to close the banks.
o Solvent ones would reopen, but bad ones
wouldn’t.
o This reassured people to put their money back
in the bank.
Opponents of Roosevelt• Francis Perkins – 1st woman cabinet member, as
Secretary of Labor for FDR.
• Walter Lipmann – Made the term 100 days in a
Chicago paper.
o As 15 bills were pushed in 100 days under FDR
o He also made the phrase cold war.

• Francis Townshend – Doctor from CA.

o Called on government to give the elderly a
monthly $200 pension.
o This eventually led to the Social Security Act of
1935
• Charles Coughlin – Catholic priest
o Called the Radio Priest for his Sunday radio
show.
o Became a critic of FDR, and taken off the radio
in 1940.
o He was a fascist.
• Huey Long – FDR’s biggest opponent, the King Fish
o Improved Louisiana as governor in the 1920s
o He ruled his state like a dictator, founding LSU.
1936 Election • Democratic Nominee – FDR and Garner for Vice
• Republican Nominee – Alfred Landon of Kansas
• The Literary Digest did a straw vote to see who would
win.
o Received 2.7 million results, most wanted
Landon
o The cards were sent to the wealthy who liked
Landon
• FDR still won the election easily
• African Americans moved to the Democratic side this
election
Supreme Court • The Literary Digest went out of business
• George Gallop made the 1st scientific poll, which was
correct.
January 1937
o This poll is still used today

• 1937 – FDR put in a plan to increase it from 9 people

to 15.
• Congress rejected this, since it would hurt Checks and
Balances

• The 1st of many sit down strikes happed at General

Motors
Video – The Thirties o These damaged machinery and were costly
• The AFL was made of craft unions – those who do the
same thing
• 1938 – Congress of Industrial Organizations is founded
by John L. Lewis. This union is made of people of all
Japan – 1920s • Japan’s economy was prospering, but forced to import
all goods.
• Japan was once mainly producing junk products
o When the depression hit, people stopped
buying this stuff.
• 1931 – A military government took over in Japan
o They decided to take whatever resources they
needed.
1930s o Occupied Manchuria in China, and then quit the
League
 Manchuria was filled with natural
resources

• The weather in the 1930s was some of the worst in

history
o Cold winters, freezing air temperatures
o Heaviest rains, largest floods, etc.
o Hottest summers as well, made many records.
• 1934 – Wind in the Plains blew many crops across the
country.
o This is known as the Dust Bowl.
• Okies – traveled to California to seek work, but few
jobs existed.
• Some 30s games – bridge, Chinese checkers
o Scrabble invented, Monopoly invented 1935
o Many played jigsaw puzzles and bingo at
churches.
o Pinball was invented in 1932
o Baseball was still the most popular, with the
Yankees as #1.
• Joe DiMaggio – 1st to earn $100,000 in a season.
Olympics • The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Germany.
• Germany obtained the majority of the medals.
• American Jesse Owens dominated track with 4 medals
though.
• Ralph Medcat placed 2nd with him, both were African
American.
• Joe Lewis was the heavyweight champion.
o 1936 – Fought Mac Schmaeling of Germany and
lost.
o 1937 – Took back the title from James Baradich
 Fight lasted 124 seconds, which Hitler
Charles Lindbergh didn’t hear about since his radio was cut
towards the end.
 Lewis retired in 1951; he lost a lot of
money.
 Lived as a bum on the streets until 1981.

• Received a telegram from a guy, who advised him to

spend some time in Mexico City, away from all the
paparazzi.
o Married Anne Moore and 1931 had baby Charles
L. Jr.
o Built an estate in New Jersey to avoid the New
York scene.
• Summer 1932 – Their baby was kidnapped with a
ladder.
o They received a ransom of $50,000 later on.
o This was the crime of the century, and had
FBI many false leads and alarms, until they realized
the baby was dead.
o The police had a bunch of pressure put on them
to find the villain who did this.
o Bruno Hauptman was traced to the ransom
money, but he said he was looking after it for a
friend.
John Dillinger • Was a smart robber, planning out all of his robberies,
and knew what to do. He would take hostages and put
them on the outside of his getaway car, so that the
police couldn’t shoot.
• He was captured and imprisoned in Chicago in 1933.
o Managed to escape prison, and since this was
so embarrassing, he was put as #1 on the list.
• Ana Sage – the former girlfriend of Dillinger, was held
as accomplice
o Used to set trap for Dillinger, by staking out a
place that they would agree to meet at.
o She went with him to Biograph Theater, where
she wore a red dress to be spotted by the FBI.
When entering, the FBI told him to freeze, but
he reached for a gun and was shot by Melvin
“Bonnie and Clyde” Pervis, an FBI agent. This was 1934.
• Bank Robberies were highly popular, due to the dislike
of banks.

• Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow when he robbed her

workplace, and they began to date.
• They teamed up with Bruch Borrow and Blanch, and a
random kid.
• They were very successful at robbing until 1934.
o They caught a Texas Ranger and ended up
killing him
o The Texas Rangers wanted revenge for this
man.
o They set a trap by using the random kid’s
father.
o Bonnie and Clyde came into an empty field,
Eleanor Roosevelt • Was very active in the public, being very ethical and
intelligent.
Edgar Burgan
• Ventriloquist, was good, but his mouth would move.
Magazines
• Many famous ones came out in the 1930s, and had to
be purchased at a stand, since most were not shipped
1930s Movies by mail yet.

• They were much like 1920s movies, with cartoons, etc.

o Woody Woodpecker, Tom & Jerry, Daffy Duck
o Community sings were shown, with the lyrics on
screen.
o Trailers were shown for new movies coming out.
• One of the greatest years was 1939, with big movie
releases
o The Wizard of Oz
o Gone with the Wind, a very long movie.

Hindenburg • 1937 – Walt Disney released a 75 minute cartoon

o Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
o 1938-1942 He released one large cartoon a
year
War of the Worlds o His favorite, Fantasia, was a flop though.

Science • Crashed in New Jersey when docking in 1937

o Wasn’t as bad as the radio made it seem
Emilia Earhart o This ended the use of the Zeppelin.

• A radio play, which scared many because of seeming

real.
Earhart • She and her navigator were supposed to refuel, but
never reached the island to do so. The Navy searched,
but never found her.
• Theories:
1. The Japanese caught her and held her prisoner
until she died.
2. She was a spy on the Japanese under FDR and was
Train captured.
3. Most likely it was an accident…

New York World Fair• This was the last great decade for riding in trains
o Flight was still to expensive and risky to do.
Automobile
• Wisconsin sent in Chatty Bell, the talking ceramic cow.

• Many things came because of the car:

o Highways, Road signs, Billboards, Gas Stations,
20s Fascism
Garages, Body Shops, Auto Insurance, Parking
Lots / Ramps, Drive-Thrus (1st of them were at
banks), and drive-ins (1931)

• A new Government began to develop, known as

fascism
o Founder was Benito Mussolini
o Wanted to revive the glory of ancient Rome
o Believed in strong military with parades, rallies,
etc.
Adolf Hitler o Used war if diplomatic trades could not be
arranged.
o The State was more important than the people
o Totalitarianism – total life controlled by party
o Very few personal freedoms, no assembly, no
free speech.
Germany • People became nervous as Germany expanded its
forces.
• 1935 – We tried to have Congress give money for the
army, but it was not accepted.
o However, the Neutrality Act was passed,
forbidding the US from selling weapons and
helping in wars.
• Germany attacked Poland on September 1st, 1939.
o Because of the Neutrality Act, we could not
help.
• Summer of 1940 – They became a world menace.
o A revised Neutrality Act allowed the US to sell
Election of 1940
weapons.
o Done by cash and carry – No borrowing of
money, and no shipping, must be bought
directly.

• The Democratic Party faced a decision

o FDR knew we would enter war, and wanted to
lead
o So they nominated him for a 3rd term, with
-------END OF
NOTES---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------