The University of Texas at Arlington Instructor: Dr. Allen Repko
HIST 1312: American History: 1865-Present Room UH 209 Phone 817-272-2338
THE ROARING TWENTIES: 1920-1929
#10
I. UNPRECEDENTED PROSPERITY
A. FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF “THE NEW ECONOMIC ERA”:
1. Steady increase in the wealth and incomes of the American people:
2. Mass immigration, rapid urbanization, giant industrial combines.
3. Novel social experiments (Prohibition), birth control, women’s suffrage, massmarket
advertising and consumer financing.
4. The sheer scale of the nation in the 1920’s was downright astonishing:
a. Population nearly doubled since 18900: mass immigration from SE Europe.
b. By 1920, a majority of Americans were city dwellers.
B. LIST OF CHANGES WROUGHT BY NEW TECHNOLOGIES AMAZING
1. Revolutionary technologies of electrical power, automobiles, radios, motion pictures
resulted in new and rapidly growing industries employing tens of thousands.
2. From 1919 to 1929 productivity increased 40 percent in industry and 26 percent in
agriculture. These productivity gains were due to three developments:
#1 Frederick W. Taylor’s scientific management theory.
#2 Ford’s pioneering of mass production by the assembly line technique and
production of interchangeable parts by automatic precision machinery.
#3 Industrial research: Began with the Mellon Institution of Industrial Research
at Pittsburg in 1913. NationalAcademy of Sciences created the National
Research Council in 1916--the fist effort to stimulate and organize research on a
national scale.
(1) By 1927 a least 1000 corporations were carrying on either independent or
co-operative research.
(2) By 1937, industry spent $180m; four years later, it spent $510m.
II. THREE PERSISTING PROBLEMS, 1918-1928
A. INCREASING LABOR MILITANCY
1. Postwar boom fueled by pent-up demand for consumer items like cars=inflation.
From 1914 to 1919 the cost of living had risen 77% and by 1920 had risen 105%.
2. Unprecedented outbreak of labor troubles: During 1919 there were 2,665 strikes
involving more than 4,000,000 workers.
3. Two major strikes associated with the “Red Scare”: US Steel, Boston Police Strike.
B. TROUBLED RACE RELATIONS:
1. Three factors:
a. Decline in immigration in 1914 & 1915 created scarcity of unskilled labor and the
first large-scale migration of Blacks from the southern country-side to northern and
midwestern industrial centers.
b. At same time, post-War Black-white relations were worsened by Blackparticipation
in the War where 400,000 served and were accorded equality they had never known
in their native South.
c. Blacks began demanding higher wages and a larger role in politics.
2. White backlash took three forms:
a. In South, lynchings increased. Fourteen Blacks burned publicly. KKK grew.
b. Most fearful race riots broke out in July 1917, beginning in LongviewTexas
c. “Jim Crow system” continued to oppress American Blacks, 80% of which lived in
the South.
The “Jim Crow” system meant: (1) Blacks could not vote; (2) social and
economicsegregation
C. A STUBBORN AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION
1. Certain segments of the economy benefited more than others:
a. From 1919-1929 corporate profits and dividends increased 62 and 65%
respectively while workers enjoyed only an 11% increase in real income.
b. Even so, workers in industry saw substantial improvements in their condition:
average hourly wages increased 8%, average real earnings increased 11%, while
the average workweek decreased from 47.3 to 45.7 hours. Labor productivity
increased 40 percent during 1920’s.
c. However, agriculture remained mired in a state of virtual depression throughout
1920’s. This maladjustment dramatically revealed in the following analysis:
(1) Nearly 27.5m families in 1919. The annual income estimated as being
necessary for a decent living standard was $2700.
(2) Nearly 6m families (or more than 21 percent of the total) had incomes less than
$1,000; nearly 12m (or more than 42%) had incomes under $1,500. Nearly 20m
families or some 71% had incomes under $2500.
(3) The 36,000 wealthiest families received income in 1929 nearly equal to the total
income received by the 11.6m families receiving less than $1500 a year.
THE ROARING TWENTIES, 1920-1929
APPENDIX
MALADJUSTMENTS IN FAMILY INCOMES
IN THE 1920’S
ANNUAL INCOME NECESSARY FOR DECENT LIVING
STANDARD IN 1919: $2,700
TOTAL FAMILIES IN U.S. IN 1919: 27.5 MILLION
FAMILIES WITH INCOMES BELOW $1000: 6 MILLION
FAMILIES WITH INCOMES UNDER $1,500: 12 MILLION
FAMILIES WITH INCOMES UNDER $2,500: 20 MILLION
IN 1929 THE 36,000 WEALTHIEST FAMILIES RECEIVED
INCOME NEARLY EQUAL TO THE TOTAL INCOME OF
11.6 MILLION FAMILIES RECEIVING LESS THAN $1,500
ANNUALLY.