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18th Amendment
This Amendment was made so that all alcohol sales and drinking were illegal. Alcohol was getting out of control at the time and the United States needed to do something about it. Everyone was an alcoholic back then. They thought that completely banning alcohol would to the trick, which was completely wrong. -
Lenin and the Communist State/The Red Scare
The Red Scare started from people fearing a worker revolution. The Seattle General Strike and the Boston Police Strike made people anxious and fear that there was going to be a nationwide revolution. People were also fearful from anarchists' bombings. Unwarranted arrests and detentions were frequent. -
Volstead Act
The 18th Amendment to the Constution made it so that the sale or use of alcohol was illegal. The Volstead Act intended to enforce this Amendment. There were 2500 officers who went around trying to find people using alcohol. This sounded like a grat idea; however, there were only 2500 officers for the entire country. They needed many more than this, and the act was essentially useless. -
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were instituted in order to arrest and deport radicals or anarchists from the United States. This started around 1919. Americans were feeling disloyalty from their fellow Americans, mostly immigrants. These immigrants still loved their home countries, so in 1919, people started getting deported. -
Herbert Hoover Elected President
In 1919, things in the United States were very bad. This may sound like a general statement, but I can explain. The public was weary of war and reform, and there were meatpacking and steel industry strikes; leaving an odd job market. There were also terrorist attacks on Wall Street. Woodrow Wilson's health was a deciding factor on why he couldn't be President, and the same holds true for Teddy Roosevelt, who died earlier in 1919. This created back-up candidates, and Hoover won. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
In 1920, two men killed another two men and robbed a bank. Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of this crime and went to trial. They were found guilty and were given the death penalty. People still wonder whether they were actually guilty or not. There are conspiracy theories about them being framed because they were immigrants and variations of such. -
19th Amendment Ratified
Before 1920, women felt like they didn't matter. They felt like the country only wanted men. They felt like men were the only "smart" ones, and men were the only ones who had enough brains to vote. Then, women started standing up for themselves. Women got more jobs, became more important, and desperately wanted the right to vote. Well, on August 18, 1920, women got it. Women were now allowed to vote. -
Teapot Dome Affair
The teapot dome affair was a scandalous event in which President Harding transferred U.S. navy petroleum reserves to other places, and large sums of money were "borrowed" back and forth. Money was lent from hand to hand inconspicuously, and before the Watergate, this was known as the most sensational scandal in American politics. -
National Origins Act
Back in the 1920's, America had a lot of immigrants and people who lived in other countries who wanted to come to America. However, America was overflooded with immigrants. People were coming in much faster than America could handle. The National Origins Act was created so that less immigrants could come into America. With many nationalists and such, the National Origins Act seemed like a great idea. -
Scopes Trial
John Scopes was a high school teacher in Tennessee who had his lesson planned no matter what people say. Scopes was specifically told not to teach evolution but taught it anyway. He was tried, found guilty, and was fined. John Scopes might have been trying to be just plain rebellious, stand up for what he believed was right, or defending the 1st Amendment. It could have been a mixture of all three, but one thing we know for sure is that John Scopes shaped teaching in one way or another. -
Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic
If you wanted to get place to place, short plane rides were an option. Boats were also an option. However, if you wanted to go to another continent such as Europe, it was very hard to do. This was back in 1927. Charles Lindbergh took on the challenge of flying nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, and did it. He was the first ever to do it. It changed flight history and traveling for good. -
The Jazz Singer is Released
Nowadays, the movies are "all the rage". But can you imagine a movie with no talking? Well, "back in the day", this was all they had. However, in 1927, The Jazz Singer was released, the first movie with dialogue. People went to the theater for dates, to have fun, and to see a good movie. However, after The Jazz Singer was released, the movie industry was permanently altered. -
Stock Market Crash
Back around 1929, the stocks were getting out of control. Many people were extremely rich and set themselves up for a crash. In October of 1929, the stock market took the worst freefall in the United States' history. This started the Great Depression.
