1921 1941

1921-1941

  • Emergency Immigration

    Emergency Immigration
    This Act was put into place in 1921 as a temporary solution to an immigration problem that previously plagued the nation.
  • The National Origins act of 1924

    The National Origins act of 1924
    This Act put a more permeant solution in place than the Emergency Immigration act. The National Origins Act put in place a country-of-origin quota. The number of immigrants annually admitted into the United States from each nation was restricted to 2% of the population who had immigrated from that country and lived in the U.S. since 1890.
  • 1928 presidential election

    1928 presidential election
    Herbert Hoover was elected in 1928, saying, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land." His presidency seemed promising, but the stock market crashed within months, and the country fell into depression.
  • The Great Depression

    The Great Depression
    The Stock Market crashed, and so did Hoover's reputation. Millions of people were left jobless, homeless, and for some, even hopeless. For years people lived off of practically nothing. The economy was built on the production and consumption of durable goods. Production slowed, inventory piled up, and companies fired workers. As a result, Americans had fewer means to purchase products and consumer goods, which fueled the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 1920s.
  • Black Thursday

    Black Thursday
    Black Thursday is the title for the event of the Stock Market Crash.
  • The Dust Bowl

    The Dust Bowl
    The Dust Bowl was a period full of severe dust storms that significantly damaged ecology and agriculture and caused severe droughts.
  • Star spangled banner became the national anthem

    Star spangled banner became the national anthem
    The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History collections in Washington, D.C.
  • Ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

    Ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
    The Twentieth Amendment moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20 and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3.
  • Social Security Act Passed

    Social Security Act Passed
    Before Social Security existed, a person would have to save enough money to fend for themselves after they retired. If they had a poorly-paid job, this might be impossible. After the Act was passed, it presented security for citizens in their old age.
  • Fair Labor Standards Act is signed

    Fair Labor Standards Act is signed
    a United States labor law creates the right to a minimum wage and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits the employment of minors in "oppressive child labor."
  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    Attack on Pearl Harbor
    The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00 a.m., on Sunday, December 7, 1941.