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Events Throughout the 1920's
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19th Amendment
On August 26th 1920 the 19th amendment is added to the United States Constitution. This amenment ment that women would be given the right to vote, meaning universal womens suffrage. This was also known as the Susan B. Anthony movement, in Recognition of her important campaign to win the right to vote. The 19th amendment stated simply that "the right of citizans of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any state on account of sex." -
Warren G. Harding
A landslide victory for Warren G. Harding in both the electoral college and popular vote, returns the republican party to the white house. Harding gained over 16 million popular votes to Democratic canidate James M. Cox's 9 million and won the electoral contest 404 to 127 landslide. This was also the first election in which women had the right to vote. Harding campaigned with a promise for " a return normalcy." -
Immigration Quota
On May 19th, 1921 congress passes immigration restrictions, for the first time creating a qouta for European immigration into the United States.Targeted at "undesirable" immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, the act sharply curtailed the quota for those areas while retaining a generous allowance for migrants from Northern and Western Europe. As years would progress the tight quota systems would continue to further limit immigration. -
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
On May 31st, 1921 Nicola Sacco, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti begin trial for murder. Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of murder after a payroll holdup at a shoe factory in Braintree, Massachusetts which left two men dead, where an eyewitness said that the two robbers "looked" Italian. Because both men were known as anarchists they were arrested in which at the time they were both carrying guns. Although Sacco was probably guilty and Vanzetti innocent they had three strikes against them from the start. -
Tulsa Race Riot
On May 31, 1921, Dick Rowland, a black shoe-shiner, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a white elevator operator in the Drexel Building. Following Rowland's arrest and the publication of a false newspaper story asserting a sexual assault, mobs of blacks and whites gathered near the jail, with the whites intending to lynch Rowland and the blacks to defend him. The Tulsa Race Riot was the most devastating race riot in US history in terms of lives lost. 100's were lost and 1,000s of home destro. -
The Teapot Dome Scandal
On April 7th, 1922 the Teapot Dome scandal begins when two federal oil reserves, one found in Elk Hills, California and the other in Teapot Dome, Wyoming begin to be sold off by The U.S Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall. The reserves were marked for the future use of the U.s Navy, and despite this Fall continued to sell off drilling leases to private developers in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks(stock, cash, cattle). -
President Warren G. Harding Dies
President Warren G. Harding Dies while in office on August 2, 1923 after becoming ill following a road trip to Alaska. Harding suffered from a fatal heart attack, which was misdiagnosed by in incompetent surgeon general as a case of food poisoning. Warren G. Harding is then succeeded by Vice President, Calvin Coolidge who would be best remembered by his pronouncement that "the business of America is business." Calvin Coolidge would also be known as Silent Cal. -
Ford Motor Company
On January 9th, 1924 the market capitalization of Ford Motar Company exceeds $1 billion. With the mass production of the Model T the auto industry was revolutionized. With the efficiency of the assembly line the price for the Model T was able to be cut from $950 to $300. Making enormous profits Ford made headlines by paying his workers $5 per day which was almost double the current rate. Ford himself was pulling in an estimated $25,000 a day. -
Calvin Coolidge Wins First Election as President
In November 1924 Calvin Coolidge wins his first election as President, retaining the White house for the Republican party over his democratic foe, John W. Davis, and the Progressive party candidate Robert M. LaFollette. The electoral margin was a whopping 382 to 136(Davis) to 13(LaFollette). Silent Cal once again would hold office. -
Nellie Tayloe Ross First Female Governor
On January 5th, 1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross is inaugurated as the first women governor of the United States in Wyoming. By becoming so, Ross was the 14th governor of Wyoming and the only female governor in Wyoming to this day. Ross was a staunch supporter of the prohibition movement throughout the 1920's. Following the death of William Ross the democratic party election Nellie Ross and even though she refused to campaign she easily won the race. -
Scopes Violates Ban
On May 5th, 1925 Tennessee schoolteacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching evolution, in violation of new state law banning the teaching of Darwinism. The ensuing "Scopes Monkey Trial," pitting defense attorney Clarence Darrow against three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan in a proxy debate of modernity versus fundamentalism, captivates the nation. Scopes is eventually found guilty and is forced to pay a $100 fine. This trial would later be the source of the play & film. -
Klansmen March
On August 8th, 1925 40,000 klansmen from the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. Each member hidden in hooded cloaks some riding horses other marching make their strength in numbers be shown. This was though to be only a bit less than 1% of total Klan membership. -
Charles Lindbergh First Flight
On May 20th 1927 Charles Lindbergh leaves Roosevelt field, new York on the first non-stop transatlantic flight in history. He would reach Paris thirty three and a half hours later in the Spirit of St. Louis, his aircraft. Lindbergh did this in an attempt to win the $25,000 purse promised to the first solo pilot to go from New York to Paris. He carried only a few sandwiches, a quart of water, and letter of introduction. He wouldnt need the letters of introduction for he was recieved as a hero. -
Herbert Hoover Wins Election
On November 6th, 1928 Herbert Hoover wins election as President of the United States with an electoral college victory of 444 to 87 over Democratic candidate Alfred E. Smith, the catholic governer of New York. Herbert Hoover was the thirty first president of the United States and to this day the last Cabinate Secretary to be directly elected President. -
Stock Market Collapse
The American stock market collapse led the end of postwar prosperity and was the largest signal of the oncoming depression. Which would be the worst ever in america and would last throughout the 1930's. The plummeting stock led to and estimated $50 billion in loss. 5,000 banks would proceed to close over the next three years and unemployment would skyrocket. -
Chicago Mob
On December 14th, 1929 The Saint Valentine's Day massacre occured. Which is the name given to the murder of seven people as part of a Prohibition Era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago andIllinois, in 1929. The South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the Egan's Rats gang were also suspected to have played a large role in the St. Valentine's Day massacre, assisting Capone.