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1920's African American Identity (Zora Neale Hurston)
Zora Neale Hurston was an influential author of African-American literature and anthropologist, who portrayed racial struggles in the early 20th century American South, and published research on Haitian voodoo. -
1920s Literature (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of the most popular writers of the 1920s, published The Great Gatsby in 1925. The novel deals with issues of decadence and excess and is widely interpreted as a cautionary tale. Another tremendously popular writer of the day was Ernest Hemingway. -
1920s Literature (Ernest Hemingway)
Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist and short-story writer. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway based many of his stories on his experiences during World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. -
1920's African American Identity (Louis Armstrong)
Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, and Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz. -
1920's African American Identity (Langston Hughes)
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. He moved to New York City as a young man, where he made his career. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. -
1920's African American Identity (United Negro Improvement Association)
The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded in 1914 in the United States by Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant. -
1920's Culture (Red Scare)
A "Red Scare" is promotion of widespread fear by a society or state about a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or radical leftism. -
1920's Culture (Volstead Act)
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was enacted to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment, which established prohibition in the United States -
Prohibition (18th Amendment)
On January 29, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States. -
Religion (Fundamentalism)
Fundamentalism as a movement arose in the United States, starting among conservative Presbyterian theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary in the late 19th century. It soon spread to conservatives among the Baptists and other denominations around 1910 to 1920. -
1920's Politics (Warren G. Harding and Normalcy)
Coined by Warren G. Harding in an address before the Home Market Club on May 14,1920 in Boston, this term came to symbolize, to powerful businessmen, the immediate abandonment of the foreign and domestic policies of Wilson. This meant a return to high protective tariffs and a reduction in taxes. Harding died in office in 1923. -
1920's Literature (Lost Generation)
The group of post-WWI writers who in their works expressed deep dissatisfaction with the mainstream American culture. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway is a novel that is representative of the works of these writers. This group, including Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, and T. S. -
1920's Politics (Ohio Gang)
A group of poker-playing, men that were friends of President Warren Harding. Harding appointed them to offices and they used their power to gain money for themselves. They were involved in scandals that ruined Harding's reputation even though he wasn't involved. -
1920's Culture (Harlem Renaissance)
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. During the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after The New Negro, the 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke. -
Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. -
1920's Culture (Fundamentalism)
Religious movement ; Belief that teaching Darwinian evolution caused "moral breakdown" of students, interpreting bible literally and taught creationism; blamed Modernists for degradation of morals -
1920's Culture (Advertising Age)
term used to describe America's consumer culture of the 1920, when advertising began to influence the choices of purchasers. -
1920's Politics (Teapot Dome Scandal)
A government scandal involving a former United States Navy oil reserve in Wyoming that was secretly leased to a private oil company in 1921. -
Immigration (Emergency Quota Act 1921)
The Emergency Quota Act was actually formulated mainly in response to the large influx of Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe and thus successfully restricted their immigration and that of other "undesirables" into the United States. -
1920's Economy (Fordney McCumber Tariff)
The Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 was a law that raised American tariffs on many imported goods to protect factories and farms. Rising tariff barriers in the U.S. made it more difficult for European nations to conduct trade and, resultantly, to pay off their war debts. Further, the protective shield against foreign competition enabled the growth of monopolies in many American industries. -
Immigration (Immigration Act 1924)
The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. -
1920's Literature (The Great Gatsby)
The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920s. On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. ... A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracy—families with old wealth—scorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. -
1920's African American Identity (Harlem Renaissance)
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. During the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after The New Negro, the 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke. -
Religion (Scopes Trial)
The Scopes Trial, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school -
Herbert Hoover's Policies (Volunteerism)
During the 1920s, Herbert Hoover sought to create an "associative state" based on partnerships between voluntary associations and government agencies. -
1920's Economy (Federal Farm Board)
The Federal Farm Board was established by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929 from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, with a revolving fund of half a billion dollars to stabilize prices and to promote the sale of agricultural products. -
Stock Market Crash
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the Great Crash, is a major stock market crash that occurred in late October 1929. It started on October 24 and continued until October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed. -
Stock Market Crash (Black Tuesday)
Black Tuesday refers to October 29, 1929, when panicked sellers traded nearly 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange (four times the normal volume at the time), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -12%. Black Tuesday is often cited as the beginning of the Great Depression. -
Herbert Hoover's Policies (Herbert Hoover)
Herbert Clark Hoover was an American engineer, businessman, and politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933. A member of the Republican Party, he held office during the onset of the Great Depression. -
New Deal Programs (Agricultural Marketing Act)
The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929, under the administration of Herbert Hoover, established the Federal Farm Board from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 with a revolving fund of half a billion dollars. -
1920's Politics (The Great Depression)
stock market/Wall Street Crash in 1929; through 1930's in U.S.; triggered collapse of world economy; stock market speculation, heavy borrowing, highly unstable financial situation, plummeting stock prices, bank closures, world trade and industrial production dropped, unemployment; currencies devalued, protective tariffs and quotas; U.S. Congress deny new loans; WW2 brought the economy up again President Herbert Hoover->FDR -
1920's Economy (Smoot Hawley Tariff Act)
The Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff, was an Act implementing protectionist trade policies sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley and was signed into law on June 17, 1930. The act raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods. -
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent the aeolian processes caused the phenomenon. -
New Deal Programs (Hawley Smoot Tarriff)
The Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff, was an Act implementing protectionist trade policies sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley and was signed into law on June 17, 1930. The act raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods -
New Deal Programs (Scottsboro Boys)
The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers, ages 13 to 20, falsely accused in Alabama of raping two white women on a train in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial. -
1920's Politics (Reconstruction Finance Corporation)
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgage associations, and other businesses. -
1920's Economy (Bonus Army)
Facing the financial crisis of the Depression, WW I veterans tried to pressure Congress to pay them their retirement bonuses early. Congress considered a bill authorizing immediate assurance of $2.4 billion, but it was not approved. Angry veterans marched on Washington, D.C., and Hoover called in the army to get the veterans out of there. -
New Deal Programs (Bonus Army)
"In 1932, approximately 45,000 veterans of World War I converged on Washington, DC. In 1924, they had been promised a cash bonus for their service, but it was to be deferred until 1945. With the nation mired deep in the Depression, the so-called Bonus Army demanded immediate payment. -
1920's Economy (New Deal)
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1936. It responded to needs for relief, reform, and recovery from the Great Depression. -
New Deal Programs (Federal Emergency Relief Act)
The purpose of FERA was to work cooperatively with state government, providing federal grants for relief purposes. -
New Deal Programs (Rugged Individualism)
The belief that all individuals, or nearly all individuals, can succeed on their own and that government help for people should be minimal. The phrase is often associated with policies of the Republican party and was widely used by the Republican president Herbert Hoover. -
New Deal Programs (Emergency Banking Relief Act)
The Emergency Banking Relief Act (EBA) was passed on March 9, 1933 to prevent massive withdrawals from banks, referred to as a 'run on the bank' during the banking crisis and the period of economic reform during the Great Depression. -
New Deal Programs (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a United States government corporation providing deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. commercial banks and savings institutions. The FDIC was created by the 1933 Banking Act, enacted during the Great Depression to restore trust in the American banking system. -
New Deal Programs (Public Works Administration)
Public Works Administration, part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression. -
New Deal Programs (Agricultural Adjustment Administration)
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. The Government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land. -
New Deal Programs (New Deal)
The New Deal was a series of programs and projects instituted during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief to those who were suffering. -
New Deal Programs (National Industrial Recovery Act)
The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 was a US labor law and consumer law passed by the US Congress to authorize the President to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. It also established a national public works program known as the Public Works Administration. -
Dust Bowl (Black Sunday)
Black Sunday refers to a particularly severe dust storm that occurred on April 14, 1935, as part of the Dust Bowl. It was one of the worst dust storms in American history and it caused immense economic and agricultural damage. -
1920's Literature (The Grapes of Wrath)
John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is not merely a great American novel. It is also a significant event in our national history. Capturing the plight of millions of Americans whose lives had been crushed by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, Steinbeck awakened the nation's comprehension and compassion. -
New Deal Programs (John Steinbeck)
The great John Steinbeck is best known for his works set during the Great Depression, particularly those that focused on migrant workers. The Grapes of Wrath, a winner of the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, and Of Mice and Men are two of his well-known works that are set during this highly stressful period.
