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The Roaring Twenties
The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society.” -
Rise of Aggressive Dictators
Germany became a democracy. However, the Great Depression caused severe economic troubles in the 1930s. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) led by Adolf Hitler rose to power. Hitler criticized many people,political programs, and ideologies, but his sharpest assaults were against communists and Jews. Hitler was violently anti-Semitic, or prejudiced against Jewish people. He was appointed to chancellor in 1933 and became president of Germany within two years. -
Causes of The Depression
The Great Depression of the late 1920s and ’30s remains the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. Lasting almost 10 years (from late 1929 until about 1939) and affecting nearly every country in the world, it was marked by steep declines in industrial production and in prices (deflation), mass unemployment, banking panics, and sharp increases in rates of poverty and homelessness. -
America's suffer
Now, on March 4, 1933, fears abounded that chaos and totalitarianism soon would strike the United States of America. Herbert Hoover awoke that cold, dreary Saturday, his final morning in the White House, to word that Illinois and New York had joined a long list of states where all the banks had ceased to function. "We are at the end of our string," the president-reject conceded. "There is nothing more we can do." -
The New Deal Expands
FDR's goals for the phases of the New Deal were relief, recovery, and reform. Progress had been made, but there still was a long way to go. Beginning in early 1935, Roosevelt launched am aggressive campaign to find solutions to the ongoing problems caused by the Great Depression. This Second New Deal, created Social Security and other programs that continue to have a profound impact on the everyday lives of Americans -
The Holocaust
From the time he came to power, Adolf Hitler had targeted Jews for persecution. By the end of the war, the Nazis had murdered 6 million Jews and 5 million other people they considered inferior. In 194, there was no word for Hitler's murderous plan of extermination. Today, it is called the Holocaust. We continue to remember this tragedy and seek ways to prevent anything like it from ever happening again. -
America Debates Involvement
Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Britain, hoped to convince the United States to join the Allies. Murrow emphasized that the Germans were bombing civilians, not armies or military sites. Despite its isolationist policies, the United States moved slowly toward involvement. Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939. This law helped the Allies buy goods and munitions from the United States. Isolationists, believed that getting involved in a European war would be wasteful and dangerous. -
The United States Enters World War II
World War II (1939-1945) was the largest armed conflict in human history. Although the war began with Nazi Germany's attack on Poland in September 1939, the United States did not enter the war until after the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. -
The Home Front
While fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers served overseas, their families served on the home front. Every American, regardless of age or background, was expected to help boost morale and make sacrifices to shoulder the cost of the war. The war effort stirred patriotism and caused ordinary citizens to take exceptional actions. -
The Beginning of the cold war
In the 1930's, the policies of isolationism and appeasement did nothing to stop the rise of dictatorships and the outbreak of global war. After World War II, U.S. Leaders Viewed these pasts policies as mistakes. They sought new ways to keep the United States safe as well as to protect its interests around the world -
Postwar Prosperity
After World War II, many Americans worried that the war's end would bring renewed economic depression. Numerous economists shared this pessimistic view of the future, predicting that the American economy could not not produce enough jobs to employ all those who were returning from the military. yet instead of a depression, Americans experienced the longest period of economic growth in American history, a boom that enabled millions of Americans to enter middle class. -
The Cold War Intensifies
By 1950, the United States and the Soviet Union were, by far, the two most powerful nations in the world. the conflicting ideologies and goals of these rival nations led to a worldwide struggle for influence. the policies followed by the two superpowers would help shape the history of twentieth century for much of the world, from Latin America to the Middle East. -
Mass Culture in the 1950s
The 1950s marked a period of changing national population distribution. Between 1940 and 1960, more than 40 million Americans moved to the suburbs, one the largest mass migrations in history. Rural regions suffered the most dramatic decline in population, but people also also came by the thousands from older industrial cities, seeking, as one father put it, a place where "a kid could grow up with grass stains on his pants." -
Social Issues of the 1950s
The Civil Rights Movement. A growing group of Americans spoke out against inequality and injustice during the 1950s. African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries; during the 1950s, however, the struggle against racism and segregation entered the mainstream of American life. -
The Civil Rights Movement Strengthens
Africans Americans were treated as second-class citizens. The civil rights movement, a broad and diverse effort movement to attain racial equality, compelled the nation to live up to its ideal that all are created equal. The movement also demonstrated that ordinary men and women could perform extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice to achieve social justice, a lesson that continues to inspire people around the world today. -
The Movement Surges Forward 1960
Little changed in the everyday lives of most African Americans. Nonetheless, activists continued to struggle for rights. In the early 1960s, the movement experienced a groundswell of support. This surge produced a dramatic shift in race relations, led to the passage of landmark civil rights legislation in 1964, and set the stage for future reforms. -
Kennedy's Reforms
The civil rights movement had begun gaining momentum in the 1950s, when President Dwight Eisenhower was presiding over a time of peace and prosperity. But even during this optimistic Eisenhower era, there was a number of issues that caused Americans grave concern. The launch of Sputnik "I showed that the rivalry between the United States and Soviet Union' was still intense. The U-2 Spy plane incident demonstrated that the Cold War might heat up moments notice. -
The Cold War and Vietnam
Kennedy argued that during the Eisenhower years America Had lost ground in the Cold War struggle against communism. He pointed to the new communist regime under Fidel Castro in Cuba and charged that there was a “missiles gap” that left the U.S. nuclear missiles force inferior to that of the Soviet Union. The first goal of the Kennedy administration would be to build up the nation’s armed forces. -
Reform Under Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson, who became President after Kennedy's assassination, shared the same goals as his predecessor. These goals shaped the purpose of Johnson's Great Society program. A seasoned politician, Johnson successfully pushed through significant domestic legislation that he hoped would become the first step to achieving the quality of life he thought all Americans should enjoy. -
America's Role Escalates 1965
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson began to shift U.S. military efforts in Vietnam into high gear. But America's leaders and soldiers soon found themselves stuck in a deadly quagmire with no quick victory in sight. The war began to weaken the economy, divide the American people, and erode the nation's morale.
