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The Model T (Ford)
The Model T (Ford) was the first automobile that was affordable for middleclass workers. Prior to the Model T only the wealthy would drive cars. The Model T was significant because it allowed common people to have more freedom, especially women. Women were not as depended on men after the Model T was created. Also, due to this car the assemble line was born. A car could be assembled every few minutes while using the assembly lines. -
KKK - Birth of a Nation
Birth of a Nation was a film that was produced which glorified the KKK. It portrayed racism towards African-Americans. It was based around the civil war and reconstruction. It showed the KKK as a heroic force which should be supported. Many believe that this movie was partially why the KKK came back with strength; it was a recruiting tool for the KKK. Thus, making the terrorism of this group even more powerful as they grew in numbers. -
Period: to
Roaring Twenties
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Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey brought the United Negro Improvement Assoc. to the United States in 1916. He advocated for individual and racial pride for African Americans. He worked to establish organizations for black-separatism, economic self-sufficiency and more. Although he was eventually jailed for his actions, Garvey impacted African American lives and the way that the world saw blacks. He helped advance the political standing of blacks and their rights. He inspired African nationalism. -
Red Scare
The United States was put in a frenzy because of fears of socialism growing from the recent Communist Russia and U.S. labor unrest. -
Volstead Act
The Volstead Act was created so that the government could enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919. Not only did Congress want to conserve goods but they also wanted to maintain a sober workforce. It strictly prohibited the manufacturing, transportation, and possession of alcoholic beverages. Although the Volstead Act was a good idea on paper, it lead to illegal brewing of alcohol and violence between gangs over selling alcohol. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Two Italian immigrants, Ferdinando Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were convicted of robbery and murder. Liberals protested, saying the two foreigners were innocent victims of nativism and racism, since they were Italian and anarchists. The two were executed in 1927. -
Lost Generation
This was a group of dissullusioned writers that scorned religion and "condemned wartime sacrifices". Famous examples are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. -
Flappers
In the early 1920’s women began to revolt against sexual taboos. These women were called Flappers. Women began to wear shirts that were knee length and one piece bathing suits. Many flappers were influenced by Freud and even social media such as movies, and jazz music. Flappers impacted how women were seen and made the world more accepting of this new modern look. Even the use of contraceptives (which were illegal in most places) was becoming less taboo. -
Prohibition
Wartime concerns pushed Congress to pass the National Prohibition Act. It prohibited the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic beverages of all kinds. This measure was taken because Congress wanted to conserve ingredients that went into making alcohol (like grain). However, many defied the law. People made their own alcohol which in some cases killed people who drank it. Gang bosses (Al Capone) got into wars over their illegal alcohol markets and many died. It hurt the US more than it helped. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal occurred during the Harding administration. The Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall was discovered to be accepting bribes from a private oil company and granting them the ability to lease the United States Oil Reserve. This took place near Teapot Dome, Wyoming. This scandal showed the US the corruption within the Harding Administration. -
Election of Harding
Warren Harding won the presidential election in 1920. The Republican ran on the campaign of laissez-faire, high protectionist tariffs, and the return to "normalcy". He was surrounded by the best and most successful politicians, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, Head of Commerce Herbert Hoover, Treasurer Andrew Mellon, and Chief of Justice William Taft. However, political corruption still crept into his government. -
Emergency Ouota Act of 1921
Only 3% of the existing nationality was let into the U.S. every year because too many immigrants were arriving. This was America's attempt to keep America mostly white and English. -
Washington Conference
This conference was to solve theh problems growing between each major power's navy in the Pacific. It was created by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes in Washington D.C. -
Four-Power Treaty
U.S., Great Britain, France and Japan agreed to respect properties in the Pacific. -
Five-Power Treaty
Big naval powers were to keep a certain ratio of ships on the water (U.S. 5, U.K. 5, Japan 3, France 1.67, Italy 1.67) and the U.S. and Great Britain agreed not to fortify possessions in the Pacific. -
Nine-Power Treaty
The UK, US, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal all agreed to respect the Open Door Policy in China. -
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
A protective tariff that raised the tax of foreign manufactured goods by 25%. This would become a major reason for the Great Depression, since it began a escalation of taxes between the U.S. and foreign nations. -
Jazz Age
Jazz was a symbol of new and modern ways of life. Young people would rebel against their elder’s way of life by dancing and playing jazz. It was brought to the North by African Americans. Jazz was another way that the culture of the USA was changing. Out with the old and in with the new. -
Adkins vs. Children's Hospital
This was an argument in the Supreme Court about minimum wage for women now that ther were equal as men legally, The Supreme Court ruled that since they were legally equal they could not be protected by special legislation. -
Immigration Act of 1924
Foreign countries could only send 3% of their already existing population into the U.S. every year. No more Japanese were allowed in. This caused more people to leave the U.S. than those who arrived and racial tensions ran high. -
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was created by Charles Dawes who was a banker and future vice president to Coolidge. He established a system of payments. The US would pay Germany sums of money so they could rebuild their economy and also pay reparations to Britain and France. Britain and France would then use these payments to pay their war debts to the US. This was a short term solution however because after the stock market crash in 1929 the US could no longer lend money to Germany and the system collapsed. -
Election of Coolidge
A Republican president who took over after Harding's death in 1923 was elected for a second term. He believed in limited government, free businss affairs, and cut spending significantly. -
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was "a brilliant evocation of the gamour and the cruelty of an acheivement oriented society". -
Scopes Trial
The Scopes Trial was a trial between religious fundamentalists (South) and modernists (North). John Scopes was a biology teacher who was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in a Tennessee school. He went on trial and was defended by Clarence Darrow. Williams Jennings Bryant was representing the fundamentalists as an expert on the bible. The trial was very one sided and Scopes was convicted (overturned later). Due to this trial schools banned the teaching of evolution for many years. -
Gertrude Ederle
Gertrude Ederle was the first women swimmer across the English Channel. During this time, popular heroes were often taken from professional sports players, actors etc. Gertrude was an icon because of her great accomplishments. She represented the 1920’s (which focused a lot on heroism and materialism). -
Charles Lindgergh
Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly a solo plane across the Atlantic Ocean. He was seen as an American Hero after his flight. He showed how far American plane technology had come at this point and time. He also was an icon for adventure. He was not done flying however; in WWII he flew many combat missions as well. The young pilot was serving his country by plane. -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
A agreement between U.S. Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French foreign minister which "enounced ggressive use of force to achieve national ends" to try to avoid another World War. Almost all nations signed. -
Hoover Election
Hoover won the election by a significant amount. Republicans were associated with a good economy where as the democratic pick (Smith) was seen as Anti-Catholic, which hurt his chances a lot. This election severely hurt the third party because it proved that it was basically a two party campaign. Socialism was hit hard. -
Harlem Renaissance
By the 1930’s African American’s lives were improving slowly. The largest African American community developed in Harlem at this time. Harlem was known for its talented artists, poets, musicians etc. It was a place that many African Americans went during the Great Migration. Although Blacks could perform in Harlem, they were still segregated though. -
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
President Hoover signed off on a schedule of Tariff rates that were extremely high.The idea was to protect US business leaders who believed that a higher tariff would protect their markets from foreign competition. The effect of these high tariffs however was the opposite. After the US increased tariffs, foreign countries followed suit on their own tariffs against US goods. Trade was reduced; both national and international economies sank deeper into the depression. -
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington was a jazz musician. He helped to make the Jazz Age popular and in doing so he helped to shape America into the new modern age they were heading for. -
Hoover-Stimson Doctrine
The US responded to Japans violation of the Open Door policy by passing the Stimson Doctrine. This doctrine declared that the USA would follow the treaty obligations under the Nine-Power Treaty. They refused to recognize Japan’s changes to territory because it was done by force. This doctrine didn’t have much of an effect on Japan however. -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
This was a federally funded, government owned corporation created by Congress. It was meant to help faltering railroa, banks, life insurance companies, etc. The President believed that funds from the RFC would stabilize these important businesses and eventually help snaller businesses too. The RFC was not very effective in its early years, however, it made a huge contribution to the recovery effort in later years. -
Bonus Army (A.K.A: Bonus March)
The Bonus Army was made up of a thousand unemployed WWI veterans who marched to Washington DC. They demanded immediate payment of bonuses (promised to them later in 1945). They were eventually joined by thousands of those veterans and their families. Eventually things turned violent and some were killed. Thanks to the Bonus Army, the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 was passed for WWII veterans. It provided veterans with special benefits to help them along (like low interest house loans). -
Sigmund Freud
An Austrian pyschiatrist who argued that the new sexual standards that was due to sexual repression that if not addressed could cause nervous and emotional ills. He also stated "health demanded sexual gratification and liberation". -
Al Capone
A Chicago gangster who made millions from the illegal sale of alcohol, also known as bootlegging. He was responsible for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and he was eventually arrested and sent to Alcatraz, a new prison, for tax evasion. -
Palmer Raids
A special office to investigate unexplained bombing made by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer. This office conducted mass arrests of anarchists, Socialists, and labor agitators. By the extinction of the office, 6,000 had been arrested, mostly foreigners, and 500 had been deportered. -
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin was a famous comedian and movie director, performer, actor and the like. He shared the way people saw movies because of his atypical films. He had a very successful career until McCarthyism got to him. He brought people joy during the war, which everybody needed desperately.
