1.-Prohibition and gangsters- prohibition is the banning of making, selling, and transporting of alcohol. The police really didn't enforce the prohibition. Most focused on suppliers rather than common people. Women pushed for the prohibition to get a better life. Business owners liked it because more work was done. Prohibition occurred because of the illegal money being made. It was supposed to stop crime, but it increased. The 21st amendment was passed in 1933. The prohibition was a noble experiment. Supporters were Christians(Protestants) from the south. Alcohol was allowed for medical and religious purposes. Bootlegging- selling and making illegal alcohol. Volstead act created the prohibition. The reasons why the prohibition failed: People despised it, The prohibition bureau was underfunded and only had 1,500 workers, Organized crime became commonplace. Most alcohol was imported illegally from Canada, Cuba, or the West Indies. Speakeasies- illegal bars, called speakeasies because they were put on the down low. Al Capone is the most famous bootlegger/mobster. Capone was arrested because of tax evasion. St. Valentine's Day Massacre- Had his people dress as cops and murder another gang, led to Capone winning the gang war and gaining more ground. The biggest threat to the bootleggers was not the police or the bureau of prohibition, it was the hijacker. Many people died from moonshine.
2.-Women’s rights and freedoms- 1920's was a big decade for women. They received the right to vote. Womanhood characteristics- Piety, Purity, Domesticity, and Submissiveness, developed through the 1800's. WWI speed up the process of women getting the right to vote because they stepped up and joined the workforce. 19th amendment passed in 1920. Flapper girls were girls who went against what women before them had done. Margaret Sanger founded the American Birth Control League. By 1928 39% of college degrees were given to women. 1928 was the first time women were allowed to compete in the Olympics. Pink Collared jobs were jobs that were supposed to be fore women. Examples of these jobs: Secretaries, teachers, nurses, telephone operators. The flapper- short hair, short dresses, smoke, drank, made their own money. Snuggle pupping was common in high schools and colleges. These parties died out in the 1930's. The it girl of the 1920's was Clara Bow. She was a flapper that all girls wanted to be like. Flappers were mostly in cities, most women were not flappers.
3.-Politics-elections, Normalcy and isolationism, President’s backgrounds and accomplishments, scandals, Republican philosophy- Presidents of the 1920's, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. Scandals rocked Harding's administration. He was known for having alcohol in the White House and sneaked women into the White House. Coolidge philosophy was to do nothing. Hoover went down in history as one of the worst presidents ever. He was blamed for the depression. Harding broke the 20th amendment by having alcohol in the white house and he cheated on his wife many times. Died as president of disease, his vice president Coolidge took over. His policies were to do nothing. Hoover was from Iowa and was president during the stock market crash and the beginning of the depression. Republican Philosophy of the 20's. Trickle-down theory, Laissez-faire, Rugged individualism, and normalcy. Trickle-down theory- Give tax breaks to the wealthy, then the money trickles down in to the middle and lower classes. Laissez-faire- leave alone, Government stays out of business. Rugged individualism- don't rely on the government for help, these don't work in time of depression. Normalcy- returning to normal after the war. Teapot dome scandal- biggest scandal of the 1920's. These scandals are about brides that government officials received for giving contracts to the tea pot oil reserve. Albert Fall allowed two oil companies to take the oil from the tea pot dome oil fields. He took bribes from these companies to get the oil.
4.-Entertainment, sports, music, radio, movies and fads. Movies were big in the 20's, Clara bow, Greta Garbo were big actresses. Major actor was Charlie Chaplin. He portrayed Hitler in a movie. Chaplin was put on the watch list for being a communist. People would dress like black people in comedies by painting their faces black. Harry Houdini was big in the 20's. Biggest athlete was babe Ruth. Major boxing match was Jack Dempsey. Bill Tilden was a huge tennis player. Red grange was biggest football star. In 20's everyone got a car. Famous author was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Entertainment was huge.
5.-Economy-Booming economy and stock market, buying on credit, high tariffs. In the middle and lower class everyone bought on credit. Because of this people went into debt and stopped spending. Workers were not happy and went on strikes. The stock market showed that the economy was going good. The points of the stock market is x*767 and is really just a number. A tariff is a tax on imported goods. They were raised so people would buy American goods. In the 20's tariffs were raised to help American businesses. People wanted lower tariffs to have competition.
6.-Red Scare-anti-immigration, Sacco and Vanzetti case- Russia dropped out of WWI to fight the Bolshevik Revolution. The red scare was a fear in the U.S. that the communist would takeover. Karl Marx founder of communism. Communism- practice theory- five countries- North Korea, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba.
7.-Harlem Renaissance-KKK- Rebirth of African American Culture- proud to be black. Marcus Garvey promoted the move back to Africa. This brought up the power of the KKK. They used violence to keep blacks down. Communism promotes equality and wants everyone to share and get what they need. Vladimir Lenin brought communism to Russia. He wanted power to the people and fully supports equality and communism. Lenin dies and Stalin takes over so he could have all the power and strengthened the communist government in Russia. Hoover carried out the Palmer raids and started the FBI. Palmer's house was bombed out by anarchists. Raids to arrest huge loads of communists at a time. Sacco and Vanzetti were communists that were convicted of murder and were put to death. The red scare brought anti immigration laws that severely restricted the immigrants that entered and left the country.
8.-Lots of strikes-Boston Police, US Steel, United Mine Workers- The Boston police strike, the united mine workers strike, and the U.S. steel strikes were the huge strikes in the 20's. The owners of the company had all the power and did not want to give there employees better conditions. After WWI because workers wanted better conditions. Strikers did not win all that much, but won some things. Labor unions did not make very much success.
9.-The Model T and the impact of the automobile- the auto mobile was not invented in the 20's but in the late 1800's. Cars boomed because of buying on credit. Cars used to be for the rich but know everyone was buying cars. Why cars are great- to get around faster, bring lower prices. brought up suburbs, people shopped more, allowed people to move away, brought many jobs, led to dating. Henry Ford invented the model T. There were other cars like Chrysler. Route 66 was basically the first transcontinental highway. There were lots of stops and attractions. NASCAR was started because of the prohibition.
10.-Electricity in the homes and new appliances- Before the 20's people lit there homes with Karo sine and oil lamps. Cities were electrified in the 20's. This brought many appliances and other things for entertainment. Brought AC.
11.-Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and the airplane- Airplanes in the 20's was for entertainment. such as barnstorming or distance challenges. WWI sped up the airplane and made it better. Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic. He was a fan of Germany's leader Adolf Hitler. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. She disappeared over the Pacific while trying to fly across the world.
12.-Scopes-Monkey Trial- One of the biggest trails in the 20th century. John scopes taught evolution and was arrested for saying it wasn't god. Science vs. Religion. Biggest Lawyers of Scope trial were Bryan and Darrow.
13.-Stock Market Crash-causes, The U.S. stocks are in New York. The Dow Jones are the 30 largest companies in the U.S. If Dow is good, usually the economy is good. Causes of the stock market crash- Stock prices were high and grossly inflated. Companies were not making money because of people buying on credit. The stocks did not have real value. Over speculation during the 1920's, or buy and selling quickly. Buying on margin- buying stocks on credit, Led to debt. The value of the market was based on money that was borrowed and really wasn't there. Overproduction of goods- companies were making to much but people weren't buying. Uneven distribution of wealth- the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. People borrowed too much money from the banks. The federal reserve increased interest rates. Because interest rates were so low in the 20's people started borrowing more money. Lack of government regulation- no laws of stock market. led to pooling- rich people would get together by pooling money and would by cheap stocks to raise the price. This made middle class people think that the stock was good and was sold for higher than it should have been.
Comments