0007 The 1920s (SMR 2.7) Flashcards
What political shift occurred after WWI?
After WWI, there was a lot of anger with Democratic President, Woodrow Wilson for how he handled WWI and the Paris Conference. The majority of Americans wanted isolationism and didn’t want to be involved in world affairs. So when he left office, a republican administration took hold for 13 years
Who were the Republican presidents between 1920 & 1933
Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover
When the Republican party came into power in the 20’s, what did all the Republican presidents pursue?
pro-business policies
What contributed to the economy in the US booming after WWI?
Because of the pro-business policy of the Republican Administrations and the fact that the US wasn’t destroyed after WWI (like many Europeans)
What occurred because of the pro-business policies put forward by the Republican administrations after WWI? (3)
- Government regulatory agencies more often assisted business rather than regulated it
- Unions (in part from Red Scare and Palmer Raids) were suppressed by federal troops
- Supreme Court overturned labor laws
What led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 20’s?
- Ku Klux Klan rise up as Black communities and culture start to thrive (Harlem Renaissance) and as morality starts to be hindered
- Spreads in influence after the movie “Birth of a Nation” to more than 5 million members
- Widened its targets: blacks, Jews, immigrants, Catholics (predominantly a subset of immigrants)
What was the significance of the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925?
The prosecutor in the case was William Jennings Bryant , and he died soon afterwards leading to a void in leadership and a rise in progressivism rather than tradition
What was the Scopes Monkey Trial?
Case about whether evolution or creation should be taught in school
What was the result of the Scopes Monkey Trial?
-Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in school and fined only $100 leading progressives to believe that it was a win and they could keep doing it but the traditional side saw it as a win because Scopes was found guilty, really it was a draw
The Scopes Monkey Trial was a question of _____ vs. ________.
Tradition vs. Progress
What does ACLU stand for?
American Civil Liberties Union
How did the ACLU come to be in the 20’s?
The ACLU started as the National Civil Liberties Bureau in 1917 to provide legal aid for conscientous objector of WWI.
After WWI, it formed the ACLU in response to the Palmer Raids in 1919 & 1920 where hundreds were detained and deported without trial
How did the NAACP come to be?
They were birthed in 1909/1910 by W.E.B Dubois and members of the Niagara Movement.
How did the 20’s influence the NAACP?
Leading up to the 1920’s the Ku Klux Klan rose to power because of the movie “Birth of a Nation”.
The NAACP called for a boycott of it and though unsuccesful, it helped raise public awareness of the group. This helped lead to their anti-lynching campaigns between 1915 and 1919, and their group grew to over 300 branches
What is the Anti-Defamation League?
A group that fights back against anti-semitism
What resulted in actions from the Anti-Defamation League in the 20’s?
During and after WWI, anti-semitism starts to rise especially with Ku Klux Klan & Henry Ford’s anti-semitic newspaper.
The ADL fights back against this and publishes informational packets including “The Poison Pen”
What was the 18th Amendment and when was it passed?
(1919): the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was outlawed
The 18th Amendment was another name for ________.
The Volstead Act
What were the major factors that led to the passing of the 18th Amendment?
During WWI, there was a national income tax to help pay for the war effort which brings in a lot of revenue. After the war, the amount of money coming in is able to continue by congress and replaces industrial sales tax. The liquor movement no longer had industrial sales tax which means the sale of it was not really benefiting the society anymore. This paired with the morals developed in the Temperance movement lead to the 18th Amendment
What were the results of the 18th Amendment? (4)
- Speakeasies
- Organized crime and corruption
- A release of inhibitions for men and women
- Highlighted a dichotomy between the rich and the power
How did Prohibition impact immigrant populations?
In immigrant populations alcohol is a cultural part of everyday life (i.e. at meals, at church), and when this is taken away, they’re forced to assimilate to Puritan American values
How did Prohibition (18th Amendment) highlight a dichotomy between the rich and poor?
The rich were able to purchase alcohol and hoard it for use in their own home before the law went into place, and drinking it in their homes wasn’t illegal, it was the buying and selling of it
What were speakeasies?
discreet bars and gambling houses that rose up after 18th Amendment (Prohibition)
Who was a crime boss that made money during the prohibition?
Al Capone
Before prohibition, _____ were mostly the ones influenced by alcohol and going to pubs but with speakeasies, _____ were as well
men / women
When was the 18th Amendment repealed?
The 21st amendment in 1933 repealed prohibition (first amendment that repeals a former amendment)
Who were “flappers”?
A new generation of emancipated women who wore waistless dresses, smoked, danced in public, were semi provocative and visited speakeasies
What political / economic / social and technological factors led to the Flapper?
Political: women obtained the right to vote in 1920 (19th Amendment)
Economic: some women stayed working after WWI as phone operators, nurses, etc., and women’s fields pop up. Women now have pocket money
Social factors: Women are now able to live alone or with a roommate, be independent, many are dating men coming back from war, and women are admitted into speakeasies just as men are
Technological factors: mass production of automobile leads to “lovers lane”, couples getting away in cars for privacy
What was the 19th Amendment and when did it pass?
Gave women the right to vote in 1920
How did the 18th Amendment influence women?
Led to a rise of Flappers and a release of inhibitions in women. Now women were joining men at Speakeasies
How did the 19th Amendment influence women?
After WWI, women were taking more responsibility, and were employed/ independent, which led to them gaining the right to vote and leads to empowered women
What is Nativism?
A mindset of protecting the native born or established inhabitants of a country
Why was there a rise in Nativism after WWI?
because of immigrants that come in from Europe after WWI b/c their countries are a mess, this causes a backlash and rise of nativism that discriminates against Jews, Eastern Europeans, Muslims, Asians etc. – anyone whose cultural background and customs were different than Protestant Caucasian customs in USA
What trial highlighted the impact of Nativism in the 1920’s?
Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti
What was the Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti?
There is a killing and a robbery at a shoe store, Sacco is likely guilty and Vanzetti is likely innocent
Tactics were used of prejudice to convict them not based on the merit of the case but of their “undesirableness” as 2 italian immigrant anarchists
What did Marcus Garvey lead in the 1920’s
Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa movement: called for blacks to head back to Africa
What were the Immigration Acts of the 1920’s?
- National Origins Act
- Emergency Quota Act of 1921
- Immigration Act of 1924
What did the National Origins Act do?
gave preference to immigrants from European origin
What is considered the most important turning point in American immigration during the 1920’s?
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
What did the Emergency Quota Act do?
Placed numerical limits on immigration from Europe and uses quota system that limited immigration to 3% of that number of residents from same country in the 1910 US census (they strategically made this the 1910 census instead of the 1920 census because this was before WWI when many immigrants came in)
Why did the Emergency Quota Act use the 1910 census instead of the 1920 census when creating their quotas?
they strategically made this the 1910 census instead of the 1920 census because this was before WWI when many immigrants came in
What was the result of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921?
This cut the amount of immigrants in half
What replaced the Emergency Quota Act and what did it do?
Immigration Act of 1924: Limited the amount of people that could be admitted to any country from 3% to 2%
What marked the social changes of the 1920’s? (6)
- Automobiles & assembly lines
- Consumer economy & advertising
- Open sexual attitudes
- Literature
- The Harlem Renaissance
- Prohibition & flappers
What one item led to a rise in the standard of living during the 1920’s?
Automobiles
During WWI, manufacturing of ____ were halted because of the war effort, but after the manufacturing of ___ goes into mass effect
Model T’s / Automobiles
The mass production of automobiles also led to the mass production of what?
washing machines & vacuum cleaners, household women’s daily tasks are eased up and now they have time that is freed up.
How did automobiles change American life in the 1920’s?
- mass production allows most middle class families being able to afford a car
- Gave birth to suburbs and roadways; before this, everyone lived in cities but with cars, middle class families could move out to the suburbs and small towns could be connected, helped end disease b/c of cities not being as packed
- By 1929, there were 23 million automobiles in the US
Why was it called the Roaring 20’s?
nickname has to do with revolution of speeding up of life (automobile, household appliances), and the economic revolution and a social revolution as a result, everything is party and fast moving
How did consumption change after WWI?
With proper assembly lines and railroads/ the panama canal, the cost of goods was attainable for not just the richest and we become a consumer economy
A consumer economy in 1920’s led to what 5 things?
- Household goods like washing machines and vacuums
- Advertising industries
- Supermarkets and dept stores
- Radio (for advertising)
- Credit
How did shopping for goods change in the 1920’s?
prior to 1920’s people bought things locally from farmer’s markets out of necessity, but in the 20’s with refrigeration and railroad cars with refrigeration, larger stores like supermarkets and dept stores pop up
What impact did the radio have in the 1920’s?
10 million families owned radios and it was a place for advertisers to advertise products as well as led to the popularization of jazz music
What impact did credit have in the 1920’s?
allowed people to buy things on credit before they had the money which was what led to their booming consumer culture (but would have financial implications later
Open sexual attitudes were represented with the invention of the ______ and the mass production of ______.
Teenagers - concept of adolescence and new target market audience for advertisers and the
Automobile which brought privacy and freedom (lovers lane)
What two authors during the 1920’s influenced literature? What did they write about?
Ernest Hemingway & F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the “lost generation”, themes of the lost generation are death, isolation, abandonment, and a loss of American ideals which were expressions of their experiences in WWI
What did Ernest Hemingway write?
“The Torrents of Spring”, “The Sun Also Rises”, “A Farewell to Arms”
What did F. Scott Fitzgerald write?
“This Side of Paradise”, “The Great Gatsby”
What event during WWI led to The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s?
the Great Migration - blacks filling the jobs of men who left for war and blacks keep their jobs after the war, gives way for economic prosperity for African Americans. African Americans have flocked to cities for jobs and now have created their own subculture in cities
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
Literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American culture, leads to popularization of Jazz
Who were the prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance?
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Countee Cullen
- Langston Hughes (jazz poet and novelist)
Radio & urbanization led to the popularization of ______.
jazz music
Who was a famous jazz musician in the 1920’s?
Trumpeter Louis Armstrong
