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Consumer Expenditures Skyrocket
Consumer household expenditures rose by more than 120% between 1919 and 1929. By 1925, Henry Ford's assembly lines were turning out a Model-T every ten seconds. -
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Women of the Roaring Twenties
The 1920s were a significant time for women. The Nineteenth Amendment allowed them to vote, and there was a cultural shift in the decade of the "New Woman". While women often took over nursing and teaching positions, it was still difficult for them to rise to leadership positions. "Flappers" were a term for women with bobbed hair, makeup, cigarettes, and carefree spirits. Increased sexualization of women made life as a lesbian more difficult. -
Emergency Immigration and National Origins Act
Congress passed the Emergency Immigration Act was a way to slow immigration. The Act was eventually permanently established as the National Origins Act 3 years later, which restricted immigrants to 2% of the population. Sacco and Vanzetti's execution sparked immigrants and radicals across the country to call out racial prejudice. -
KKK Women's Auxiliary
The KKK established a women's auxiliary in Little Rock, Arkansas, which attracted women who were often already part of the Prohibition movement. The Second Klan also included a large portion of the middle-class population. -
President Harding's Death
President Harding, whose presidency is known for its scandals and corruptions, passed away of a heart attack, causing Vice President Calvin Coolidge to rise to the presidency. -
Dixie to Broadway
The 1924 production Dixie to Broadway was the first all-black show with mainstream showings and series actors. -
John T Scopes' Trial
John T. Scopes, a Tennessee teacher, was tried for teaching his students about evolution, which violated the Butler Act (an Act which prohibited the teacher of evolutionary theory or anything that denied the Biblical account of Creation). The case was eventually thrown out on a technicality. -
Lynching of Bertha Lowman
Bertha Lowman and her two brothers were lynched by a KKK mob in Aiken, South Carolina. Since the sheriff, deputies, state representatives, and city attorney were all KKK members, nobody was ever prosecuted for the lynching. -
The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer, a movie made by the Warner Bros, was the first film with synchronized words and pictures. -
Charles Lindbergh's Flight
Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly a nonstop trip from New York to Paris. His trip lasted 33 hours. America's in the Roaring Twenties were searching for heroes to look up to after the horrors of WW1, and Lindbergh became the hero that conquered the sky. -
Sacco and Vanzetti
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists, were accused of robbery and murder. While eyewitnesses described several different criminals, the two were tried and executed. Their executions were part of a "Culture War" that affected radicals and immigrants across America. -
The Great Depression
The Depression began when stock market prices dropped, resulting in evaporated stock values and companies falling left and right on October 29, 1929 ("Black Tuesday", only a few days after the original stock market crash). -
The New Negro Movement
New York in the1920s became a common destination for the black community during the Great Migration. Manhattan's Harlem District became the "greatest Negro City in the world." The "Harlem Renaissance" housed what was called the New Negro Movement. -
Highest American Tariff
President Herbert Hoover signed the highest tariff in American history, called the "Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930". The tariff caused international trade to halt, and American exports began to drop as well. The final piece of the puzzle that caused the Great Depression was everybody panicking. -
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Deportation Raids
The "Citizens Committee on Coordination of Unemployment Relief" in Los Angelos began conducting deportation raids, which was a use of railroads to remove Mexican Americans "voluntarily" to their home country. The Mexican-born population in several states dropped significantly. -
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Japanese Invasion of China
A Japanese-owned railway in South Manchuria suffered a small explosion that was blamed on anti-Japanese radicals. The event was called the "Manchuria Incident" Japan began invading China in retaliation.
The full-scale Japanese invasion attacked the Marco Polo Bridge, leading to the Chinese surrendering Beijing to Japan. The Japanese then moved to the capital, Nanjing, and slaughtered hundreds of thousands. Tens of thousands of women were raped in what is called the Rape of Nanjing. -
Collapse of the Banks
Nearly 2,300 banks crumbled in 1932, effectively dissolving personal credit, savings, and deposits. -
Bonus Army
The Bonus Army was a group of unemployed WW1 veterans that demanded immediate payment of their promised military bonuses. President Hoover's reaction did not go over well- he denied their demands and thus lost a lot of American support. -
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Dust Bowl
Severe droughts racked the land from Texas to the Dakotas, resulting in years of agricultural mismanagement. The region was nicknamed the Dust Bowl. -
Franklin Roosevelt's Beginnings
Roosevelt's first inaugural address on May 4, 1933 focused on reassuring the country that he would rebuilt America and fight his way out of the Depression. He passed the Emergency Banking Act as a way to rebuilt the banks. His radio Fireside Chats explained the New Deal legislation, encouraging government support to struggling Americans. The Glass-Steagall Banking Act prevented the mixing of commercial and investment banking. -
Senator Huey Long's Death
Democrat Senator Huey Long of Louisiana was one of the most important "voices of protest". He proposed the Share Our Wealth program, an initiative that would redistribute money across impoverished areas. He was assassinated in the Louisiana state capitol in late 1935 -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act was created to provide unemployment aid, age-old pensions, assistance for the elderly and children, and insurance. It was the signature piece of Roosevelt's Second New Deal -
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Wagner Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set a minimum pay wage of %0.25/hour. The wage affected low-paid souther workers, bringing southern wages into the same range as northern wages. The Wagner act gave workers the right to unionize and bargain collectively. -
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Border Blockades
California, Florida, and Colorado built the "border blockades", which prevented poor migrants from entering their states. It was intended to lower the competitions for local employment. -
The First "sit down" Strike
The First "sit-down" stroke took place at General Motors in Flint, Michigan. The workers were demanding better pay and hours. The CIO (Congress of Industrial Organization) won a major victory because of this strike. Sit-down strikes became a common way for workers to protest. -
Pearl Harbor
The United States did not participate in the first two years of WWII. When Japan launched a surprise, unprovoked bombing on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the US declared war and officially joined the Pacific Theater.