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Marcus Garvey establishes the Universal Negro Improvement Association, an influential black nationalist organization "to promote the spirit of race pride" and create a sense of worldwide unity among blacks.
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Census of 1920, Black population: 10,463,131 (9.9 percent), U.S. population: 105,710,620
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The Great Steel Strike of 1919 ends with capitulation by the steelworkers.
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Prohibition (The 18th Amendment) is the ban on making and selling of alcohol. People who liked alcohol didn't like the government interfering, and found ways to get a hold of it. An example was going to speakeasies, illegal nightclubs. Other people made their living by selling alcohol they were known as bootleggers. Another result of the amendment was high crime levels.
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the children's toys that could be found during the Roaring Twenties and other decades. Toys include Teddy Bears, Velocipedes, Tinker Toys, Gyroscopes, and Magic Lanterns.
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There were many inventions and new types of technology developed during the 20's, but possibly the one that had the greatest impact before the turn of the next decade was Radio. It soon became a staple of peoples lives providing entertainment, news, and new ideas. Another very important invention also started to impact peoples lives and that was the uses of airplanes apart from as a weapon of war.
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Due to the new technology available allowing movies to have both sound and color, the movie industry in Hollywood grew fast, as did the number of Cinemas showing the films.
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The Senate refuses to ratify the Versailles Treaty or authorize United States participation in the League of Nations.
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Cotton prices at New Orleans peak at 42 cents a pound, prompting Southern farmers to plant the largest crop in history. The resulting overproduction causes a collapse in prices, with cotton falling to less than 10 cents a pound by early 1921. Cotton farmers will toil in near-depression conditions throughout most of the 1920s and 30s.
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The rise of bootleggers such as Al Capone in Chicago highlight the darker side of prohibition.
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The Yankees and Babe Ruth rule the world of Baseball setting records for the team and the Great Babe Ruth.
Major League Teams Buy up Minor League Teams allowing them to get top players much cheaper than the open market. -
On August 26, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified giving all women the right to vote. Nonetheless, African American women, like African American men, are denied the franchise in most Southern states.
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Written by Edith Wharton
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Written by Sinclair Lewis
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This musical was part of the Harlem Renaissance
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A Congressional resolution by both houses is signed by President Warren G. Harding, declaring peace in World War I hostilities with Germany, Austria, and Hungary. The treaties would be executed one month later.
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Congress passes the Married Women's Act of 1922, also known as the "Cable Act." It repeals the provision of the Expatriation Act of 1907 that revoked the citizenship of women who married foreigners.
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n September William Leo Hansberry of Howard University teaches the first course in African history and civilization at an American university.
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Congress passes the Fordney-McCumber Tariff, sharply raising tariff duties to protect the American market for American manufactures.
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Written by Willa Cather
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The National Origins Act reduces the number of immigrants entering the U.S. each year to 165,000 and the nationality quota set forth in the Quota Law of 1921 is cut to 2% of the population of that nationality based on the 1890 census. The quota system did not apply to immigrants from the western hemisphere. The U.S. Border Patrol is created.
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The market capitalization of Ford Motor Company exceeds $1 billion.
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J. Edgar Hoover is appointed to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Calvin Coolidge wins his first election as President, retaining the White House for the Republican Party over his Democratic foe, John W. Davis, and Progressive Party candidate Robert M. La Follette. The Electoral margin was 382 to 136 (Davis) to 13 (La Follette).
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Jazz was the music of popular choice and some of the best known musicians were jazz musicians including Duke Ellington and Al Jolson. One other popular musician/composer was George Gershwin. Many of his songs are still recorded and listened to today. A popular dance of the times was known as the Charleston.
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Written in both the US and Paris by F. Scott Fitzgerald during 1924
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John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution in his Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology class.
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The infamous Scopes Monkey Trial began in the Rhea County Courthouse of Dayton, Tennessee.
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Air Commerce Act is passed, providing aid and assistance to the airline industry, plus federal oversight under the Department of Commerce for civil air safety.
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A mini-crash begins as investors start to sell, revealing the market’s shaky foundations. For the many people playing the market with borrowed money, the day is a disaster, as margin calls wipe out their holdings.
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After Hoover called a special session of Congress, the Agricultural Marketing Act was passed, which established a Federal Farm Board that worked to stabilize agricultural prices.
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“Black Tuesday.” Panic sets in as investors all try to sell their stocks at once. Over 16 million shares of stock are sold, setting a record — and the market records over $14 billion in paper losses. Stock tickers cannot keep up with the heavy trading volume.
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Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff into law which set tariffs to historically high levels.
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Nine black youths are indicted in Scottsboro, Ala., on charges of having raped two white women. Although the evidence was slim, the southern jury sentenced them to death.
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On August 11th, Herbert Hoover gave an acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination for president in which he discussed the ills of prohibition and the need for its end.
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Sent 250,000 young men to work camps to perform reforestation and conservation tasks. Removed surplus of workers from cities, provided healthy conditions for boys, provided money for families.
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Created federally insured bank deposits ($2500 per investor at first) to prevent bank failures.
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Protected farmers from price drops by providing crop subsidies to reduce production, educational programs to teach methods of preventing soil erosion.
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Distributed millions of dollars of direct aid to unemployed workers.
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Received $3.3 billion appropriation from Congress for public works projects.
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Created NRA to enforce codes of fair competition, minimum wages, and to permit collective bargaining of workers.
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Provided public works jobs at $15/week to four million workers in 1934.
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Federal government build series of dams to prevent flooding and sell electricity. First public competition with private power industries
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Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area. The drought is the worst ever in U.S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely.
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Regulated stock market and restricted margin buying.
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The Dust Bowl got its name after Black Sunday
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Encouraged farmers to join cooperatives to bring electricity to farms. Despite its efforts, by 1940 only 40% of American farms were electrified.
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Provided part-time employment to more than two million college and high school students.
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Allowed workers to join unions and outlawed union-busting tactics by management.
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Response to critics (Dr. Townsend and Huey Long), it provided pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to blind, deaf, disabled, and dependent children.
