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Cancelled Government Contracts
WW1 has ended, so the American government no longer needs manufacturers to produce the goods needed to sustain a war effort. Factories didn't need to hire the soldiers returning from war. The economy was in danger. Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge helped the economy rebound. -
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The Roaring 20s
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18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment banned the manufacture and sale of intoxication liquors. Just about a year later, on 16 January 1920, the Volstead Act closed every bar, tavern, and saloon in the country. This was Prohibition. -
Urban vs. Rural Population
For the first time in American history, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. -
Flappers
During the Roaring '20s flappers - women who wore their hair and skirts short, drank, smoked, and used unladylike language - emerged. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. More women were working in white-collar jobs. -
Commercial Radio
The first commercial radio station hit the airwaves in Pittsburgh. The Station was KDKA. About three years later, there were over 500 stations nationwide. -
Ford Model T
By 1924, Ford's Model T only cost $260 per car. Cheap and easy production kept the price at a low, low level. -
Stock Market Crash
Nervous investors began selling off lots and lots of shares in stocks. A record 12.9 million shares were traded that day, known as “Black Thursday.” Five days later, on “Black Tuesday” some 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street. -
Social Conflict
Many social tensions grew during this decade, despite economic and technological growth. City dwellers clashed with folks from small towns, Protestants clashed with Catholics, whites clashed with blacks, and flappers clashed with those who wanted to hold on to traditional family values. -
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The Great Depression
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt won an overwhelming victory over Hoover in the presidential election. Hoover was not popular after failing to end the depression. -
American Unemployment
By 1933, some 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. -
Social Security
Congress passed the Social Security Act, which for the first time provided Americans with unemployment, disability and pensions for old age.
