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The Assembly Line
Henry Ford created a new method of manufacturing which increased productivity. -
Prosperity for Farmers
The demands of WW1 helped the farmers in America a lot. More people were buying crops, and more crops were needed. However, once the war was over, prices started to fall and the new technologies created a surplus which made prices fall even more. -
Marcus Garvey Founded the UNIA
Marcus Garvey advocated for individual and racial pride, developed political ideas for black nationalism, and supported a Back-To-Africa ideology, which was unpopular with established African American Pride leaders. -
18th Amendment gets Ratified
The 18th Amendment, which banned the sale or consumtion of alcoholic beverages, was ratified into law. This left room in society for a tremendous amount of organized crime. -
Calvin Coolidge Gained Popularity
As the governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge broke up the Boston police strike which gained him a lot of support from the people. -
1920 Census
In the 1920 Census, more than half of Americans were recorded to be living in urban areas. -
Republican Party Stops Preaching Laissez-Faire
The Republican Party, which was a huge supporter of the Laissez-Faire economic policy, accepted limited government interaction to help regulate the economy. -
Revivalists on the Radio
Similar to the Great Awakening in the 1700s, people used the new technology found in radios to preach fundamentalism, or being strict in one's following of holy texts. -
The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance as he pioneered a new poetry style known as jazz poetry. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was the first poem Langston Hughes published. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Convicted
During a time of increased tensions between immigrants and natives, two poor, Italian immigrants were convicted of robbery and murder. Liberals were upset and accused the federal government of convicting the men because they were immigrants. Despite the liberals efforts, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed. -
Post-War Recession
After WWI, the United States went into a brief recession due to the loss of business from European nations wanting war supplies. -
Warren G Harding Becomes President
Harding was a conservative republican who was chosen for candidacy as a compromise to settle the tie at the Republican National Convention in 1920 -
Business Prosperity
This lengthy period of economic prosperity in the business world was the result of increased production and sales. -
The Waste Land by TS Eliot
The ultimate indictment of the modern world's loss of personal, moral, and spiritual values. -
Louis Armstrong joins the Creole Jazz Band
An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals -
Fordney McCumber Tariff
A law that raised American tariffs on many imported goods to protect factories and farms. This was a show of pro-business attitude in passing the tariff -
Washingtonians are Formed
Duke Ellington formed this band at the begining of the Harlem Renaissance. Duke Ellington was one of the leading figures of jazz in the 20th century. He was a band leader, composer, and jazz pianist. -
The Second of Two Quota Acts is Enacted
The Second Quota Act made the First Quota Act stricter. It limited immigration to only 2% of the foreign people residing in America for the 1890 Census. This primarily affected Europeans and Asians since the New Immigrants hadn't come to America in 1890 -
National Broadcasting Company is Created
This is the first of two broadcasting companies that changed the entertainment world in the 1920s. It also changed American culture by making news and entertainment more accessible. -
Calvin Coolidge Elected President
With the support he already had from the Massachusetts population, Calvin Coolidge won the 1924 Election by a landslide. -
Scopes Trial
A substitutue teacher in Tennesee violated a law that made teaching evolution over the divine creation of man illegal. This trial was the first to be broadcasted on live radio. It also brought up the conversation about the separation between church and state. The law that the substitute teacher had broken wasn't repealed until a much later date, but this trial was stilled relevent those many years later. -
UNIA Movement Collapsed
Marcus Garvey gets tried and convicted of fraud for his investment in stocks of the Black Star Steamship Line. The was later deported back to Jamaica. -
The Great Gatsby
The American Dream is something anyone can achieve. -
The Sun Also Rises is Published
Ernest Hemingway wrote a book about the lost generation of expatriates -
Columbia Broadcasting System is Created
CBS, along with NBC, changed American culture by making entertainment and news more readily available to consumers. -
Talking (Sound) Pictures Introduced
This was the first step toward what we know as movies. The fact that sound and visuals were able to be put together was a huge leap forward in the entertainment industry. -
Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill
A look at 30 years in the life of a woman in the late 1920s. -
Black Tuesday
The most devastating stock market crash in American History, acted as a signifcant precursor to the Great Depression -
Rising Popularity of Automobiles
With more Americans owning cars, more kids were dating, more trips were being taken, gasoline became a prominent industry, and shopping became more common with its increasing convenience. -
Severe Drought in Mid-West
The drought in the agricultural part of the US caused the Dust Bowl to form. The dry soil wasn't good for farming, it blew around a lot causing significant health problems in the people who lived there, and caused the loss of jobs in that area. -
Hawley Smoot Tariff
This act introduced new protectionist policies and raised tariffs on imported goods. -
New Energy Technologies
The use of oil and electricity increased exponentially in the early 19th century. This created jobs and profit which improved the economy. -
Sinclair Lewis Won the Nobel Prize in Literature
Sinclair Lewis authored Babbitt, which is a satirical look at small town life. He also won a Nobel Prize for Literature -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Hoover designed this federal agency to promote confidence in business. It loaned money to struggling businesses, primarily banks, insurance companies, and railroads. -
Emergency Banking Relief Act
Allowed the federal government to examine banks that were closed during the federally mandated bank holiday. It also allowed the federal government to reopen the banks they found to be sound. -
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Created by the Glass-Steagall Act, the FDIC insures $5,000 deposits in it's member banks. -
National Recovery Administration
Guaranteed reasonable profits for businesses, and fair wages and hours for laborers. This federal organization was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Schechter v. US case of 1935 -
Home Owner's Loan Corporation
Refinanced small houses to avoid foreclosure and homelessness -
Agricultural Adjustment Agency
Meeting the same fate as the NRA in 1935, the AAA used government subsidies for every acre under a farmer plowed. This was to encourage decreased production which made prices skyrocket. -
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Provided federal grants to keep soup kitchens and other forms of relief for homeless or unemployed open. -
Public Works Administration
Gave federal money to state and local governments to the fund the construction of roads, bridges, dams, and other public works projects. -
Civilian Convservation Corporation
Employed young men on federal land and paid their families a small monthly sum. -
Tennesee Valley Authority
An experiment wiht regional development and public planning. The federal government employed thousands to build dams, operate power plants, control flooding and erosion, and make fertilizers. It sold electricity at a lower rate than private power companies of the time. -
America Stopped Using the Gold Standard
In an effort to halt deflation, paper dollars were no longer redeemable for gold. The value of a dollar remained at $35/oz. Gold -
21st Amendment Ratified
The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, ending prohibition and legalizing the sale, production, transportation, and consumtion of alcohol in all 50 states. -
Civil Works Aministration
Federal government hired people for temporary consruction work. This administration worked in conjunction with the Public Works Administration. -
Securities and Exchange Commisson
Formed to regulate the stock market and set stricter limits on the speculative practices that caused the Stock Market Crash in 1929 -
Federal Housing Administration
Boosted the construction industry and homeowners by insuring bank loans that were being used to build new houses or repair old ones. -
Recovery from Stock Market Crash
The reductions in spending, taxes and regulation at the end of World War II coupled with the declining unemployment rate at the start of the war, America recovered from the Stock Market Crash. -
John Steinbeck Published "The Grapes of Wrath"
"The Grapes of Wrath" chronicles the journey of a family of farmers through the Dust Bowl to California. It exposed the harsh realities of living in the Dust Bowl The book was a national phenomenon that is still read in classical literature classes today.
