APUSH Roaring Twenties (🦁)

The Jazz Singer

First "talkie" movie (with voices and sound). Ushered in the talkie era of movies, sound not limited to background music anymore.

Flapper

• a young woman in the 1920s who wore her hair bobbed, wore makeup, smoked and drank, dressed in flashy, skimpy clothes, and lived a life of independence and freedom. Frequented dance halls and music clubs where white people performed dances long popular in black communities.

• set the stage for a much more liberated view of women's sexuality in that they made it so women would no longer be considered impure, immoral, or dangerous for engaging in casual, consensual sexual activities.

Red Scare

• A nationwide fear of communists, socialists, anarchists, and other dissidents suddenly grabbed the American psyche in 1919 following a series of anarchist bombings after the Russian Revolution.

• Several hundred immigrants of radical political views were rounded up and deported by the federal government in 1919 and 1920

Palmer Raids

attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Italian immigrants charged with murdering a guard and robbing a shoe factory in Braintree; Mass. The trial lasted from 1920-1927. Convicted on circumstantial evidence; many believed they had been framed for the crime because of their anarchist and pro-union activities. They were later executed for their “crimes”

Charles Lindbergh

American aviator who made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris and back in 1927.

The Lost Generation

• the generation of young American artists, writers, and intellectuals that came of age during the First World War (1914-1918) and the “Roaring Twenties.”

• The utter carnage and uncertain outcome of WWⅠ was disillusioning, and many began to question the values and assumptions of Western civilization.

• Lived in Paris and London during 1920s

• Term coined by Gertrude Stein

• Included Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Stein

Ernest Hemingway

famous author who wrote "The Sun Also Rises" (about American expatriates in Europe) and "A Farewell to Arms." In the 1920's he became upset with the idealism of America versus the realism he saw in World War I. He was very distraught, and in 1961 he shot himself in the head.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

belonged to the Lost Generation of Writers. He wrote the famous novel "The Great Gatsby" which explored the glamour and cruelty of an achievement-oriented and shallow society.

The Great Gatsby

A novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicting the picturesque idea of the self made American man and entrepreneur who rose from obscurity.

Al Capone

An American gangster during the Roaring Twenties and the prohibition era that ruled a criminal empire in Chicago. Known for smuggling and bootlegging liquor and the bribery of government figures and prostitution. He used some of his money to make donations to various charitable endeavors. Also known for gambling, “protection” rackets, murder, and narcotics trafficking

Birth of A Nation

A dramatic silent film from 1915 about the South during and after the Civil War. It was directed by D. W. Griffith. The film, the first so-called spectacular, is considered highly controversial for its portrayal of African-Americans. Influenced many people to join the KKK

Emergency Quota Act

established a quota system that cut sharply European immigration to US (mostly eastern and southern Europe Roman Catholics & Jews). However, Canadian and Mexican immigrants were not affected. Restricted number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3% of the number of residents from that country living in the United States as of the 1910 Census

National Origins Act

The National Origins Act of 1924, also called the Immigration Act of 1924, was a discriminatory and ethnocentric policy that reduced overall immigration to the United States and established quotas on immigration from Western and Southern European countries, as well as Asian countries and Russia.(because of a fear of communism) Immigrants ended up being deported back

Scopes Trial

(1925) a highly publicized trial where John Thomas Scopes violated a Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school. Scopes was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan and defended by Clarence Darrow; Scopes was later convicted of violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution

Great Migration

The migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North, which held promises of jobs, during and after World War I. Began a new era of increasing political activism among African Americans, who after being disenfranchised in the South found a new place for themselves in public life in the cities of the North and West. The civil rights movement directly benefited from this activism.

Race Riots/Red Summer

• An outbreak of racial violence known as the “Red Summer” occurred in 1919, an event that affected at least 26 cities across the United States.

• began in July when whites invaded a black section of Longview, Texas and burned shops and houses.

• It was a lash out against the growth of black people in cities.

Alain Locke/New Negro Movement

• Locke believed black artists were necessary to help African Americans get rid of discrimination and find the race's true identity.

• NNM promoted a renewed sense of racial pride, cultural self-expression, economic independence, and progressive politics.

Harlem Renaissance

outburst of creative activity among African-Americans in all fields of art in the 1920s; began as discussions in Manhattan and turned into movement of African-American expression.

Langston Hughes

A leading poet and essayist of the Harlem Renaissance who described the rich culture of African American life using southern black oral tradition- also wrote about the realities of black life in America. He wrote of African American hope and defiance in poems such as "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "My People."

Bessie Smith

Powerful, influential blues singer in the 1920's, "Empress of Blues," who played a major part in the Harlem Renaissance

Louis Armstrong

Leading African American jazz musician during the Harlem Renaissance; he was a talented trumpeter whose style influenced many later musicians.

Marcus Garvey-Back to Africa

• A "new negro" who created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (which attracted thousands of members), promoted the "Back to Africa" movement, organized black businesses and established a corps of Black Cross nurses

• Back to Africa Movement founded by Marcus Garvey, a movement that encouraged those of African decent to return to Africa to their ancestors so that they could have their own empire because they were treated poorly in America.

Teapot Dome Scandal

a bribery incident which took place in the United States in 1922-1923, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome to private oil companies, without competitive bidding, at low rates.

Andrew Mellon

Secretary of the Treasury during the 1920s and under Harding. Had the theory that high taxes forced rich to invest in tax-exempt securities rather than factories that provided prosperous payrolls. He served as secretary of the treasury under three presidents. He was known for the Mellon Plan, which slashed government spending and reduced taxes on businesses. Mellon fell out of favor after the stock market crash of 1929 and stepped down as secretary of the treasury.

Trickle Down Economics

by cutting taxes on the wealthy and corporations, the benefits of their increased wealth and investment would "trickle down" to benefit all members of society. Cutting taxes on the rich would produce new investment and new businesses, which would then create new jobs or raises for middle- and working-class people. Proposed by William J. Bennett

“Return to Normalcy”

In the famous words of Warren G. Harding , president from 1921 to 1923, the United States after WWI wanted a return to normalcy. This meant stepping back from so much engagement with Europe.

“The Business of America is Business”

A statement/slogan made by president Calvin Coolidge which showed his overconfidence in the American economy before the Depression.

Al Smith

Governor of New York four times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928. He was the first Roman Catholic and Irish-American to run for President as a major party nominee. He lost the election to Herbert Hoover.