siler vocab 1920's

Inflation

A general rise in the price of goods and services.

Creditor nation

country which is owed more money by other

countries than it owes other countries

Henry Ford

the founder of the Ford Motor Company. Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with his assembly line and treatment of workers. Ford’s Model T ushered in the age of the automobile in the United States.

Mass production

production of goods in large numbers through the use of machinery and assembly lines

Consumer Revolution

the significant increase in the consumption of goods and services that occurred in Europe during the 18th century

Installment Buying

method of purchase in which buyer makes a small down payment and then pays off the rest of the debt in regular monthly payments

Bull Market

period of rising stock prices

Buying on Margin

system of buying stocks in which a buyer pays a small percentage of the purchase price while the broker advances the rest

Warren G. Harding

served as president of the United States from 1921 to 1923. He promoted a “return to normalcy” following U.S. involvement in World War I. Harding died during his first term in office in 1923

Teapot Dome Scandal

Harding administration scandal in which the Interior Secretary leased government oil reserves to private oilmen for bribes

Calvin Coolidge

President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. He acceded to office after the death of Warren Harding and continued many of the pro-business policies of his predecessor

Fundamentalism

movement or attitude stressing strict and

literal adherence to a set of basic religious principles

Scopes Trial

1925 trial of a Tennessee school teacher for breaking a law that forbade teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution

Clarence Darrow

a lawyer whose work as defense council in many trials secured his place in legal history. He is best known for his defense of John Scopes in 1925.

William Jennings Bryan

a Democratic and Populist leader who ran unsuccessfully three times for the U.S. presidency. During his career as a lawyer, politician, and speaker, he fought for reforms such as the income tax, Prohibition, and women’s suffrage.

Red Scare

fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life

Sacco and Vanzetti

an Italian immigrants convicted of murder and executed in 1927

Eugenics

the idea that the human race can be improved by controlling which people have children

Quota system

arrangement that limited the number of immigrants who could enter the United States from specific countries

Ku Klux Klan

a secret society formed in the South with the intention of promoting white supremacy and denying African Americans the exercise of their new rights

18th Amendment

established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States

Bootleggers

people who smuggled alcohol

Charlie Chaplin

a British comedian who produced, wrote, and directed many films throughout his career. Many consider him the greatest comic artist in motion picture history.

Babe Ruth

a professional

baseball player known for his showmanship and ability to hit

homeruns. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Charles Lindbergh

an American aviator who completed the first non-stop, solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Marcus Garvey

a charismatic leader who organized a black nationalist movement in Harlem during the 1920s. Garvey promoted economic and cultural independence for African Americans.

Louis Armstrong

a jazz trumpeter and one of the most influential artists in the jazz history. He was also a bandleader, singer and comedian during his career.

Harlem Renaissance

period during the 1920s in which African American novelists, poets, and artists celebrated their culture

Langston Hughes

an influential poet and writer who thought of his work as a means to communicate the black experience in the United States.

Zora Neale Hurston

a writer associated with the Harlem Renaissance who was trained as an anthropologist and went on to teach for a number of years. One of her more influential works was Their Eyes Were Watching God, published in 1935.