1920s

idk gng js a buncha random stuff

Scopes Trial

Trial which challenged a 1925 Tennessee law banning the teaching of evolution or any other theory for creation other than the Bible’s creation story. The defendant was a young high school biology teacher named John T. Scopes, who had been told to do it to challenge the constitutionality of the law in court. He was defended by Clarence Darrow, and William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor. The case symbolized the clash between faith and science as well as tradition vs modern society in the Roaring 20s.

Prohibition

Also known as the 18th Amendment, this national law banned the manufacturing, consumption, or transportation of alcohol in the United States in 1920. This was hard to enforce, but its enforcement was aided by the Volstead Act.

Bootleggers

People who got around the Prohibition by distilling their own liquor in their bathtubs or bought it from smugglers.

Speakeasies

Underground bars that sold alcohol during the Prohibition. They required a password to enter.

Al Capone

Gangster and major figure of organized crime in the 1920s. He was one of many to smuggle alcohol into America and use that to work up to worse crimes. He and similar gangsters would kill to keep their power.

Ku Klux Klan

Terrorist radical group that promoted strict nativism and had a spike in membership around this time period. They discriminated against people of color and immigrants in America. They also encouraged the Prohibition since alcohol came from immigrants.

Red Scare

The suspicion of many nativist and isolationist Americans that a communist party has formed in America and plans to overthrow the current government in place of their communist agenda. This fear is primarily driving by anarchists’ mail bombings to politicians. Attorney General Mitchell A. Palmer tried to stop these people with raids that would ultimately prove nothing and send potential innocent people to court.

Harlem Renaissance

Period following the Great Migration where Black American culture got mainstream and was witnessed by all Americans, primarily in the city of Harlem, NY. This is primarily seen in the popularity increase of jazz music, but is also shown in other styles of music, literature, art, and civil rights groups such as the NAACP or the UNIA.

Langston Hughes

Black poet who wrote to a jazz tempo and spoke up about the struggles of black people.

Louis Armstrong

Black jazz musician who was one of the primarily leaders of the “Jazz Age” with his music.

Marcus Garvey

Founder of the Universal N. Improvement Association (UNIA), a black civil rights group which focused on the creation of an entirely separate black society which promoted that African Americans should return to Africa. He set up offices in poor ghettos to help the poor and sign members up for the UNIA.

Jazz Age

Era where jazz music was so popular it was deemed America’s new style of music. The music style was heavily influenced by the Harlem Renaissance.

Urban Life

Americans who lived in urban areas typically had access to electricity, jobs (and hence more money), and leisure activities.

Rural Life

Americans who lived in rural areas didn’t have as much access to electricity or leisure activities, and they often had to rely on modern transportation to get to work and other events.

Henry Ford

Car manufacturer and founder of the assembly line. His standardized way of manufacturing cars allowed them to sell for cheap, which gave even rural families access to easier and longer-distance travel. For his work, the car industry (and related industries) took off, and he also influenced other industries with his assembly line.

Assembly Line

Manufacturing strategy where an employee is tasked with one step in the process of building a product, and the products are passed along in a line until they are completely finished. This allows for the cheaper production of these products, and thus a cheaper selling price.

Mass Production

The manufacturing of hundreds or thousands of products using a strategy such as the assembly line. This allows for more products to be sold at lower prices.

Consumerism

The movement where citizens are encouraged to purchase products, even ones they don’t necessarily need. This is promoted, especially in the 1920s, by good economic standing, advertising, and credit spending.

Laissez-Faire

Economic system employed in the 1920s where consumers can spend with minimal government regulations or intervention.

Credit Spending

The purchase of items with money borrowed from the government that the consumer will pay back later with low interest. This helped people keep up with the pace of consumerism in the 1920s, but it also resulted in many people spending with no regard to how much debt they were building up. Encouraged a “Buy Now, Pay Later” system in the American economy.

Flappers

Women who challenged gender norms in this time period by smoking in public, wearing shorter skirts, dancing freely, and cutting their hair.

Charles Lindbergh

Also known as “Lucky Lindy,” he was the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. He used his plane, the “Spirit of St. Louis,” and he flew non-stop from New York to Paris. He is one of the many ‘heroes’ of the 1920s, primarily in the realm of aviation.

Babe Ruth

Baseball player who hit a record number of home runs in baseball history. He is recognized as one of the biggest stars of the 1920s and one of the best baseball players to live. He is one of the many ‘heroes’ of the 1920s, primarily in the realm of sports.

Charlie Chaplin

Movie star who starred in many silent, black and white films. He became known as a legend for the many roles he played. He is one of the many ‘heroes’ of the 1920s, primarily in the realm of film and entertainment.

Warren G Harding

Republican President on the United States (elected in 1920) who promoted isolationism after the events of World War 1. He was generally liked by most Americans, but he lost fame after his death when scandals came out about him and his friends from the “Ohio Gang” that made up his presidential cabinet. He promoted laissez-faire and lifted government regulations of businesses set during the war.

Calvin Coolidge

Vice President under Warren G Harding and later President himself after Harding’s death, he continued on Harding’s policies and promoted his pro-business stance, resulting in low taxes, high tariffs, and little government regulations. He was a more reserved man, very different personality-wise from Harding, and had a scandal-free administration.

Teapot Dome Scandal

Scandal where Albert B Fall, Secretary of Interior during Harding’s presidency, illegally moved oil-rich land in Wyoming and California to his control and then sold it off to friends in the oil industry for cheap. In the process, Fall made over $400k. This resulted in him being the first cabinet member to be convicted of a felony, and it caused a lot of mistrust in the government among Americans.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

1928 agreement between 15 world powers (including America) to disarm their navies and “outlaw” war. It was intended to be a start towards world peace, but with no way to enforce it, the agreement was essentially useless.