Unit 4: The 1920s

racism, nativism

___ and ____ were on the rise due to what we talked about at the end of the last unit

immigration

what steeply declined as a result of racism and nativism?

eugenics

pseudo-science idea of improving hereditary traits

Ku Klux Klan

What group gained millions of members during the 1920s?

true

True or False: women were more apparent in the workforce and universities

Flappers

what did they call common-unconventional women?

automobile

what let the nation's youth escape the watch of their parents?

religious

What kind of movement was the Fundamentalist Movement?

Evolution vs Creationism

What was the Scopes trial about?

540,000

how many arrests did they make during prohibition?

speakeaises

secret bars

organized crime

Who/what made huge profits off of bootlegging?

baseball and boxing

what sports became popular?

spread new ideas and attitudes

what did mass media do?

motion pictures

what became the largest draw in the world of popular culture?

intellectual and cultural revival of African American culture and racial pride

what was the Harlem Renaissance?

music in particular had a huge effect - jazz and blues

what effects did the Harlem Renaissance have on American culture?

black vote in the north, NAACP battles lynchings, black nationalism

how did African Americans play a role in American politics?

corruption in administration, the "ohio gang", teapot dome scandal

why is Warren Harding considered one of the worst presidents?

small government, growth of business with little government interference

what was Calvin Coolidge's philosophy on government?

created more supply and reduced consumer cost

what effect did mass production have?

lowered consumer costs and led to a boom in other industries

what effect did the assembly line have?

27 million cars in the US, roughly one car for every household. Americans were on the move

what effect did the automobile have?

more stuff for Americans along with a general improvement in health

What effect did consumer goods have?

Americans had a new attitude on taking on debt

what effect did consumer credit have?

changed the way Americans traveled

what effect did the airline industry have?

changed the way that consumer goods were sold

what effect did mass advertising have?

with benefits covering basic needs, workers were able to spend more of their income on consumer goods

what effect did welfare capitalism have?

balance the budget, reduce government spending, cut taxes

what were the 3 main goals of the Mellon Program?

Dawes plan

an attempt to mediate a better reparations solution between the Germans, British, and French

Washington Conference

series of conferences between the major powers of the world to discuss naval disarmament/limitation

Kellogg-Briand Pact

this proposed a treaty to outlaw war

network of stock exchanges where traders and investors buy and sell shares of publicly traded companies

what is the stock market?

New York City, Wall Street

Where is the main stock market in the US?

bull market

long period of rising stock prices

margin

not making the full payment when buying stock

margin call

to protect a loan, brokers could demand the investor repeat the loan at once. As a result, many investors were very sensitive to any fall in stock prices

speculation

risky investment strategy where the goal is more focused on making a quick profit by taking advantage of price fluctuations in the markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW)

stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States

By Sept 1929, professional investors sensed danger and began selling off their holdings as stock prices began to slip.
On Monday, Oct 21, stock brokers began to make margin calls which led to investors to put their stocks up for sale at a frenzied pace.
Oct 24 became known as "Black Thursday" in which the stock market plummeted by 11%.
Oct 29 became known as "Black Tuesday" in which the stock market dropped by another 13%. Stocks that day lost aout $10-15 billion in value.

Explain how the Stock Market Crash of 1929 came about

Many banks had lent money to stock speculators.
Many banks had invested depositors' money in the stock market, hoping for high returns that they could get by using the money for conventional loans.
When the stock market crashed, banks lost money on their investments, and the speculators defaulted on their loans.
Banks then cut back drastically on their loans which in turn affected consumers.
Banks during this time were not insured by the government. If a bank went under, then everyone's saving in the bank were wiped out.
As word spread about bank failures, people made a run on banks to get their money.
Banks make profits by lending money received from depositors and collecting interest on leans.
People making runs on banks discovered that their savings no longer existed.
This run on banks led to over 3,000 banks collapsing over the first two years of the Great Depression

Explain how the Stock Market Crash of 1929 affected banks which in turn affected millions of American who had never even invested in the stock market.