The Roaring Twenties - Vocabulary Flashcards (2025–2026 Social Science Resource Guide)

Vocabulary flashcards covering people, laws, movements, and technologies that defined the Roaring Twenties and the transition to the Great Depression.

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson’s post–World War I peace plan advocating self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, and the creation of a League of Nations.

League of Nations

Wilson’s proposed international security body intended to resolve conflicts peacefully; included in the Versailles Treaty but the U.S. Senate never ratified it.

Versailles Treaty

The 1919 peace treaty that ended World War I, assigned sole blame to Germany, imposed heavy reparations, and incorporated the Covenant of the League of Nations.

Article X (League Covenant)

A League of Nations clause invoking collective security, seen by opponents as a potential restraint on American sovereignty.

Reservationists

Senate Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge who demanded amendments or reservations to the Versailles Treaty before ratification.

Irreconcilables

Hard isolationists in the U.S. Senate who opposed the Treaty of Versailles and membership in the League of Nations.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Supreme Court decision establishing the 'clear and present danger' test for limiting free speech during wartime.

Abrams v. United States (1919)

Case upholding restrictions under the Sedition Act; Holmes’s later dissent emphasized the 'marketplace of ideas' concept.

Debs v. United States (1919)

Case upholding Eugene Debs’s conviction under the Espionage Act for antiwar speech.

Palmer Raids

1919–1920 crackdown led by A. Mitchell Palmer to arrest and deport suspected radicals, fueling civil-liberties concerns.

Red Scare

Postwar fear of Bolshevism and radicalism leading to widespread arrest, surveillance, and restrictions.

Great Migration

The large-scale movement of African Americans from the rural South to northern and western cities starting 1915.

Harlem Renaissance

A burst of African American cultural, artistic, and literary work in the 1920s centered in Harlem.

Jazz

Rhythmic, improvisational music that originated in New Orleans and spread globally in the 1920s.

Red Summer (1919)

A period of severe racial violence and riots against African Americans across urban centers.

Marcus Garvey and UNIA

Black nationalist movement advocating racial pride and self-sufficiency; UNIA grew rapidly, Garvey urged 'Africa for the Africans' and was later deported.

Eighteenth Amendment

Constitutional ban on the manufacture, sale, and transport of intoxicating beverages (Prohibition).

Volstead Act

1940s–era law enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment’s Prohibition provisions (0.05% alcohol threshold).

Prohibition

Nationwide ban on alcohol from 1920–1933, praised by some as moral progress and condemned for fostering crime and corruption.

Nineteenth Amendment

Ratified in 1920, it granted women the right to vote in all states.

Bootleggers

People who illegally produced, smuggled, or sold alcoholic beverages during Prohibition.

Speakeasies

Illegal bars or clubs that sold alcohol during Prohibition.

Al Capone

Infamous Chicago gangster whose operations symbolized organized crime during Prohibition.

Dawes Plan (1924)

International arrangement that restructured Germany’s reparations and stabilized international loans to avoid another crash.

Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

Multinational treaty renouncing war as national policy; promised peaceful dispute resolution.

Washington Naval Conference (1921–1922)

Diplomatic summit that limited naval armaments among major powers to prevent future arms races.

Five-Power Treaty

Treaty establishing a 5:5:3 ratio of major capital ships among the U.S., Britain, and Japan.

Four-Power Treaty

Agreement among the U.S., Britain, Japan, and France to respect Pacific territorial claims and maintain open channels.

Nine-Power Treaty

Affirmed the Open Door Policy in China and broader open competition in the region.

Henry Ford

Industrialist who popularized mass production through the assembly line and doubled worker wages with the five-dollar day.

Model T

Ford’s affordable, mass-produced automobile that revolutionized American mobility.

Fordism

System of mass production and standardized, high-wage labor to create a mass consumer market.

five-dollar day

Ford’s famous $5 daily wage policy designed to spur productivity and stimulate demand.

Highland Park Plant

Ford’s innovative factory in Detroit that showcased assembly-line production.

River Rouge

Massive Ford complex that exemplified vertical integration and large-scale manufacturing.

Vertical integration

Control over all stages of production, from raw materials to finished product.

Welfare capitalism

Corporate strategies (wages, benefits, and company unions) aimed at stabilizing labor relations.

Electrification

Widespread introduction of electricity into homes and factories, fueling new appliances and productivity.

Monitor Top refrigerator

GE’s pioneering electric refrigerator (introduced in 1927 as a mass-market appliance).

Mass advertising

Explosion of consumer advertising that shaped brands, norms, and mass culture.

Mascots and endorsements

Marketing devices (e.g., Betty Crocker, Lucky Strike) used to build brand loyalty.

Radio (RCA, NBC)

Rise of radio as a mass medium; RCA dominated manufacturing, NBC built a national network.

The Radio Music Box

David Sarnoff’s vision for broadcast radio in every home.

Constitution of the Air (Federal Radio Act of 1927)

Rooted regulation of radio licenses, frequencies, and content to organize airwaves.

Talkies (The Jazz Singer, 1927)

Rise of sound films marking the end of the silent era.

Movie palaces

Grand, ornate cinemas that drew large crowds and defined modern cinema culture.

Babe Ruth

Iconic baseball star whose home runs symbolized 1920s American sports glamour.

Route 66

Iconic National Old Road designated in 1926, symbolizing the car era’s mobility.

Dust Bowl

Great Plains drought and dust storms in the early 1930s that displaced farmers (Okies).

Hoover (Hoovervilles)

President Hoover’s era and the shantytowns that sprang up during the Depression.

Great Mississippi Flood (1927)

Massive flood response led by Hoover; marred by racial segregation and displacement.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930)

Tariff raising import duties, triggering retaliatory tariffs and worsening the Depression.

Bank failures (1930–1932)

Thousands of banks closed, wiping out depositors’ savings and deepening the Depression.

Okies

Dust Bowl refugees from the Great Plains who migrated to California and other regions.

Scopes Trial (1925)

Dayton trial over teaching evolution in public schools; highlighted science vs. religion debate.

Aimee Semple McPherson

Religious leader who built Angelus Temple and used mass media to spread gospel.

Buck v. Bell (1927)

Supreme Court upholding sterilization laws; infamous 'three generations of imbeciles' ruling.

Ozawa v. United States (1922)

Supreme Court ruling that skin color, not assimilation, determined whiteness for citizenship.

Thind v. United States (1923)

Supreme Court denying Indian immigrant citizenship despite assimilation proof; racial classification used.

Johnson-Reed Immigration Act (1924)

Quota system limiting immigration, especially from Southern/Eastern Europe and excluding Asia.

Eugenics

Pseudoscience advocating selective breeding and racial hierarchy; influenced immigration and sterilization laws.

Lost Generation

Group of American expatriate writers in 1920s Paris (e.g., Hemingway, Fitzgerald) challenging norms.

Modernism

Cultural movement rejecting traditional forms in art, literature, and architecture.

Harlem Renaissance

African American cultural awakening in the 1920s, centered in Harlem.

Scopes, Darrow, and the Bible in public life

The Scopes Trial illustrated the clash between science and religious fundamentalism.

Sister Aimee McPherson (Angelus Temple; Four-Square Gospel)

Influential evangelist who fused spirituality with modern media.