Unit 5 History Boom to Bust (1920s & 30s)

Spanish Influenza

deadly virus that claimed countless lives that doctors didn’t know how to approach, mainly killed people in the prime of age (21-29)

The Roaring 20’s Mobility

physical or social

• The car becomes affordable

• Women move up the social ladder

• Black Americans migrate northward

The Roaring 20’s Intolerance

Dislike of certain groups or ideas

• For immigrants (Sacco & Vanzetti)

• and their ideas... (Palmer Raids)

• For Black Americans (Rise o fKKK)

• Towards immorality (Prohibition)

The Roaring 20’s Contrast

Two opposing ideas or processes

• Between Imperialism & Isolationism

• Rich & Poor(urban/rural)

• Old & Young(values and morals)

• Religion vs. Science

Scopes Trial

People were unhappy with Scopes for teaching evolution which resulted in a trial of either accepting Darwin’s theory of evolution to be accepted and taught or continuing to follow the Bible- was in public eye and sparked a lot of debate.

Sacco & Vanzetti

Italian immigrants with anarchist views who were convicted of murder and found guilty. The true criminal admitted to the crime but the Supreme Court refused to change the verdict and they were executed. Many people believe they were convicted for their anarchist beliefs and not a crime.

Palmer Raids

Raided Russian Unions and arrested people, including anarchists, due to fear of communist revolution

Republicans in the era

Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover

Conservatives

Harding, Coolidge, Hoover(too little, too late) - stay out of peoples lives, laisezz-faire

Liberal

FDR- New Deal, hands on, relief, recovery, and reform

Black & Americans- segregated and/or left out of new deal ☹

Charles Coughlin, Francis Townsend

The New Deal

a “deal” with Americans to help the economy and American people rise out of the Great Depression-Relief, Recovery, Reform

Relief

Immediate economic help (putting money in peoples pockets)

Recovery

Creating new jobs for people, more long term

Reform

Changing the system and new regulations to avoid another economic depression and protect Americans

Emergency Quota Act

Restricted number of immigrants allowed in U.S.

Flappers

pushed barriers to economic, political, and sexual freedom for women. Known for wearing non-traditional clothes and having untraditional views

Great Migration

Due to Jim Crow laws, and being denied political rights + more jobs available in the North (though racism was rampant, racial segregation was not mandated there) Black Americans migrated to the North seeking economic and social opportunity

Harlem Renaissance

intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Black people were all able to share common experiences and embrace culture in Harlem

Return to Normalcy

Warren G. Harding campaigned on the promise of a "return to normalcy," which would mean a return to conservative values and a turning away from President Wilson's internationalism

Normalcy Trends

Isolationism, Nativism, Conservatism

Isolationism examples

• Emergency Quota Act of 1921– Limited immigration

• Kellogg Briand Pact– No war

• Fordney McCumber Tariff– increase import tax

Nativism examples

• Palmer Raids– Attorney Gen’s war on socialists; feared

• Communism and labor unions

• (Bolshevik Revolution)

• Sacco & Vanzetti– deal with anarchists and firmly

• Rise of KKK

• – “American Values” were at risk; stop the

• corruption of American culture

Conservatism

• Political– Harding, Coolidge, Hoover elected

• Economic– return to laissez faire capitalism

• Social– no booze...for masses, a rise in religious

• fundamentalism in response to science

Installment Plan

buying something on credit over an  extended period of time

Reasons that led to the Great Depression

Speculation, Buying on Margin, easy to get credit, banks giving loans too freely, more options for consumers, installment plans,

Buying on Margin

only paying a small amount of a stock’s  price at the time of purchase

Langston Hughes

American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance

Prohibition

18th Amendment- prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages- lead to the rise of organized crime

21st Amendment

Repealed prohibition

Red Scare

Americans were so caught up in containment of communism, and investigated people within their community for communism

Bonus Army

jobless WWI veterans organized a group called the “Bonus Expeditionary Forces” (BEF) to march on Washington, DC. Suffering and desperate, the BEF's goal was to get the bonus payment now, when they really needed the money

Dorothea Lange

American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work

Dust Bowl

drought-stricken southern plains region suffered severe dust storms, caused by economic depression coupled with extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices, and the resulting wind erosion

FDIC

gave basic deposit insurance coverage level to $5,000, restored Americans confidence in banks

Securities Exchange Comm.

regulates secondary financial markets to ensure a transparent and fair environment for investors. It prohibits fraudulent activities

Social Security

social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement

Speculation

buying low selling high  (On a daily basis…very quickly.)  

-fluctuating market 

-owners never knew how much investment capital  they would have 

Tennessee Valley Authority

tackle important problems facing the valley, such as flooding, providing electricity to homes and businesses, and replanting forests. Improved and built new dams