1920s

18th Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States (Prohibition).

19th Amendment

Granted women the right to vote, ratified in 1920.

Al Smith

A Democratic politician who ran for president in 1928, the first Roman Catholic to do so.

Calvin Coolidge

The 30th President of the United States (1923–1929), known for his pro-business policies.

Charles Lindbergh

Famous for making the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927.

Edward Hopper

A realist American painter known for urban and rural scenes, notably Nighthawks.

Election of 1928

Herbert Hoover (Republican) defeated Al Smith (Democrat), significant due to Smith's Catholicism.

Emergency Quota Acts

Limited immigration by establishing strict quotas, targeting Southern and Eastern Europeans.

Flappers

Young women in the 1920s known for new fashions and independent lifestyles.

Ford Model T

The first affordable automobile for the average American, introduced in 1908.

Georgia O'Keeffe

An American modernist artist known for large-scale paintings of flowers and landscapes.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in the 1920s highlighting African American art, literature, and music.

Herbert Hoover

The 31st President of the United States (1929–1933) during the beginning of the Great Depression.

Jazz music

A genre of music popular in the 1920s, associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

An international agreement signed in 1928 condemning war as a means of resolving disputes.

KKK in the 1920s

Aimed to promote white supremacy and use violence against African Americans, Jews, and Catholics.

Louis Armstrong

A pioneering jazz musician known for his trumpet and influential role in jazz history.

Mitchell Palmer

The U.S. Attorney General during the Red Scare, responsible for the Palmer Raids.

Prohibition

The period from 1920 to 1933 when the 18th Amendment banned alcohol in the U.S.

Red Scare

A fear of communism in the 1920s leading to a decline of organized labor and political repression.

Return to Normalcy

Warren G. Harding’s campaign slogan in 1920 calling for a return to pre-WWI America.

Scopes Trial

A 1925 trial that debated the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Speakeasies

Illegal bars or clubs where alcohol was sold during Prohibition.

Teapot Dome Scandal

A political scandal involving the leasing of federal oil reserves to private companies.

Tulsa Race Massacre

A 1921 attack by white residents on the Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Unilateral Internationalism

A U.S. foreign policy approach in the 1920s focused on American interests without alliances.

Warren G. Harding

The 29th President of the United States known for his slogan and scandal-plagued administration.

Washington Conference (1921)

An international meeting for naval disarmament, resulting in the Washington Naval Treaty.