1920a
🌟 1920s Study Guide (CPA / Honors US II)
👤 IMPORTANT PEOPLE (Know who they are + why they matter)
A. Mitchell Palmer
Attorney General during the Red Scare, ordered Palmer Raids to arrest suspected radicals.
Al Jolson
Famous entertainer; starred in The Jazz Singer, the first “talkie” movie.
Al Smith
New York governor, 1928 Democratic presidential candidate; opposed Prohibition.
Albert Fall
Secretary of the Interior involved in the Teapot Dome Scandal.
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of the Treasury; promoted tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy.
Babe Ruth
Legendary baseball player; symbol of the rise of sports heroes and mass culture.
Bob La Follette
Progressive senator from Wisconsin; opposed big business influence.
Bruno Hauptmann
Convicted of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh’s baby.
Calvin Coolidge
The president, after Harding, believed in limited government and laissez-faire economics.
Charles Forbes
Head of the Veterans Bureau; involved in corruption during the Harding administration.
Charles Lindbergh
First person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.
Clarence Darrow
Defense attorney in the Scopes Trial; argued against banning evolution.
D. W. Griffith
Director of Birth of a Nation, a technically innovative but racist film.
Eugene V. Debs
A socialist leader ran for president from prison after opposing World War I.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Author of The Great Gatsby; wrote about the excess and disillusionment of the 1920s.
Harry Daugherty
Harding’s Attorney General; connected to Ohio Gang corruption.
Henry Ford
Introduced the assembly line; revolutionized mass production.
Herbert Hoover
Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s; later president at the start of the Great Depression.
Jack Dempsey
Famous heavyweight boxing champion.
John Scopes
The teacher tried to teach evolution in the Scopes Trial.
Kennesaw Landis
First commissioner of baseball; restored integrity after the Black Sox scandal.
Langston Hughes
Leading writer of the Harlem Renaissance; celebrated Black culture.
W. C. Handy
Known as the “Father of the Blues”; influenced jazz music.
Warren G. Harding
President known for corruption scandals and the Ohio Gang.
William J. Bryan
Prosecutor in the Scopes Trial; supported creationism.
🧠KEY TERMS & EVENTS (Not People)
Acme Packers
Company involved in Teapot Dome corruption.
Algonquin Round Table
Group of writers and critics who met to discuss ideas and culture.
Banking Crisis
Weak banks contributed to economic instability before the Great Depression.
Birth of a Nation
Silent film that glorified the KKK; sparked controversy.
Black Sox
1919 baseball scandal where players threw the World Series.
Bootlegging
Illegal production and sale of alcohol during Prohibition.
Emergency Quota Act (1921)
Limited immigration based on nationality.
Flappers
Young women who challenged traditional gender roles.
Immigration Act of 1924
Set strict quotas favoring northern and western Europeans.
Isolationism
Policy of avoiding foreign alliances and conflicts.
Jazz
Popular music style rooted in African American culture.
KDKA
First commercial radio station; symbol of mass media growth.
Laissez-Faire
Economic policy of little government intervention.
Mass Production
Making goods quickly and cheaply using assembly lines.
Ohio Gang
Group of Harding’s friends involved in political corruption.
Prohibition
Nationwide ban on alcohol (18th Amendment).
Red Scare
Fear of communism and radical political movements.
Speakeasies
Illegal clubs selling alcohol during Prohibition.
Teapot Dome
Major political scandal involving oil reserves and bribery.
Volstead Act
Law that enforced Prohibition.
✍ WRITTEN QUESTION FOCUS: Immigration Laws of the 1920s
Be ready to explain:
WHY the U.S. restricted immigration (fear of foreigners, Red Scare, nativism)
WHAT laws did (Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act of 1924)
WHO was targeted (Southern & Eastern Europeans)
EFFECTS (less diversity, discrimination, long-term impact)
đź’ˇ Pro tip: Use words like nativism, quotas, fear of radicals, and protect American jobs.