1920-1929

Red Scare, 1919-1920

-What? Cause? How used to stifle dissent? (Synthesis: Consider how various
wars and events throughout U.S. History have been used to undermine labor)
- Fear of left-wingers whose adherence to American values was in doubt - Involved
immigrants and mainly groups that adhered to anti-democracy communist ideals - WW1
was a major contributing factor due to the soviet threat, which if successful would
impose a communist government - Brought people together against other forms of
government and prevented people from campaigning from them
The American Plan (What distinguishes a closed shop from an open shop?)
- Employers using the "open shop" technique to avoid dealing with labor unions
- Closed shop: a business that forces employees to join a union that represents workers
- Open shop: a business that does not require employees to join a union

-Sacco and Vanzetti

- Court case where they were accused of murder and got death sentence
- Was an injustice in the American justice system that granted death for unassertive
evidence

Rise of the KKK

● After the war, the KKK's values have reemerged.
● It quickly spread throughout the Midwest and certain areas of the South. It was
opposed to many ideals, including those of blacks, Jews, communists, and many
more.
● Anglo Saxon supporter and native

Immigration Act of 1924

-(Synthesis: Consider how this compares with other immigration policies throughout
U.S. History, such as immigration policy of 1965)
-The country's previously unrestricted immigration highlights how America and its
policies have changed.
- Demonstrates anti-immigrant attitude and a desire to preserve the country's current
racial makeup.

Eighteenth Amendment (1919) and the Volstead Act

-Successes and failures of Prohibition?
- It controlled the sale and production of liquor, but did not address consumption or even
possession
- Showed effects of the temperance movement
- Was eventually repealed as people found ways around it

Rise of gangsterism and organized crime

-Causes?:
th
- 18 amendment led to people illegally manufacturing it
- Wars broke out between gangs that would fight over the market for the liquor
-Al Capone
- A liquor distributor and notorious gangster that was very rich from his work and a
known ruthless killer

Scopes Monkey Trial

-What? Outcome? Significance?:
- According to reports, a teacher taught evolution in violation of Tennessee law. He had
the support of many eminent lawyers and even a presidential candidate. Ultimately
reversed, but constitutional concerns were not resolved
-Bible Belt: A part of the south where the kkk was heavily spread. More southern
south
-Fundamentalism: Protestant movement for more modernism and the
importance of the bible, as a historical artifact as well as a religious doctrine

The growth of a consumer economy and mass consumption

-Contributing factors?: Higher production rate on goods and more labor available
from immigration and a growing middle class
-Examples?: Sports, more products made for enjoyment, consumer products
that were not necessary

-Growth of advertising: More advertisements were introduced that used

persuasions such as seduction and discontentment with current products

Sports as big business

● Became a large consumer economy as people would go to the games in their
freedom
● Many sports were created and grew rapidly

Buying on credit
● Another feature of the economy postwar
 ● The idea of buying today and paying tomorrow, trusting that they would pay back
● Caused deep debts on people who couldn’t pay back

Scientific Management/Taylorism
● States that there is one way to do something and that is the only right way to do it
● Relates to the work space and how workers can maximize their efficient

Impact of the automobile

-On industry?
-Fordism: a system of mass production, by using assembly lines and
-the assembly line: A style of manufacturing goods that was popularized
by Ford Motor Company that greatly improved production rates
- One person in charge of specific things
-On culture?: There was an increase in activities for leisure as people come
relocate easier, and increased services

Summarize the significance of the following:

-Aviation:
- It opened up a whole new world for the people that wanted to travel
- Brought more leisure actives with stunts
- Gave growth to economy, and increased the speed at which things ran
-Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis: First solo flight across Atlantic
ocean, from New York to Paris performed by Charles Lindbergh, was a huge
achievement
-Radio: Improved the lives of people who now had information at their fingertips
and it was easier for politicians, sports, and other things to be broadcasted to a larger
audience
-Film/Hollywood: A result of the increase of technology and free time, gave
people things to do with their money and free time. Big advancement in movie/ film
industry

The flapper
● Women that brought great energy and freedom who took on a dangerous and
immoral lifestyle at the time
● Pushed gender barriers

Jazz
● Made a huge entrance into American culture specifically in New Orleans that was
taken with the blacks in WW1
Marcus Garvey and the United Negro Improvement Association
● A organization that was founded with the intent of parading for African Americans
and it stressed the unity of blacks,, and how they needed to be redeemed from
white rule
● Pro African American, anti-white

Who were some of the major literary, artistic, and architectural figures, and how did the
literature reflect the mood of the 1920s?
-F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby: Discussed similar events to those
taking place in America, the splintered society that was driven by achievements
-Ernest Hemingway and A Farewell to Arms: A fighter in WW1 who was very
influenced by it and wrote stories about war and the negative effects, and he himself
killed himself
-T.S. Eliot and The Waste Land: A poem that was very influential in the eyes of
literature
-Eugene O’Neill: A Princeton dropout that mdae many plays and won a Nobel
Prize

The “Lost Generation”

● A group of writers who were displeased with American society and wrote
addressing these issues through their works
Modernism
-In what ways did the emergence of “modernism” lead to a broader questioning of
values within society? (see page 712 and 714)
- Modernism took the ideas of evolution and accepted them without losing their faith or
religion in the Bible
- It was sort of a compromise that led to many more in the future, where people came
half way between two extremes
Harlem Renaissance
-Louis Armstrong: A jazz artist that expressed his pride in being African
American and showed off their culture, and wanted to be equal to whites
-Langston Hughes: A writer that had similar goals as Armstrong, wanted to have
an equal society, and expressed that through his work

Buying stocks “on margin”

● Buying stocks with money you received from a loan

● Was a risky business because if your stock failed, you would go into debt with the
banks