The Roaring 20's

Henry Ford

1863-1947. American businessman, founder of Ford Motor Company, father of modern assembly lines, and inventor credited with 161 patents.

Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)

A 1925 trial in Tennessee that threw into sharp relief the division between traditional values and modern, secular culture. A teacher in a TN public school was arrested for violating a state law that prohibited the teaching of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. His trial became a national sensation, and the proceedings were carried live on national radio. The case reflected the enduring tension between two American definitions of freedom: moral liberty, or the voluntary adherence to time-honored religious beliefs, vs. the right to independent thought and individual self-expression. While the teachers was found guilty, the trial weakened the movement for religious fundamentalism.

The Lost Generation

A group of American writers who shared the belief that they were lost in a greedy, materialistic world that lacked moral values in the early 20th century. Many moved to cultural centers such as London in Paris in search for literary freedom. Prominent writers included T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway among others.

Al Capone

A mob king in Chicago who controlled a large network of speakeasies with enormous profits. His illegal activities convey the failure of prohibition in the twenties and the problems with gangs.

Isolationism

A policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations

Marcus Garvey

African American leader durin the 1920s who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to Africa. Was deported to Jamaica in 1927.

Speakeasies

An illegal bar where drinks were sold, during the time of prohibition. It was called a Speakeasy because people literally had to speak easy so they were not caught drinking alcohol by the police.

Jazz Age (1920s)

Another name for the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties. The decade was marked by rapid economic growth, rising prosperity for many people, and far-reaching social changes for much of the nation. - Jazz, a new genre of music developed by Creole musicians in New Orleans, became increasing popular during the period, and the style became synonymous with the decade.

Volstead Act

Bill passed by Congress to enforce the language of the 18th Amendment. This bill made the manufacture and distribution of alcohol illegal within the borders of the United States.

Fundamentlism

Christians that believed the bible was true without error (no interpretation made it illegal to teach evolution

Red Scare (1919-1920)

Fear among many Americans after World War I of Communists in particular and noncitizens in general, a reaction to the Russian Revolution, mail bombs, strikes, and riots.

Harlem Renaissance (1920s)

Group of African American artists, intellectuals, and social leaders who lived in Harlem in the 1920s. They were termed the New Negroes by black professor Alain Locke because they had risen from the ashes of slavery to proclaim African American creative genius and work toward defeating racial prejudice.

The Great Migration

Movement of over 300,000 African Americans from the South to the North for jobs.

Teapot Dome Scandal

Oil Reserves Scandal or Elk Hills Scandal, in American history, scandal of the early 1920s surrounding the secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior, Albert Bacon Fall. Convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies, Albert Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison.

19th Amendment (1920)

Ratified on August 18, 1920 (drafted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton), prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. The Constitution allows the states to determine the qualifications for voting, and until the 1910's most states disenfranchised women. The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the U.S.

18th Amendment (1919)

The 18th Amendment (proposed by Congress on December 19, 1917) banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States and its possessions. Contrary to common belief, it did not prohibit the purchase or consumption of alcohol. The Amendment was ratified on January 18, 1919, went into effect one year later, and was repealed by the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933. Small-time operators were faced with competition from the organized crime and criminal gangs that fought each other for market control.

ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union. It defends and preserves the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

Charles Lindbergh's flight, 1927

US aviator who in 1927 made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. His plane was the "Spirit of St Louis" flew from Long Island, New York to Paris, France. Total flight time: 33 hours, 30 minutes, 29.8 seconds. He gained great publicity for this effort and was widly praised by all Amerians.He was a huge figure in the eyes of common people and created a new sense of pride within the US.Lindbergh would then go on to advocate isolationism during the years before WWII. As an orator he spoke for the America First Committee to try and steer away from war.

General Strike of 1926

When the coal miners who were fed up with their conditions went on strike and were supported by workers who left their jobs to protest. From this Great Britain called a state of emergency and called in the army to crush the strike.

Flapper

Young women of the 1920s that behaved and dressed in a radical fashion

KKK in the 1920s

founded in Georgia in 1915 by William Simmons to fight the growing "influence" of blacks, Jews and Catholics in US society. It experienced phenomenal growth in the 1920's, especially in the Midwest and Ohio Valley states. It's peak membership came in 1924 at 3 million members, but its reputation for violence led to rapid decline by 1929.

Bootlegging

the act of making of transporting alcoholic liquor for sale illegally

Prohibition

the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment

Sacco and Vanzetti

were two italian born american laborers and anarchists who were tried, convicted, and executed via electrocution on Aug 3 1927 in Ma for the 1920 armed robbery. it is believed they had nothing to do with the crime.