Topic 7 Concept guide

The Scopes Trial

• John Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution
• Scopes was found guilty, but then it was overturned.

Prohibition

• 18th amendment went into effect January,1920 
• Banned Manufacture and Sale of "intoxicating liquors"
• Did NOT ban... possession,consumption, or  transportation
• This meant that enforcement of prohibition was difficult.
• Bootleggers and rum runners were smugglers of alcohol rum runner(Canada)
• Moonshine and bathtub gin are both homemade alcohol
• There were more bars than there were before the 18th amendment 
• Speakeasy's were bars in back rooms of shops.
• In 1932 FDR pushed for the repeal of the 18th amendment.
• Prohibition was set to fail because it was difficult to enforce, law enforcement officers were drinking and the IRS couldn't handle it.

Flappers

• Younger women of the 1920's 
• They drank and smoked
• Wore more revealing clothing.
• Short skirts etc.

Economic Issues (1920s)

• 3 factors that led to Consumer Demands

1. Credit was available 
2. Low interest rates (Interest=bank $)
3. Installment plan(revolving credit) You don't have to have all the money upfront

• Discretionary Income, The $ left over after the "necessities" are paid
• Stock Market Speculation
• Buying on Margin" Borrowing $ and buying stock

Dust Bowl

• Dust storms due to drought
• The dust was because of the over plowing of fields
• Many people lost their homes

Agriculture Issues

• There was no crop rotations
• Soil got overused
• Prices drop

Immigration Policies (1920s)

• Limit Immigration because....

1. Security
2. US could thrive w/o immigrants
3. opposition to quotas dissapear

• Ethnic groups are limited to 2% of count from 1890 census
• Asians were banned entirely

Nativism

• After WWI wanted to isolationists
• KKK re-emerged

Significant Literary Works (1920s)

• Jacob Reese: How the Other Half Lives it was about How people were living in the cities
• Upton Sinclair: The Jungle about the meatpacking industry
• Ralph Nader: Unsafe at any speed. It looked at vehicle safety

The Great Migration

• African Americans in 1920's moved from the south to the north.
• Shift in Racial Demographics. 
• Causes parts of the country to have to deal w/ racial tension

1920 Labor Issues 

• Strikes 
• Less $$

Harlem Renaissance

• African American spread of literature, music and art.
• Jazz music

Sacco and Vanzetti

• Italian Anarchists, charged with murderLabor Issues (1920s)
• Found Guilty
• Sentenced to death in 1927

The Red Scare

• Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Lenin takes over Russia(communism)
• Soviet union becomes USSR
• People became afraid of those who displayed un-American Behaviors
• Immigrants lost jobs

Schneck v. the United States

• Espionage and Sedition Acts were declared constitutional by the supreme court
• Espionage act= prohibited supporting US enemies &  interfering w/ military  operations
• Sedition act = forbade the use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, its flag, or its armed forces or that caused others to view the American government or its institutions with contempt.