Topic 7 Study Guide
Scopes Trial - In 1925, a biology teacher, John Scopes was put on trial for teaching evolution. During this time, only creationism was allowed to be taught in schools and other ideas such as evolution and Darwinism were not accepted.
Prohibition - The 18th Amendment was issued in 1920 to ban the manufacture and sale of alcohol because of increased amounts of domestic violence and corruption. The IRS enforced this act which seemed predestined to fail because consumption, possession and transportation was still legal, making it impossible to completely ban alcohol. The 21st Amendment later repealed this.
Flappers - Young women in the 1920's who were typically seen wearing short, revealing dresses and smoking a cigarette.
Economic Issues (1920's) - In this time period, new consumer demands emerged such as automobiles and radios, consumer credits expanded and the stock market escalated. Investors began to take advantage of margin loans provided by their brokers and people started selling their stocks to cause problems in the economy, leading to the Great Depression.
Dust Bowl - This was a time of extreme drought in the Midwest which lasted about 15 years. New technologies for farming were introduced causing the soil to become less compact and more susceptible to be blown around in the strong winds.
Agriculture Issues - Farmers had to rotate their crops in order ensure better products. The drought made it very difficult to grow the plants due to the poor soil quality and lack of water. Tractors and plowing machines were new forms of technology but loosened the soil which quickly blew away in the wind.
Immigration Policies (1920's) - In 1924, Immigration acts were passes to limit ethnic groups to 2% of the count from the 1890 census. We started to limit Immigrants after WWI for security reasons and we banned the Asians entirely. This resulted in chaos because the opposition of quotas disappeared.
Nativism - This refers to the opposition of immigration or efforts to lower political or legal status of different ethnic groups because they are considered foreign.
Significant Literary Works - Jacob Riis wrote a book about city life and how people were living, Upton Sinclare wrote "The Jungle" to inform us about the meat-packing industry, Ralph Nader wrote "Unsafe at any Speed" which was about vehicle safety and Langston Hughes wrote "The Ways of White Folks", embracing his culture and writing about white people.
The Great Migration - After the Civil War, most people stayed where they were. In the 1920's, people began to move from the south to the north, creating racial differentiation and new cultures to form.
Harlem Renaissance - African Americans who recently moved to NYC took ownership for literature, art, music (especially jazz)
Sacco and Venzetti - Italian anarchists who were charged with murder and found guilty two times. Evidence was found that someone switched Sacco's barrel on the gun that he used during the murder; they were never given another trial and were both executed by the electric chair.
Labor Issues (1920's) - Unions did not thrive during this time period because for years they had concentrated their efforts on workers skilled in one specific area. The rising mass-production industries were not favorable to the unions and their workers were largely unskilled.
The Red Scare - After the end of WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Red Scare emerged in the United States. The Red Scare brought a nationwide fear of communists, socialists and anarchists causing many innocent people to be jailed for expressing ideas relating to those topics.
Schenck v. United States - Charles Schenck, secretary of the Socialist Party of Ameica, printed, distributed and mailed oppositions to military draftees during WWI. The Supreme Court decision defended the Espionage Act (1917) which concluded that a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech against the draft used in WWI.
