John T. Scopes was tried in court for trying to teach evolution, breaking the state law of Tennessee. The verdict was overturned however due to a technicality: he was ordered to pay a fine of 100 dollars, but because this was ordered by the judge and not the jury. This was a great turning point in education, and if anything like this happened now, it would be a violation of the teacher's academic freedom.
Prohibition
This was a result of the 18th Amendment that banned alcohol, but ended up increasing the amount of drinking. Prohibition created modern organized crime, bootlegging, rum runners, and the speakeasy.
Flappers
These women were part of the 1920's where their hair was cut short, they bared their legs and shoulders, and they drank and smoked publicly. Flappers were a transition to the way women dress and act today.
Economic Issues (1920s)
The Great Depression occurred, leaving many homeless, jobless, and living in poverty. The stock market crashed because of the fall of stock prices and low interest rates. The effects of demobilization also caused an increase in drinking, depression, PTSD, and homelessness.
Dust Bowl
The causes of the Dust Bowl were over farming, severe drought, and mechanization. Over farming because of an increase in mechanization led to a loss of nutrition in the soil and as a result crops could not be grown. The soil became like dust because of the drought and was blown as far east as New York.
Agriculture Issues
Because of the tragedy in the Dust Bowl, there were many food shortages and starvation spread.
Immigration Policies
Post WWI immigration was limited to the United States because we came to the conclusion that the US could thrive without immigrants and the opposition to quotas would disappear. People became afraid of those who were unamerican, especially those who were foreign. Asians were banned altogether. The espionage and sedition acts allowed people to report anyone or anything suspicious.
Nativism
This was a term to describe anyone opposed to immigration. The immigration act of 1924 limited ethnic group immigration to 2%.
Significant literary works
How the Other Half Lives-Jacob Riis
Jungle-Uptown Sinclair
Unsafe at Any Speed-Ralph Nader
The Great Migration
African Americans moving from the rural south to industrial cities in the north. They suffered a great deal of discrimination from workers who already had jobs in factories.
Harlem Renaissance
Era of African American art like Jazz, Blues, theater, and literature. Writers like Langston Hughes wrote in the time period of the Harlem Renaissance and his works can still be read today.
Sacco and Vanzetti
Italian immigrants and anarchists who followed Luigi Galleani. They were later convicted of murder during an armed robbery. After a series of trials both were executed as punishment. There is controversy over their trial and whether there was enough evidence to convict them.
Labor Issues (1920s)
Demobilization efforts were trying to get returning soldiers from the war back to their jobs, but many men suffered from drinking problems, depression, and homelessness.
The Red Scare
This refers to the strong feelings of anti-communism in the United States. This period began after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and many Americans feared that the same type of revolution would happen in the U.S. This caused Attorney General Mitchell Palmer to launch the Palmer Raids, which raided left wing organizations across the country.
Schenck v. the United States
A United States Supreme Court decision that defended the Espionage Act of 1917 and concluded that a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech against the draft during World War I.
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