Name: Unit 6: “Return to Normalcy” and the “Roaring 20s”

INTERACTIVE VOCAB

Word Definition Analysis 1. Creditor Nation (252)

● A country which is owed more money by other countries than it owes to other countries

● The U.S. became #1 (we were the richest and most industrial country in the world)

Think back to Unit 5—why might another country owe us money? (what event would have caused them to borrow it)

2. Red Scare (266-267)

● hunt, crackdown, and fear of immigrants coming to the U.S. spreading communism

● Intense fear of communism and other politically radical ideas

● Increases nativism (dislike of foreigners)

What happened to Russia’s government at the end of WWI? Why is communism associated with the color red?

3. Palmer Raids (267) ● The series of raids in early 1920’s initiated by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, against suspected radicals and communists

● Police arrested thousands of people, some who were radicals, and some who were just immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe—hundreds were deported.

What group was formed in 1920 in response to the civil liberties of Americans being denied? (267)

4. Sacco and Vanzetti (267)

● Italian immigrants (and known anarchists) that were arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster

● The two were accused because an eyewitness said the suspects looked ‘Italian’

● The case lacked evidence but they were executed anyway

Do you think it possible for Sacco and Vanzetti to actually receive a fair trial in the 1920s? Why or why not?

5. Ku Klux Klan (KKK) (269)

• a secret society formed after the Civil War in to resist the emancipation of slaves

• Was revived in Georgia in 1915 • Hostile towards immigrants,

Catholics, Jews, and African Americans

• Members were mostly White Protestant Americans

• Used lynching and other violent and terrorist tactics

Think about it….why is this organization allowed to exist and express their opinions so openly?

6. National Origins Act of 1924 (268)

• Law that limited the number of immigrants coming to the U.S. from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia

• Established quotas for each separate nationality, based on America’s existing ethnic composition.

• Started after WWI

Why would the US want to limit immigrants after WWI?

7. Eugenics (268)

• Pseudo-scientific (semi-scientific) belief that the human race could be improved by breeding.

• discouraged reproduction by persons that have genetic defects that could be passed down to children

How could nativism be linked to eugenics?

8. Warren G. Harding (251-252, 259-260))

● Republican President: 1921-1923

● believed in less government in business and more business involvement in government

● pro-business platform “A Return to Normalcy” promised tax revision, higher tariffs, limits on immigration, and some aid to farmers

Why do we say there are “hard times for Harding”—what scandal occurred while he was president?

9. Teapot Dome Scandal (260)

● A scandal which involved Harding’s Interior Secretary leasing government oil reserves (in Teapot Dome, Wyoming) to private oilmen in return for bribes

● became symbolic of the scandals of the Harding administration

What scandal from unit 2B is this similar to?

10. Calvin Coolidge (260)

● Republican president: 1923-29 ● pro-business—he moves away

from progressivism ● “the business of America is

business” ● Passed the “Mellon Income Tax

Cuts” which lowered marginal tax rates on individuals and corporations

How did Coolidge become president in 1923?

11. Herbert Hoover • In 1928 Hoover was elected president

• Eight months later the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, and Hoover was blamed for the depressed economy

Do you think Hoover was responsible for the stock market crash and depression that followed? Why or why not?

12. Henry Ford (253)

● American businessman, founder of Ford Motor Company

● Father of modern assembly lines and inventor credited with 161 patents

How did the Ford “democratize” the automobile? What social changes did the car bring to America?

13. Assembly line (254)

• mechanical system in a factory where an article or product is conveyed (moved) through sites or stations

• Each site performs one operation or task versus one person doing everything

• Makes for increased efficiency and productivity

Which inventor used this in his automobile factory to increase production?

14. Glenn Curtiss

• aviation pioneer who developed airplanes that landed on water

• invention will lead to the Navy adopting airplanes—prior to the U.S. Air Force

What is the significance of a plane landing on water?

15. Charles Lindbergh

● American pilot who made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927

● His plane was named “The Spirit of St. Louis”

● A public and political figure who was very popular at the time (often used for propaganda)

Why would Lindbergh be used for propaganda?

16. Consumer Economy (255)

• an economy that depends on a large amount of spending by consumers

• The Age of Mass Consumption – created by mass markets for goods, effective or good advertising, purchasing power (cash) of people and more leisure time

Do we have a consumer economy today? Explain.

17. Buying on Credit (255)

• Developed by retailers or stores—Installment purchases

• Put a small amount of cash down to take home an item, remainder paid over time

• Allows people to buy more expensive items

• Charged interest

Give an example of buying on credit in today’s time.

18. Buying on margin (255)

• buying stock on credit • During 1920’s stocks could be

purchased with a 10% down payment versus paying in full

• Rest of price financed by a loan from stock broker

• Illegal now

Why do you think laws have now been passed to prevent buying stocks on credit?

19. Bull Market (255)

• Period of increased stock trading and rising stock prices

Is a bull market a positive (good or desired) thing? What people benefit from a bull market?

20. 18th Amendment (prohibition) (270)

● made the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol illegal

● Enabled by the Volstead Act of 1919

● Considered a moral experiment

● Repealed in 1933 with the 21st Amendment

What do you think the men in the picture are pouring out of the barrel? Why?

21. Bootleggers (271)

● person who smuggled liquor into the U.S. during Prohibition

● Organized crime and other individuals became very wealthy doing this

Although illegal, why were bootleggers idolized by some people in society?

22. Organized Crime

● crime rings, or the mob ● crime that is controlled by a

boss or head ● For example the mob of

Chicago led by Al Capone ● Supplied illegal alcohol during

prohibition and operated speakeasies (underground and illegal drinking places)

Did the 18th Amendment ultimately bring positive or negative changes in American society during the 1920s?

23. Fundamentalism (traditionalism) (265)

• Movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles

• Example: the Bible was inspired by God and does not contain contradiction or errors, and is literally true

In what ways could fundamentalism and science conflict with one another?

24. Modernism (264)

• The growing trend to emphasize science and secular (non-religious) views over traditional religious beliefs

What court case will we see modernism and fundamentalism battle?

25. Scopes Trial (“The Monkey Trial”) (265)

● 1925, the trial that brought the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution (scientific) against teaching Bible creationism (religion)

● Represents clash between traditionalists and modernists

● Broadcast over national radio

Although John Scopes lost this trial, many claimed that traditionalists actually lost. In what way is this true?

26. Clarence Darrow (266)

● Well-known Defense attorney who represented John Scopes in the case of The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes

Was Darrow a fundamentalist or Modernist?

27. William Jennings Bryan (266)

● Represented the state of Tennessee in the Scopes Trial

● Took the stand as an expert on the Bible

● Bryan died in Dayton five days after the trial ended

Was Bryan a fundamentalist or modernist?

28. Flapper (277)

• a young woman in the 1920s who flaunted her unconventional (out of the norm) conduct and dress

• change in manners and morals • Flappers wore short dresses

that revealed body shape and legs and arms, short hair, wore makeup, danced, smoked and dated without chaperones.

• Rebellion against traditional values

How does the flapper represent the changes occurring during this time?

29. Tin Pan Alley (275)

● Section of New York City where song-writing and musical ideas mixed together to form American popular music

● Blues, jazz and ragtime music are melded together

● The beginning of modern music production for consumers

Do we have other areas in the US today that promote music and song writing and are well known for it? If Yes, where?

30. The Jazz Singer (274)

● (1927) First ever film that had synchronized film and sound

● Silent pictures were now replaced by ‘talkies’ (films with sound)

Although a popular film at the time, what would be considered offensive about The Jazz Singer today?

31. The Lost Generation (279)

• A group of American writers that felt America was to materialistic and lacked spirituality—rejected the desire for material wealth

• Felt like they did not fit in the patterns of everyday life after the horrors and brutality of WWI

• T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Give an example of a book written by one of the “lost generation” authors:

32. Great Migration (281-282)

• the movement of African Americans from the segregated South to the North

• 2 million African Americans leave the South to go to the Northwest and Midwest

• Left racism, tenant farming in South for jobs in the industrial cities

Why would African Americans want to move to the North (or West)?

33. Harlem Renaissance (281-282)

• a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art, music, and literature flourished

• Name given to the time period of general awakening of African America culture and acknowledgement of African American achievement

Give an example of an artist or author from the Harlem Renaissance:

34. Marcus Garvey (282)

• Believed blacks were exploited everywhere

• Promoted the idea of universal black nationalism and organized a “Back to Africa” movement

• Advocated not for equality, but for the separation of the races

Would you have agreed with the back to Africa movement if you were African American in the 1920s? Why?

35. Jazz Age (283) • A kind of music that began in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was influenced by African American musical traditions

• Example—Louis Armstrong • 1920’s also referred to as the

Jazz Age

Is Jazz still an important music genre today?

36. Langston Hughes (285)

• African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist

What literary movement is Hughes a part of? (another term in this unit)