Introduction to the 1920s U.S. History Mrs. Janiak PLHS

A. Eighteenth Amendment= Increase in Crime Eighteenth Amendment known as the Volstead Act, commonly referred to as Prohibition made it a federal offense to- –Create or sell alcohol –But still legal to purchase or use alcohol By 1930, over 1/3 of the 12,000 inmates of federal prisons were prohibition violators

B. Nineteenth Amendment and the New Woman Women voting: opportunity for greater social standing and independence. Marked an era for a fresh beginning for women. Fashions, attitudes, habits, behavior, and social norms began changing from the strict Victorian era to a new female image in the 20s.

C. Return to Normalcy Dismantled the war machine to a peace era Workers lost jobs in the war production factories. Two million troops returned home looking for work Senate rejected the League of Nations, giving Americans the feel that their lives would not be disrupted by war again.

D. Labor strikes Increasing paranoia of communism known as the Red Scare, led to the arrests and deportation of radicals and Socialists, often in labor unions. Needing higher wages, Seattle workers, nationwide steelworkers and coal miners and the Boston police produced widespread panic by striking.

E. Great Migration, Jim Crow 500,000 African-Americans moved to the Northern cities by 1919, led to increased competition for jobs and social tension among races. Race riots broke out in Chicago and Washington D.C. Jim Crow laws= laws in the South requiring strict segregation of African- Americans, attempting to keep African-Americans inferior to the whites

F. Nativists and Paranoia Concerned about changes to tradition like labor unions, radicals, immigrants and African-Americans led to stronger nativist organizations. KKK- spread nationwide and sought to restrict Jewish and Catholic immigrants, repress the African-Americans. Federal Bureau of Investigation- began surveillance of any groups/ people thought to be un-American

H. Cultural changes First commercial radio broadcast= new age of home access to information and entertainment Literary creativity Baseball (Yankees bought Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox) Musical entertainment Silent films New dances- the Charleston Buying items on credit New household appliances