1. Major Changes of Changes of the 1920s

2. I. President Warren G. Harding
Won in the presidency in 1920 with a pledge to return to what he called “normalcy.”
1. Harding signed bills that cut
taxes, restored the high tariff,
limited immigration and rolled
back business regulations.
What do all these things have in
common?

3. B. High Tariffs and Reparations
The Fordney-McCumber Tariff raised US imports to 60% in an attempt to protect US businesses.
This made it difficult for Britain and France to sell goods in America making it nearly impossible for them to pay off their war debts.

4. 3. They then looked to Germany to pay war reparations
3. They then looked to Germany to pay war reparations. Germany could not afford to pay either, so French troops prepared to invade.
4. Charles Dawes prevented another war by proposing that the US lend Germany money to pay back Britain and France. Those nations then paid the US.

5. C. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration
Harding placed many of his friends in his Cabinet, they became known as the Ohio Gang.
Many were corrupt and became wealthy from graft, the most well known case is the Teapot Dome Scandal, in which federal lands were illegally leased to oil companies.

6. II. Social Changes of the 1920s
The hostilities and tensions of the 1920s exaggerated an older rift in American society, the conflict between urban and rural ways of life
1. First time in American history that more people lived in “urban places”

7. 2. There was also generational change
2. There was also generational change. The younger generation disliked the narrowness and prudery of so many of their elders and tended to express themselves in bizarre ways
(mostly in urban areas)

8. B. The south saw a rise in fundamentalism
- a strict interpretation of the bible
1. Laws were passed banning the teaching of evolution in schools

9. C. The Scopes trial
1. One teacher, John Scopes deliberately violated the law. He was arrested. A large group of lawyers from the ACLU came forward to defend him
2. The “Monkey Trial” became an overnight sensation

10. III. 18th Amendment (Prohibition) A
III. 18th Amendment (Prohibition) A. Outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of “highly intoxicating” beverages B. A victory for the countryside against the city dwellers

11. C. Smuggling became a major business, bootleggers learned how to manufacture “bathtub gin” and provided alcohol to people illegally.

12. D. The saloon disappeared, replaced by the speakeasy, a supposedly secret bar or club, operating under the benevolent eye of the local police

13. E. During the prohibition era a new ideal emerged for some women, the flapper; an emancipated young women who embraced the new fashion and attitudes of the day.

15. G. Organized Crime
Average criminals now had “socially accepted” jobs in the bootlegging business.
Bootlegging played a significant part in the formation of organized crime in every major city.
Bloody gang wars erupted over control of bootlegging.

16. F. Failures of prohibition a
F. Failures of prohibition a. Members of Congress catered to the demands of both sides by outlawing alcohol, but not providing funds to enforce it b. It caused more problems then the ones it was meant to solve. c. The 18th amendment was repelled with the 21st amendment.

17. IV. Popular Culture
A. Motion pictures and the radio were popular forms of entertainment.

18. B. The extraordinary popularity of sports in the postwar period can be explained in a number of ways.
-People had more money to spend and more free time to fill

19. V. Coolidge and New Business
The New President, Calvin Coolidge fit into the pro business spirit if the 1920s.
1. He kept taxes down and attempted to keep government interference to a minimum.

20. B. The Automobile
The automobile dramatically changed the landscape of American and became the foundation of the American economy.
Route 66, One of the original highways in the US was built in 1926.

21. C. New Products
Advances in technology led to the creation of a variety of household electrical appliances that increased America’s standard of living.
Advertisers used new techniques to get people to buy the products.
Many people bought these products through installment plans and made payments over time.
Things looked good on the surface because people were spending a lot of money but so much buying on installment plans was a fundamental weakness in the economy.