PEOPLE AND EVENTS OF THE ROARING 1920SChanges in American Government and Society

Answers to Questions 1 – 18 on the Personalities of the 1920s Bellringer Activity.

Part I. Personalities of the 1920s

Langston Hughes

He was the leading poet, author, and playwright of the Harlem Renaissance.

A. Mitchell Palmer

He was the Attorney General in the early 1920s, who violated the fourth amendment in order to pursue feared criminals like communists, socialists, anarchists, or radical labor union members.

Carry Nation

She was a WCTU leader and a hatchet-wielding supporter of the Prohibition Amendment.

Charles Lindbergh

He crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his small plane, The Spirit of St. Louis.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

He wrote The Great Gatsby and lived a lifestyle like the ones he was describing to some extent. Many critics call the novel America’s greatest work of literature.

 

Wilbur Wright – and Orville, too.

The airplane was invented by this man – part of it anyway – in December of 1903. They creating the flying machine in Kitty Hawk, NC.

John Scopes

He was convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton, TN, in 1925’s trial of the century. The trial was broadcast on the radio and changed many Americans views.

Samuel Gompers & the AFL

He was the founder of the American Federation of Labor, and a moderate among union leaders. His union was much more mainstream than the I.W.W, for example.

Al “Scarface” Capone

He was a gangster, and he supplied most of Chicago with alcohol during the Prohibition Era. Although a murderer, he remained popular in Chicago for his generosity in the city.

Charles & Frank Duryea

In the United States, anyway, he and his brother were the first producers of the automobile. Ford, though, would make it more famous via mass production.

Amelia Earhart

She was the first woman to pilot a plane across the continental United States. Sadly, her plane was lost over the Pacific in the 1930s and she is presumed dead.

Flappers

Women of the 1920s who challenged gender roles through their dress and behavior in society were call this. They were fun-loving and engaged in behavior that shocked some.

Henry Ford’s Assembly Line

He mass produced the Model-T using the assembly line, and changed the United States in the process. He also treated his workers well for the time period.

George Herman “Babe” Ruth

The Sultan of Swat – he led major league baseball in homeruns during the 1920s. He was a star for the New York Yankees - although he started off a as pitcher for the Red Sox!

 

Jacob Lawrence

This African-American artist used the Great Migration as a theme in his most famous painting. The painting to the right is one of a trilogy about the Great Migration.

 

“Silent” Calvin Coolidge

This “silent” president was committed to isolationism and laissez-faire economics. He was a capable leader – but union leaders despise him for cracking down on them.

Sacco and Vanzetti

He and his friend were put to death after being accused of murder – neither got a fair trial. They were both Italian immigrants and anarchist sympathizers.

 

Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong

This cornet playing jazz superstar rose to great fame during the 1920s. He is associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Today he is just as famous for his voice as for his cornet.

The Answers to the Review Activity – Part II.

Part II. Events of the 1920s

President Woodrow Wilson

At the start of the 1920s, this ailing leader – famous as our nation’s leader during World War I – was still president of the United States. Many think his wife Edith was running the nation at the time, though.

The Teapot Dome Scandal

During the presidency of Warren G. Harding, this embezzling scheme was discovered. The Secretary of the Interior had been selling the governments oil supply to Mammoth Oil.

The Scopes “Monkey” Trial

A showdown between famous defense lawyer Clarence Darrow and his rival, fundamentalist Christian William Jennings Bryan, was the dramatic conclusion of this trial. The teacher lost his case.

The Death of Warren Harding

This tragic event resulted in Calvin Coolidge taking over the office of the President. After his death, many examples of corruption in his administration came to light.

The 21st Amendment

This amendment is the only one to repeal another – in this case, it repealed Prohibition. Americans celebrated with a beer – or some other alcoholic beverage.

 

KDKA – Pittsburgh, PA

The nation’s first commercial radio station – in broadcast the election results in 1920. Later, the Pirates games and sitcoms – or serial stories – began to hit the airwaves as well. And advertising became the way to pay for it all.

 

The Palmer Raids

These invasions of people’s homes and offices resulted in the arrest and deportation of many suspected radicals, including communists, socialists, anarchists, and radical union leaders.

Woman’s Suffrage

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution granted this right to women. The amendment is the largest expansion of democracy in American History, bar none.

Prohibition – the 18th Amendment

The 18th Amendment – which was the only amendment to take away a right! The amendment was enforced by the Volstead Act, but many Americans just ignored the law.

The Treaty of Versailles

This was negotiated by Woodrow Wilson in 1919, but never ratified by the Senate. The United States never signed the treaty or joined the League of Nations.

The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

Hundreds of African-Americans died and thousands were displaced by this horrifying event. It rarely gets mentioned in textbooks, though.

The Transatlantic Flight

“Lucky” Lindy flew from New York to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of St. Louis. When he landed in Paris, he was the most popular man in the world!

BONUS QUESTION…

The Harlem RenaissanceThe “Lost Generation” of Authors

Sacco and Vanzetti Trial

Two Italian immigrants were sentenced to death in this trial, despite the fact that very little evidence was ever introduced against them in a court of law.

The Harlem Renaissance

This blossoming of African-American art, music, and literature took place in New York City. Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston were leaders of the movement.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

This October 1929 catastrophe was the end of the 1920s as an historical era; the Great Depression begins with this economic downturn. The twenties were over!