American
History
Chapter 10
On-Line Study
Guide
Mr. Maxa & Mr. Bellisario
Table of Contents
• Section 1
• Section 2
• Section 3
• Section 4
• Section 5
SECTION 1
President Warren G. Harding
Promise of “return to normalcy”
• Warren G. Harding
was elected president
in 1920.
• He ran on the
campaign promise to
return the country to
normalcy.
• This meant a return to
“normal” life after the
war.
Harding Cabinet
Why was it bad
• Harding appointed many
friends from Ohio to
cabinet positions and
high-level jobs.
• Some members of
Harding cabinet used
their positions to sell jobs,
pardons, and protection
from prosecution.
• His friends were not the
most qualified individuals
for their jobs.
The Ohio Gang
• It was a group of
President Harding’s
poker playing friends.
Teapot Dome Scandal
• The most famous scandal
was Teapot Dome.
• Secretary of the Interior
Albert B. Fall, secretly
allowed private
companies to lease lands
containing Navy oil
reserves.
• Fall became the first
cabinet officer to go to
prison.
Calvin Coolidge
He takes over as President
• In a 1923 tour of the
West, President Harding
fell ill and died.
• Vice President Calvin
Coolidge became
president and distanced
himself from corruption.
• He restored integrity to
the presidency.
• In 1924 he easily won the
election.
Coolidge’s Philosophy on Business
• Coolidge believed his
job was to make sure
government interfered
as little as possible
with business.
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of Treasury
• Mellon had three major
goals as secretary of the
treasury:
– Balance the budget
– Reduce government debt
– Cut taxes
• Mellon convinced
Congress to create
agencies to prepare the
budget and track
expenses.
• He then cut government
spending.
Supply-Side Economics
Trickle-Down Economics
• Mellon argued that if taxes were lower,
businesses and consumers would spend
and invest more.
• As the economy grew, the government
would collect more taxes at a lower rate
than if taxes were high.
• This idea is known today as supply-side
economics.
American Isolationism
• By the end of the war, allies owed the
United States more than $10 billion.
• Many Americans at this time favored
isolationism or staying out of world affairs.
• Isolationism was the policy of the U.S. in
the 1920’s.
The Washington Conference
• Secretary of State
Charles Evans Hughes
spoke to the major world
powers at a conference in
Washington.
• The conference led to a
treaty between Britain,
France, Italy, Japan, and
the United States to
reduce the naval arms
race.
Kellogg-Briand Pact
• The United States
and fourteen other
nations signed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact.
• The Pact was an
agreement to settle all
disputes peacefully.
SECTION 2
Henry Ford’s Assembly Line
• Henry Ford used the
assembly line to build
cars.
• This system divided
operations into simple
tasks unskilled
workers could do.
• It reduced the time
needed and the cost.
Mass Production
• Mass production, or
large scale product
manufacturing done
mainly by machinery,
made more products
available and lowered
costs.
• This reshaped
American economics
and industry.
Ford’s Philosophy on Business
• Henry Ford’s car, the
Model T was mass
produced on the
assembly line.
• Ford believed that by
lowering the price of
his mass-produced
car, the Model T, he
would created a huge
demand.
Ford’s treatment of workers and his
“Sociological Department”
• Henry Ford increased • Ford also created a
his workers wages to
Sociological
$5 per day (working 8
Department which set
hours) helping to
requirements that
undermine the decline
workers had to meet.
of unions.
Auto Commuter
• The automobile
reduced the isolation
of rural areas and
allowed people to live
farther from work.
Disposable Income & New
Household Products
• With their greater
incomes, people
bought new products
such as frozen foods,
household cleaners,
washing machines,
and cosmetics.
Wright Brothers
• The Wright brother
from Dayton, OH
completed the first
air-powered flight in
Kitty Hawk, NC.
Charles Lindbergh
• Charles Lindbergh,
the first person to fly
solo across the
Atlantic Ocean (transAtlantic), gave the
idea of commercial
flights a boost.
KDKA
• KDKA was the first
radio station in the
United States.
Credit
• Before the 1920s,
most Americans
thought that going
into debt was
shameful.
• This attitude changed,
and more Americans
went into debt to buy
items such as
furniture and bought
cars on credit.
Mass Advertising
• Manufactures used
mass advertising as a
way to promote their
new products.
Welfare Capitol
• Welfare capitalism was the practice of
companies allowing employees to invest in
the company, thus motivating employees
to work harder.
Farming Crisis in the 1920’s –Why?
• During the war, the government had encouraged farmers
to grow more to meet the need for food in Europe.
• Many farmers went into debt to buy more land and
machinery to raise more crops.
• Sales and prices were high, so farmers prospered.
• After the war, Europeans began producing more farm
products, so profits fell for American farmers.
• New technologies such as fertilizers, machinery, and
new seed varieties allowed farmers to produce more, but
demand for the products did not increase, so farmers
received lower prices for their goods.
McNary-Haugen Bill
• Was a proposed law that Congress passed.
• The bill stated that the government would buy
American crops surpluses and sell them in
Europe.
• President Coolidge voted the bill.
SECTION 3
Nativism
• Nativism is the belief that a person’s
country needs to be protected against
immigrants.
• Nativism was popular during the 1920s.
Sacco & Vanzetti Case
• Two Italian
immigrants were
accused of murder.
• Sacco and Vanzetti,
admitted anarchist,
were arrested,
convicted, and
executed.
Return of the KKK – Why?
• During the 1920s, the
KKK rose from the
underground to
oppose immigrants,
Catholics, Jews,
African-Americans.
• The KKK publicized
their support of
legitimate political
goals.
Emergency Quota Act &
National Origins Act
Emergency Quota Act
• Restricted annual
admission to the US
to only 3% of the total
number of people in
any ethnic group
already living in the
nation.
National Origins Act
• Made immigration
restriction a
permanent policy
The Changing Role of Women –
Flapper
• Some women (not the
majority) during the
1920 changed the
way they dressed and
presented themselves
publically.
Fundamentalism vs. Evolution
• Fundamentalists were a group
of Christians who interpreted
the bible word-for-word.
• They rejected the theory of
evolution, which argued that
human beings had developed
from lower forms of life over
the course of millions of years.
• Fundamentalists believed in
creationism, which says that
God created the world as
described in the Bible.
Scopes Monkey Trial
• In 1925 Tennessee
outlawed the teaching of
evolution.
• A high school biology
teacher named John T.
Scopes was tried and
convicted of breaking this
law.
• The Scopes Trial helped
illustrate the struggle
between the new morality
and traditional beliefs.
Prohibition – 18th Amendment –
Speakeasies
• In January of 1920 the
Eighteenth Amendment
went into effect.
• This amendment
prohibited, or banned, the
sale of alcohol.
• Many people felt
prohibition would reduce
unemployment, violence,
and poverty.
Organized Crime – Bootlegging
• Organized crime grew
with prohibition.
• In Chicago, IL, Al
Capone became the
most famous
gangster.
21st Amendment
• The 21st Amendment
repealed the 18th
Amendment.
• Prohibition was over
and people were
legally allowed to
drink alcohol again.
SECTION 4
The “Lost Generation”
• A group of writers in
the 1920s including F.
Scott Fitzgerald and
Ernest Hemmingway
who describe modern
life as spiritually
empty and
materialistic.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
novel, The Great
Gatsby exposed the
emptiness of modern
society.
Babe Ruth
• New York Yankee’s
slugger, Babe Ruth
became a national
hero.
SECTION 5
Harlem Renaissance
• New York City’s
Harlem neighborhood
became the center for
the flourishing
African American arts
known as the Harlem
Renaissance.
Langston Hughes
• Langston Hughes
became the leading
voice of the African
American experience
during the Harlem
Renaissance and was
by far the most
famous writer.
Jazz
• Jazz was a style of
music that was
influenced by ragtime
and Dixieland blues
during the 1920’s.
Cotton Club
• The Cotton Club was
a Harlem nightspot
that featured African
American entertainers
but served only white
customers.
Marcus Garvey
• Marcus Garvey was a dynamic
leader from Jamaica.
• He founded a group called the
Universal Negro Improvement
Association (UNIA).
• Garvey believed African
Americans could gain
economic and political power
through education.
• He also called for separation
from white society.
• Garvey planned to lead his
followers back to Africa.
Back to the Table of Contents