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1920s and Prohibition
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League of Nations
The League of Nations was an international organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was created after the first World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes. -
Rum Row
William McCoy, a Florida skipper, pioneered the “rum-running” trade by sailing a schooner loaded with 1500 cases of liquor from Nassau in the British colony of the Bahamas to Savannah and pocketing $15,000 in profits from just one trip. -
9th Ammendment was Passed
The 19th amendment grants women the right to vote. It look a long time to get this amendment passed. -
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was poetry and prose, painting and sculpture, jazz and swing, opera and dance. What united these diverse art forms was their realistic presentation of what it meant to be black in America, as well as a new militancy in asserting their civil and political rights. -
The Good Bootlegger
Roy Olmstead bootlegged alcohol while serving as police lieutenant. By 1920, Roy Olmstead had become "King of the Puget Sound Bootleggers." -
The Circle
In 1920, Lawyer George Remus moves to Cincinnati to set up a drug company to gain legal access to bonded liquor. -
Kentucky Stills
In 1922, Frank Mather signs on with treasury department to scour Nelson County, Kentucky for moonshiners, arresting them and dumping their whiskey into local streams. -
Scofflaw
In 1924, four years after Prohibition was first imposed, the Boston Herald offered $200 to the reader who came up with a brand-new word for someone who flagrantly ignored the edict and drank liquor that had been illegally made or illegally sold. Twenty-five thousand responded. Two readers split the prize. Each had come up with the same word – “scofflaw.” -
US Presidential Election
American presidential election held on November 4, 1924, Republican Calvin Coolidge defeated Democrat John W. Davis. Running as the Progressive Party candidate, Robert M. La Follette captured some one-sixth of the popular vote. -
First Woman Governor
Nellie Davis Ross was an American educator and politician who served as the 14th governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927. She was the first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state -
Stock Market Crash
On Black Monday, October 28, 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined nearly 13 percent. Federal Reserve leaders differed on how to respond to the event and support the financial system. -
Great Depression and Dust Bowl
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Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, U.S. legislation that raised import duties to protect American businesses and farmers, adding considerable strain to the international economic climate of the Great Depression -
Low demand, high unemployment
During periods of economic recession, consumers stop spending, which forces companies to cut production. With less output, companies start laying people off, raising unemployment. -
Collapse of the Money Supply
From the fall of 1930 through the winter of 1933, the money supply fell by nearly 30 percent. The declining supply of funds reduced average prices by an equivalent amount. This deflation increased debt burdens, distorted economic decision-making, reduced consumption, increased unemployment, and forced banks, firms, and individuals into bankruptcy. -
Oversupply and overproduction problems
A similar crisis was occurring in agriculture. Farmers were in debt during World War I after buying more machinery to boost production. However, in the post-war economy, they produced more supply than consumer needs. Land and crop values plummeted. -
Federal Aid
Federal aid to the drought-affected states was first given in 1932, but the first funds marked specifically for drought relief were not released until the fall of 1933. Federal aid is money from the government to help with hard times -
The role of monetary policy
Federal Reserve's mistakes during the Great Depression contributed to the heady expansion. Interest rates were kept low in the early to mid-1920s, then increased after the crash, doubling in 1931 from their pre-crash levels. -
The Soil Conservation Act of 1935
It took millions of tons of dirt and debris blowing from the Plains all the way into Washington D.C., known as "Black Sunday," to move Congress to pass the Soil Conservation Act and establish the Soil Conservation Service under the Department of Agriculture. -
The Need for Aid
A bulletin by the Works Progress Administration reported that 21% of all rural families in the Great Plains were receiving federal emergency relief -
No-till Farming
Tilling is a method of turning over the top layer of soil to remove weeds and add fertilizers and pesticides. But tilling also allows carbon dioxide, an important soil nutrient, to escape from the topsoil. No-till is a sustainable farming method that helps nutrients stay put. This way there is no dust forming from the way of farming -
Dust Pneumonia
Dust pneumonia resulted when lungs were filled with dust. Symptoms included a high fever, chest pains, coughing and breathing difficulties. More than a half million people were left homeless as a result of the Dust Bowl era. Farm families lost their land and homes due to the barren land. As many as 2.5 million people had migrated from the Great Plains by 1940. This effected the way people worked, lived, and their health. -
1960s and Public Protests
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March on Washington
Arguably one of the most famous events of the civil rights movement took place on August 28, 1963: the March on Washington. It was organized and attended by civil rights leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King Jr. More than 200,000 people of all races congregated in Washington, D. C. for the peaceful march with the main purpose of forcing civil rights legislation and establishing job equality for everyone. -
Kennydeys Assasination
At the end of September, the president traveled west. The trip was meant to put a spotlight on natural resources and conservation efforts. But JFK also used it to sound out themes—such as education, national security, and world peace for his run in 1964. But it got cut short when he was killed, shot in the head in a car. -
Civil Rights Act
This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. -
Gulf of Tonkin
The USS Maddox is on spy patrol 30 miles off the coast of Vietnam when it reports an attack by three enemy vessels. Another U.S. ship reports an attack on Aug 4. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing Pres. Johnson to wage war against North Vietnam without a formal Declaration of War. -
Bloody Sunday
On March 7, 1965, the civil rights movement in Alabama took an especially violent turn as 600 peaceful demonstrators participated in the Selma to Montgomery march to protest the killing of Black civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson by a white police officer and to encourage legislation to enforce the 15th amendment. -
Selma to Montgomery March
The Selma to Montgomery march was part of a series of civil rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama, a Southern state with deeply entrenched racist policies. It raised awareness for black voices -
First Anti-Vietnam War Teach-In
Anti-war faculty members and the SDS publicize and protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Where about 3,000 attended -
Fair Housing Act of 1968
On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act. -
Chicago 7 Trial Begins
Charges are tied to rioting at '68 chicago convention. The defendants use the proceedings to put the War on trial. -
Peace Moratorium
A one-day nationwide action, the Peace Moratorium is the largest demonstration in U.S. history. Protesters include many first time activists. Events include religious services, street rallies, public meetings, school seminars, and marches. Participants wear black armbands to signify opposition to the war and honor the dead. Washington D.C., a natural focal point, draws 250,000 demonstrators.