1920's Civics and Economics
Hezekiah, Noe, Roberto, Arianna, Valerie,William, Justin
The 1920's economy that lead to the great depression
- Factories were producing products while people were unable to buy these products because their wages weren’t high enough for them to buy the goods causing an excess of products
- The companies that made those products weren't able to sell those products overseas either because the inflation in Europe caused by WW1
- Stock Market Crash
- Investors buy stock for cheap that they think will rise in price once the investor thinks that the price has hit its peak then the investor sells his stock to turn a profit
- although a problem arose stockbrokers loaned the investors money they didn’t have
- The stock broker’s received their money from the bank
- the bank used people's savings deposit, which was not insured
Political Corruption during the 1920's
- Labor strikes occurred as a result of the Russian Bolshevik revolution.
- Harding was against taxes and regulations by the government.
- Cut taxes for wealthy Americans.
- Teapot Dome Scandal - Harding’s environmental secretary took bribes from oil companies to ignore them.
- John W. Davis was elected for New York governor, he was anti-prohibitionist.
- Harding drank in the White House.
- Veteran’s Bureau Scandal - Colonel Charles Forbes sold government property for only a small fraction of its actual value.
- Justice Department Scandal - Attorney General, Harry Daugherty, wa selling pardons to alcohol distributors and was profiting off of the alcohol sales.
- The Ohio Gang - old friends of Harding, they were involved in many questionable events.
Advertisement in the 1920's
Assembly Line
President Calvin Coolidge
advertising's involvement in consumer culture
- Overproduction played a large role in the development of the consumer culture due to the fact that so many products were being produced at such a cheap cost.
- Products were overpriced and bought with credit which led to credit failure
- US was a consumer company that was massively targeted through ads.
- Cars emerged as a advertised product and were desired by most people
- Telephones and electricity had been newly created and were advertised through flyers.
Effect of Prohibition
- outlawed the manufacture of sale, transformation
- made everyone want to purchase more alcohol now that it's prohibited
- the passing of the 18th amendment
- strikes against it
- rise in religion
- Women were very against it
- People would illegally make and sell alcohol, caused a rise of moonshine
- (Hibberd.)
Immigration Laws
- Immigrants mostly from southern and eastern Europe mostly
- Most of the immigrants weren't viewed as white
- And less than northern European
- against their religious view because they were catholic
- Tried to exclude them and place immigration quotas
- “Taking american jobs”
- Rise of negativism
- 1921 emergency quota Act
- (Hibberd.)
Political Decisions that led to American Upheaval
- The 19th amendment of the constitution gave the women their right to vote. They felt as though this was long overdue
- The 18th amendment of the constitution prohibited the selling of intoxicating beverages over 0.5% alcohol. This made a lot of people very angry. People started selling it illegally because the demand was very high
Government Action in the 1920's
- In 1917, the U.S. Congress decided that the number of immigrants entering the country was way too high. So it enacted the first widely restrictive immigration law.
- The controversy over national security, which started during World War I, “made it possible for Congress to pass this legislation, and it included several important provisions that paved the way for the 1924 Act” (“The Immigration” par. 2).
- This is because the 1917 Act imput a literacy test that “made immigrants over 16 demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language” (“The Immigration” par. 2).
- This act increased the tax paid by the new citizens when they arrive and allowed immigration officials to use more discreet ways make decisions over who they can exclude as well.
- Lastly, “the Act excluded from entry anyone born in a geographically defined ‘Asiatic Barred Zone’ except for Japanese and Filipinos” (“The Immigration” par. 2).
- The 1921 Emergency Quota Act was the “first U.S. law to create numerical quotas for immigration based on nationality” (“The Immigration” par. 1).
- This was another law put in place to keep the exponential growth of immigration into the U.S. in check.
- The number allowed was 3% of the foreign-born population of said nationality in the 1910 census.
- This law still didn’t allow Asian immigrants inside the United States. The quotas didn’t apply to countries in the Western Hemisphere, government officials, or temporary visitors. “Under this law, total annual immigration was capped at 350,000” (“The Immigration” par. 1).
Culture's Correlation to the Economy
- Two new electric products were introduced
2.) Radios
- Electrical products were more quicker and more effectively at afford price so everyone could afford
- In the 1920’s the first automobile was built and so was the radio
- The radio became a big thing
Citations
Holcombe, Randall G. "Federal Government Growth Before the New Deal - Randall G. Holcombe." The Independent Institute. The Freeman. Web. 01 May 2016.
Holcombe, Randall G. "The Growth of the Federal Government in the 1920s." GOVERNMENT IN THE 1920s (n.d.): n. pag. Cato.org. Web. 01 May 2016.
Ladenburg, Thomas. "Local Chapter Directory: Representatives and Presidents." PsycEXTRA Dataset (n.d.): n. pag. Digitalhistory. Web. 01 May 2016.
Warren G Harding. N.d. Web. 01 May 2016.
N.d. My Classic Garage. Web. 01 May 2016.
"Chapter 1: The Nation's Immigration Laws, 1920 to Today." Pew Research Centers Hispanic
Trends Project RSS. N.p., 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
"The Immigration Act of 1924." The Immigration Act of 1924. United States Department of State, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
"The Rickenbacker – A Short-Lived Roaring Twenties Automobile." The Old Motor. N.p., n.d.
Web. 02 May 2016.