The Rule Breaker Era
Tayler Elwood
1920s Politics
Teapot Dome Scandal is Secretary of the Interior (Albert Fall) leased government land in California and at Teapot Dome, Wyoming to 2 oil executives- Fall became the first Cabinet official to be sent to prison.Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 representatives of 62 nations signed a pact in 1928 (aka Pact of Paris) to outlaw war. It was initiated by the French foreign minister Aristides Briand . Briand wanted an agreement whereby 2 countries would never go to war against each other as a ploy to draw the US into a French security system. It would mean that if France ever violated the US's neutral shipping rights, the US would not be able to declare war. Kellogg (the US representative) turned the tables by having 62 nations sign the pact. They reserved "self defense" as an escape hatch
Scopes Monkey Trial
Scopes Trial Was a trial in 1925 court case in which Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan debated the issue of teaching evolution in public schools
William Jennings Bryan was an United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925).
Clarence Darrow was an famed criminal defense lawyer for Scopes, who supported evolution. He caused William Jennings Bryan to appear foolish when Darrow questioned Bryan about the Bible.
John T. Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution in Tennessee. His trial was watched all over the country. This trial represented the Fundamentalist vs. the Modernist. In the outcome he was only fined $100.00 dollars. While it seemed the Fundamentalists had won, the trial made them look bad.
Court Cases
Sacco & Vanzetti was an Italian radicals who became symbols of the Red Scare of the 1920s; arrested (1920), tried and executed (1927) for a robbery/murder, they were believed by many to have been innocent but convicted because of their immigrant status and radical political beliefs.
red scare was erupted in the early 1920's. The American public was scared that communism would come into the US. Left-winged supporters were suspected. This fear of communism helped businessman who used it to stop labor strikes.
Palmer Raids a series a government attacks on suspected radicals in the United States led by the U.S. attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer
Schenck V. United States (1918) A socialist named Charles Scheck distributed anti-war materials in the mail. The Supreme Court found him guilty of posing a clear and present danger during wartime (9-0)
Nativism
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a group 1920s that was very anti-foreign. It was against all groups which did not have a protestant background. They were most prevalent in the Midwest and the south. They eventually became less popular when Klan officials were caught embezzling money.
Prohibition
Prohibition was an era in american history that banded liquor,Which was the 18th amendment.This causes increase illegal liquor sales Reasons for Prohibition was because a Religious groups who emigrated to America were against alcohol, alcohol said to kill children, workmen became drunk and could not perform tasks so alcohol blamed for everything.The Reasons against Prohibition was people died from moonshine poisoning, prohibition agents were poorly paid to rat out speakeasies, raise in organized crime.The Economic impacts of Prohibition was Gangs made 2 billion a year whilst the economy was getting nothing, transferring alcohol profits were high.The Social Impacts were people were in danger from gang shootings, had to break the law to drink.The Political impacts were Organized crime became so huge gangsters bribed and blackmailed policeman and politicians.
Jazz Age
Jazz Age was the 1920s are often referred to by this name because jazz captured the free spirit of the era.Jazz Age was an image of the liberated, urbanized 1920s, with a flapper as the dominant symbol of that era. Many rural, fundamentalist Americans deeply resented the changes in American culture that occurred in the "Roaring Twenties."
Flappers
Carefree young women with short, "bobbed" hair, heavy makeup, and short skirts. The flapper symbolized the new "liberated" women of the 1920s. Many people saw the bold, boyish look and shocking behavior of flappers as a sin of changing morals. Though hardly typical of American women, the flapper image reinforced the idea that women now had more freedom.