Friday, December 12, 2014

Summary of Chapter 34

I know it's pretty late to be doing this, but in case anyone wants to do some last minute studying for the test I'll be summarizing chapter 34 and looking at some of the trends

1919-1929
Insulating America from the Radical Virus
Following WW1, American ideals were consolidated, and un-American ideas. Communists were arrested, and immigrants were deported.

Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
The second wave KKK were against all things not conservative, and a reaction to the lavish lifestyle of the roaring 20's. They grew rapidly to 5 million members in the mid 1920's. Klan membership shrank after the discovery of internal embezzlement.

Stemming the Foreign Flood
Americans had become more isolationists, and more against immigrants
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited immigrants of any nationality to 3% of their population in 1910.
The Immigration Act of 1925 went even further limiting it to 2% and using data from 1890.
Immigration swiftly went down.

The Prohibition Experiment
Alcohol is banned in the 18th Amendment, because alcohol is against some religions and is associated with crime. The ban is widely ignored.

The Golden Age of Gangsterism
The Prohibition led to a rise in crime, with many gangsters smuggling alcohol and fighting over territories. Scarface (Al Capone) is one of the most famous gangsters of the time. Prostitution and gambling were also commonplace.

Monkey Business in Tennessee
Education improved. Fundamentalists were against Darwinism. at the Monkey Trial, John T. Scopes was fined for teaching evolution in school.

The Mass-Consumption Economy
Advertisements encourage people to buy things they don't need. Buying in credit led people to get themselves into debt.

Putting America on Rubber Tires
Henry Ford used assembly lines to mass produce cars. 20 million Model T's were produced by 1930.

The Advent of the Gasoline Age
The automobile industry created millions of jobs, but crushed the railroad industry. Accidents were common and killed thousands of people. many states lost populations as a result of mobility.

Humans Develop Wings
The Wright Brothers invent the first plane which flies for 12 seconds. The technology was used for delivering mail. Charles Lindbergh was the first to cross the Atlantic by plane.

The Radio Revolution
Radios were used to deliver news, presidential campaigns, and sport news.

Hollywood's Filmland Fantasies
Thomas Edison invents motion picture. The Great Train Robbery was the first. Hollywood became the movie capital of the world.

The Dynamic Decade
The birth control movement is led by Margaret Sanger and the National Women's Party advocates women's voting rights.
Fundamentalists lose ground to Modernists.
There is an explosion of sex appeal especially among flappers in the cities.
Jazz and black pride thrived, led by  poet Langston Hughes and Marcus Garvey.

Literary Liberation
Authors of the time include Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner. Poetry, plays and architecture also experienced revamps.

Wall Street's Big Bull Market
The stock market was becoming increasingly popular. Tax reductions helped the rich.


Trends of this time period seem to head towards individualism. People were becoming more independent, made possible by cars and social reforms and thrust by Isolationism. Wealth allowed for new advancements in society with new forms of entertainment and time spent on literature.

5 comments:

  1. This is a great summary, but I wanted to add on to the Radio Revolution. The radio revolution was the first time the radio has been used to educationally and culturally. It was even used by presidents to appeal to the masses. The radio impacted elections and cause people to be more aware of what was going on.

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  2. Adding to Charles' comment: Roosevelt's "fireside chats" were probably the most successful in-office presidential media usages ever. In times of crisis, such as the Great Depression and World War II, Roosevelt's chats with the American public helped bolster his reputation as a leader. Roosevelt even discussed military strategy in his chats, asking his listeners to bring a map to their table with the radio.

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  3. Great summary, Sean! Adding on to the Prohibition Experiment section, the Prohibition experiment flat out didn't work. There was not enough federal enforcement to regulate it. Prohibition simply didn't prohibit. As a result, thousands of "speakeasies" popped up all over cities across America. At these "speakeasies" hard liquor was drunk in staggering volume by men and women. People also "home brewed" alcohol in their bathtubs. However the Prohibition experiment wasn't a complete failure: banks savings increased and absenteeism in industry decreased.
    Source: American Pageant Textbook

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  4. Very useful summary. Thanks! Add to the Monkey Business in Tennessee. The Scopes Trial—formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and informally known as the Scopes Monkey Trial—was a landmark American legal case in 1925 in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to teach evolution.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

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