PROHIBITION AND THE 1920S

Prohibition and the 1920s

I. Prohibition Law:

                      A. 18^th Amendment

(prohibiting manufacture, sale, transport)

                      B. Volstead Act

(making the 18^th a “bone dry” amendment)

                      C. "Five and Ten Law"

(1929, 5 year, $10,000 penalty)

II. Prohibition Failure:

Why Not More of a Success?

A. Minimal Enforcement:

B. Unrealistic Expectations:

C. Corruption:

D. Policy without Authority:

III. Repeal:

A. 21^st Amendment (Dec. 5, 1933)

          B. The Constitution and Federal Intervention

IV. Progress and Decline in the 1920s:

A.     20s as Decade of Cultural/Economic Flowering:

1.     Consumerism:

                      Edward Bernays=father of modern pr

2.     Movies:

Warner Bros. Pictures inc. in 1923

MGM formed in 1924

Fox Film Corporation founded in 1912

          (became 20^th Century Fox in 1935)

United Artists, formed in 1919

(by stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Charlie Chaplin, and director D.W. Griffith)

3.      Harlem Renaissance: Claude McKay and Langston Hughes

4.      “Lost Generation”

5.     The “New Woman”

B.       1920s as a Decade of Ignorance, Cultural Decay

1.     Influenza

--killed 25 million worldwide

(700,000 in U.S.)

Historian Alfred Crosby:

The virus “killed more humans than any other disease in a period of similar duration in the history of the world.”

“I  had  a  little  bird, I  had  a  little  bird,

Its  name  was  Enza.   Its  name  was  Enza.

I  opened  up  the  window, I  opened  up  the  window, And  in flu enza, In flu enza.” 

Children’s jump rope rhyme

2.     World Economic Chaos:

Ø  England=industrial problems: General Strike of 1926

          --2 million unemployed by 1930

          --3 million unemp. in 1933

Ø  Depression

          One billion per year in reparations

Hyperinflation in Germany:

                     

1 dollar=9000 marks (Jan. of 1923)

1 dollar=4.2 trillion marks

(Nov. of 1923)

                     

--one loaf of bread=580 billion marks

3.     Urban Racial Unrest: Chicago, 1919

…48 recorded lynchings in 1917

…78 recorded lynchings in 1919

4.     Nativism:

a.     National Origins Act of 1924

b.     Sacco and Vanzetti

5.     The KKK

6.     Scopes Monkey Trial

VII. Significance:

MIDTERM EXAMINATION STUDY GUIDE

HISTORY 232/EXAM DATE: 4-30

 

You need a bluebook. You do not need a scantron.

This exam will have two parts:

Part A is an essay (50%). There will be two essay questions. You will write on one. The two essay questions will be chosen from the following list:

1. How difficult was it for the U.S. to reconstruct the nation after the Civil War? Was it mostly a period of growth or of missed opportunities?

2. Describe at least three progressive era movements. Which progressive movement had the most profound impact on the nation?

3. Is the decade of the 1920s better characterized as a period of decay or growth?

Part B is objective (50%). There will be 27 multiple choice questions. You will

answer 25 of them. Here’s an example of a question used on a previous exam:

The 18^th Amendment added prohibition to the Constitution. Which of the following repealed the 18^th?

a. 19^th

b. 20^th

c. 21^st

d. 22^nd

HOW TO STUDY FOR THIS EXAM:

Ø  Make outlines. Make sure that your outlines have way too much detail, way more than any normal human could ever remember. Remember, you cannot bring these to the exam, but you can remember what is on them and use the detail on the exam.

Ø  Try to memorize the outlines. Try to write them word for word without looking at the original. Fill in the gaps where you did not recall something. Do it again. Walk around your study area speaking the outline, looking down only when you need to for a quick reminder of the detail. Speak it again. Write it again…and most of all, have fun.

Ø  Fill in the gaps in your notes and add detail where you lack it. To do this, use a textbook or an online source.

Ø  Follow Napoleon’s advice: “In planning a campaign I purposely exaggerate all the dangers and all the calamities that the circumstances make possible.”