The Roaring Twenties 1920–1929
U.S. History 1865–2004
The Roaring Twenties 1920–1929
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Postwar U.S. economy prospers, thanks to pro-business administrations and boom in automobile industry
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Intolerance thrives in both society and big business as African Americans and immigrants are pushed to margins of society
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Harding, Coolidge lead United States toward isolationism in reaction to World War I
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Freewheeling culture of Jazz Age conflicts with previous generations’ notions of right and wrong
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Severe economic depression brings prosperity to screeching halt in 1929
| 1920 | In reaction to Russian Revolution, Palmer Raids arrest or deport thousands of U.S. residents on suspicion of Communist affiliations | |
| First commercial radio broadcast airs | ||
| Warren G. Harding elected 29th president, promising “return to normalcy” | ||
| 19th Amendment grants women’s suffrage | ||
| 1921 | Congress sets quotas on immigration | |
| Federal Highway Act allots aid for construction and maintenance of state roads | ||
| 1922 | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union or USSR) established with Vladimir I. Lenin as leader | |
| 1923 | Harding dies; Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes 30th president | |
| 1924 | Lenin dies; Joseph Stalin becomes leader of USSR | |
| Teapot Dome scandal exposes massive corruption in Harding administration | ||
| Dawes Plan eases war reparations against Germany | ||
| National Origins Act limits immigrants from Asia, Eastern and Southern Europe | ||
| Coolidge elected president | ||
| 1925 | Scopes Monkey Trial popularizes debate over teaching evolution in schools | |
| F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes novel The Great Gatsby | ||
| 1926 | More than 60 nations sign Kellogg-Briand Pact condemning war in any form | |
| Ernest Hemingway publishes novel The Sun Also Rises | ||
| 1927 | Charles Lindbergh completes world’s first solo flight across Atlantic | |
| Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti executed for murder; controversial verdict leads to charges that executions were politically motivated and unjustified | ||
| Film The Jazz Singer popularizes “talkies” and signals end of silent era | ||
| Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs for New York Yankees | ||
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover elected 31st president | |
| 1929 | Young Plan further reduces Germany’s war reparations | |
| William Faulkner publishes novel The Sound and the Fury | ||
| Stock market crash (“Black Thursday” on October 24, “Black Tuesday” on October 29) launches Great Depression |
