American People and the Boom

• Prohibition introduced following Volstead Act, banning selling, making or transportation of alcohol. This leads to problems in enforcement, the growth of organised crime and its eventual repeal in 1933.


  Jan 1920
• Women had the right to vote, contributing to women becoming more independent and making their own decisions about how they lived.

  Aug 1920
• Republican President Warren G. Harding elected, concentrating on getting USA 'back to normalcy' after WW1 and encouraging people to work for their own success, contributing to the American boom.


  Nov 1920
• Immigration Quota Act: A limit is set of 350,000 on the number of immigrants allowed into USA, ending America's 'open door' policy for immigrants.


  1921
• Fordney McCumber Tariff: High taxes on goods entering the country, making foreign goods more expensive. This helped the economic boom in the short term but in the long run also contributed to the Depression because foreign countries imposed higher tariffs of US goods.


  1922
• President Harding dies and Vice President Calvin Coolidge took office. He was re-elected in 1924. He believed that USA should concentrate on working hard and building up business – a policy that contributed to the American boom.


  1923
• Ford hits 10 million: The Ford Motor Company sells its 10 millionth Model T car using the assembly lines and so contributes to the American boom.


  1924
• National Origins Act: Limit on number of immigrants cut to 150,000. This Act demonstrated the extent of anti-immigration sentiment in the USA caused by the Red Scare and KKK.

  1924
• Al Capone took over from "Terrible" Johnny Torrio (Chicago Gang leader who retired). One by one Capone got rid of his rivals – 227 gangsters were killed in four years. This showed the extent of the rise in organised crime.


  1925
• KKK membership had fallen from 5 million to 300,00 due a popular local Klan leader, David Stephenson being convicted of the brutal kidnapping, rape and murder of Madge Uberholzer. At his trial he exposed many secrets of the KKK.


  1926
• Sacco and Vanzetti were executed: Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of 2 murders during an armed robbery at a shoe factory in Massachusetts. The case against them was very shaky. This case showed the extent of how some influential people in the USA were influenced by the Red Scare.


  Aug 1927
• The Jazz Singer: The first ever talking film – The Jazz Singer– was released. This boosted cinema audience figures to an all-time high because movie-goers were desperate to hear their favourite stars' voices.


  Oct 1927
• Republican Herbert Hoover elected. He was inaugurated President in 1929. Like his predecessors he believed that Americans should work hard for themselves and not rely on anyone, including the government, for help.


  Nov 1928
• St Valentine's Day Massacre. Capone's men murdered 7 of the rival Bugs Moran Gang, using a false police car and 2 gangsters in police uniform to put them off their guard. Papers screamed that gangsters had graduated from murder to massacre. Support for ending Prohibition increased.

  Feb 1929
• The US Stock Market on Wall St crashed, kickstarting the Depression.

  Oct 1929