1918-1941

=Multimedia:= []

FDR: Thomas Hoover: John Hitler: Thomas Lenin: Dawson John J Pershing: Cody John Maynard Keynes: Dawson Charles Lindbergh: Tirthna Fitzgerald: Tirthna John Steinbeck: John Louis Armstrong: Cody
 * //People by Importance:// **

Stock Market Crash: Cody Paris Peace Conference: Thomas The First Hundred Days: John Enabling Act: Tirthna Prohibition Amendments (18th and 21st): Dawson Munich Conference: Thomas Immigration Act of 1924: John 19th Amendment: Tirthna Creation of the WPA: Cody Dust Bowl: Dawson
 * //Events by Importance:// **

= PEOPLE (Importance): =


 * Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Thomas Bumbalo **

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to United States history? //
 * His New Deal for the American people provided direct relief during the Great Depression
 * He created hope for the people in a time of despair
 * Countless programs, agencies, and organizations were created during his administration, such as the CCC, the AAA, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC, all of which contributed to ending the Great Depression
 * His programs and organizations greatly strengthened the power of the federal government
 * He is often counted among the best presidents in United States history
 * He helped to alleviate those who were suffering during the Depression
 * He ended Prohibition

// Why is he important? //
 * Herbert Hoover - John Chavez **
 * 31st President
 * President during the Stock Market Crash
 * Believed in laissez-faire and that the Depression would soon abate, believing that it was just one of the economy's bumps
 * Believed in "rugged individualism"; championed private and local sectors to provide relief for the people
 * To combat the Depression, he...
 * Issued the project to create the Hoover Dam, which provided jobs for the people
 * Passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
 * Increased corporate taxes

// Why is he significant to US history? // []
 * His naivety caused him to miscalculate the direness of the Great Depression, so when he responded to it, it was too late
 * His responses to the problems of the Depression weren't all that successful
 * The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act increased the tariffs to a record high, which backfired because Europe increased their tariffs as well
 * Hoovervilles and shanty towns sprung up due to his failure to address the situation
 * Seen as one of the worst presidents ever

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to United States history? //
 * Adolf Hitler - Thomas Bumbalo **
 * His aggressive foreign policy alienated most countries, including the United States
 * The Holocaust, a genocide of the Jews among others initiated under his administration, massacred millions of people
 * His actions, more specifically the invasion of Poland, began World War II
 * World War II, the war that he began, involved the United States
 * Hundreds of thousands of Americans died as a result
 * The war propelled the United States into being a superpower
 * His actions effective changed the American foreign policy from isolationism to interventionism

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to US history? //
 * Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1934) - Dawson **
 * Russian communist organizer, revolutionary, political scientist, and Bolshevik politician
 * Founder of Leninism (advocated vanguard party to organize workers and lead revolution)
 * Led the October Revolution and the bloodless coup against the Russian provisional government - leader of the Bolshevik (majority) party
 * Leader of the Russian Communist Party, Chairman of the early Soviet legislature, and Premier of the Soviet Union
 * Lenin pulled Russia out of World War 1, meaning the Central Powers only had to fight on the Western front
 * Established the Soviet Union, the rival superpower to the US for a decade
 * Established the first expressly Communist country in world history, laying the frame for the future ideological war between capitalism and communism

//Why is he important?// //Why is he significant to US history?//
 * John J. Pershing - Cody**
 * Leading General in World War I
 * Other than George Washington, is the only person to be promoted to General of the Armies (military's highest rank)
 * Holds the first United States officer service number, O-1
 * Regarded as a mentor to America's World War II generals, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and George C. Marshall
 * Led the Allies to victory in World War I, often considered the largest war of all time

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to US history? //
 * John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) - Dawson **
 * Established Keynesian economics: aggregate demand is the prime factor in economic activity, and governments can improve the economic condition of their countries by increasing deficit spending
 * Ideological debate with Austrian economist FA Hayek
 * Ideas were adopted by nearly all Western governments in the 1940s, and is still the economic policy of almost all Western governments today, along with many more developed African and Asian countries
 * Keynesianism was adopted by the US government more and more throughout the 1940s and was the driving economic policy through the 60s, crystallized by RIchard Nixon abolishing the last remains of the gold standard
 * Receded during the conservative resurgance of the 80s which saw more market-oriented policy, then came back into the fold through the 90s and 00s (bailouts, stimulus, nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac)

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to United States History? // []
 * Charles Lindbergh - Tirthna **
 * Went on a solo, nonstop flight of 3,600 miles and became instantaneously famous worldwide
 * Received many awards, including the Orteig Prize and the Medal of Honor
 * He made a historic exploit with his aviation skillz
 * He was also an outspoken advocate of keeping the US out of international conflicts
 * Despite that, he served in WWII and flew for many combat missions

// Why is he important? // // Why is he significant to United States History? // []
 * F. Scott Fitzgerald - Tirthna **
 * Wrote many short stories and other works contemporaneously pertaining to the Jazz Age
 * One of the main "Lost Generation" authors
 * Wrote many famous works, the most well-known being //The Great Gatsby//
 * He is considered one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century
 * Effectively portrayed the life of people during the Roaring Twenties in his novels
 * Highlighted both the benefits and major ill effects of living during the period of economic prosperity

// Why is he important? //
 * John Steinbeck: **
 * An author, who was part of the Modern Era of American Literature
 * Wrote hits such as...
 * //The Grapes of Wrath// (1939)
 * //East of Eden// (1952)
 * //Of Mice and Men// (1937)

// Why is he significant to US history? // []
 * Won several prizes for his novels
 * His novels displayed the conditions of America
 * //The Grapes of Wrath// especially painted a gruesome picture of the Great Depression
 * His novels greatly influenced American thought and perception

//Why is he important?// //Why is he significant to US history?//
 * Louis Armstrong - Cody**
 * One of the first popular jazz musicians
 * Helped shift jazz into the spotlight of popular music at the time
 * A strong supporter of the civil rights movement in America
 * Gained access to the upper echelons of American society, unlike any black man before him, because of his music
 * Helped ease the severity of racial division because of his acceptance among white people

= EVENTS (Chronology): = // What caused it? // // What is its significance? // // How did it help shape the United States? //
 * Prohibition (1919-1933) - Dawson **
 * The Temperance Movement
 * The Women's Christian Temperance Union
 * Sale of Beer Act 1854
 * The Maine Law
 * Almost unilateral support from Progressives, women, Southerners, rural Americans, and blacks
 * Banned manufacture, sale, and transport (not consumption) of alcohol throughout the United States
 * Demand for alcohol led to development of powerful criminal underground
 * Alcohol smuggled from distilleries in Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean European colonies; people also brewed it themselves
 * Led to the development of powerful underground gangs
 * Strengthened criminals and their gangs meeting the demand for alcohol, especially Al Capone in Chicago, who controlled every speakeasy and virtually all bootlegging in the US by 1940 (beating out the competition from rival gangster Bugs Moran)
 * Allowed the inception and growth of the Italian Mafia
 * Wildly expanded crime in the US - 1000% increase of federal justice spending


 * Paris Peace Conference (1919) - Thomas Bumbalo **

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? // // How did it help shape the United States? //
 * Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
 * American entry into World War I
 * Bolshevik Revolution
 * Franco-Prussian War
 * Central Power defeat in the War
 * The conference was attended by the "Big Four" of the Great Powers: Wilson, George, Clemenceau, and Orlando
 * It imposed harsh terms upon Germany and Austria-Hungary, such as the dissolution of the latter and the implementation of a "war guilt" clause into the Treaty of Versailles
 * Immense reparations were demanded of Germany and Austria
 * The ineffective League of Nations was created
 * The peace talks were a chance for Wilson to propose his "Fourteen Points" for peace
 * The reparations and war guilt clause were both future causes of World War II, a war in which the United States was involved
 * It ended the fighting, meaning the United States could shift towards a policy of isolationism

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? // // How did it help shape the United States? // [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Notes]
 * 19th Amendment (1920) - Tirthna **
 * Drafting of the text by Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
 * Dedicated women's suffrage advocates
 * Women's suffrage movements
 * Repeated proposal after being shot down in Senate many times
 * Gave woman the right to vote
 * Unsuccessfully challenged in the court case Leser v Garnett
 * Led to laws like the Sheppard-Towner Act in fear of a powerful women's bloc in American politics
 * ...Women could vote I don't know how to paraphrase that any further
 * Women would typically vote for their husband's political party

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? // // How did it help shape the US? //
 * Immigration Act of 1924 (The John-Reed Act) - John Chavez **
 * Large influx of immigrants throughout the globe: Eastern/Southern Europeans, Middle Easterners, Asians
 * Immigration Restriction Act of 1921: It's predecessor, limiting immigration down to 3%
 * Emergency Quota Act: Needed to be replaced
 * Nativists in fear of losing their jobs to immigrants
 * Fear of Communism in the population
 * Replaced the previous 3% down into 2%
 * Extremely reduced immigration in the 1920s
 * Put restrictions on specific countries, such as Japan, who was not able to export immigrants altogether
 * Ended unrestricted immigration for that time frame
 * Provides an example of government effectively decreasing immigration
 * A victory for the nativists
 * Would not be superseded until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

//What caused it?// //Why is it important?// //How did it help shape the US?//
 * Stock Market Crash (1929) - Cody**
 * The Roaring Twenties
 * "Black Thursday"
 * Kick-started the Great Depression
 * Banks and businesses went bankrupt immediately afterwards
 * Unemployment skyrocketed
 * Showed just how unstable the stock market was, especially following great success
 * A system was put in place after the crash to prevent the market from ever bottoming out again

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? //
 * The First Hundred Days (1933) - John **
 * President Franklin Roosevelt's assumption of the Presidency
 * His New Deal
 * Compromise with Congress
 * Problems caused by the Great Depression
 * Goal to regain America's lost prominence
 * In these hundred days, Roosevelt, along with Congress, was able to accomplish a multitude of things, primarily through...
 * Monetary and Bank reforms
 * The Economy Act
 * Artist programs
 * Farm and rural programs
 * Repeal of Puerto Rico

// How did it help shape the US? //
 * The legislation he passed in this time are still in effect today, such as the FDIC
 * His first hundred days has yet to be surpassed by any other presidents, in terms of getting things done
 * Displayed his overall goals within his presidency

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? // // How did it help shape the United States? // [] []
 * Enabling Act of 1933 - Tirthna **
 * German federal election of March 1933
 * Burning of the Reichstag
 * Adolf Hitler's promotion speeches for the bill
 * It was a major step in which Hitler legally gained plenary powers and established his position as dictator
 * Granted the cabinet the authority to enforce laws without the Reichstag
 * It was pivotal for the establishment of Nazi Germany
 * Paved the way for complete takeover of Germany by Nazis
 * Basically Hitler was a major cause of WWII, which deeply affected the United States

// What caused it? // // What is its significance? // // How did it help shape the United States? //
 * Dust Bowl (1934, 1936) - Dawson **
 * Louisiana Purchase
 * Homestead Act
 * Unsustainable farming practices i.e. deep plowing neglecting crop rotation
 * Severe drought and dust storms
 * WW1 increased crop prices, so farmers tried to take advantage of the price by increasing production
 * Affected 100,000,000 acres of land in the American midwest
 * A single dust storm on November 11, 1933 deposited 12 million pounds of dust around Chicago
 * 2.5 million people moved out of the Plains States (largest migration in US history)
 * FDR responded with the Great Plains Shelterbelt, a CCC program of planting over 200,000,000 trees across the Plains States to break the wind and hold the soil
 * Ran an educational campaign to inform farmers of sustainable practices
 * Established the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation to manage surplus goods and the Drought Relief Service to buy cattle at a high price from farmers
 * Largest migration in US history led to huge labor surplus in the rest of the country, especially California
 * Sustainable agricultural practices were instituted throughout the midwest but low access to credit and education prevented full recovery
 * Decline in land value throughout the midwest, 75% of topsoil gone
 * Government response saw the establishment of many Department of Agriculture agencies and agricultural regulation services

//What caused it?// //Why is it important?// //How did it help shape the US?//
 * Creation of the WPA (1935) - Cody**
 * Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935
 * The Great Depression
 * The Stock Market Crash
 * Helped improve transportation through government funded projects
 * Through these projects, provided much needed jobs to unemployed workers
 * Along with other New Deal organizations, greatly helped the US employ workers and survive the Great Depression

// What caused it? // // Why is it important? // // How did it help shape the United States? //
 * Munich Agreement (30 September 1938) - Thomas Bumbalo **
 * Anschluss
 * Re-militarization of the Rhineland
 * World War I
 * Peace of Paris
 * Nationalism and desire for Lebensraum
 * It was the clearest act of appeasement leading up to the second World War
 * It removed many of Czechoslovakia's forts and defenses near their border, leaving them vulnerable to further invasion
 * It only motivated Hitler to continue his expansionism, eventually leading to the invasion of Poland
 * It was one of the primary precursors to World War II, a war in which the United States was involved
 * This war would elevate the United States to the status of a superpower
 * The policy of appeasement was abandoned in future foreign policy as the United States, looking back, decided it could not appease the Soviets