The document summarizes several key social, political, and economic events of the 1920s in the United States. It discusses the Red Scare and fear of communism spreading. It also describes the controversial Sacco and Vanzetti trial, Palmer Raids targeting leftist radicals, and terms like anarchists and leftist radicals. Additional topics covered include the Harlem Renaissance, women gaining the right to vote and changing roles, the Great Migration, the rise of radio, and Prohibition and the rise of bootlegging.

1. The 1920s

2. Red Scare
• fear of the spread of Communism
• The fear that communists were working to destroy the American way of life
during the decade of the 1920’s – this led to a fear of labor unions
What is Communism?
• Combination government and economic system where the government
makes all the economic decisions claiming it knows what is best for the
country as a whole
• A Communist Revolution takes place when the workers come together to
improve their working conditions by overthrowing the government that
allows the abuses by businesses to happen

3. Sacco and Vanzetti
• Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian
immigrants charged with murdering
a guard and robbing a shoe factory.
Why was their case so controversial
during the time period?
• Convicted on circumstantial
evidence, many believed they had
been framed for the crime because
of their anarchist and pro-union
activities.

4. Palmer Raids
a series of violent and abusive
law-enforcement raids directed at
leftist radicals and anarchists in
1919 and 1920.

5. Leftist Radicals
• during the time period, a way of
referring to people who favored
Communism or labor unions
Anarchists
• during the time period, a way of
referring to people who
supported the overthrow of
government
• usually associated with
Communists

6. Red Scare
Use WAVES…
What is the main idea of this
cartoon?
• communists want to destroy the
United States
Is this cartoon for against
Communism?
• against

7. Harlem Renaissance
• A flowering of African-American artistic creativity during the 1920’s
centered in the Harlem community of New York City.
• Part of the Jazz Age
The Harlem Renaissance

8. Women in the 1920s
The 19th Amendment
• ratified in 1920, women gained the right to
vote nationwide
Impact
• women were empowered and began to assert
their independence
• women started wearing short skirts and
bobbed hair
• they began to abandon traditional female roles
and take jobs usually reserved for menFlappers

9. The Great Migration
• African Americans would move
to the North, Midwest, and
West for jobs and to escape
racial segregation and violence
in the South
The Great Migration

10. Radio
• the most powerful communication
medium to emerge in the 1920’s:
information was more easily spread to
more people
• entertainment came into people’s
homes: American’s listened to music,
news, sports, westerns, dramas, and
soap operas
• They also heard commercials for a wide
variety of consumer products: people
learned of new products and where to
find them - consumerism

11. Prohibition
• Laws banning the manufacture,
transportation, and use of
alcoholic products
• “Anti-alcohol”
Groups supporting prohibition:
1. Progressives
2. Women
3. Evangelical protestants

12. Prohibition 18th Amendment (1920)
• Volstead Act: gave law enforcement the
authority to enforce the 18th
Amendment
Effects of banning alcohol
• Bootlegging (making your own)
• Speakeasies: secret bars
• Smuggling from Canada and the
Caribbean
• Rise of organized crime (ex. Al Capone)