U.S. Profile

Population 1920:    105,710,620
Presidents that served in 20s

• Warren G. Harding (Republican) 1920 - 1924
• Calvin Coolidge (Republican) 1924 - 1928
• Herbert C. Hoover (Republican) 1928 - 1932

Immigration: Emergency Quota Acts of 1921, 1924 and 1929 severely limit immigration into U.S.
Prohibition: Ratified as 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919, spawned big-city gangsters and alcohol problems. Light (3.2 percent alcohol wine) legalized in 1920s. Repealed by 21st Amendment in 1933.
Al Capone: A booze distributor, began six years of gangster warfare in Chicago in 1925.
Education:

• Rate of 17-year olds who graduated from high school: More than one in four.
• "Learning by doing" principle set by Professor John Dewey of Columbia University
• "Monkey Trial" in Dayton, Tennessee, 1925. John T. Scopes, a high school biology teacher was indicted for teaching evolution.

Economy:

• Henry Ford develops an efficient assembly line, starting off America's love affair with the automobile. By 1929, 26 million motor vehicles registered in the U.S.
• Perishable goods became more marketable as transportation speed increased.

$$$$$$$: Stock market crashed on "Black Tuesday", October 29, 1929

U.S. News & World Report (Apologies to the magazine!)

Aviation:

• First transcontinental airmail route established, 1920
• In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew a single-engine airplane Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris in 33 hours, 39 minutes.

Economy: Fordney-McCumber tariff law raises tariffs and halts the international trade.
Politics: Uncle Sam was reluctant to recognize Russia's new Communist government, and that dampened the diplomatic relations and trade.

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