Major Events of the 1920's
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There were many events that took place in the 1920's. In the early 1920's the Volstead Act, or the Prohibition , was an important event. The act prohibited the consumption of alcohol and made trading alcohol illegal. This caused many problems in society. In the late 1920's a major event was the stock market crash. The stock prices suddenly dropped and caused many people to go broke. Read more about these events below.
Volstead Act (Prohibition)
A Political Cartoon about Prohibition. It shows how hard it was to enforce this law
During the 1920’s the United States passed an act, the Volstead act. The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution (1920-1933) prohibited the manufacture, sale, transport, import, or export of alcoholic beverages. Upon ratification of the amendment by the states, Congress voted its approval in October 1919, and enacted it into law as the National Prohibition Act of 1920.
This determined intoxicating liquor as anything having an alcoholic content of anything more than 0.5 percent, omitting alcohol used for medicinal and sacramental purposes. The Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol, seen by some as the devil’s advocate, and thereby reduce crime, poverty, death rates, and improve the economy and the quality of life. This, however, was undoubtedly to no avail. The Prohibition amendment of the 1920s was ineffective because it was unenforceable, it caused the explosive growth of crime, and it increased the amount of alcohol consumption. As a result of the money involved in the bootlegging industry, there was much rival between gangs. Crimes became very organized and intentional.
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Stock Market Crash :1929
Wall Street Stock Exchange During the Crash The stock market crashed in 1929 and continued to drop until 1932.
During the early 1920’s the stock market was booming. It was considered a time of prosperity. Foreign nations thought that the United States had a formula for unlimited prosperity, but that formula didn’t seem to be there in the stock market crash of 1929.
Business and investment during the 1920’s was based on unstable buying and selling which didn’t work very long. Investors borrowed money from the brokers who, went to the banks for the money they loaned off. A lot of stocks failed and a lot of money was permanently lost, people were upset and disappointed.
However, the economy became slow and lacking many facilities. The American desires for items such as refrigerators, radios, automobiles etc. went down because the stocks went down and they decided to be happy with what they have. But, because Americans weren’t buying these items, all businesses that had to do with these items were going down and lost a lot of money. Everyone started panicking and all at once wanted to sell their stocks, because the business they bought was dropping. It was a mess.
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Teapot Dome Scandal
Teapot Dome Scandal cartoon
The Teapot Dome Scandal was an oil reserve scandal during the 1920’s. It involved a secret leasing of naval oil reserve lands to private companies.
The Teapot Dome oil field, where people got their oil, was in Wyoming. It was called the Teapot Dome because of a rock nearby that looked like a teapot.
Albert B. Fall was a senator during this time. He got control of the Teapot Dome in 1921. He then leased the Teapot Dome. For leasing it, he got $400,000 from the oilmen in two other oil companies, Harry Sinclair's Mammoth Oil Company and the Elk Hills reserve to Edward Doheny's Pan American Petroleum Company. He meant to keep this a secret, but it got out somehow. In 1924, it was revealed to the public that Albert B. Fall had put a lease on the Teapot Dome. Putting a lease on the Teapot Dome was legal, but he was also taking the money that he got from the oil for himself and that was illegal so he was charged.
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