Depth Study - US Society Change Flashcards
(101 cards)
1
Q
What were the main changes in US society during the 1920s?
A
- Towns became more populated than the countryside
- Spare time and leisure was channeled into entertainment, such as cinema, creating a huge new industry
- Cinema became cheaper (even the poor could afford it) and more popular, sand the first talking movies were made in 1927
- Radios became basically accessible to everyone - middle class owned them and lower class shared them
- Jazz gained popularity with the youth
- Sport became extremely popular, and millions of Americans listend to it on he radio
- There was a divide in morals of the old and new genertion - the old did not approve of the new subjects such as sex which was taboo in their time
- Sex outside marriage became more commonnow that contraceptive advice was available
- Cars caused cities to grow outwards, people to go on holiday and also let youth ride away from the supervision of their parents
2
Q
Describe population growth in towns as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- In 1920, for the first time, more Americans lived in towns than in the countryside
- Tension built up between rural & urban USA - in the south, there ewas a rearguard action gainst ‘evil’ effects of the city
3
Q
Explain why entertainment boomed during the 1920s
A
- Working hours fell
- Wages rose
- Spare time and leisure was channeled into entertainment, such as cinema, creating a huge new industry
4
Q
Describe radios as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- Almost everyone in the USA owned a radio
- In poorer districts where people could not afford radios, they were shared
- In poor districts of Chicago 1930, there was one radio for every 2 or 3 households
- In August 1921 there was only one licensed radio station in the US
- By the end of 1922, there were 508 of them
- By 1929 the new network NBC was making 150 million dollars per year
- Access to world, news, entertainment and music became widespread
5
Q
Describe jazz as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- The radio gave a greater access to music
- African-Americans who moved from the country to the city brought jazz with them
- New dances such as the Charleston were created along with jazz, symbolised by flappers
- The older genertions saw jazz and everything associated with it as a corrupting influence on the youth - newspapers and magazines made articles analysing the influence of jazz
6
Q
Describe sport as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- Sport boomed in popularity as it was accessibly by the radio
- Millions of Americans listened to sporting events on the radio
- National heroes united the country such as Babe Ruth (baseball player)
- Baseball and boxing were among the most popular sports
7
Q
Describe cinema as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- Hollywood started producing a large amount of films
- Stars like Charlie Chaplin emerged
- Until 1927, all movies were silent - but then the first talking movie was made
- Movies bacame a multi-billion dollar business
- Even poor peope watched movies - it was quite cheap (10-20 cents) and accessible
- Workers in Chicago spent more than half their leisure budget on movies
8
Q
Describe morals as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- Sex stopped being a taboo subject
- It became the main concern of tabloids, newspapers, and conversation
- Cinema started making movies with sex appeal - this made a lot of money
- The more conservative states imposed censorship on these
- Sex outside mariage became more common, and so did contraceptive advice
9
Q
Describe the influence of the car as one of the aspects in changes in society during the 1920s
A
- They helped cities grow and spread out into suburbs
- They carried owners to entertainments
- They took young couples away frrom the moral gaze of their parents
- They facilitated access to hlidays, sorting events, shopping, picnics and visits of relatives
10
Q
What happens in the 1920s for women?
A
- Women enter the workplace
- Birth rates decline
- ‘Flappers’ bacame the icon of the 1920s (but most women could not afford this lifestyle)
- Marriage became based on romantic love and children were no longer seen as workers
- Women get the right to vote
- Traditional restrictions are eased
11
Q
How was life in the 1920s for the majority of women before WW1?
A
- They had to lead very restricted lives
- They wore restrictive clothes
- They had to behave politely
- They were expected not to were makeup
- Their relationships were strictl controlled
- They had to have a chaperone with them if they went out with a boyfriend
- They were expected not to take part in sport
- They were not expected to smoke in public
- In most states they could not vote
- They have very few paid jobs
12
Q
Why did the way women were treated and expected to behave begin to change in the 1920s, and how did their lives improve?
A
- The impact of the war
- The vote
- The car
- New machines for domestic work
- Traditional roles of women were eased
13
Q
How did the impact of the war change things for women in the 1920s?
A
Some women were taken in to the war indusries, giveing the experience of skilled factory work
14
Q
How did the vote change things for women in the 1920s?
A
Women got the right to vote in all states in 1920, giving them more influence and leverage in US politics
15
Q
How did the car change things for women in the 1920s?
A
Women shared as much as men in the liberating effects of the car. They could now go anywhere, and much further from home to visit their friends, much faster
16
Q
How did new machines change things for women in the 1920s?
A
New machines such as fridges and vaccuum cleaners gave women more free time as they could do the household tasks faster (in theory).
Some argue because these machines were invented, expectations of cleanliness, for example, were increased, so women had to do more of the chores they used to do.
17
Q
How did behaviour towards younger women change things for women in the 1920s?
A
Traditional roles of behaviour were eased, so they started to wear more daring clothes, smoked, drank, and kissed in public
18
Q
Describe the increase in employment of women and it’s effects in the 1920s
A
- More women took on jobs in urban areas - particularly in the middle class
- There were 10 million women jobs in 1929, 24% more than in 1920
- Because women had money, they became a target of advertisement (even women who did not earn money got more influence on deciding what to buy for the home)
- The Women’s role triggered Ford to make their cars available in other colours than black in 1925
19
Q
Describe the increase in choices women were capable of making and it’s effects in the 1920s
A
- Films and novels exposed women to a larger variety of role models and pushed them to challenge the traditional role of women
- This was partly because the Newspapers found that sex had a larger selling power than anything else
- Women were less likely to remain in unhappy marriages - in 1914, there were 100,000 divorcees, but in 1929, there were twice as many
20
Q
Describe the limitations women faced and their effects in the 1920s
A
- Women were still paid less than men
- Women employment only increased maily because women were cheaper employees than men
- Women could vote, but did not have access to real political power (political parties did not want women as political candidates)
- Only a handful of women were elected in 1929
- Lower class women did not have the political power to reject the norms society had placed on them - the lifestyle of the flapper was too expensive, and poorer women worked so much they did not have time to be concerned about their rights
21
Q
How did women respond to the changes concerning them in the 1920s?
A
- There is no evidence that women copied what they saw in love films during the 1920s
- Some women regarded the way women were portrayed in these films with opposition and outrage
- Religion, conservative spirit and old values kept women is a reasobably restricted lifestyle - their main goals were raising a family and mantaining a good home
22
Q
Who was Eleanor Roosevelt and how did she influence womens rights in the 1920s?
A
- Born in a wealthy family in 1884
- Heavily involved in multiple organisations that supported women’s rights e.g. League of Women Voters and Women’s Trade Union League
- Their work was concentrated on uniting the New York Democrats, creating public housng for low income workers, spreading birth control information and ensuring better conditions for women workers
23
Q
When was the amount of immigration the highest in the USA?
A
1901 to 1910
24
Q
Describe the intolerance towards immigrants in the USA from in the 1920s
A
- The big cities of USA had established immigrant groups such as the Irish Americans, French Canadians, and German Americans seperately instead of everyone simply melting together into ‘Good Americans’
- These groups competed for the best work and housing
- The groups were very divided looked down on more recent european immigrants, even on those who came from where they came from
- Everone looked down on African Americans and Mexicans
25
What was the main aim of immigrants that headed to the USA in the 1920s?
Two possibilities
- They flee from persecutions and wanted to settle in the US and lead a better life
- They suffered from poverty and wanted to bring money back to their families
26
What was the red scare?
A fear caused by racist attitudes towards immigrants merging with the fear of communism.
Americans feared that more recent Immigrants would bring communist and anarchist ideas into the US.
27
What disturbances were there in American society that confirmed fears of the red scare?
- 400,000 American workers went on strike
- Police in Boston went on strike and thieves roamed the city
- There were Race Riots in 25 towns
- In april 1919 a bomb was planted in Milwaukee that killed ten people
- In may, bombs were posted to 36 prominent Americans
- In June bombs went off in seven cities, an one of them almost killed Mitchel Palmer, US Attorney General
| Historians now agree the strikes were caused by economic hardship
28
How did American society view the strikes and riots in the 1920s?
Even though they were caused by economic hardship, public opinion believed the strikes were signs of communist interference.
29
Were the fears during the Red Scare justified?
Partially as there were some anarchist activities such as:
- Many immigrants have radical beliefs, and some published phamphlets saying they wanted to overthrow the government
- In april 1919 a bomb was planted in Milwaukee that killed ten people
- In may, bombs were posted to 36 prominent Americans
- In June bombs went off in seven cities, an one of them almost killed Mitchel Palmer, US Attorney General
However, there never was a red revolution in the the US
30
What was done as a response to the bombs that exploded in 1919?
- All those who were known to have radical political beliefs were rounded up
- J. Hoover, clerk appointed by Plamer, built up files on 60,000 suspects and from 1919-20 around 10,000 individuals were informed they would be deported from the US (and 500 were forcefully deported)
31
What did Palmer do when he discovered his purges and deportations of immigrants were popular?
- He tried to use the fear of revolution and the Red Scare to build up his political support and run for president
- He accused almost all minority groups of being communists (Trade unionits, African Americans, Jews, Catholics etc.)
- He predicted a red revolution woud begin in May 1920
| Nothing happened :(
32
What were the reasons for Palmer's downfall?
- When no red revolution occured, he lost credibility
- Newspapers made fun of him
- The Justice Demartment, who had had enough of Palmer's actions, undermined him
- The Secretary of Labour (Louis Post) examined Palmer's case files and found that only 556 of the thousands of his cases had any basis in fact
33
Describe the Sacco and Vanzetti trial
- Two Italian Americans, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were arrested in 1920 on the suspicion of armard robbery and murder
- They were self-confessed anarchists who wanted to dismantle the US system of government by creating social disorder
- The prosecution was only based on circumstancial evidence, fear of immigrants and racist slurs about Italian Origins
- Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted on flimsy evidence
- Six years later, 1927, they were executed
- 50 years later, they were pardoned
| The Judge was prejudiced
34
Why did the Sacco and Vanzetti trial gain so much popularity/infamy?
- It revealed the extent to which racism was embedded in US society and became a signpost for injustice against immigrants
- The trial had become a trial against Anarchism instead of a trial about murder - this injustice enraged people
35
Describe the Immigration Quotas put into place in the 1920s due to fear of immigrants
- In 1924, the government introduced a quota system that limited immigration into the US
- It ensured that the largest proportions of immigrants were from North-West Europe
- From over a million immigrants per year in 1901 to 1910, the immigration rate in 1929 had fallen to 150,000
- No Asians were allowed at all
36
Describe the Harlem Renaissance
A period in which Harlem became a home to a literary and artistic revival that represented African-Amercian opinions and culture
37
What were the diferent organisations that supported African-Amercians in different ways with diferent approaches?
- In 1909, the NAACP was founded that urged African-Amercians too protest against racial violence, led by Dubois
- Marcus Garvey believed that African-Amercians should be seperate from WASPs as they were better. He even sparked violent riots. He wanted to create a better society composet of educated African-Amercians in Africa
- The last organisation had a 'know your place attitude' where they wanted to incease African-Amercian education but keeping them in an inferior class to increase the chance of these demands succeeding
38
Describe Harlem in the 1920s
- It was the largest Africn-American community
- It suffered from overcrowding, poverty, crime and unemployment
- However, it was a place where African-Amercian immigrants from the South ended up and brougt their culture with them
- This led to an artistic and literary revival
39
Why did the African-American conditions not improve much during the 1920s
- Conservatives such as the KKK still believed in the Jim Crow Laws
- African-American organisations were divided, they could not cooperate and demand the same thing, which weakened their stance
40
What led to the revival of the KKK?
In 1915, the film 'Birth of the Nation' was released, which promoted white (WASP) supremacy and degraded African-Americans, in addition to portraying the KKK as righteous saviours
| Woodrow Wilson approved of it!
41
What violence against the African-Americans occured during 1919?
- Many of them are killed in Arkansaw and Chicago in shootings
- Police did not follow up on white people whe had commited a crime against African-Americans
- Multiple 'massacres' occured where African-Americans were killed or injured (as well as white people)
42
Why did white governents impose restricting laws such as the Jim Crow laws?
- They feared the power of African-Americans
- Over half of the people is Southern America were African-American
43
What was the Ku Klux Klan?
| Describe how it had fared in the past
- A white supremacy movement
- It used violence e.g. beatings and lynchings to intimidate African-Americans, Jews, Catholics and other minorities
- It was formed in 1965 by the former soldiers after the American civil war to keep the WASPs in control of the US
- It was strongest in the South where African-Americans competed with whites for jobs
- It declined in the late ninteenth century but was boosted in 1915by the film 'Birth of a Nation'
- The Klan was dominant in Oregon and Oklahalma where the governors were Klan members, and also especially in Indiana
- The Klan declined after 1925 as the leader, David Stephenson was convicted fof sexually motivated murder, which led to the corruption of the Klan becoming common knowledge
44
Who did the KKK target?
All those who did not fit into or violated an ideology of WASPS
- Divorced people
- African-Americans
- Immigrants
45
What were the Jim Crow Laws?
A set of practices and laws that led to segregation after 1865 when African-Americans were freed from slavery. African-Americans were discriminated from employment and education, and their right to vote was very restricted.
46
Give concrete examples of the effect of the Jim Crow Laws
- African-Americans were intimidated/prevented from voting
- African-Americans were discriminated when applying for jobs or education
- Streets and other infrastrcture was rebuilt to make the African-Americans second class citizens
- Thousands of monuments were erected during the 1920s to white confererate (same ideology as the south from the civil war) generals from the civil war
47
Why were thousands of monuments were erected during the 1920s to white confererate generals from the civil war?
To remind African-Americans of who was in charge and assert the dominance of the WASPs, even 60 years after the end of the civil war.
| The USA is only starting now to tdeal with the confederate statues
48
Describe what happened to James Cameron in 1930
This 16 year old boy was arrested with 2 other African-American onsuspicion of the rape of white woman and murder of a white man. A mob arrived with the inention of lynching them,and Cameron was spared miraculously. The crowd let ghim limp back to the jail for no aparent reason, and Cameron saw it as an intervention from god.
49
What was the outcome of Cameron's miraculous survival?
A poem was written about the incident, known as 'Strange fruit' (originally 'bitter fruit'). A photograph of the incident became very known.
Many other lynchings occured and caused African-Americans to immigrate Northwards from the South
49
Explain the rise of 'Vigilanteism' in the 1920s
Vigilanteism is where citizens decide to take law into their own hands without consultng a jury or conducting a trial e.g. Lynching
This became more frequent inthe 1920s, done by both mobs and the KKK.
| Crowds clapped and cheered when people were lynched, including children
50
How many members did the KKK have by 1924?
4.5 million
50
What happened to the African-American population numbers in both Chicago and New York during the 1920s?
They both **doubled** - 150,000 to 330,000 in New York, 110,000 to 230,000 in Chicago
51
What improvements were there for African-Americans during the 1920s?
- In the North, African-Americans had better chances of geting goodjobs and education
- There was a successful capitalist movements for African-Americans which allowed them to set up more small businesses, resulting in an increase in middle-class African-Americans
- African-Americans got popular figures such as Paul Robeson and Louis Armstrong
- African-Americans got more influential figures tackling poverty and racism
52
Describe jobs and education for African-Americans in the 1920s
- African-Americans had a better chance of getting jobs and education
- Howards Univeristy was a university dedicated solely to African-Americans for higher educations
- There was a successful boycott in Chicago of the cities chain stores to get them to employ more African-Americans
53
Describe the businesses that African-Americans could lead in the 1920s
There was a successful 'black capitalist' movements for African-Americans which allowed them to set up more small businesses, resulting in an increase in middle-class African-Americans
54
Describe the rise in African-American popular figures in the 1920s
- African-Americans got popular figures such as Paul Robeson, 'Duke' ellington, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong
- They could influence the media and tackle racial problems
- For example, Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen wrote poems about the lives of ordinary African-Americans, raising awareness of the conditions they had to live through
- Harlem became a centre of creativity for all this activity
55
Describe Paul Robeson's life
- He was born in 1898, as a son of a former slave
- He went to Columbi University and passed law exams with an honour
- It was almost impossible for him to find work as a black lawyer, so he became a popular actor
- He visited Moscow in 1934 and approved of communism as he was not judged for his race
- Robeson suffered doubly in the USA as a communist sympathiser, and was banned from performing, suffered death threats, and had his pasport confiscated
- He left the USA in 1958 to live in Europe, but returned in 1963
56
What were the budding civil rights movements for African-Americans in the 1920s?
- W.E.B Dubois founded the NAACP (National Associaton for the Advancement of Colored People)
- Marcus Garvey founded the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association)
57
Describe the NAACP
it was founded by W.E.B Dubois
It wanted equality between all races in the USA
It campaingned agianst lynching and racial segregation laws
In 1919 it had 300 branches and around 90,000 members
58
Describe the UNIA
Marcus Garvey wanted the African-Americans to be proud of their origin, instead of wanting to have equality whites.
The UNIA helped African-Americans to set up businesses and by the mid-1920s, ther were UNIA groceries, laundries and restaurants
59
What did Marcus Garvey do and what were the impacts of his actions?
| And what happened to his businesses?
- He set up the UNIA
- Garvey set up a shipping line to fundm UNIA businesses and his scheme of helping African-Americans to migrate to Africa
- His businesses collapsed eventually due to hostility from the authorities e.g. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
- His movements attracted over million members at it's height in 1921
| Such as Earl Little, killed by Klan thugs but whose son became Malcom X
60
How much did the Associations supporting the rights of African-Americans actually have an impact?
| Explainthe impact/lack of impact
- Even though they were important, they failed to change the USA drastically
- Life expectancy for African-Americans increased from 45 to 48 between 1900 and 1930, but for whites it increased from 54 to 59
- Most African-Americans still lived in poverty
- In Harlem, they lived in poorer housing yet paid higher rents
- They had poorer health and education than whites
- Large numbers of African-American women worked as low-paid domestic servants
- Factories making cars employed only a few blacks or employed with a white-only policy
61
Describe life in Chicago during the 1920s for African-Americans
- African-Americans suffered prejudice from longer established white residents
- Gangs composed of whites, calling themselves 'athletic clubs' threatened African-Americans who used parks, playgrounds and beaches
- African-Americans were therefore pushed to live in isolated ghettos
62
Describe the tensions between minorities in the 1920s, especially concerning the African-Americans
- Middle-class African-americans blamed the newer African-American immigrants and blame them for the intensifying racism on the behalf of whites
- There was racial tension in Harlem due to 50,000 Native Americans who were more educated and prouder of their colour
63
Who were the 'Vanishing Americans'?
Native Americans who originally settled the continent of North America and almost disappeared as an ethnic group during the nineteenth century due to the rapid expansion of the USA
64
Describe the decline in Native Americans over the 19th century
A decline from 1.5 million to around 250,000 in 1920
65
What was done to surviving Native Americans who refused to abandon their traditional way of life?
They were forced into 'reservations' where there was basically no infrastructure or support and not eneough land to practice their nomadic traditions.
66
What improvements were ther for Native Americans during the 1920s?
- The governemnt became concerned about the treatment of Native Americans because 12,000 had served in the armed forces during WW1 nad this changed hite attitudes towards them.
- The government therfore granted US citizenship and the right to vote for the first time
- The Merriam Report proposed widespread improvement to the laws relating to Native Americans in 1928, which were introduced in Roosevelt's New Deal 1934
67
In which ways were the Native Americans suffering during the 1920s?
- The government did a cencus in the 1920s which revealed that most Native Americans were livng in extreme poverty, with lower life expectancy than whites, with worse health, education and jobs
- They suffered extreme discrimination
- They were losing land, as mining companies were legaly allowed to seize large areas of land occupied by native Americans. In addition, Native Americans who owned traditional land gave up and were given their own plot of land to 'assimilate them into US society' as they were tired of struggling
- Children were sent to boarding schools to assimilate them into white American structure, getting rid of native American culture. their beliefs, traditios, dances and languages were lost
68
What was the Monkey trial a symbol of?
Rural vs Urban
Fundamentalist vs secular
69
Describe the Monkey trial
- Evolution was banned from being taught in schools by William Jennings Bryan
- Biology Teacher John scopes deliberately broke the law to undermine it in a trial
- In July 1925, the best US lawyers where brought in for both sides
- The Traditionalists metaphorically fought with the Modernists
- Scopes was convicted of breaking the law, but Fundamentalism was subjected to mockery and was ridiculed
- Their spokesman Bryan, who claimed to be an expert in religion and science, was shown to be ignorant and confused, using circular argumentation to support his ideologies
| Bryan died 5 days later :O
70
What were the outcomes of the Monkey Trial?
- The drove a wedge between/separated the rural and urban sides of the US even further
- The anti-evolution lobby was weakened
71
Why did rural Americans disagree with evolution?
They were mostly protestants, went to the church, and interpreted the bible literally, especially in the 'Bible belt' states such as Tennessee
72
Explain why there was an alcohol problem in the US before prohibition
Old traditions meant that Americans used to drink very low percentage alcohol, such as weak beer. This was better than dirty or unpurified water. However, when new types of alcohol were introduced, such as rum and whisky, with a very high alcohol concentrtion, people kept drinking these at every meal, resulting in widespread alcoholism.
in addition, immigrants which moved into the US would not give up drinking
73
What was prohibition?
Members of the Temperance movement wanted to abolish alcohol. This movement had powerfuls supporters, who were in charge of large industries. They thought that if alcohol was abolished, their workers would work better. In 1917, the eighteenth amendment was proposed, and passed three years later, prohibiting the manufature and sale of 'intoxicating liquors'. This period of prohibition lasted for 13 years, until 1933 when it was repealed by Roosevelt.
74
When did prohibition become law, and what was it known as?
The Volstead Act, which became law in January 1920
75
Who were the major influencing factors in favour of Prohibition?
- Devout christians who saw the damage of alcohol on family life
- Two main movements - Anti-Saloon League and Women's Christian Temperance Union
- The people who pushed were mainly women, who wanted to avoid their husbands getting drunk and becoming violent, or spending all the family money on alcohol
- Politicians backed the prohibition to get voted from rural areas
- Industralists backed the movement, hoping a ban of alcohol would increase their worker's efficiency
- WW1 made drinkers seem like unptriotic cowards, and large breweries were run by Germans, who were shown to be the enemy
- Alcohol was portrayed as leading to anarchy (particularly in immigrant communities)
76
What was happening as a precursor to prohibiton in 1916?
21 states had banned saloons
77
What were supporters of prohibition known as, and what arguments did they have in favour of prohibition?
**'Dries'**
They claimed that '3000 infants are mothered yealy in bed by drunken parents'. They also claimed that Communism thrived on alcohol and that it led to lawlessness.
78
What were the outcomes of Prohibition?
- Levels of alcohol consumption fell by 30% in the early 1920s
- The Government raised information campaigns to raise awareness about the negative effects of alcohol
- Prohibition agents arrested offendeds who illegally sold or produced alcohol
- illegal speakesies spread throughout the US - by 1925, there were more speakesies in American cities than there were saloons in 1919
- Gang crime increased as coordinated bootleggers smuggled alcohol
- Corruption of police, prohibition agents and politicians became common
- Gangsters made huge sums of money and atttained very high levels of power
79
How did states initially react to Prohibition?
Most states approved of prohibition, especially in the Midwest, but some Urban states disapproved and Maryland even refused to impose it
80
Give an example of two famous prohibiton agents
Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith made 4392 arrests by simple ordering a drink in illegal speakesies!
81
Why was prohibition practically impossible to enforce?
- Enforcement was underfinanced, so there were not enough prohibiton Agents (approx 1,500)
- These agents were underpaid and therefore prone to corruption
- Millions of Americans did not want to obey prohibiton and where ther is a demand springs a supply.
- This meant the business of smuggling alcohol was lucrative and a bunch of illegal suppliers and bootleggers stepped up to meet the demand, coordinated by gangs
- Several states refused to enforce prohibiton
- Speakeasies spread everywhere faster than they could be arrested
82
Where did the illegal alcohol during the prohibition period come from?
- 2/3 of the alcohol came from Canada as here is a wide unprotected border that is relatively easy to smuggle alcohol through
- Other bootleggers brought in alcohol by sea, such as the famous Captain McCoy, who specialised in Scotch Whiskey. The alcohol came from Mexico and the Carribean
- Illegal stills (short for distilleries) spread throughout the US, making illegal alcohol themselves
83
What was the danger of stills?
Not only were they illegal, but people who made their own whisky, called moonshine, could not regulate the alcohol levels of these beverages. They created major fire hazars and some were poisonous
84
Describe how easy it was to get to a speakeasy in different American Cities
- These speakeasies proliferated everywhere. In 1925, there were more of them than there were saloons in 1919
- Isadore Einstein filed a report on how easy it was to find alcohol i a new city: Places such as Chicago, Atlanta, Pittburg and New Oreans, alcohol could be found in under 20 mins
85
How much did Al capone make a year from his bootlegging and speakeasies?
60 Million Dollars
86
How many prohibiton agents were dismissed for corruption?
| As a proportion
1/12
87
Describe the corruption due to Prohibition
- Big breweries stayed in business by bribing local government officials, agents and police
- Sin some cities, police officers even directed people to speakeasies!
- Even when arrests were made, it was hard to convict criminals because senoir officers and judges were often corrupt
88
How much did organised gang make out of illegal alcohol during the prohibition period?
2 billion dollars
89
Give an example of powerful bootleggers during the prohibition period
George Remus escaped all his most charges thanks to a network of bribed officials, and he made so much profit that he gave cars or expensive jewelery to people at his parties
90
What were the main gangs in the 1920s?
Jewish, Polish, Irish and Italian
91
Where did Gangsters mainly come from during prohibiton?
| Give a few examples of them
Gangsters mostly came from poor backgrounds from immigrant communities. Some examples are Dan O'banion, Pete and Vince Guizenberg, Bugsy moran and Lucky Luciano.
92
How many gangland murders were there in Chiccago alone in 1926 and 1927?
130
| And not a single arrest!
93
Why were there so many conflicts betweeen gangs in the 1920s?
The different gangs fought for territory on which they could sell their merchandise and make a profit. There were several violent conflicts and plenty of assasinations. New technology such as portable machine guns and cars made this easier.
94
Describe Al Capone's life and crime network
- Born in New York, 1889
- He arrive in chicago in 1919, hiding from a murder investigation in new york
- He ran a drinking club for his gang boss, Torio
- Torio retired in 1925 after an assasination attempt by another rival gang led by Bugsy Moran, letting Capone take over
- He built up a network of corrupt officials amomg the police, judges, lawyers and prohibition agents of Chicago. He even had control over the city's mayor, William Hale Thompson
- He was a high profile figure - he regularly attended to baseball and american football games, gave generous tipsof over 100 dollars to waiters and shp keepers, and spent 30,000 dollars on a soup kitchen for the unemployed
- He handpicked the members of his gang, ensuring their loyalty, and even killed two of his men who he suspected were plotting against him, with a baseball bat
- By 1929, he destroyed the power of other Chicago gangs, commiting 300 murders in the process
- He even set up a murder of seven members of Bugsy Moran's gang in 1929, by disguising his men as police and using a false police car
- He was jailed in 1931 for not paying his taxes, and released in January 1939
- Died from Syphylis, 1947
95
What was the Valentines Day Massacre and why was it a turning point?
Al Capone set up a murder of seven members of Bugsy Moran's gang, by disguising his men as police and using a false police car in 1929.
The gangsters had started to not only murder, but massacre. At this point, prohibition was recognised as a failure
96
Who was to blame for the failure of prohibition?
- The American people, who kept up a demand for alcohol
- The Bootleggers and Speakeasies, who met this demand
- The Government who did not invest enough into the enforcement of this law
- The Gangsters who coordinated all of the illegal activity
- The Law Enforcers who were corrupt
97
What were the economic arguments for legalising Alcohol after 1930?
- It would create jobs in breweries
- It would raise tax revenue to rebuild after the great depression
- It would free resources tied down to enforcing prohibition
98
Who repealed prohibition and when did this happpen?
Franklin D Roosevelt, a democrat, was elected in 1932 and repealed prohibition in December 1933
99
How many illegal distilleries were seized, arrests made and gallons of spirit seized in the 1920s?
1921 - ~10,000, 34,000, 410,000
1925 - ~12,000, 62,000, 11,000,000,
1929 - ~16,000, 67,000, 12,000,000
