C OOLIDGE P ROSPERITY When Warren Harding died, his vice-president Calvin Coolidge took over. Coolidge looked to continue the policies of his predecessor, including: Trimming the federal budget; Lowering taxes for incentives to big business; “The chief business of the American people is business.” However, Coolidge did not act on the troubles that plagued the country, such as low wages and labor unrest.

A MERICA ’ S R OLE IN THE W ORLD In reaction to WWI, the U.S. took precautions during the 1920s to avoid another world conflict. They used their increased role in world trade to make the following happen: Washington Naval Conference  to reduce arms race and size of navies of world powers; Kellogg-Briand Pact  “outlaw war… as an instrument of national policy.”

A MERICA ’ S R OLE IN THE W ORLD The U.S. wanted Britain and France to repay their war debts to them. But, Britain and France first needed Germany to pay the reparations agreed upon in the Treaty of Versailles. An agreement in 1924 known as the Dawes Plan arranged for the U.S. to loan Germany money, which could then be paid back to Britain and France. However, when the U.S.’ economy collapsed, other countries did not look as favorably upon the U.S.

The dislike for immigrants was not central to northern cities, though. In the south during the 1920s, there was a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan that began at Stone Mountain, Georgia. The ‘new’ KKK not only targeted Blacks, but Jews, Catholics and immigrants as well.

o There was a growing division in society between urban and rural citizens. Modernism emphasized science and secular values; Fundamentalism focused on the basic truths within religion, and that everything in the Bible was the literal truth. At the center of this clash was the debate over the teaching of evolution in schools. Biology teacher John Scopes violated Tennessee law by teaching the theory of evolution to his class. Scopes was defended by renowned attorney Clarence Darrow. As an ‘expert’ witness on the Bible, the prosecution called William Jennings Bryan. The trial was broadcast over the radio, connecting thousands of Americans to the trial.

Nativists disliked the growing immigrant population in the United States. This dislike increased with the Red Scare. New legislation was passed that established a quota system for various countries This meant that only a certain amount of people could come to the U.S. in a given year from that country. The quota system specifically targeted Asians, and used 1890 numbers, benefitting western and northern Europeans.

The temperance movement in the U.S. had been around for years, but found a surge during the Progressive Era, when alcohol was blamed for the many societal problems. In 1919, Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment which banned the manufacture, sale and transport of alcohol. The Volstead Act was the law that enforced it. Rural citizens especially supported these two. However, prohibition also generated more bootlegging (illegal sale) and organized crime.