Timeline Chapters 19-23

Color codes for topics: Changes of Modes of Transportation, Social Changes, Political Changes/ War, Money and Banking Issues, Technology, Acts/Laws/Court Decisions, Commerce, Other

1835 - Debt Free The only time our country was debt free. It’s crazy that this has only happened once in the history of the United States. Today we are in trillions of dollars in debt with no sign of getting out of it.

1862 - Checks and Greenbacks Checks and greenbacks started to be issued in 1862 by the US Treasury. They were not backed by gold or silver. This created a uniform of currency for the nation. It also provided extra revenue for the government during the civil war.

1863 - National Bank Act National Bank Act created a set of national banks. It created national bank notes which was a new form of money. It did not get rid of chartered state banks. Some provisions were mandated legal reserve requirements for banks chartered under the act, the requirement that banks chartered under the act purchase a certain amount of US government bonds, and creation of a currency with a standard design. National banks generally had higher reserve requirements and more restrictions on how they could handle their assets than state banks. Ended up with a dual banking system.

1865 - Contraction Act Contraction Act forced the price level down by contracting the money supply of paper money. This was done by running a budget surplus and burning up the greenbacks as they came in. It only lasted about a year because it was just too hard for people.

1865 - Debt The United States debt was $2.32 billion. This was about 25% of GDP. That is a lot of debt to just build up in only 30 years when the country was debt free.

1869 - Public Credit Act Public Credit Act said that bond holders who helped finance the civil war would be repaid in gold.

1873 - Crime of 1873 Crime of 1873 refers to the omission of the standard silver dollar from the coinage law of 12 February 1873. Section seventeen of the act provided that "no coins, either gold, silver or minor coinage shall hereafter be issued from the mint other than of the denominations, standards, and weights herein set forth." Section fifteen listed the denominations of silver coins the mint would issue, but did not list the standard silver dollar. The omission of the silver dollar from this list became, for more than two decades after 1876, the Crime of 1873. It was followed by acts created to increase the purchase of silver by the treasury.

1877 - Reduced Debt The United States debt reduced dramatically. It was only $648 million from the $2.32 billion in 1865. It only took 12 years to get rid of $1.672 billion of debt.

1878 - Bland-Allison Act Bland-Allison Act said that the U.S. Treasury was instructed to purchase between $2 million and $4 million worth of silver each month from the western mines, the silver was to be purchased at market rates and not at a predetermined ratio pegged on the value of gold, and was to be minted into silver dollars as legal tender. President Hayes vetoed the bill but congress overturned the veto.

1890 - Sherman Silver Purchase Law Sherman Silver Purchase Law increased the amount of silver the government was required to purchase on a recurrent monthly basis to 4.5 million ounces. It was passed in response to the growing complaints of farmers' and miners' interests. The law required the Treasury to buy silver with a special issue of Treasury Notes that could be redeemed for either silver or gold. Many people traded in the Treasury Notes for gold.

1893 - Debt The debt shot back up to $1.75 billion in just 16 years. They added $1.102 billion in debt from 1877.

1893 - Grover Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Law Grover Cleveland repealed the Sherman Law. He repealed it because too many people were trading in the Treasury Notes for gold. It was depleting the governments gold reserves. This would prevent further depletion of the gold reserve.

1896 - First modern presidency campaign This was the year that the first modern presidency campaign started. Bryan crisscrossed the nation by railroad. The debate was between Bryan and McKinley. McKinley became the president. This shaped the future on how candidates would run for president. Today people can see the similarities between how it was done in 1896 and now.

1900 - Gold Standard Act Gold Standard Act backed the dollar by gold. All forms of money were able to be convertible into gold. The Secretary of Treasury had to maintain a gold reserve of $150 million. The period became known as the “heyday” of the gold standard in the United States and most industrialized countries. The prices rose about 2% per year. The international exchange rates were fixed because most were on the gold standard. This encouraged free flow of goods and capital across international borders. London became the finical center of the world. The cost of the gold standard was that resources were used to mine the gold that if we had been on a paper currency could have been used elsewhere.

1901 - U.S. Steel U.S. Steel was as the first billion-dollar company in the world with an authorized capitalization of $1.4 billion. It is cool that the first billion dollar company was over a 100 years ago.

1907 - The Panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907 was a financial crisis that almost crippled the United States economy. There was a lot of bank runs. This was when a lot of people went to get their money out of the bank but the bank did not have enough money to give out to all the people wanting it. It also caused banks to close their doors because off the fractional reserve system. One of the most common ways to mitigate this was to suspend cash payments. The Southeast and Midwest were hit very hard. They created “clearinghouse certificates” which were small denomination collateral pledges by the operating banks. Major New York banks were on the verge of bankruptcy and there was nothing that was going to help them until Morgan stepped in personally and took charge of resolving the crisis. The Treasury Secretary earmarked $35 million of federal money to stop the problem but had no easy way to use it. Morgan had meetings with the nation’s leading financiers in his New York mansion. He made them come up with a plan to stop the crisis. He organized a team of bank and trust executives that redirected money between banks, secured further international lines of credit, and bought plummeting stocks of healthy corporations. By November 7, 1907 the panic was over. The panic helped create the Federal Reserve System in 1913.

1908 - Aldrich-Vreeland Act Aldrich-Vreeland Act provided for the organization of “national currency associations” to be composed of no fewer than 10 banks that were in sound financial condition. The purpose was to enable the banks that formed them to issue emergency bank notes against the security of bonds and commercial paper in their portfolios. One provision established the National Monetary Commission. The National Monetary Commission blasted the American banking system in 1912. It gave one key recommendation to start a new central bank. This lead to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

1913 - The Federal Reserve Act

Urbanization Nearly 10% of the population lived in New York, Chicago or Philadelphia. Most people moved because of industrial activities, each city had over a million residents. Over half of the city’s new residents were from overseas, only about 10 percent of its growth was from natural increase and 1/3 came from rural areas. The west and the south originated only half as much railroad tonnage of manufactures as the east did. Automobiles came into common use, large towns and cities gained business at the expanse of small towns and villages. By 1920 retailers were attracting customers from distances that had been unimaginable just some years earlier.

Installment Buying

1856- Edward Clark owner of Singer Sewing Machine Company innovated customer credit by selling $125 dollar sewing machine for $5 down and $3 a month. Cyrus McCormick another innovator sold his reaper 20 percent down and four months to pay. They were the pioneers of direct sales to customers.

Wholesaling

1840- Wholesale houses bought good on their own account from importers and manufacturers to sell to retailers, often on credit.

1860- Wholesale houses were almost without any competition from distributing goods from manufacturers and retailers.

1900- Wholesale houses had serious competition from marketing departments of large manufacturers.

1920- Wholesale houses still continued to increase, but they handled a smaller portions good in the channel of distribution.

James B. Duke marketing of cigarettes

1884- Duke installed two Bonsack cigarette making machine in his factory to turn 40 times more cigarettes in aday than a skilled worker. To prevent flooding the market, duke kept his attention on advertising and other departments to schedule the flow of cigarettes. Marketing departments like duke’s helped create and maintain brand name and quality of products, such as NCR and Chicago meatpackers Armour and Swift.

Macy’s and Marshall’s

1920- Took advantage of their growing size and reduced prices by going directly to manufacturers or their selling agents. Nearly any small town had the capacity to have one. Smaller retail stores didn’t have buying power, but combined with many other spatially stores into “chains” with the focus of buying and administrative authority. Like Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Chain stores

1879- F.W Woolworth created stores with items that wouldn’t sell for more than 10 cents, this venture led him to become a multimillionaire.

1900- Hardware stores, and restaurants began to be organized by chains long with drugstores and tobacco stores.

1920- drug, grocery, and a variety of other chains become established in the retail scene.

The E Commerce

1896- The rural free delivery was established and mail ordering became easier for farmers.

1913- The establishment of the postal system became godsends for mail-order houses.

1915- Every family eagerly looked forward to receive its annual catalog from Sears or Montgomery Ward, and Roebuck and Company.

1920- Towns became more accessible to farmers making their own purchases, mail-order houses had to change their way of if they are to continue to succeed.

The growth of advertising

1869- Advertising became accepted in a national scale, brand names and trademarks began to impress the minds of the consumers.

1920- Advertising became a billion-dollar industry

1933- Edward Chamberlin releases a book called “The Theory of Monopolistic Competition: a re-orientation of the theory of value; and Joan Robinson released “Economics of Imperfect competition”. Both books spoke about monopolistic completion, the demand curve in the “Chamberlinian tangency solution” and the problem that can occur with the price and quality of the product to draw more business.

The pure food and drug act and the meat inspection act

1891- The meat inspection act was created because of allegations from small town butchers, that dressed meat sent to distant places in refrigerated cars were unwholesome. Armour, Swift, Hammond, and Morris dominated the interstate beef market. This act was similar to an act passed in 1890 for meat export and both reinforced quality control in shipments to home and abroad.

1898- The “Embalmed beef scandal” an event in the Spanish- American war where adulterated beef was allegedly fed to the army.

1906- Upton Sinclair released “The Jungle” It describes the unsanitary condition of the meat plants and the occasional processing of diseased animals, this stirred up the people and media in which it caught the attention of President Roosevelt.

1906- The pure food and drug and meat inspection act passes and becomes an amendment, they were dramatic economic interventions by the government to ensure the quality of product for weary customers. For the food and drug acts the government began to spend about $175,000 to the bureau of chemistry and as for the meat inspection act it increased from 0.8 million to 3 million dollars.

Foreign Trade

1866- The first transatlantic cable began operation

1869- The railroad spanned across the U.S, the Suez Canal opened, and dramatic productivity in ocean transportation.

1880- Refrigerated vessels made it more possible for shipment of meats, fruits and dairy products, all these improvement were the key for the U.S production and output.

1900- In terms of production the U.S became the largest manufacturer in the world with England in second and Germany in third.

1913- The U.S was in the front with forged iron and steel. Germany and the U.S became leaders in electrical, chemical and machine tool industry; England became third not because of lack of output but it continued to rise in terms of output per capita. What happened between England and the U.S was that two large lands had many resources but one could get it out more rapidly than the other.

The Protectionist Doctrines

The Morrill Act

1861- Tariffs were not more than 24 percent and averaged less than 20 of durable commodities.

1862- The first of a long series of laws creating ever-higher taxes on imports. Congress was the first to take a step before the war, after the southern opponents of the tariffs left.

1865- The average duty had reached 48 percent and nearly every commodity was granted protection upon request.

The McKinley Tariff

1890- This tariff reaffirmed the republican commitment of high tariff by raising tariffs to 50 percent of the valued goods when they reached America, and increased the items on the dutiable list.

The Dingley Act

1897- More goods by value were taxed as imports than were admitted free, free good were mainly raw and semifinished commodities that needed further processing in order to be completed, although still many farm products, raw wool, and hides were still taxed. This act raised the duties to above 50 percent. The people were easy to defend high tariffs because of the high level of employment and economic activity.

The Payne-Aldrich Bill

1909- The populace felt pressures from rising living costs and blamed tariffs, the Democratic Party exploited this political unrest and when the bill failed to bring any relief from tariffs a widespread political protest began.

The Underwood-Simmons Bill

1912- The democrats promised downward revision of import duties for their campaign.

1913- The Underwood-Simmons Bill was passed in which it placed iron and steel on the free list, and increasingly reduced duties on the cost-of-living items like cotton and woolen textiles. The result was a simplified tariff structure that was still protective, with duties being half of what they had to pay in previous decades.

The Income Tax

1872- Because of its success in the civil to make money, the income tax was allowed to lapse.

1894- Congress passed the income tax legislation

1895- Congress declared income tax unconstitutional. To overcome the Supreme Court decision it would require an amendment to be made, which they did and the income tax continue to grow. Generous army pensions and increased military spending were extremely supported and popular.

1909- Congress passed an amendment to the Constitution providing an income tax.

1913- The amendment was ratified. The income tax made it possible for government spending to occur but did not cause it.

The Imperialist world and the United States

The U.S. Mexican War

1848- U.S goes into war with Mexico and acquires new mainly California, this was imperialism for sure but no one at the time would agree to that. For the most part the U.S remained apart from the race of acquiring new land like Europe did because they were mostly concentrated on westward expansion.

1867- Alaska was the only major territory acquired before 1898, Alaska was presumed to be almost worthless.

1893- Agitation to annex Hawaii began

1898- The Hawaiian Islands were annexed

The Spanish-American War

1890- American sympathy began for Cuban revolutionaries trying to win independence from Spain. Businesses were opposed to going to war, especially the ones in the financial communities because most of them thought war would bring inflation, in which many business people had already suffered in the Civil War and inflation would undermine America’s gold standard.

1898- The U.S battleship Maine was destroyed in the Havana harbor, this quickly changed the minds of the people of going to war. Luckily the war was quick and favorable which was nicknamed the “splendid little war”.

The Philippine-American War

1900- American forces entered the Philippines with the intention of becoming a business community to have an “open door” to China and have an American flag “only 500 miles from china.” The beginning of the war went well for the U.S, but when the insurgents resulted into guerilla warfare the victories ended and ultimately the resistance was crushed.

The Roosevelt Corollary

1903- The U.S acquired the Panama Canal Zone from Panama.

1904- President Roosevelt passed the policy known as the “Roosevelt Corollary” where the U.S might be forced to exercise police power in “fragrant cases of wrongdoing or impotence” by countries in Latin America. Europeans were not disturbed by international police but Latin Americans were.

The Federal Reserve Act established a clearinghouse system for checks and notes, membership in the system was made compulsory for national banks, and member banks nominally owned the Federal Reserve Banks. The member banks had to deposit cash, previously held as reserves, with the District Federal Reserve Bank. It was composed of 12 Federal Reserve Banks, one in each of the 12 separate districts. The charter of the Federal Reserve was permanent. It’s crazy to think that this was started over 100 years ago and is still being used to this day. It is a very important part of the banking world today.

June 28th 1914 - Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand

Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Ferdinand were assassinated in the streets of Sarajevo by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, while on a trip to the Serbian capital to earn the respect of the Serbians for his Austro-Hungarian Nation. The original assassination attempt failed, which was a bomb thrown at the Arch-Dukes convertible but it missed and killed civilians as the Arch Duke was sped off. Later that day the Arch-Duke felt bad that civilians had been hurt in an attempt to kill him and went to visit them in the hospital. The driver got lost on a dead end street while on the way to the hospital, the same street as one of the Assassins Gavrilo Princep was stepping out of a café. Gavrilo shot and killed the arch duke and his wife while the driver was trying to reverse down the street.

July 5th 1914 - Germany Sides with Austria Hungary against Serbia

Austria Hungary approaches Kaiser Wilhelm, emperor of the German Nation for backing in their impending conflict with Serbia. Germany ends up taking a large risk and sides with Austria-Hungary. The risk was that Serbia was backed by Russia and Russia had the largest standing army of the time. Not only that, France had also sided with Serbia. That meant that if Germany went to war they had two large armies on both sides of their boarders encircling them. Germany had to develop a course of action and quick.

July 28th 1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Austria Hungary Issues what will become known as the “Impossible Ultimatum”. An ultimatum they drew up knowing very well that Serbia would never meet the demands set in place. After Serbia refused and peace negotiations had fallen through War was on Europe’s Door Step. Most countries in the beginning of the 19th century were itching for a reason to go to war. They welcomed the idea assuming that this war would be short lived and full of glory like previous conflicts before it.

August 1st-2nd 1914 - Germany Declares War on Russia

Preparing for a war on two fronts Germany declares war on Russia and mobilizes on the Boarders of Belgium August 2nd a day after declaring War on Russia. Germany sends its own demands to Belgium asking them to step aside, and leave their roads, railways, bridges and other infrastructure intact. The British supported Belgium and told the Germans that an invasion of Belgium would be a declaration of war on Belgium and therefore its ally Brittan

August 3rd 1914 - Germany Declares War on France and invades Belgium

The Germans who were running on a very strict schedule to accomplish what they had planned on being the winning move of the War the Schlieffen plan. Because of this they refused to waste any time in negations with Belgium or Britain and invaded Belgium, Belgium decided to do the opposite of what Germany demanded and attempted to destroy all infrastructure and fight the Germans tooth and nail before being inevitably crushed. This would cause a delay in the very strict schedule the Germans had in place to knock out France before Russia had time to mobilize

August 4th 1914 - Brittan Declares war on Germany

Brittan issued a command to Germany asking them to back down or they would enter the war. Germany thought they could negotiate with Brittan as allot of the royalty both were first or second cousins to each other. Germany let Brittan’s offer expire and thus brought them into the war

August 3rd -through September 12th - the Tide of Battle

Germany Rolled like an unstoppable tide through Belgium and into France where it broke down massive underground Belgium forts, shattered French lines backed by a small detachment of British soldiers, and forged their way through the French country side. At the rate and with the success the Germans were having they could have won the war. As they were chasing the remains of the exhausted lines deeper into France they were tasting their own victory. When Paris was is sight the German line made a slight shift and tuned away from Paris and made its was back towards German territory destined to crush a mobilized French force there. Doing this exposed their flank to the French army who was set to hold Paris. This army was the one the Germans had been hounding for almost a month chancing them from their lines. Now under the command of Joseph Joffre, a French general who would become one of the most famous generals in French History. Turned and shattered the German line. Beginning the Battle of the Marne. The French had crushed the German advance and thus saving themselves from the sledge hammer offensive that was the Schlieffen plan. The French would pay the Germans pack for the constant heel biting they had put on them for the last month and chase them to fourth miles from the River Marne to the River Aisne Here the Germans took the high ground across the river and dug in. This would become the western front and the beginning of trench warfare

October 19th–November 22nd 1914 - Battle of Ypres

As trench warfare was sweeping across the Western front, there was a rush to get around the other sides flank. The best course for this was the Sea. The Belgium coast to be exact. Both the Germans and the combined French and British forces embarked on “the Race to the Sea” which was a mad dash on both sides to reach the coast before the other. Of course they met at about the same time in Ypres and there the battle began. Ypres would end up devolving into trench warfare and many battles would be fought there until the end of the war.

Poison gas was used for the first time at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915

Chlorine gas canister were opened when the wind was blowing towards the allied line and the cloud of toxic chemical murdered thousands. Chemical warfare had been outlawed before the war even began but the Germans got around it by opening canisters instead of using shells or thrown gas.

May 7th 1915 - The “Lusitania” was sunk by Germans

The “Lusitania” a luxury liner full of rich Americans and Europeans was making a journey to the European coast for a cruise. While off of Ireland a German U-Boat spotted them and fired a torpedo into the ship sinking it and killing 1,153 passengers and crew members. 128 of those killed were Americans. Woodrow Wilson issued several strongly worded proclamations to the Germans demanding they restrict their naval warfare. The germans complied. For the Americans were their main source of supplies and income. They also could not imagine dragging a fourth, first class power into the war against them.

February 21st 1916 - Start of the Battle of Verdun

The Germans launch an offensive on the French line at Verdun. Falkenhayn drew up the plan as a way to kill as many French soldiers as possible and collapse their empire The Germans went all out at the battle of Verdun and applied lessons they had learned in previous battles. They shelled the area with over 2,500,000 shells and attacked with over 900,000 soldiers, who were equipped for trench warfare with flame throwers and close range weapons. These shock troops had been specially trained for this battle. While the Germans had done every conceivable thing to thin the French lines before and during the attack, The French miraculously held on. The battle would go on to be the longest running of the war and would consume 133,000 French soldiers and 120,000 German soldiers.

August 10th 1916 - the Brusilov offensive

Russia had only accomplished massive failures up until the time that Alexey Brusilov had been appointed general. During the start of the war the giant of an empire had mobilized much quicker than anticipated to the shock of the Germans. But the small empire of the Austro-Hungarians had managed to hold them off until the Germans could arrive. Suffering massive defeats at the hands of the combined forces. But now General Brusilov had established a plan for a massive counter offensive on the Austro-Hungarian line. The attack was a major success as the outnumbered Russians broke through the Austro-Hungarian line causing massive casualties and taking thousands of prisoners. As the Russians continued to advance rapidly they ran into communication and supply errors. Eventually the Germans had to come and push the Russians back. This battle would be attributed for the fall of the Austro-Hungarians and pushing much farther than any offensive before it,

September 15th 1916 - Tanks are used for the first time in the Battle of The Somme

The British who were sick of the massive casualty rates being suffered in battle were developing a new technology to help cut casualties. This tanks were basically an armored tractor that was long enough to cross a trench. They became a massive success after crossing multiple German trenches, Of the 36 tanks put into battle that day, 14 broke down or got stuck in mud.

February 1917 - Beginning of Russian Revolution The Russians had suffered innumerable losses in their blunder into the first world war. The citizens were suffering from famine and disease. This citizens upraised and it became known as the February offensive. The revolution wouldn’t be fully completed until 1922

February 1st 1917 - Germany begins its unrestricted submarine Warfare Campaign

Germany was losing the war at the beginning of 1917, but the other nation involved were also on their last ropes. Germany had stopped its submarine warfare campaign in fear of bringing America into the conflict. But thye had reached the point where they needed Brittan gone. They were going to collapse the empire from the inside by destroying their every possible ship that may supply the island nation. This is widely regarded as the biggest mistake Germany made in the war.

April 6th 1917 - The United States enters the War

Woodrow Wilson enters Delivered an ultimatum to Germany after the sinking of the Lusitania, that if any more Americans were killed as a result of their U-Boats the United States would enter the War. After the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare started the inevitable occurred, Americans were killed and America Entered the War.

April 1917 - a military draft was instituted In America

A Draft for the war is put in place to conscript soldiers for the war. The nations standing army went from 179,000 to over 3million

July 1917 - Race Riots erupt East St. Louis

Nine whites and a larger but undetermined number of African Americans were killed in a riot over labor disputes. As white Americans precieved that African americans were stealing jobs from them.

August 1917 - Congress passed the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act

This act didn’t have set prosecutions if Americans failed to cooperate but was more of a voluntary law. Hubert Hoover was put in charge as Food Administrator. As food administrator he was given the power to give license Food dealers, and if they didn’t comply with demands, could revoke their licenses

October 3, 1917 - Congress passes War Revenue act

The War revenue act increased corporate and federal Income tax rates. In the top bracket rates were over 70% they also raised excise taxes, excess profits for business, and luxury taxes

March 3rd 1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The German signed a Peace Treaty with Russia. Lennin asked his supporters the Bolsheviks to hurry and arrange a treaty with Germany so they could dela with their increasing inner turmoil

June 21st 1918- Treaty of Versailles

The Germans after nearly a year of having their nation collapse in on them. Their allies the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Turks had signed peace treaties months before the Germans gave in. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris - hence its title - between Germany and the Allies. The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson.

1919- Post War Recession

Prices remained level after the war for a while then in 1919 prices accelerated through the roof. Monetary policy added to the boom. The Federal Reserve continued to follow a policy of keeping its discount rate (ending rates below market rates

1919- Prohibition takes effect The law banning alcohol continues all through the 1920’s, until 1933. However, the illegal selling of alcohol (bootlegging) was common.

1920- Urban living become more popular The 1920 census reported that, for the first time, more than half of the population lived in urban areas.

1920- Women’s Suffrage The 19th Amendment gave women many more rights, including the right to vote. Women could now participate in things men did, including working in the labor force

1920- President Harding President Warren G. Harding wins the presidential elction by a landslide, with more than 60% of the popular vote and 75% of the electoral vote.

1921- Automobiles became a common household item The automobile was a huge economic symbol of the 1920’s. Production increased from 1.5 million in 1921 to 4.8 million in 1929, making the automobile, industrialized by Henry Ford, a common item in almost every household.

1921- The Federal Highway Act The federal high way act required the secretary of agriculture to grant financial aid to states who had a designated highway system.

1921- Immigration Act is passed The Emergency Immigration Act limited the number of people that could be admitted into the country to 3 percent of the number of people in the nation in 1910.

1922- Five Power Disarmament Treaty Major world powers got together in the Washington Conference to outlaw poison gas, limit naval construction, restrict submarine attacks on merchant fleets, and respect China’s sovereignty.

1923- Debt Long-term debt reached a high of almost $11 billion. Deflation caused many farmers to file for bankruptcy.

1924- The Immigration Act changes once again A new law limits immigration to 2 percent the 1890 U.S. population. This law eliminated almost all East Asia immigration.

1924- Indian Citizenship Act Calvin Coolidge signs the act, naming all Indians born within United States territory, citizens.

1924- Scopes Trial The Scopes Trial begins and would convict John T. Scopes for teaching evolutionary theory at a Tennessee high school.

1925- The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby to show the greed and materialism that America was now consumed with.

1926- NBC NBC becomes America’s first major broadcasting network. It was founded by RCA.

1927- First trans-Atlantic flight Charles Lindbergh leaves on the first trans-Atlantic flight, arriving in Paris in 33 and a half hours.

1927- The Jazz Singer The first motion picture with sound is released.

1928- Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

1928- Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover wins the presidential election with an electoral vote of 444 to 87.

1929- St. Valentines Massacre The shooting of seven men associated with the gang led by Bugs Moran in Chicago. Al Capone is generally considered to be responsible for the murders, although he was never officially linked to them.

1929- Black Tuesday Investors became worried about the state of the stock market, and millions sold their shares. This collapse of Wall Street lead to The Great Depression.