The roaring 20’s and the beginning of the Great Depression

 

 

Introduction: the decade

 

The 1920’s experience

 

Stock market crash

 

Project

 

Teacher help

                                                                                                        

 

 

            Every Decade has new styles and important events in American history! For instance, in the 1960’s poodle skirts were popular and the civil rights movement was begging to take form. Where as, in the 1970s bellbottoms and disco music were popular. Although these decades are important and contribute to America, and how it has developed, my favorite decade has to be the 1920s. What is often called the roaring 20’s or the Jazz Age is an exciting decade because so many important things happened. The car became popular, women dramatically changed how they dressed and acted. Unfortunately, by the end of the decade the stock market crashed leading the way to the Great Depression!

            To make learning about the 1920s easier, I am going to split the decade into two categories. The first web page will include a website, which you will explore, that examines the early and mid-20s. The second web page will include a web site with information about the late part of the decade. It will look in depth at the effects of the stock market crash of 1929, and how it lead into the Great Depression. For your project I you are going to look at what life what like during this time verses what our lives are like today. You will make some predictions on why you think that the events, and people during this time were important to American history. You are then going to take what you have learned, and create it into a book!

 

 

Facts about this decade

·  106,521,537 people in the United States 

·  2,132,000 unemployed, Unemployment 5.2% 

·  Life expectancy:  Male 53.6, Female 54.6 

·  343.000 in military (down from 1,172,601 in 1919) 

·  Average annual earnings $1236; Teacher’s salary  $970 

·  Illiteracy rate reached a new low of 6% of the population.  

·  Gangland crime included murder, swindles, racketeering 

·  It took 13 days to reach California from New York.  There were 387,000 miles of paved road. 

 

From American Cultural History 1920-1929 website 

 

                                                                 

 

 

 

     Created by: Lacey Brown

     Last Modified: November 18, 2005