Adkins v. Children's Hospital
(1923) A landmark Supreme Court decision reversing the ruling in Muller v. Oregan, which had declared women to be deserving of special protection in the workplace. (799)
Agricultural Marketing Act
(1929) This act established the Federal Farm Board, a lending bureau for hard-pressed farmers. The act also aimed to help farmers help themselves through new producers' cooperatives. As the depression worsened in 1930, the Board tried to bolster falling p
Black Tuesday
(1929) The dark, panicky day of October 29, 1929 when over 16,410,000 shares of stock were sold on Wall Street. It was a trigger that helped bring on the Great Depression. (813)
Bonus Army
(1932) Officially known as the Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF), this rag-tag group of 20,000 veterans marched on Washington to demand immediate payment of bonuses earned during World War I. General Douglas MacArthur dispersed them with tear gas and bayone
Dawes Plan
(1924) An arrangement negotiated in 1924 to reschedule German reparations payments. It stabilized the German currency and opened the way for further American private loans to Germany. (809)
Fordney-McCumber Tariff Law
(1922) A comprehensive bill passed to protect domestic production from foreign competitors. As a direct result, many European nations were spurred to increase their own trade barriers. (803)
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
(1930) The highest protective tariff in the peacetime history of the United States, passed as a result of good old-fashioned horse trading. To the outside world, it smacked of ugly economic warfare. (812)
Hoovervilles
Grim shantytowns where impoverished victims of the Great Depression slept under newspapers and in makeshift tents. Their visibility (and sarcastic name) tarnished the reputation of the Hoover administration. (815)
Kellogg-Briand Pact
(1928) A sentimental triumph of the 1920s peace movement, this 1928 pact linked sixty-two nations in the supposed "outlawry of war". (803)
McNary-Haugen Bill
(1924-1928) A farm-relief bill that was championed throughout the 1920s and aimed to keep agricultural prices high by authorizing the government to buy up surpluses and sell them abroad. Congress twice passed the bill, but President Calvin Coolidge vetoed
Nine-Power Treaty
(1922) Agreement coming out of the Washington "Disarmament" Conference of 1921-1922 that pledged Britain, France, Italy, Japan, the United States, China, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Belgium to abide by the Open Door Policy in China. The Five-Power Nava
Norris-La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act (1932)
This law that banned "yellow-dog," or anti-union, work contracts and forbade federal courts from issuing injunctions to quash strikes and boycotts. It was an early piece of labor-friendly federal legislation. (818)
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) (1932)
A government lending agency established under the Hoover administration in order to assist insurance companies, banks, agricultural organizations, railroads, and local governments. It was a precursor to later agencies that grew out of the New Deal and sym
Teapot Dome scandal (1921)
A tawdry affair involving the illegal lease of priceless naval oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hills, California. The scandal, which implicated President Harding's Secretary of the Interior, was one of several that gave his administration a r
Warren Harding
29th president of the US; Republican; "Return to Normalcy" (life as it had been before WWI-peace, isolation); presidency was marred by scandal
Albert B. Fall
United States Senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the corruption of the Teapot Dome scandal.
Calvin Coolidge
became president when Harding died of pneumonia. He was known for practicing a rigid economy in money and words, and acquired the name "Silent Cal" for being so soft-spoken. He was a true republican and industrialist. Believed in the government supporting
John Davis
English navigator who explored the Arctic while searching for the Northwest Passage (1550-1605)
Robert La Follette
1855-1925. Progressive Wisconsin Senator and Governor. Staunch supporter of the Progressive movement, and vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, WWI, and League of Nations. (fighting Bob)
Albert Smith
Democratic nominee for 1928 Election; Catholic so didn't win