speculation
The risky buying and selling of stocks in the hope of making a quick profit.
quota
A numerical limit put on people or things.
consumer economy
An economy that depends on a large amount of spending by consumers.
buying on margin
An option that allowed investors to purchase a stock for only a fraction of its price and borrow the rest.
red scare
Intense fear of communism and other politically radical ideas.
welfare capitalism
Offering workers higher wages and providing benefits.
Calvin Coolidge
He became President after the death of President Harding and was known for his speaking skill and for his silence. He said "The business of the American people is business."
(Term of office 1923 - 1927).
Czar Nicholas II
He was Russia's last absolute ruler who was ousted from power in March, 1917, and later killed with all his family by the Bolsheviks.
Herbert Hoover
He became president in 1928, he would be blamed, unjustly, for the stock market crash that caused the Great Depression.
Alfred E. Smith
He was the candidate who lost the presidential race in 1928. he was the first Roman Catholic to make it that far.
Warren G. Harding
He became President of the U.S. in 1920, and was famous for calling for a return to "normalcy", after the trauma of WWI. He was a Honest man but put friends into high offices who turned out to be corrupt.
John J. Raskob
Corporate leader who was trusted, and wrote an article entitled "Everybody ought to be rich".
A. Mitchell Palmer
He was an attorney general of the U.S. who set up a special force to raid and arrest suspected "subversives". He was famous for calling for the infamous 'Palmer Raids'.
Schenk vs. U.S. case
The standard of "clear and present danger" was established.
National Origins Act of 1924
It reduced the number of people that could enter the U.S.
Isolationism
The policy of avoiding political or economic alliances with foreign countries
General Electric
Formed in 1892 to take over Thomas Edison's electric light business, this company sold electric appliances, motors, and other items which helped it greatly expand in the 1920's.
Vladimir Lenin
He was the leader of the Bolshevik (later Communist) Party, who lead the Bolsheviks to victory during the Russian Revolution and the civil war that followed. Became the first leader of the newly named USSR.
Henry Ford
The American businessman who founded the Ford Motor Company, and became known as the father of modern assembly lines, and mass production.
Bolsheviks
The Russian revolutionary group, led by Lenin, who seized power in 1917 during the October Revolution and founded the Soviet Union.
Model T
A cheap and simple car designed by Henry Ford that allowed more Americans to own a car.
USSR
This was the new name given to Russia by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, in 1922, which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
J.P Morgan
He was a powerful banker who created the U.S. Steel Corporation in 1901, and controlled most of the steel business in the 20's and 30's.
Andrew Mellon
The American business man who was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Harding in 1921, and served under Coolidge and Hoover. He shaped many of the economic policies of the 1920's.
Joseph Stalin
The Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party, and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition, and forcing people onto communal farms.
McNary-Haugen Farm Relief Bill
This was a bill designed to increase the price farmers received for their crops. It was passed twice by Congress but was vetoed each time by President Coolidge, and thus never became law.
Espionage Act
The 1917 law that set heavy fines and long prison terms for antiwar activities, such as spying, or simply speaking out against the war.
Gitlow Vs. New York
A court case in which Bernard Gitlow was found guilty for attempting to get people to violently overthrow the government.
Palmer Raids
A 1920 operation coordinated by Attorney General Mitchel Palmer in which federal marshals raided the homes of suspected radicals in 33 cities, and charged them with anarchy, many without evidence.
American Federation of Labor [AFL]
The organization founded by Samuel Gompers sought better wages, working hours, and working conditions for skilled laborers.
United Mine Workers of America [UMW]
In the 1920s, people in this union were involved in bitter strikes demanding higher wages, and better working conditions.
Forney-McCumber Tariff
Congress passed this bill in 1922 to raise foreign tariffs to there highest level ever in order to equalize the price of American and foreign goods. The tariff angered many of our international allies and trading partners.
Laissez-Faire
Policy that stated that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.