A Brief History of Modern American1920’s-1990’s

Committee 4

1920’s- The Roaring Twenties• President: Calvin Coolidge • Economic prosperity

– Mass production and assembly lines• Women’s Suffrage

– 19th Amendment: Enable women to vote.– Changing roles for women

• “Jazz Age”– Louis Armstrong

• Prohibition – 18th Amendment: Prohibits the manufacture, sale, import and

export of alcohol.– Speakeasy

1930’s- The Dirty Thirties• President: Franklin D. Roosevelt• The Great Depression– Stock Market Crash of 1929

• World War II– In Europe

• Movies– The Wizard Of Oz– Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs

• Assassinations – Huey Long

1940’s and 50’s

• WW II – Pearl Harbor

• World War II ends on the 2nd of September 1945.• Political Changes– United Nations

• Cold War begins in 1947• The Red Scare• Vietnam War begins in 1955• Music and Art– Rock & Roll: Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly– Art: Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol

1960’s- The Sixties

• Presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson• Continuation of the Vietnam War• Civil Right’s Movement– Martin Luther King Jr.

• Anti-War Movement– Hippies, Peace

• British Invasion– Beatles enter America in 1964

• Space Race– Neil Armstrong, 1969

70’s• Major President: Richard Nixon– The Watergate Scandal

• Vietnam War ends in 1973• 1973 Oil Crisis• Feminism• Sports– Pittsburgh Steelers win 3 superbowls during the 70’s

• Music And Film– Music: Bob Marley, Elton John, The Sugarhill Gang– Film: Starwars, The Godfather, Jaws

1980’s- The Eighties

• Major President: Ronald Reagan • Fall of the Berlin Wall – beginning of the end of the Cold War

• The breakup up of the USSR• US invades Grenada after coup on the island

• Music: Michael Jackson, Madonna • Start of the computer age• Cell Phones

1990’s- The Nineties• Major President: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton– Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky Scandal

• The Gulf War• Oklahoma City bombing a bomb attack on the Alfred P.

Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.• Economic Expansion The U.S experiences its longest

period of economic expansion during the decade.• OJ Simpson murder case• Music and Movies– Music: Nirvana, Britney Spears, Notorious B.I.G– Movies: Titanic, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump