The Nineteenth Amendment was specifically intended to extend suffrage to women. It was proposed on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment was the culmination of the work of many activists in favor of women's suffrage. One such group called the Silent Sentinels protested in front of the White House for 18 months starting in 1917 to raise awareness of the issue. On January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support of the amendment. The next day, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the amendment but the Senate refused to even debate it until October. When the Senate voted on the amendment in October, it failed by three votes. In response, the National Woman's Party urged citizens to vote against anti-suffrage senators up for election in the fall of 1918. After the 1918 election, most members of Congress were pro-suffrage. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment by a vote of 304 to 89, and 2 weeks later on June 4, the Senate finally followed, where the amendment passed by a vote of 56 to 25. It was ratified on August 18, 1920, upon its ratification by Tennessee, the thirty-sixth state to do so. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification on August 26, 1920. On February 27, 1922, a challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment was rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade. Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains. The northern Plains were not so badly effected, but nonetheless, the drought, windblown dust and agricultural decline were no strangers to the north. In fact the agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Depression whose effects were felt worldwide. The movement of people on the Plains was also profound.As John Steinbeck wrote in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath: "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car-loads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless - restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to cut - anything, any burden to bear, for food. The kids are hungry. We got no place to live. Like ants scurrying for work, for food, and most of all for land."Poor agricultural practices and years of sustained drought caused the Dust Bowl. Plains grasslands had been deeply ploughed and planted to wheat. During the years when there was adequate rainfall, the land produced bountiful crops. But as the droughts of the early 1930s deepened, the farmers kept ploughing and planting and nothing would grow. The ground cover that held the soil in place was gone. The Plains winds whipped across the fields raising billowing clouds of dust to the skys. The skys could darken for days, and even the most well sealed homes could have a thick layer of dust on furniture. In some places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film. This movement was, in a sense, an amalgam of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, functional, and ultra modern. Americans enjoyed a high standard of living. Food was plentiful and cheap thanks to the vast quantity produced on American farms. More and more people bought their own houses through mortgages. They filled them with all kinds of consumer goods and parked their new cars in the garage. But the "Roaring Twenties" was also the great age of popular entertainment. In the theatres and "speakeasies" (secret, illegal bars) , people were entertained by "vaudeville" acts (music hall) , singers and jazz and dance bands. The period is often called the "Jazz Age". Radio stations mushroomed all over America, the programmes being paid for from advertising. But above all it was the age of the cinema. (By the end of the 1920s 100 million cinema tickets were sold each week.) Thousands of black and white silent films were made in America in the 1920s, especially in Hollywood, which became the capital of the industry. Actors and actresses like Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Rudolf Valentino became "stars" and were known all over the world. By the end of the 1920s sound and colour had been successfully added on a small scale. In 1928 the first "talkie" was made called "The Jazz Singer", starring Al Jolson. Many people had enough spare cash to invest in stocks and shares. They often made a lot more money, because as industry's profits went up, so did the price of shares. This is called speculation and an increasing number of people tried it, often using borrowed money. As we shall see the price of shares eventually began to fall and then collapsed, leaving many bankrupt. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Crash of 29, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full scope and longevity of its fallout. Three phrases Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday are used to describe this collapse of stock values. All three are appropriate, for the crash was not a one-day affair. The initial crash occurred on Black Thursday (October 24, 1929), but it was the catastrophic downturn of Black Monday and Tuesday (October 28 and October 29, 1929) that precipitated widespread panic and the onset of unprecedented and long-lasting consequences for the United States. The collapse continued for a month. Economists and historians disagree as to what role the crash played in subsequent economic, social, and political events. The crash in America came near the beginning of the Great Depression, a period of economic decline in the industrialized nations, and led to the institution of landmark financial reforms and new trading regulations. At the time of the crash, New York City had grown to be a major metropolis, and its Wall Street district was one of the world's leading financial centers. Modernism describes an array of cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The term covers a series of reforming movements in art, architecture, music, literature and the applied arts which emerged during this period. It is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology or practical experimentation. Modernism encouraged the re-examination of every aspect of existence, from commerce to philosophy, with the goal of finding that which was 'holding back' progress, and replacing it with new, progressive and therefore better, ways of reaching the same end. Embracing change and the present, modernism encompasses the works of thinkers who rebelled against nineteenth century academic and historicist traditions, believing the "traditional" forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated; they directly confronted the new economic, social and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized world. Some divide the 20th Century into movements designated Modernism and Postmodernism, whereas others see them as two aspects of the same movement. A speakeasy was an establishment that surreptitiously sold alcoholic beverages during the period of United States history known as Prohibition (1920-1933, longer in some states), when the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol was illegal. The term comes from a patron's manner of ordering alcohol without raising suspicion a bartender would tell a patron to be quiet and "speak easy". Speakeasies became more popular and numerous as the Prohibition years progressed, and also became more commonly operated by those connected to organized crime. Although police and United States Federal Government agents would raid such establishments and arrest the owners and patrons, the business of running speakeasies was so lucrative that such establishments continued to flourish throughout the nation. In major cities, speakeasies were often elaborate, offering food, live bands,floor shows, and strip joints. The police corruption at this time was notoriously rampant; speakeasy operators commonly bribed police to either leave them alone or at least give them advance notice of any planned raids. In the United States, there are still 37 standing speakeasies from the 1920s. There are 23 in New York, New York, 13 in Pennsylvania, and one single hush hush bar in the western portion of D.C. Other slang terms for an establishment similar to a speakeasy are blind pig and gin joint. The difference between a speakeasy and a blind pig is that a speakeasy was usually a higher class establishment, whereas a blind pig was a lower class dive. Gangsters are typically organized criminals who are actively engaged in crime as a group activity or enterprise for power, pleasure, or profit. The visibility of activities of gangsters can range from the low-level such as drug-trafficking or protectionism, which are prone to be "under the radar", to the in-your-face spectacular, such as the UK's multi-million Brinks Mat robbery. Gangsters often run their operations as businesses insofar as they offer a "product" or "service", albeit an illegal one, or, as is sometimes the case, a legitimate business operating as a front for criminal activity. A blind pig, also known as a blind tiger or booze can, is an establishment that illegally provides alcoholic beverages. The name originated in the United States in the 1800s, when blue laws restricted the sale of alcoholic beverages. A saloonkeeper would charge customers to see an attraction (such as an animal), and provide a "complimentary" alcoholic beverage, thus circumventing the law. It was during the years of prohibition that blind pigs were most common in the U.S. Estimates of the number of blind pigs in some major U.S. cities in the mid-1920s are: Chicago, Illinois: 10,000 Detroit, Michigan: 15,000 New York City, New York: 30,000-100,000 The blind pig is a classic example of black market economics, and with the end of prohibition in 1933 most blind pigs had to either become legitimate establishments or close shop. Common current examples of the blind pig include the after hours club and the keg party.The underground economy or black market is a market consisting of all commerce on which applicable taxes and/or regulations of trade are being avoided. The term is also often known as the underdog, shadow economy, black economy or parallel economy. In modern societies the underground economy covers a vast array of activities. It is generally smallest in countries where economic freedom is greatest, and becomes progressively larger in those areas where corruption, regulation, or legal monopolies restrict legitimate economic activity.

The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and the hostile reaction to Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's entry into the League of Nations. Overseas there were wars and revolutions; at home, 1919 was marked by major strikes in meatpacking and steel, and large race riots in Chicago and other cities. Terrorist attacks on Wall Street produced fears of radicals and terrorists. Outgoing President Wilson was increasingly unpopular, and as an invalid could no longer speak on his own behalf. The economy was in a recession, the public was weary of war and reform, the Irish Catholic and German communities were outraged at his policies, and his sponsorship of the League of Nations produced an isolationist reaction. The Jazz Age describes the period from 1918-1929, the years between the end of World War I and the start of the Roaring Twenties; ending with the rise of the Great Depression, the traditional values of this age saw great decline while the American stock market soared. The focus of the elements of this age, in some contrast with the Roaring Twenties, in historical and cultural studies, are somewhat different, with a greater emphasis on all Modernism. The age takes its name from and jazz music, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity among many segments of society. Among the prominent concerns and trends of the period are the public embrace of technological developments (typically seen as progress) cars, air travel and the telephone as well as new modernist trends in social behavior, the arts, and culture. Central developments included Art Deco design and architecture. In addition, many amateur artists began to aspire including Duke Ellington, Picasso, etc. In 1919, the 18th Amendment passed the act of Prohibition, which made consumption and even possession of alcohol illegal. The general intent of the this Amendment was to lower crime and improve the general status of life. But the opposite happened, crime increased as people rebelled against not being able to drink alcohol. Numerous illegal bars called speak eases were created to provide drinks for the people that required alcoholic beverages. This time period also included bathtub gin and other versions of home made alcohol. Gangsters profited during this decade by smuggling alcohol and distrusting it to different illegal businesses. Al Capone was one of these gangsters who made $105 million a year on smuggling alcohol into the United States. The Cotton Club was a famous night club in TGF City that operated during Prohibition. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, The Nicholas Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Ethel Waters, it generally denied admission to blacks. During its heyday, it served as a chic meeting spot in the heart of Harlem, featuring regular "Celebrity Nights" on Sundays, at which celebrities such as Jimmy Durante, George Gershwin, Al Jolson, Mae West, Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, Moss Hart, New York mayor Jimmy Walker and other luminaries would appear. Heavyweight champion Jack Johnson opened the Club Deluxe at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem in 1920. Owney Madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club in 1923 while imprisoned in Sing Sing and changed its name to the Cotton Club. While the club was closed briefly in 1925 for selling liquor, it reopened without trouble from the police. The dancers and strippers occasionally performed for Madden in Sing Sing after his return there in 1933. The club reproduced the racist imagery of the times, often depicting blacks as savages in exotic jungles or as "darkies" in the plantation South. The club imposed a more subtle color bar on the chorus girls whom the club presented in skimpy outfits: they were expected to be "tall, tan, and terrific", which meant that they had to be at least 5 feet 6 inches tall, light skinned, and under twenty-one years of age. Ellington was expected to write "jungle music" for an audience of whites. Starting in the 1920s, ballrooms across the U.S. sponsored dance contests, where dancers invented, tried, and competed with new moves. Professionals began to hone their skills in tap dance and other dances of the era throughout the Vaudeville circuit across the United States. Electric lighting made evening social entertainment more comfortable, giving rise to an era of dance halls and live music. The most popular dances were the fox-trot, waltz and tango, and the Charleston. Harlem played a key role in the development of dance styles. With several entertainment venues, people from all walks of life, all races, and all classes came together. The Cotton Club featured black performers and catered to a white clientele, while the Savoy Ballroom catered to a mostly black clientele. From the early 1920s, a variety of eccentric dances were developed. The first of these were the Breakaway and Charleston. Both were based on African-American musical styles and beats, including the widely popular blues. The Charleston's popularity exploded after its feature in two 1922 Broadway shows. A brief Black Bottom craze, originating from the Apollo Theater, swept dance halls from 1926 to 1927, replacing the Charleston in popularity. By 1927, the Lindy Hop, a dance based on Breakaway and Charleston and integrating elements of tap, became the dominant social dance. Developed in the Savoy Ballroom, it was set to stride piano ragtime jazz. The Lindy Hop remained popular for over a decade, before evolving into Swing dance. These dances, nonetheless, were never mainstreamed, and the overwhelming majority of people continued to dance the fox-trot, waltz and tango throughout the decade. A gangster is a criminal who is, or at some point almost invariably becomes, a member of a persistent violent crime organization, such as a gang. As an adjective it can be used as an unflattering depiction of the violent and devious methods commonly used by mobsters, and the derived form gangsterism implies such methods as practice or habit. The term gangster is most commonly used in reference to members of the criminal organizations associated with the American offshoot of the Italian Cosa Nostra, the Mafia (sometimes called the Mob), and the American prohibition, such as the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families, and individuals such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel. The term flapper in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to the new Jazz music, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. The flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles, and otherwise flouting conventional social and sexual norms. The term flapper first appears in Britain, though the etymology is disputed. It may be in reference to a young bird flapping its wings while learning to fly, or it may derive from an earlier use in northern England of flapper to mean "teenage girl" (whose hair is not yet put up), or "prostitute". While many in the United States assumed at the time that the term flapper derived from a fashion of women wearing galoshes unbuckled so that they could show people their bodies as they walked, the term was already documented as in use in the United Kingdom as early as 1912. From the 1910s into the 1920s, flapper was a term for any impetuous teenage girl, often including women under 30. Only in the 1920s did the term take on the meaning of the flapper generation style and attitudes, while people continued to use the word to mean immature. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or the "Roaring Twenties," usually applied to the U.S. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the Golden Twenties Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1950s and 1990s, especially in the United States. The three decades are regarded as periods of economic prosperity, which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event that occurred in the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the 1910s, World War II in the 1940s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish flu) was an influenza pandemic that was first found in the United States, appeared in Sierra Leone and France, and then spread to nearly every part of the world. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients. The Spanish flu lasted from March 1918 to June 1920, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. It is estimated that anywhere from 20 to 100 million people were killed worldwide, more than double the number killed in World War I. This extraordinary toll resulted from the extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms The massive arms race of the 19th century finally culminated in a war which involved every powerful nation in the world: World War I (1914 1918). This war drastically changed the way war was fought, as new inventions such as machine guns, tanks, chemical weapons, and grenades created stalemates on the battlefield and millions of troops were killed with little progress made on either side. After more than four years of horrifying trench warfare in western Europe, and 20 million dead, those powers who had formed the Triple Entente (France, Britain, and Russia, later replaced by the United States and joined by Italy) emerged victorious over the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). In addition to annexing much of the colonial possessions of the vanquished states, the Triple Entente exacted punitive restitution payments from their former foes, plunging Germany in particular into economic depression. The Russian Empire was plunged into revolution during the conflict and transitioned into the first ever communist state, and the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were dismantled at the war's conclusion. World War I brought about the end of the royal and imperial ages of Europe and established the United States as a major world military power. At the start of the period, Britain was the world's most powerful nation. However, its economy was ruined by World War I, and its empire began to shrink, producing a growing power vacuum in Europe. Fascism, a movement which grew out of post-war angst and accelerated by the Great Depression of the 1930s, gained momentum in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 1920s and 1930s, finally culminating in World War II (1939–1945), sparked off by Nazi Germany's aggressive expansion at the expense of its neighbours. Meanwhile, Japan had rapidly industrialized and transformed itself into an aggressive and technologically-advanced industrial power. Its aggressive expansion into eastern Asia and the Pacific Ocean brought the United States into World War II. Germany was defeated after pushed by the Soviet Union to the east and the D-Day invasion of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Free France from the west. The war was ended with the dropping of two devastating atomic bombs on Japan. Japan has since transitioned into one of the most pacifistic countries on the planet, building a powerful economy based on consumer goods and trade. Germany was divided between the western powers and the Soviet Union; all areas recaptured by the Soviet Union (East Germany and eastward) were essentially transitioned into Soviet puppet states under communist rule. Meanwhile, western Europe was revitalized by the American Marshall Plan and made a quick economic recovery, becoming major allies of the United States under capitalist economies and free governments. The largest and most devastating war ever fought, World War II claimed the lives of about 60 million people.

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