This Is America

The film, compiled from newsreel footage, covers United States history from 1917, when the United States entered World War I, up to the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The following events, places and people are featured: During World War I, millions of women join the American Red Cross. Movie stars, including Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, sell liberty bonds. The factories re-gear to produce artillery and women are hired to replace men away at war. After the war, factories close and men lose their jobs. All industries suffer strikes as the workers try to improve their lot. Soldiers are called in to stop the strikes. The U.S.S.R. suffers starvation and plagues. Despite the advocacy of President Woodrow Wilson, the United States does not support the League of Nations. Warren G. Harding is elected president. On the anniversary of the Armistice, America buries the unknown soldier in a symbolic ceremony. The radio is invented. The Ku Klux Klan organizes and plays on religious, patriotic and racial fears, reaching the peak of their power in 1924 with 9,000,000 members. Electricity spreads throughout the country. Women gain the vote when the Nineteenth Amendment is passed. Harding's administration is tainted by the Teapot Dome scandal. Calvin Coolidge replaces Harding as president after Harding's death. The Florida land boom comes and goes. Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel. Fans riot at the funeral of movie star Rudolph Valentino. In Tennessee, after he disobeys a law forbiding anyone to teach evolution, John Scopes stands trial and is defended by Clarence Darrow, Dudley Field Malone and Arthur Garfield Hayes. William Jennings Bryan argues the prosecution's case. Bryan wins the trial, but dies several days later. Charles Lindberg makes the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Amelia Earhart becames the first woman aviator to cross the Atlantic. Wiley Post and Harold Gatty fly around the world in less than nine days. Two Italian immigrants named Niccola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged with murder in 1920. They are found guilty and sentenced to death, despite pleas from the public for a new trial. With the rise of Prohibition, night life expands. A dance called The Charleston becomes popular and bootlegging becomes a big business. Gangsters run wild and the Lindberg baby is kidnapped. Sports arenas are built. In 1928, signers of the Kellogg Pact renounce war. The number of people attending college doubles. Herbert Hoover, who promises to continue the prosperity that the country had experienced under Calvin Coolidge, is elected president. Airplanes now carry freight and passengers. The installment plan for purchasing big items is developed. The stock marked crashes in 1929 after booming prosperity, and the Depression begins. Thousands of ex-soldiers camp in Washington, demanding payment of a promised bonus. The United States army is ordered by Hoover to disperse the veterans. Farmers strike for a fair price on their products. Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected by an overwhelming majority and is inaugurated on 4 Mar 1933.