The Roaring 1920s

Question 1

What three key ideas make up the 1920s? In other words, the 1920s were a decade of _____, _____, and _____.

Answer 1

Prosperity, Republican Power and Social Conflict.

Question 2

Which party - Republican or Democrat - controlled the Presidency (White House) during the 1920s?

Answer 2

Republican

The three Presidents were Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

Question 3

What was the slogan used by Warren G. Harding as he campaigned to be President in 1920?

Answer 3

“A Return To Normalcy”

Harding sensed that Americans were tired and disillusioned from World War I. He sensed that people wanted to return to “the good ‘ole days”…or a return to normalcy.

Question 4

In what ways were the Republican policies of the 1920s helpful (beneficial) to big business?

Answer 4

The Presidents of the 1920s created protective tariffs to encourage people to buy American products, lowered taxes, cut or lowered government spending, and sided with business in disputes with workers. In many ways, the Republican Presidents of the decade returned to laissez-faire practices where the government kept their hands off the economy.

Question 5

Which President is known for saying: “The chief business of the American people is business”?

Answer 5

Calvin Coolidge, who was President during a booming economy known as “Coolidge Prosperity.”

Question 6

Which group of Americans DID NOT experience the economic prosperity (good times) of the 1920s?

Answer 6

Farmers.

For farmers, the Great Depression really started in the 1920s. They overproduced, leading to a surplus. So, the prices of their crops fell and the farmers fell into debt.

Question 7

Which President was in office when the Great Depression began and did little to end the Great Depression?

Answer 7

Herbert Hoover

Question 8

What was the main issue in the Scopes Trial?

Answer 8

Tradition/Religion/Creationism VS. Modern thinking/Evolution.

The Scopes trial dealt with whether Evolution (the theories of Charles Darwin) would be taught in the schools of Tennessee.

Scopes refers to John T. Scopes, a biology teacher at the school in Dayton, TN. He was arrested and fined for teaching the theory of Evolution after a law known as the Butler Act made teaching evolution illegal.

Question 9

Another name for the Scopes Trial is the _______ _______.

Answer 9

Monkey Trial

Question 10

These two Italian immigrants were arrested and convicted of murder in the 1920s. Many people thought they did NOT receive a fair trial, but instead were found guilty because they were NEW immigrants (from Italy) and because they had radical political beliefs.

Answer 10

Sacco and Vanzetti

Question 11

Define Nativism.

Answer 11

Nativism is the belief that Native-born White Americans are superior to people born outside of America and who were often NOT white.

The 1920s was a decade with a lot of nativism.

Question 12

This organization saw a rebirth or resurgence in the 1920s. Originally against African-Americans, in the 1920s this group spread the hate around and were opposed to catholics, jews, Women’s suffrage, and immigrants.

Answer 12

The Ku Klux Klan.

Their slogan was Native, Protestant, and White.

Question 13

The 1920s was the first decade in which the census indicated that more Americans were now living in ______ areas than in ______ areas.

Answer 13

More Americans were now living in URBAN (city) areas than in RURAL (country) areas.

Question 14

The nickname given to authors of the Post-World War I period who were disillusioned (unhappy) with conformity, America’s preoccupation with material possessions, and the devastation of World War I.

Answer 14

The Lost Generation

Authors of the “lost generation” included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and William Faulkner.

Question 15

The massive movement of African Americans from the south to the north during and after WWI, often in search of industrial jobs with higher pay than sharecropping.

Answer 15

The Great Migration

Question 16

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

Answer 16

A celebration or rebirth of African American art, music, and literature in the 1920s.

Famous names from the Harlem Renaissance include Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong.

Question 17

This famous automobile was nicknamed the “Tin Lizzy.” It was first produced in 1909. Using mass production on the assembly line, in 1925 one of these was made every 10 seconds.

Answer 17

The Model T.

Question 18

This was a common practice in the 1920s and was used by many families to own the latest and greatest consumer products, including automobiles, washing machines, power tools and so on. This would become one of the causes of the Great Depression.

Answer 18

Buying on credit or installment buying.

Question 19

What are some of the ways the rise of the automobile changed America?

Answer 19

Answers will vary, but some good answers include:
Growth of Suburbs; New and related industries will grow, like glass for windshields, rubber for tires, and so on; Americans experienced greater freedom to move around the country; Mass transportation, like trolleys and railroads declined; and so on.

Question 20

This form of music became popular in the 1920s. It is a blend of African, European and American sounds. This music began in New Orleans and spread to places like Chicago and New York. The 1920s is sometimes named after this form of music.

Answer 20

Jazz.

The 1920s is sometimes called the Jazz Age.

Question 21

This was a reaction to the communist victory in the Russian Revolution. It was an overall fear of socialism and communism spreading to America.

Answer 21

The Red Scare

The 1920s saw the first Red Scare. The Cold War period will see another Red Scare.

In the 1920s, there were various conflicts, including labor strikes, urban riots and bombings that led to a national hysteria against foreign-born people and the Palmer Raids.

Question 22

Define Prohibition.

Answer 22

This refers to the policy created with the 18th Amendment, which outlawed the manufacture, sale, import export, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the US. This was later repealed (taken back) in 1933 with the 21st Amendment.

Question 23

What is a Speakeasy?

Answer 23

A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era.

Question 24

What is the relationship between Prohibition and organized crime?

Answer 24

Organized crime, smuggling of alcohol and bootlegging increased due to Prohibition. Gangsters like Al Capone rose to prominence and fortunes were made.

Prohibition also turned average Americans into law-breakers as many Americans continued to drink and attempt to acquire alcohol during Prohibition.

Question 25

The 1920s was a decade in which Americans worshiped celebrities. Who were some of the celebrities of the 1920s?

Answer 25

Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Charles Lindbergh, Gertrude Ederle, Charlie Chaplin, Josephine Baker, Mary Pickford, and many others!

Question 26

What was the 19th Amendment?

Answer 26

The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote…finally! Women’s suffrage (the right to vote) had been an important issue since the Seneca Falls Convention began the Women’s Rights Movement 72 years earlier in 1848.