-176613 CHAPTER 24—THE 1920s Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, Fahs, Gerstle, Rosenberg & Rosenberg Copyright © 2008 Wadsworth Group Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, 5e 0704lep5e.bmp
Times Instructions: Identify the following term(s). Which of the following was not a part of the postwar period in the United States? increased middle-class wealth and buying power a significant growth in advertising a new use of leisure time a decline in the number of Americans who owned stocks an increase in installment buying D Average p. 718-719 Analytical 1 The term "flapper" referred to women who joined the air force during the war. modern, single, women who smoked and wore short dresses. women who supported Prohibition by attacking saloons and saloonkeepers. feminists who organized political and action groups. women who publicly debated the merits of the League of Nations. B Average p. 722 Factual 1 The purpose of welfare capitalism was to give workers more control over their working conditions. encourage workers to join unions. encourage worker loyalty to capitalism. fund unemployment rolls. subsidize business enterprises. C Average p. 724 Analytical 1 All of the following could not be said of Warren G. Harding's tenure as president except he continued the worst repression of the post-WWI Red Scare by jailing leftists. he staffed his cabinet with some highly capable men. his administration suffered from scandals. he was influenced easily by his friends. the Republican Party was returned to power. A Least Difficult p. 727-728 Analytical 1 Calvin Coolidge raised taxes and increased government regulation of business. lowered taxes and decreased government regulation of business. lowered taxes but increased government regulation of business. raised taxes but decreased government regulation of business. raised taxes on the rich but reduced them for the working class. B Least Difficult p. 729 Factual 1 During his tenure as secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover promoted a return to simpler times. promoted a cooperative approach toward business. sought direction from Calvin Coolidge. was implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal. successfully addressed the problems in the farm economy. B Least Difficult p. 729 Factual 1 While commerce secretary, Herbert Hoover accomplished all of the following except convincing steel executives to reject the twelve-hour day. persuading farmers to join marketing cooperatives. encouraging workers to join unions. focusing on standardizing industrial products. persuading some bankers in the South to organize regional associations. C Average p. 729 Factual 1 The Dawes Plan called on the U.S. government to lend money to Germany. ended the steel strike in 1924. resulted in the reduction of Germany's war debt. was heavily criticized by U.S. bankers. was opposed by the Republican Party. C Average p. 730-731 Factual 1 All of the following factors contributed to the postwar depression in U.S. agriculture except recovery of European farms after the war ended. falling prices of farm products a significant rise in the use of tractors. a decline in European demand for U.S. products substantial increase in acreage in production E Most Difficult p. 731-732 Analytical 1 During the 1920s, rural Americans were isolated from the consumerism of cities. rural Americans fully embraced "modernism." rural Americans showed distrust for urban ways. advertisers ignored the rural market. a larger percentage of Americans were living in rural areas. C Average p. 733-734 Analytical 1 In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan did all of the following except continue to thrive only in the South. attract a significant female membership. achieve some degree of political power in some states. focus their bigotry on Catholics and Jews. emphasize traditional morality. A Least Difficult p. 735 Analytical 1 The Immigrant Restriction Acts widened the number of countries from which immigrants could come. were passed with relatively little protest. increased the number of immigrants from eastern Europe. resulted in a labor shortage. admitted more Africans to the U.S. B Average p. 735-736 Factual 1 The rise of fundamentalism was fueled by renewed popularity of broad interpretations of the Bible. a reaction to the growth of liberal Protestantism. most pronounced in large cities. short-lived. supportive of scientific theories. B Average p. 736-737 Analytical 1 Liberal Protestants supported the fundamentalist rejection of modernism. by far outnumbered fundamentalists. opposed evolution. supported William Jennings Bryan during the Scopes trial. believed in rational inquiry and social activism. E Average p. 737 Factual 1 Which of the following is not true of the Scopes trial? It was a test of the First Amendment. It contributed to the removal of references to Charles Darwin in texts. It featured two key public figures as opposing attorneys. It indicated that support for fundamentalism was waning. It was set up by the American Civil Liberties Union. D Most Difficult p. 738-739 Analytical 1 In the 1920s, all industrial workers enjoyed high wages and benefits. a tight labor market for industrial workers increased their bargaining power. industrial workers did not see the results of gains in productivity in increased wages. decreases in industrial production lowered workers' wages. most workers joined unions. C Most Difficult p. 724 Analytical 1 Which of the following statements could not be said of the labor movement in the 1920s? Union membership continued to grow. Unions lost ground in most industries. Unions remained suspect in the eyes of the middle class. It was slow to include all workers in the ranks of organized labor. Supreme Court decisions hurt labor organizing efforts. A Least Difficult p. 724-725 Factual 1 Ethnic communities responded to Americanization campaigns by eagerly embracing the notion that they could assimilate. strengthening their customs and traditions. sheltering themselves completely from American culture. leaving the United States and returning to their homelands. moving out of the cities into rural areas. B Average p. 740 Factual 1 Which of the following groups saw a substantial increase in political power in the 1920s? African Americans ethnic Americans women the working class Mexicans B Least Difficult p. 740 Factual 1 All of the following statements reflect the African-American experience in the North during the Harlem Renaissance except African-American artists drew from their own cultural heritage. The Harlem Renaissance attracted attention from whites. African Americans developed increasing political power. Many African Americans still depended on white patrons for support. African-American writers and artists expressed racial pride. C Average p. 741-743 Analytical 1 The "lost generation" referred to American soldiers who died during World War I. disenchanted American intellectuals who fled to Europe. American artists in the South. children born to Mexican immigrants in California. Native Americans who left the reservations. B Average p. 746 Analytical 1 Which writer was not from the new literary culture of the twenties? John Dos Passos Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald Theodore Dreiser Eugene O'Neill D Least Difficult p. 745-747 Factual 1 It cannot be said of the 1920s that the Democratic Party enjoyed a late resurgence. it was a period of tremendous consumer growth. it fostered bigotry. it generated a lot of criticism among intellectuals and artists. working-class and rural Americans benefited little from the prosperity. A Average p. 748 Factual 1 The general mood that prevailed in the 1920s was fear. anger. optimism. sadness. tolerance. C Least Difficult p. 748 Analytical 1 The modernists of the 1920s feared that the liberation of women would destroy society. longed for a return to small town values. feared the growing influence of Freudian psychology. rejected the consumer economy. put their faith in science rather than in religion. E Most Difficult p. 717 Analytical 1 Economically, the 1920s was a period of high unemployment and recession. declining standards of living. growth, prosperity, and unprecedented productivity. economic stagnation. return of farm prosperity. C Least Difficult p. 718-719 Factual 1 All of the following was part of the new consumer lifestyle of the 1920s except new appliances eased the burden of housework. the automobile made vacations and camping trips popular. poverty was eliminated from American society. high quality, fashionable clothes were available to most Americans. advertising increased consumer demand. C Most Difficult p. 720-721 Analytical 1 Modern advertising techniques exploited insecurities and secret desires of consumers. were not effective due to poor-quality graphics. were so vulgar that newspapers banned the ads. demeaned and ridiculed working-class Americans. were not essential to the growth of the consumer economy. A Average p. 720-721 Analytical 1 Sexual mores of the 1920s were basically the same as before World War I. were not influenced by the automobile. encouraged husbands and wives to enjoy recreational activities and physical intimacy together. eliminated confusion and hostility between the sexes. became more conservative. C Average p. 721-722 Analytical 1 All of the following statements regarding American workers in the 1920s are not true except farmers made more money than industrial workers. skilled workers received high wages, paid vacations, sick leave, and other benefits. sixty percent of industrial workers lived below the poverty level. wages were equalized for men and women. most belonged to unions. C Average p. 724 Factual 1 Union membership declined in the 1920s because of all of the following except business, government, and middle-class hostility. the success of welfare capitalism. the unions' failure to actively recruit unskilled and semiskilled workers. adverse rulings from the Supreme Court. extremely high union membership dues. E Most Difficult p. 724-725 Analytical 1 The presidents elected in the 1920s were all Republicans. Democrats. crusading reformers and ex-Progressives. veterans of World War I. born in large cities. A Least Difficult p. 741 Analytical 1 It is true that Warren G. Harding was a serious, quiet, formal Yankee whose policies were later admired by Ronald Reagan. elected because he was the winning general in World War I. an intellectual who had difficulty dealing with Congress. president when the stock market crash occurred and the Great Depression started. a handsome, genial political hack whose administration was riddled with corruption E Average p. 727 Analytical 1 In the Teapot Dome scandal, Harding's secretary of the interior took bribes and awarded fraudulent leases to oil companies. head of the Veterans' Bureau saved the government millions of dollars cabinet members enforced the Prohibition laws. surgeon general misdiagnosed a heart attack and caused the death of the president. the President engaged in an affair with a young office worker. A Average p. 728 Factual 1 Calvin Coolidge was a cheerful alcoholic who liked to "carouse" with his friends. believed that the federal government must regulate the economy and control big business. was president when the Great Depression started. was a somber, honest politician who did not socialize with "the boys." significantly raised income and estate taxes. D Average p. 728-729 Analytical 1 In the Kellogg-Briand Pact, the U.S. finally agreed to join the League of Nations. signatories agreed to unite against German aggression in Europe. the United States agreed to remove its troops from Haiti. American bankers canceled the German war debt. fifteen nations outlawed war and vowed to settle disputes peacefully E Average p. 731 Factual 1 Rural Americans saw cities as centers of modernity and progress. the creators of a new, prosperous, and exciting American culture. dangerous, frightening breeding grounds of sin and subversion. the spiritual and intellectual heart of the nation. engines of industrial progress. C Most Difficult p. 733 Analytical 1 In 1924, the Johnson-Reed Act enlarged the total number of immigrants annually admitted to the United States. virtually eliminated immigration of eastern Europeans and Asians. restricted immigration from Western Hemisphere nations for the first time in history. favored immigrants who would speak English. opened immigration to Asians. B Most Difficult p. 736 Factual 1 As a result of the Scopes trial, Tennessee repealed its anti-evolution law. Scopes was found innocent and given a promotion. publishers eliminated references to Darwin's theories from science textbooks. the American Civil Liberties Union was destroyed. Clarence Darrow died. C Most Difficult p. 737-739 Analytical 1 Mexican Americans in the 1920s were mostly low-paid farm and construction workers. quickly achieved citizenship and organized politically. abandoned their cultural and religious traditions in order to "fit in" with U.S. society. were the largest ethnic group working in the auto industry in Chicago and Detroit. were employed primarily on the railroads. A Most Difficult p. 744-745 Factual 1 The nation's largest corporation during the 1920s was General Motors. U.S. Steel. A T & T. the Ford Motor Company. Campbell Soup Company. C Average p. 719 Factual 1 The Nonpartisan League of North Dakota sought to end Prohibition. crusaded for Protestant fundamentalist values. drew attention to the agricultural crisis. advocated immigration restrictions. supported the Ku Klux Klan. C Most Difficult p. 732 Factual 1 Workers in which of the following industries fared the worst during the 1920s? steel and textiles automobiles and textiles railroads and textiles coal and textiles garments and textiles D Most Difficult p. 724 Factual 1 Women with ambition generally sought work as all of the following except social workers. teachers. librarians. nurses. department store clerks E Average p. 724 Analytical 1 All of the following were appointed by Warren G. Harding to federal positions except Harry M. Daugherty. Albert Fall. Edward L. Doheny. Charles R. Forbes. Andrew Mellon. C Most Difficult p. 727 Factual 1 U.S. investment in Latin America ____ from 1917 to 1929. more than doubled quadrupled was cut in half declined to almost nothing did not change A Average p. 731 Factual 1 The presidential candidate for the Farmer-Labor Party in 1924 was William Jennings Bryan. Robert LaFollette. Teddy Roosevelt. Jack Dempsey. Woodrow Wilson. B Most Difficult p. 718 Factual 1 The sports figure who achieved the greatest celebrity fame in the 1920s was baseball star Babe Ruth. racing star Rudolph Valentino. boxer Jack Dempsey. writer Bruce Barton. football star Jack Johnson A Least Difficult p. 722 Factual 1 Charles A. Lindbergh became a celebrity in the 1920s when he completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic. made the first blockbuster movie. challenged the failure of the two-party political system to represent the interests of ordinary people. organized a strike in the steel industry. ran for President. A Least Difficult p. 723 Factual 1 In 1920 the National American Woman Suffrage Association was transformed into the National Women's Party. National Organization of Women. League of Women Voters. Women's International Peace and Freedom League. Ladies' Sewing Circle. C Most Difficult p. 726 Factual 1 In the 1920s, economic growth was due mainly to the production of capital goods. F Average p. 718 Factual 1 The results of the Lynds' survey indicated that even working-class families were enjoying many luxuries. F Average p. 720 Factual 1 Calvin Coolidge significantly reduced the amount of control that government had over the economy. T Average p. 729 Factual 1 Ethnic associations, affiliations, and celebrations declined during the 1920s. F Average p. 740 Analytical 1 During the 1920s, agricultural interests acquired substantial lobbying power. T Most Difficult p. 731 Analytical 1 The 1920 census revealed that more Americans lived in rural, rather than urban, areas. F Least Difficult p. 733 Factual 1 Only a very small number of Americans responded to the nativist arguments of the Ku Klux Klan. F Average p. 735 Factual 1 Skilled industrial workers enjoyed higher wages and benefits in the production boom of the 1920s. T Average p. 724 Analytical 1 During the 1920s, African Americans continued to migrate from the South to industrial cities where they enjoyed increasing success in finding high-paying jobs. F Average p. 741-742 Factual 1 Mexican immigrants in California and African Americans in Harlem shared similar experiences. T Average p. 744-745 Analytical 1 The concept of introducing new automobile model styles each year was started by Ford Motor Company. F Average p. 720 Factual 1 In 1920, a majority of Americans still lived in small rural communities. F Average p. 733 Factual 1 Prohibition increased the power and wealth of organized crime. T Average p. 734 Analytical 1 For Fundamentalists, God is a deity who intervenes directly in the lives of individuals and communities. T Average p. 736-737 Factual 1 H. L. Mencken was a popular novelist who idealized the virtues and values of small-town America. F Average p. 739 Analytical 1 Warren Harding and Woodrow Wilson had much in common. F Least Difficult p. 717 Factual 1 The 1920s seemed geared toward personal gratification. T Least Difficult p. 718-719 Analytical 1 By 1929, as many as 7 million Americans, most of them people of ordinary, middle-class means, owned stock. T Most Difficult p. 719 Factual 1 Few poor Americans benefited from the consumer revolution. T Average p. 720 Analytical 1 The Supreme Court worked to protect workers' rights during the 1920s. F Average p. 739 Analytical 1 By 1924, as many as 4 million Americans are thought to have belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. T Average p. 735 Factual 1 Unions had virtually no presence in white-collar places of employment. T Average p. 724-725 Factual 1 The number of female college students increased by 50 percent during the 1920s. T Average p. 725-726 Factual 1 The United States did nothing in response to France's occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. F Average p. 730 Factual 1 The Kellogg-Briand Pact contained strict enforcement mechanisms. F Average p. 731 Factual 1 The Ford Motor Company remained the world's largest car manufacturer during the 1920s. F Average p. 720 Factual 1 Most unions lost ground in the 1920s. T Average p. 724-725 Factual 1 The Republican Party selected Warren G. Harding as its presidential candidate in 1920 because he was a tough, hard-nosed, competent leader. F Least Difficult p. 727 Analytical 1 Albert Fall was the only member of Warren Harding's "Ohio gang" to serve time in prison. F Average p. 728 Factual 1 Herbert Hoover believed that government should control industry. F Least Difficult p. 729 Factual 1 Herbert Hoover helped to negotiate the Five-Power Treaty. F Most Difficult p. 730 Factual 1 The 1924 Dawes Plan eliminated Germany's reparations debt. F Average p. 730 Analytical 1 Rural Americans were leery about participating in the consumer marketplace. F Average p. 734 Factual 1 Alice Paul and her allies succeeded in getting Congress to pass an Equal Rights Amendment. F Average p. 727 Factual 1 In the 1920s all women activists supported protective legislation for female workers. F Average p. 727 Analytical 1 President Harding released Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs from jail. T Most Difficult p. 727 Factual 1 When President Harding died in office, he had been publicly disgraced by the scandals of his administration. F Average p. 728 Factual 1 Herbert Hoover believed that the government should not play a significant role in economic development. F Least Difficult p. 729 Analytical 1 The Washington Conference led to the passage of a treaty signed by five nations that significantly reduced the number of their warships. T Most Difficult p. 730 Factual 1 During the 1920s advertising expenditures went down. F Least Difficult p. 721 Factual 1 Ordinary Americans without immediate access to cash were still able to purchase consumer goods using the ____________________ plan. installment Average p. 720 Factual 1 0 The book that portrayed Jesus as the consummate business executive was titled ____________________. The Man Nobody Knows Most Difficult p. 723 Factual 1 0 ____________________ regarded every word written and each event depicted in the Bible as complete truth. Fundamentalists Most Difficult p. 736-737 Factual 1 0 William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow took opposite sides in the ____________________. Scopes trial Average p. 737-739 Factual 1 0 The poet who symbolized black cultural pride and a rejection of the importance of white opinion during the Harlem Renaissance was ____________________. Langston Hughes Average p. 743 Factual 1 0 Secretary of the Interior ____________________ was sentenced to one year in prison for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal. Albert Fall Average p. 728 Factual 1 0 ____________________ was the best-known, most-feared American gangster in the 1920s. Al Capone Average p. 734 Factual 1 0 Robert LaFollette ran for president in 1924 as the candidate of the ____________________ Party. Farmer-Labor Most Difficult p. 718 Factual 1 0 The unemployment rate between 1922 and 1929 never rose above ____________________ percent. 5 Average p. 718 Factual 1 0 By 1930, ____________________ percent of all purchases were made on the installment plan. 15 Average p. 720 Factual 1 0 ____________________ introduced the concept of the annual automobile model change in 1924. General Motors Average p. 720 Factual 1 0 An estimated ____________________ percent of workers remained mired in poverty during the 1920s, unable to afford a healthy diet or adequate housing, much less costly consumer goods. 40 Most Difficult p. 724 Factual 1 0 ____________________, head of the Veterans' Bureau, swindled the government out of $200 million in hospital supplies. Charles R. Forbes Most Difficult p. 728 Factual 1 0 Calvin Coolidge's opponent in the presidential election of 1924 was ____________________. John W. Davis Most Difficult p. 729 Factual 1 0 ____________________ occupied the Ruhr in 1923. France Average p. 730 Factual 1 0 ____________________ twice vetoed the McNary-Haugen Bill. Calvin Coolidge Average p. 733 Factual 1 0 ____________________ presided over the Ku Klux Klan's growth during the 1920s. Hiram Evans Most Difficult p. 735 Factual 1 0 The census of ____________________ would be the benchmark for determining immigration quotas under the 1924 Johnson-Reid Immigration Act. 1890 Average p. 736 Factual 1 0 After 1924, ____________________ became the country's chief source of immigrant labor. Mexicans Least Difficult p. 736 Factual 1 0 ____________________ became the same kind of magnet for Mexican Americans that Harlem was for African Americans. Los Angeles Average p. 745 Factual 1 0 ____________________ believed that the American people could regain control of their society by pressing for government regulation of big business. John Dewey Most Difficult p. 747 Factual 1 0 By 1929, a mere ____________________ percent of the nation's industrial workforce belonged to unions. 10 Average p. 725 Factual 1 0 The most enduring force reacting against urban life during the 1920s was ____________________. Protestant fundamentalism Average p. 736 Analytical 1 0 Hoover envisioned an economy built on principles of ____________________ wherein businessmen, farmers and professionals would share information and seek ways to cooperate. association Average p. 729 Analytical 1 0 The United States, Britain, Japan, France and Italy agreed to scrap more than two million tons of warships in the ____________________ Treaty. Five Power Average p. 730 Factual 1 0 Secretary of State under both Harding and Coolidge was ____________________. Charles Evans Hughes Average p. 727-730 Factual 1 0 The ____________________ Pact outlawed war as a tool of national policy. Kellogg-Briand Average p. 731 Factual 1 0 The film ____________________ helped inspire the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Birth of a Nation Most Difficult p. 735 Analytical 1 0 Two religious groups targeted by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s were ____________________ and ____________________. Jews; Catholics Catholics; Jews Average p. 735 Analytical 1 0 The pseudoscience known as ____________________ contended that nations could improve their population by expanding stronger racial strains and shrinking weaker ones. eugenics Most Difficult p. 735 Factual 1 0 Teapot Dome: scandal during Warren Harding's administration involving Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall. Fall allowed two private petroleum interests to pump oil from publicly owned wells. Accepted kickbacks from the companies involved in exchange. Spent a year in prison as punishment. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Dawes Plan: agreement reached by U.S. bankers that reduced Germany's war debt and called on U.S. and foreign banks to bolster the German economy by issuing substantial loans. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Sydney Hillman: labor leader from Amalgamated Clothing Workers; tried to persuade corporate leaders that unionization would raise profits by forcing businesses to use the same wages and hours. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Harlem Renaissance: literary and artistic awakening among African-American communities in which black artists created works reflecting their own distinct cultural heritage instead of imitating the styles of Europeans and Americans. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 consumer durables: products such as tractors, automobiles, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and radios that were designed to last for years. Their sales reached new levels in the 1920s and were largely responsible for the nation's economic growth during the decade. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Birth of a Nation: 1915 silent epic film by D. W. Griffith. An extremely popular film despite its blatant racism, it depicted the Ku Klux Klan as heroes of the South and inspired the revival of the Klan. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Alfred E. Smith: Democratic presidential candidate in the election of 1928. His nomination symbolized the growing political power of urban-ethnic Americans. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 flappers: single, young, middle-class women of the 1920s. Donned short skirts, rolled their stockings down, wore red lipstick, and smoked in public. Sought independence and equality through the creation of a new female personality endowed with self-reliance, outspokenness, and a new appreciation for life's pleasures. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 "yellow dog" contract: pledge by a worker not to join a union. Violators would lose their jobs. Upheld by state court during the 1920s. Seriously crippled efforts to organize trade unions. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments: held in 1921 and 1922. U.S. team led by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes; advised by Secretary of Commerce Herbert C. Hoover. Resulted in the Five Power Treaty, by which the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy agreed to scrap more than 2 million tons of warships, as well as pledges from all the signatories that they would respect the Open Door principle in China. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 people's capitalism: supposedly created in the 1920s. All were to be able to have a share of luxuries or amenities. Poverty, economists, claimed, had been banished, and the gap between rich and poor had been closed. Based on belief that if every American could own a car and a house, buy quality clothes, own stock, take vacations, and go to the movies, then clearly there was no longer any significant inequality in society. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 welfare capitalism: adopted by some U.S. employers during the 1920s. Involved such measures as employee cafeterias, on-site medical clinics, company sports teams, employee newsletters, and performance awards for employees who did their jobs well. Designed to encourage employee loyalty to the firm and to the capitalist system. TYPE: Identifications 1 -1 Describe associationalism and discuss how it differed from laissez-faire capitalism. To what extent were either of these approaches operative during the 1920s? Associationalism, conceived by Calvin Coolidge's Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, reflected Hoover's belief that modern times required a new approach to capitalistic economics. Unwilling to continue to regulate business as in the past, yet fearful that the absence of any government controls would deny opportunity to all but the most powerful, Hoover promoted a regulatory system based on cooperation and public service. Called associationalism, this notion called on all different sectors of the economy--business, agriculture, and the professions--to form trade associations through which information would be exchanged. In this way, Hoover hoped to achieve greater efficiency and profit for all. He promoted this idea in the arenas of both domestic policy and foreign trade. Although he was a member of Coolidge's cabinet, Hoover's approach was increasingly at odds with the president, who favored a policy of noninterference in the economy: laissez-faire. Ultimately, this approach dominated both domestic and foreign policy. For example, in the domestic sphere, Coolidge supported measures that reduced the government's control over the economy, such as the Revenue Act of 1926. In foreign policy, Secretary of State Charles Evan Hughes, like Coolidge, favored the laissez-faire approach. Despite Hoover's efforts to the contrary, U.S. bankers were left to their own devices in their efforts to bolster the German economy in the postwar period. Hughes allowed bankers both to negotiate the Dawes Plan and to implement it--with little interference or oversight from the federal government. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 What contributed to the depression in the farm industry after the war? What did farmers do to try to combat this depression? What was the government's response? During the war, American farmers experienced a boom in trade due to the amount of agricultural goods exported to the fighting nations and due to consistent domestic demand. In the years following the war, European demand declined suddenly as European farmers resumed production, causing domestic prices to fall. At the same time, technological innovations contributed to an increase in farming productivity, causing the domestic market to be flooded with agricultural goods. Both of these factors precipitated a serious depression in the U.S. agricultural industry, and millions of farmers were forced to leave their farms. In response to this depression, farmers demanded more of a voice in politics, as well as more help from the government. In the latter part of the decade, farmers formed a significant lobbying bloc and pressured Congress to develop a plan to protect the agricultural industry. Their proposals, found in the McNary-Haugen Bill, called for higher tariffs on foreign produce as well as a commitment that the federal government would purchase surplus U.S. goods at a fair price. The government then would sell that surplus on the world market so that the government, rather than the farmers, would absorb any loss. By 1926, farm interests amassed enough influence in Congress to pass this bill both in 1926 and again in 1928. Each time, however, it was vetoed by President Coolidge, whose commitment to laissez-faire prevented him from passing a bill mandating governmental interference in the economy. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. Why did this nativist group attract so many followers? The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK, originally organized in the South after the Civil War and targeted African Americans in its promotion of white supremacy. The group re-emerged in 1915 and by 1920 shifted its focus from southern blacks to northern Jews and Catholics. In their attacks on Jews and Catholics, whom Klan members blamed for perversion, corruption, and vice in American culture, the KKK insisted that the purity of the Anglo-Saxon race was at stake. This message struck a chord with men and women throughout the United States. Millions joined the KKK, and in certain pockets of the country (notably Indiana), the group gained increasing political power. The re-emergence of the KKK with such force suggests the extent to which a fear of modernism, especially fear of sexual freedom, infected some sectors of society. The KKK was organized like other fraternal organizations, providing friendship, support, and "old-fashioned" sociability for its members. At the same time, it provided an outlet for its members to blame change on outsiders rather than to recognize the degree to which they, themselves, were responsible for modern times. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Briefly describe the Scopes trial. What was its significance? In 1925, John Scopes, a biology teacher in a Tennessee school, admitted that he taught evolutionary theory in his classroom. With this admission, he challenged the constitutionality of a newly passed law forbidding the teaching of any theory that denied the validity of the "creation story" as related in the Bible. He was arrested and brought to trial, quickly achieving national attention in part due to the illustrious lawyers who appeared for each side. Clarence Darrow, a famous liberal lawyer, appeared for the defense while William Jennings Bryan represented the state of Tennessee. Despite Darrow's brilliant cross-examination of Bryan in his role as biblical expert, Scopes eventually was convicted. The Scopes trial was significant because it encapsulated the conflict between fundamentalists and liberals--or traditionalists and modernists--serving as a metaphor for the age. Darrow succeeded in making fundamentalist adherence to the literal word of the Bible seem foolish, a tacit victory for liberal modernism. But Bryan's defense of creationism--and, more importantly, his rejection of Darwinism--allowed him to make a compelling case for democracy and equality. Ultimately, there was no clear resolution. While fundamentalists succeeded in mandating removal of references to Charles Darwin from textbooks until the 1960s, they also quickly moved away from politics to focus on personal redemption. To this day, this issue remains unresolved. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Describe the Harlem Renaissance. What was its significance? The literary and artistic awakening among African Americans in the North was known as the Harlem Renaissance. During the war and immediately following it, African-American writers and artists produced works that reflected their own cultural heritage and experiences. Rejecting the dominant white culture, poets such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and writers such as Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, and Claude McKay expressed their racial pride and newly found feelings of self-worth. The Harlem Renaissance attracted a great deal of attention and acclaim for both African Americans as well as white liberals, many of whom proclaimed themselves patrons of the black artists. Despite the popularity and praise African-American artists of the Harlem Renaissance received, they were less successful in breaking down the barriers of racism and discrimination that prevented them from fully benefiting from the popularity of their movement. Many had to depend on white patrons for their livelihood and, with this dependence, lost a certain amount of control over their art. Thus, the Harlem Renaissance had the frustrating effect of revealing the depths of talent within the African-American community as well as the barriers artists would continue to confront while living in a racist society. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Discuss the rise of advertising and mass marketing. How did these innovations influence the development of the consumer society of the 1920s? The 1920s witnessed the development of a consumer society in which customers purchased products to satisfy psychological and emotional desires rather than simply utilitarian needs. American companies traditionally produced high quality, long-lasting goods and therefore sought new inducements to convince consumers that they "needed" something new. General Motors pioneered yearly design changes and offered customers choices in style and color. Professional advertisers launched campaigns that sold products by exploiting the fears, insecurities, and longings of consumers. Americans were told that they would be desirable if they used the right mouthwash, drove the most powerful car, dressed in the latest fashion, and so on. Economically comfortable Americans demonstrated their success by filling their lives and homes with objects. New household appliances lightened workloads while cosmetics beautified and how-to books educated middle-class housewives. Products and attributes that once would have been thought frivolous and irrelevant became necessities for the new followers of fashion. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 Discuss the Eighteenth Amendment and its impact on American society in the 1920s. The production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages were outlawed by the Eighteenth Amendment, which was passed during World War I but did not go into effect until 1920. Prohibition proponents had high expectations and hoped to improve the lives of the city slum dwellers, raise the morals of the nation, and punish "alcohol guzzling" German-Americans, Italians, and Jews. The Eighteenth Amendment instead ushered in an era of widespread corruption and criminality. Millions of Americans either made their own "home brew" or bought illegal liquor from mobsters and "moonshiners." Gangsters such as Al Capone in Chicago built empires on "bootleg" liquor and used violence to maintain control of the lucrative business. While urban reformers became disillusioned and called for the repeal of Prohibition, rural conservatives continued support for the ban on alcohol. TYPE: Short Essays 1 -1 The 1920s was considered a decade of prosperity. Without a doubt, the postwar period was a time of great economic growth for the nation as a whole. All U.S. residents, however, did not enjoy the same prosperity as did the more-visible middle class. Describe Americans for whom the twenties was a time of both frustration as well as pleasure. Be specific as you refer to the experiences of different groups. Essay should include several key points: A. American working class 1. Higher wages--welfare capitalism 2. Labor surplus--production speed-ups 3. Anti-unionism--"yellow-dog contracts" 4. Sidney Hillman--Amalgamated Clothing Workers B. Farmers 1. Postwar depression a. Lower foreign demand b. Higher production c. Lower domestic prices 2. Amassing lobbying power 3. McNary-Haugen Act and veto C. African Americans 1. Continued northern migration 2. Difficulty finding jobs a. Henry Ford b. Other employers 3. The Jazz Age/Harlem Renaissance 4. Difficulties in achieving political power D. Ethnic Americans 1. Rise of nativism a. Immigrant Restriction Act b. KKK c. Prohibition 2. Combining American and ethnic traditions a. Focus on retaining cultural traditions: churches, clubs b. Growth in citizenship c. Increasing political power--1928 nomination of Al Smith 3. Mexican experience in West a. Low wages, poor working conditions b. Flowering of Mexican culture in Los Angeles
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 The decade following World War I was a period of tremendous growth and prosperity for the United States. It also was a period of contradiction and conflict as the forces of modernity confronted the power of tradition. Discuss the factors that gave rise to these conflicts and where they were most pronounced. In your opinion, did one tradition or modernity "win" over the other? Essay should address several key points: A. Modernity, liberalism, and the Jazz Age 1. Growth in urban consumer culture 2. Influence of advertising 3. Growth in leisure time and activities 4. "Flappers" and modern sexual freedom 5. Harlem Renaissance B. Traditionalism 1. Rural fears of urban growth/1920 census 2. Prohibition 3. KKK 4. Immigration Restriction Act 5. Fundamentalism C. Conflicts/contradictions 1. Scopes trial 2. "Lost generation"
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 Describe the Harding and Coolidge administrations. In what way did each reflect the temper of the postwar era? Essay should address several key points: A. Warren G. Harding--Republican 1. "Return to normalcy" enormous popularity 2. The "Ohio Gang"--politics of amiability 3. Scandals in administration a. Teapot Dome (1923) b. Charles Forbes 4. Death in 1923 and continued popularity B. Calvin Coolidge--Republican 1. Laissez-faire economics a. Revenue Act b. McNary-Haugen veto c. Weakening of Federal Trade Commission 2. Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce--associationalism/domestic successes 3. Foreign policy a. Laissez-faire abroad b. Dawes Plan c. Limitation of armaments
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1 American foreign policy in the 1920s was a combination of traditional military intervention, economic influence, and Wilsonian-like international peace initiatives. Discuss specific policies that illustrate the conflict between the laissez-faire and associationalist theories of the era. Essay should address several key points: A. Warren G. Harding administration 1. Herbert Hoover's associationalism 2. Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments 3. Five-Power Treaty B. Calvin Coolidge administration 1. Charles Evans Hughes's laissez-faire 2. Dawes Plan 3. Kellogg-Briand Pact 4. Cutbacks in military spending C. Policy toward Latin America 1. Investments and interventions 2. Dominican Republic 3. Nicaragua 4. Haiti
TYPE: Long Essays 1 -1