Roaring 20s, pt. 1
How did Americans react to Prohibition? Provide two examples
many resisted or found ways around the laws
bootlegging, moonshining, loopholes, etc.
What is fundamentalism? Provide an example
believed in a return to traditional religious ways of life - rejected modern developments like flappers, jazz, etc.
ex. Prohibition, women wearing more traditional clothing, etc.
In your own words, what is the Great Depression?
Answers will vary.
Generally, mass economic downturn for the US which results in about a decade of poverty and suffering for many communities throughout the country
True or false: The New Deal ended the Great Depression
False
Prohibition
Who: Temperance Movement/Carrie Nation/American Congress/fundamentalists/etc
What: prohibition of the transportation, distribution, and production of alcohol/ the "Noble Experiment"
When: 1920-1933 (1920s)
Where: United States
Why/Significance: fundamentalist reaction to longstanding issues in the US, especially crime - eventually falls out of favor when it results in the things it was trying to stop
ID: Popular Culture
Who: Musicians, actors, athletes, gangsters, etc.
What: popularity of figures/industries among the American public
When: growth of them during the 1920s
Where: US/Hollywood/etc
Why/Significance: part of the creation of a shared American experience which happens because of technological developments
What two policies led to Prohibiton?
Volstead Act
18th Amendment
ID: Herbert Hoover
Who: President of the United States
What: served during beginning of Great Depression
When: 1929-1933
Where: US
Why/Significance: his inaction possibly worsened the Depression for many Americans and made him widely unpopular
Explain the difference between the First and Second New Deal
First New Deal was focused on economic recovery of major businesses and agricultural, while the Second New Deal was focused on producing systemic reform which mostly benefitted the public and smaller farms
New Deal
Who: FDR/impoverished Americans/businesses/farmers/etc.
What: plan to help correct some of the economic issues of the Great Depression
When: Great Depression
Where: across America/urban cities/rural farms
Why/Significance: kickstarted the economy, gave many unemployed Americans jobs, helped farmers avoid foreclosure, fixed the banking crisis, etc.
Who were the Radium Girls? What process were they tied to?
women, most those working in factories, who were exposed to radiation poisoning from paints on cosmetic products and in makeup due to increased consumerism
What role did the flapper girls have on society?
Expressed new freedoms of women in the 1920s. Dressed and acted against traditional gender expectations.
List and explain the three policies passed at the beginning of the Depression
National Credit Corporation (NCC)
- Persuaded the nation’s largest banks to create a pool of private money to give to smaller banks to try to help the banking crisis
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
- $805 million to businesses (banks, railroads, state and local governments)
- Still not enough to meet the need
Emergency Relief and Construction Act
- $1.5 billion given to public works and $300 million loaned to the states
Name 3 significant impacts the New Deal had on the US and explain them
Physical Rehabilitation
- solutions to natural disasters
Human Rehabilitation
- gov't has responsibility to ensure social welfare
Revitalization of Politics
- executive branch is strengthened
Extension of Democracy
- modernized American gov't
Effects on the Depression
- alleviate some financial effects
Marcus Garvey
Who: Black political leader
What: believed in Pan-Africanism and the movement of people of African descent from the US to Africa
When: 1920s/Harlem Renaissance
Where: Harlem, NY
Why/Significance: his ideas became a prominent aspect of the Harlem Renaissance and would eventually be important during later Civil Rights Movements
How did radio changed American society? Provide 3 examples
created a shared American identity
connected urban and rural areas, led to the rise of jazz - "Jazz Age," created the "Golden Age of Sports," news channels, bedtime stories for kids, etc.
ID: John Scopes
Who: science teacher
What: Scopes Monkey Trial
When: 1920s
Where: Tennessee
Why/Significance: Scopes went to trial against state laws which outlawed the teaching of evolution in schools. Although he lost, the news of his case spread and made Americans more challenge fundamentalist teachings/policies - fundamentalists fought back harder
What was the American reaction to the government's response at the beginning of the Great Depression? Provide at least two examples.
Hoovervilles/Hoover Flags/Hoover Blankets/etc
- Hoover becomes associated with the Depression and the negative effects it has on Americans
Bonus Army
- WWI veterans march on Washington DC to demand their bonus from participating in the war
ID: fireside chats
Who: Franklin D. Roosevelt
What: radio broadcasts explaining policy decisions
When: 1930s/Great Depression/New Deal
Where: United States
Why/Significance: connected the president to the public
Dawes Plan
Who: US under Warren Harding/Germany/Allies
What: plan to solve issues of war payments
When: 1920s
Where: US/Germany
Why/Significance: meant the US could be repaid by Allies who were repaid by Germans via loan from US, improved relations w/ Germany
List two causes of the rise of consumerism during the 1920s and three effects
Causes:
- Republican Pro-business stance
- Abundant supplies of energy
- Wealth concentration
- Demand for new electrical appliances
- New “wonder” materials – plastic
Effects
- assembly line
- shorter work days/higher wages
- Power of unions decreased
- auto industry explodes
- advertising becomes more idealized, less factual
- cultural shifts: music, media, arts, women's rights, Prohibition, Harlem Renaissance
Explain the influence your "Body Biography" subject had on the 1920s.
Answers will vary
Should address how they changed their industry and/or the cultural impact they had on American at this point
List and explain the causes of the Great Depression
Speculation
- guessing on what will happen to the stock market, often believing that it would make you a lot of money fast
- purchasing stock on margin
Stock Market Crash
- millions of people feared the stock market would eventually decrease and sold their stocks, leading to the crash and the collapse of the banking industry
Overproduction
- Industrialists believed that if they kept producing, they would keep selling. Eventually, things start to pile up as they go unsold and factories start closing, laying off millions of workers.
Underconsumption
- farmers fail to sell their surplus of crops, tanking their prices, and leading to the foreclosure of many farms
Unequal Distribution of Wealth
- most of the US's wealth is in the hands of the top 1%, economic gains during the 20s are mostly experienced by the wealthy and not those that need it
Explain what the following stand for and did:
AAA
SSA
SEC
FDIC
NRA
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
- Paid farmers to reduce production of basic crops
Social Security Act (SSA)
- aid to dependent children unemployment insurance pensions for retirees
Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
- monitor Wall Street
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
- insure bank deposits
National Recovery Act (NRA)
- price controls, high wages, and codes of fair competition
Harlem Renaissance
Who: predominantly Black creatives, writers, musicians
What: expression which highlights experiences of Black communities - both positive and negative
When: after WWI to around the mid-1930s
Where: Harlem, New York
Why/Significance: placed Black arts and politics at the forefront of American society and popular culture