Chapter 31: Identifications & Guided Reading Questions
A. Mitchell Palmer
‘The Fighting Quaker’ rounded up suspects during the ‘red scare’
John T. Scopes
A teacher involved in the Scopes Monkey Trial. (Many people in the world followed this trial.)
Clarence Darrow
Famous criminal defense lawyer who represented Scopes in the Scopes Monkey Trial and supported evolution
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of Treasury; had a theory that forced the rich to invest in tax-exempt securities rather than in factories which provided wealthy payrolls
Frederick W. Taylor
Engineer and inventor who wanted to eliminate wasted motion
Margaret Sanger
Created a birth-control movement which promoted the use of contraceptives for women
H. L. Mencken
Author who criticized many subjects like democracy, marriage, the middle-class, and patriotism
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Author of The Great Gatsby, a novel set during the 1920s that explored the cruelty and glamour of an achievement-oriented society
Ernest Hemingway
Author who became upset with the idealism of America versus the realism of World War I
Sinclair Lewis
Satirical author and chronicler of the Midwestern life
Buying on Margin
Technique used by the poor/middle class and was a very risky way of buying stocks
Red Scare
Period of time in which free speech was limited because people were afraid of Communistic ties
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian immigrants convicted of murdering a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard. They were convicted not because of their guilt but because of the fact that they were immigrants.
Emergency Quota Act 1921
Restricted immigration to 3% of each nationality that was in the United States in 1910
Immigration Quota Act 1924
Restricted the former Emergency Quota Act from 3% to 2%
Volstead Act
Part of the 18th Amendment; established alcohol as illegal above 0.5%
Fundamentalism
Movement that argued that Charles Darwin’s teachings were destroying faith in God and the Bible
Modernists
Believed that man was not a sinner at heart and believed God was good and kind
Seeing Red
Know: Billy Sunday, Red Scare, A. Mitchell Palmer, Sacco and Vanzetti
1. Cite examples of actions taken in reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare.
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer rounded up suspects in the red scare; a shipyard of 249 alleged alien radicals was deported on the Buford (‘Soviet Ark’) to Russia; legislations made unlawful the advocacy of violence to secure social change
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
The old KKK were antiblack, while the new KKK were antiblack, antiforeigner, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, antipacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, antievolutionist, anti-bootlegger, antigambling, antiadultery, and anti-birth control, whilst being pro-Anglo-Saxon, pro-‘native’ American, and pro-Protestant.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921: European newcomers restricted in any given year to a definite quota, set at 3% of the people of their nationality living in the U.S. in 1910.
Immigration Act of 1924: Quotas cut to 2%.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
The Poles wanted to see the industrialized America and fled starvation. They also wanted land, of which there was plenty in the United States.
The Prohibition "Experiment"
Know: Eighteenth Amendment, Volstead Act, Wet and Dry, Speakeasies, Home Brew, Bathtub Gin, Noble Experiment
5. How and why was the eighteenth amendment broken so frequently?
There was nothing to enforce the 18th Amendment before the Volstead Act was passed and it was therefore broken quite frequently. Many people refused to accept that alcohol was prohibited and rebelled.
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Gangsterism was the term coined for the rise of organised crime syndicates. It originated in a fight against prohibition: gangs emerged and staked out their territories for liquor, gambling, and narcotics. It evolved to murders and massacres, such as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre organised by Al Capone.
Monkey Business in Tennessee
Know: John Dewey, John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow
7. Describe the clash of cultures that took place in schools in the 1920's.
There was a clash of cultures between science and religion. There was an evolution vs creation showdown between Clarence Darrow (evolution) and William Jennings Bryan (creation).
The Mass-Consumption Economy
Know: Andrew Mellon, The Man Nobody Knows, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey
8. Give evidence to prove that America became a mass-consumption economy in the 20's.
America in the 20’s was a very prosperous time and a period of flourishing economy. Andrew Mellon’s low-tax policies helped to encourage growth in commerce and ads began to dominate the market and employed persuasion among other rhetoric. People began to buy things not for necessity but for pleasure.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
The discovery of petroleum and oil in the crust of the earth helped to spur the movement towards oil use especially in automobiles. Frederick W. Taylor helped to improve the efficiency of the production line. The assembly line technique made it easier to manufacture automobiles and quickly.
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
Some effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile was that it created surplus jobs for many unemployed Americans after WWI and led to the use of roads and the need for gasoline companies. However, many people died in automobile crashes.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
Early airplanes were rarely used in WWI (they were used mostly for spying on other countries or for reconnaissance missions). Later on, however, planes were used for airmail and the first transcontinental airmail route was started in 1920 from New York to San Francisco.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio brought many social changes to American society. Radio changed Americans by allowing them to ear the same news at the same time. It brought many people back to home and hearth and sitting at a table listening to the radio became an American pastime.
Hollywood's Filmland Fantasies
Know: The Great Train Robbery, The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer
13. What were some milestones in the history of motion pictures?
‘The Great Train Robbery’ was the first real movie that told a story (before, the film industry was used mainly for propaganda). D.W. Griffith created the first full length movie, ‘The Birth of A Nation’, about the Civil War.
The Dynamic Decade
Know: Margaret Sanger, Flappers, Sigmund Freud, Jelly Roll Morton, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey
14. "Far-reaching changes in lifestyles and values paralleled the dramatic upsurge in the economy." Explain.
Many people began to move towards cities from rural areas. This marked America’s social change from an agrarian society to a more urbanized one. It also showed how America went from a traditional to more modern society. The National Women’s Party also got some traction as well as birth control. Religion changed as well; Modernists started to appear and began to refute the claims of the Fundamentalists. They argued that God was kind and man was naturally free of sin.
Cultural Liberation
Know: H. L. Mencken, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill, Louis Armstrong, Frank Lloyd Wright
15. How did the arts of the 1920's reflect the times?
Many more people began to work in the arts, and prolific authors began to emerge such as H.L. Menken (‘The American Language’), F. Scott Fitzgerald (‘The Great Gatsby’), Ernest Hemingway (‘The Old Man and the Sea’), Sinclair Lewis (‘Main Street’), William Faulkner (‘The Sound and the Fury’), Ezra Pound (‘Ripostes’), T.S. Eliot (‘Gerontion’), e.e. cummings (‘Eimi’), and Eugene O’Neill (‘Long Day’s Journey Into the Night’). Louis Armstrong was an African American jazz trumpetist and Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
The government economic policy was somewhat successful in the 1920’s; however, there was always either a recession or depression. Over speculation was a cause of panic and the stock market was the speculator's paradise in the 20's. The President of the time usually succeeded in lowering the national debt.
‘The Fighting Quaker’ rounded up suspects during the ‘red scare’
John T. Scopes
A teacher involved in the Scopes Monkey Trial. (Many people in the world followed this trial.)
Clarence Darrow
Famous criminal defense lawyer who represented Scopes in the Scopes Monkey Trial and supported evolution
Andrew Mellon
Secretary of Treasury; had a theory that forced the rich to invest in tax-exempt securities rather than in factories which provided wealthy payrolls
Frederick W. Taylor
Engineer and inventor who wanted to eliminate wasted motion
Margaret Sanger
Created a birth-control movement which promoted the use of contraceptives for women
H. L. Mencken
Author who criticized many subjects like democracy, marriage, the middle-class, and patriotism
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Author of The Great Gatsby, a novel set during the 1920s that explored the cruelty and glamour of an achievement-oriented society
Ernest Hemingway
Author who became upset with the idealism of America versus the realism of World War I
Sinclair Lewis
Satirical author and chronicler of the Midwestern life
Buying on Margin
Technique used by the poor/middle class and was a very risky way of buying stocks
Red Scare
Period of time in which free speech was limited because people were afraid of Communistic ties
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian immigrants convicted of murdering a Massachusetts paymaster and his guard. They were convicted not because of their guilt but because of the fact that they were immigrants.
Emergency Quota Act 1921
Restricted immigration to 3% of each nationality that was in the United States in 1910
Immigration Quota Act 1924
Restricted the former Emergency Quota Act from 3% to 2%
Volstead Act
Part of the 18th Amendment; established alcohol as illegal above 0.5%
Fundamentalism
Movement that argued that Charles Darwin’s teachings were destroying faith in God and the Bible
Modernists
Believed that man was not a sinner at heart and believed God was good and kind
Seeing Red
Know: Billy Sunday, Red Scare, A. Mitchell Palmer, Sacco and Vanzetti
1. Cite examples of actions taken in reaction to the perceived threat of radicals and communists during the red scare.
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer rounded up suspects in the red scare; a shipyard of 249 alleged alien radicals was deported on the Buford (‘Soviet Ark’) to Russia; legislations made unlawful the advocacy of violence to secure social change
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
The old KKK were antiblack, while the new KKK were antiblack, antiforeigner, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, antipacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, antievolutionist, anti-bootlegger, antigambling, antiadultery, and anti-birth control, whilst being pro-Anglo-Saxon, pro-‘native’ American, and pro-Protestant.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921: European newcomers restricted in any given year to a definite quota, set at 3% of the people of their nationality living in the U.S. in 1910.
Immigration Act of 1924: Quotas cut to 2%.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
The Poles wanted to see the industrialized America and fled starvation. They also wanted land, of which there was plenty in the United States.
The Prohibition "Experiment"
Know: Eighteenth Amendment, Volstead Act, Wet and Dry, Speakeasies, Home Brew, Bathtub Gin, Noble Experiment
5. How and why was the eighteenth amendment broken so frequently?
There was nothing to enforce the 18th Amendment before the Volstead Act was passed and it was therefore broken quite frequently. Many people refused to accept that alcohol was prohibited and rebelled.
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Gangsterism was the term coined for the rise of organised crime syndicates. It originated in a fight against prohibition: gangs emerged and staked out their territories for liquor, gambling, and narcotics. It evolved to murders and massacres, such as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre organised by Al Capone.
Monkey Business in Tennessee
Know: John Dewey, John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow
7. Describe the clash of cultures that took place in schools in the 1920's.
There was a clash of cultures between science and religion. There was an evolution vs creation showdown between Clarence Darrow (evolution) and William Jennings Bryan (creation).
The Mass-Consumption Economy
Know: Andrew Mellon, The Man Nobody Knows, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey
8. Give evidence to prove that America became a mass-consumption economy in the 20's.
America in the 20’s was a very prosperous time and a period of flourishing economy. Andrew Mellon’s low-tax policies helped to encourage growth in commerce and ads began to dominate the market and employed persuasion among other rhetoric. People began to buy things not for necessity but for pleasure.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
The discovery of petroleum and oil in the crust of the earth helped to spur the movement towards oil use especially in automobiles. Frederick W. Taylor helped to improve the efficiency of the production line. The assembly line technique made it easier to manufacture automobiles and quickly.
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
Some effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile was that it created surplus jobs for many unemployed Americans after WWI and led to the use of roads and the need for gasoline companies. However, many people died in automobile crashes.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
Early airplanes were rarely used in WWI (they were used mostly for spying on other countries or for reconnaissance missions). Later on, however, planes were used for airmail and the first transcontinental airmail route was started in 1920 from New York to San Francisco.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio brought many social changes to American society. Radio changed Americans by allowing them to ear the same news at the same time. It brought many people back to home and hearth and sitting at a table listening to the radio became an American pastime.
Hollywood's Filmland Fantasies
Know: The Great Train Robbery, The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer
13. What were some milestones in the history of motion pictures?
‘The Great Train Robbery’ was the first real movie that told a story (before, the film industry was used mainly for propaganda). D.W. Griffith created the first full length movie, ‘The Birth of A Nation’, about the Civil War.
The Dynamic Decade
Know: Margaret Sanger, Flappers, Sigmund Freud, Jelly Roll Morton, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey
14. "Far-reaching changes in lifestyles and values paralleled the dramatic upsurge in the economy." Explain.
Many people began to move towards cities from rural areas. This marked America’s social change from an agrarian society to a more urbanized one. It also showed how America went from a traditional to more modern society. The National Women’s Party also got some traction as well as birth control. Religion changed as well; Modernists started to appear and began to refute the claims of the Fundamentalists. They argued that God was kind and man was naturally free of sin.
Cultural Liberation
Know: H. L. Mencken, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill, Louis Armstrong, Frank Lloyd Wright
15. How did the arts of the 1920's reflect the times?
Many more people began to work in the arts, and prolific authors began to emerge such as H.L. Menken (‘The American Language’), F. Scott Fitzgerald (‘The Great Gatsby’), Ernest Hemingway (‘The Old Man and the Sea’), Sinclair Lewis (‘Main Street’), William Faulkner (‘The Sound and the Fury’), Ezra Pound (‘Ripostes’), T.S. Eliot (‘Gerontion’), e.e. cummings (‘Eimi’), and Eugene O’Neill (‘Long Day’s Journey Into the Night’). Louis Armstrong was an African American jazz trumpetist and Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
The government economic policy was somewhat successful in the 1920’s; however, there was always either a recession or depression. Over speculation was a cause of panic and the stock market was the speculator's paradise in the 20's. The President of the time usually succeeded in lowering the national debt.