Chapter 31 questions

Remember, you will get out of these what you put into them. DUE FRIDAY.

1. How exactly did Americans reflect their disillusionment with war and its aftermath in the 1920s?
2. What provoked the Red Scare? How did businessmen use it to their advantage? Who was the power behind the Red Scare, and why?
3. How was the post-war Ku Klux Klan different from earlier iterations of the Klan? What other topics did the 1920s Klan target? What was the Klan a reaction against? What caused the downfall of the Klan in the 1920s?
4. Why were immigration restrictions introduced in the 1920s? Describe the laws that implemented restrictions.
5. What is cultural pluralism, as advocated by Kallen and Bourne?
6. Why did the working class in America have more difficulties unifying than those in European countries?
7. Did the creation of ethnic neighborhoods help or hinder assimilation into American life? Explain.
8. What was the enforcement law for the 18th Amendment? Why did Prohibition sometimes seem to target immigrants in urban areas more than the native-born? How did the 18th amendment impact our diplomatic relations with other countries?
9. Explain the connection of organized crime with Prohibition. Include a description of the career of Al Capone.
10. Explain John Dewey’s theories of education. Use the index to include other information about Dewey that you should know regarding his beliefs and ideas.
11. Outline the main points and personalities involved in the Scopes Trial. What was the immediate and long-term impact of this trial?
12. Why did the economy of the 1920s seem to grow so much? Were there any problems that resulted from this growth? What new technique was developed to deal with this problem?
13. How did access to credit change in the 1920s for the average consumer? What does this imply about the “prosperity” of the 1920s?
14. Explain the ways that Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor sought to promote efficiency in industry. What other industries were affected by the rise of the automobile? What incidental changes to American society occurred due to the love affair with cars?
15.Why were people like Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and Jack Dempsey viewed as heroes? Explain the achievements of each one.
16. What is a “talkie,” and what was the first one? What was “Birth of a Nation” about? Explain their significance.
17. How was American radio different from radio in Europe? How did cars, movies and radio help standardize American culture?
18. What, according to the 1920s census, happened for the first time as of 1920? What made this possible?
19. How did musical innovation take on a distinctly American slant in the 1920s?
20. What was happening to traditional ideals of morality in the 1920s, including ideas about marriage, family planning, proper dating and attire, as well as alcohol?
21. What was the UNIA? What beliefs were espoused by this group and its founder? Who were some other notable African Americans of the 1920s? What fields did they tend to dominate?
22. Who were the great authors and literary works of the 1920s, and how do they compare to each other in terms of themes, style, etc.?
23. What did HL Mencken do? He was known as a curmudgeon. Find out what this means and if you agree with this assessment.
24. How did tax policy change under Andrew Mellon?
25. What were the consequences of Prohibition (we have discussed this previously, so it should be review)?
26. What is the evidence that the decade of the 1920s was a decade of anxiety among Americans?
24. What is “Buying on margin?”