Chapter 31: American Life in the Roaring 20's Study Guide
Chapter #31 Identifications
A. Mitchell Palmer: Attorney General of US, convicted many during Red Scare
John T. Scopes: Teacher in Tennessee, charged for violating Butler’s Act and teaching evolution in the classroom
Clarence Darrow: Lawyer, defended teenage thrill killers, led American Civil Liberties Union
Andrew Mellon: Banker, industrialist, Secretary of the Treasury
Frederick W. Taylor: engineer, made industrial production more efficient
Margaret Sanger: Advocated birth control, was a sex educator and nurse
H. L. Mencken: Journalist, magazine editor, wrote about/satirized American life and culture
F. Scott Fitzgerald: American author, novels exemplify the Jazz Age
Ernest Hemingway: Author, his public image and adventures influenced many works of fiction+ future generations
Sinclair Lewis: playwright, novelist, won first Nobel Prize in Literature
Buying on Margin: Risky technique of buying securities with borrowed money
Red Scare: Fear of communism and radicals
Chapter #31 Guided Reading Questions
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.
After World War I, America once again turned to isolationism and criticized radicals/communists. During the Red Scare, Attorney Palmer, called the Fighting Quaker, arrested six thousand alleged Communists. Hundreds of supposed radicals (born in foreign countries) were shipped out on the Buford. Even the right of free speech was severely limited in order to abolish Communist ideas. A few states made a law banning the overthrow of government merely for social change. The court accused Sacco and Vanzetti guilty of murdering a Massachusetts paymaster, most likely because they were Italians, anarchists, and atheists.
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
The new Ku Klux Klansman were against foreigners, Catholics, African Americans, Jews, pacifists, Communists, internationalists, revolutionists, gambling, adultery, and birth control. The new KKK was very conservative and opposed the modernization of America. In comparison to the old KKK, the new one was more anti-foreign than anti-black. It did, however, favor Protestant whites over everything else.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
`The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set a limit on the number of immigrants allowed to come to America each year. It was fixed at 3% of the people of the immigrants’ nationality who inhabited the US in 1910. Because it favored Europeans from the southeast, the law was replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924. This decreased the quota to 2% and focused on 1890, rather than 1910. The Japanese were deterred from immigrating to America from then on.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
Poles immigrated to America after the Civil War, which called for industrialization and more labor forces. The very first Poles arrived in 1608, helping colonize Jamestown and developing a timber industry. Throughout the next centuries, people from Poland came to America due to religious dissension and revolutionary upheaval back home. In the late 1800s, most Poles fled Poland in order to avoid starvation and to earn money to purchase land in America. These European peasant farmers were pressured by the competition of large-scale, mechanized agriculture.
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?
Many easterners opposed the 18th amendment because Old World styles of sociability were centered on drinking. Prohibitionists fail to realize that drinking was an American tradition and that the people were accustomed to a weak federal government. Therefore, many believed that lawmakers could not make something that millions do a legitimate crime. People thought that the only way to force the government to repeal the 18th Amendment was by violating it. Corner saloons were replaced by “speakeasies,” a secret way of buying alcohol drinks. The thirsty even cooked alcohol at home, creating “home brew” or “bathtub gin.”
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Prohibition brought about the creation of gangs, who battled to distribute liquor. Due to gang wars in Chicago, almost 500 people were killed, without the criminals ever being captured. Scarface Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was the most infamous gang crime. Gangs also started other illegal activities such as prostitution, gambling, and narcotics. After gangsters kidnapped the hero Lindbergh’s son, the Congress passed the Lindbergh Law, enforcing the death penalty in cases of interstate abduction.
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.
Evolutionists clashed with creationists- the theory of evolution went against traditional religious beliefs. In the Scopes Monkey Trial, John T. Scopes, a teacher from Tennessee, was charged for teaching evolution in a high school. The trial was inconclusive, depicting the difference/fissure between the old and the new. More and more Christians were beginning to settle the conflicting ideologies between religion and modern science, as shown in the emerging modified Churches of Christ.
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.
Treasury Secretary Mellon’s tax policy, which advocated the quick growth of capital investment, led to prosperity in the Roaring 20’s. Henry Ford improved assembly-line production, allowing automobiles to be produced efficiently. The automobile was a symbol of freedom, luxury, and privacy. Advertising also became popular, persuading viewers to buy merchandise. Barton’s bestseller The Man Nobody Knows asserted that Jesus was the perfect salesman and that all salespeople should emulate his methods.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
Thanks to the new manufacturing method utilizing assembly lines, inventors such as Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor mass produced automobiles. Automobiles were produced at a quicker rate. This meant that the cost of the final product was also lower.
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
American economy sought new markets, including rubber, glass, fabrics, and fuel. After the production of the automobile, oil derricks were assembled overnight. The railroad was losing face. New roads were constructed, food was transported more efficiently, and the statistical calculation of casualties by car was enabled. Schools and churches even consolidated with the production of automobiles. Women were freed from their reliance on men.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers were the first people to fly on a fueled air craft. People saw the early airplane as a flying coffin because several stunt fliers became dead heroes. However, air transportation grew to be safer than traveling on highways. Through riding airplanes, passengers could travel vast distances over the oceans. Shooting and dropping bombs from airplanes also became new war tactics.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio worked to repress the Americans from the allure of the mass consumption marvels. It replaced the warm hearth, as a family would gather around to hear new information. It held together the nation, informing people world-wide of national news. Advertising companies appeared on radios, selling their brand-name products. The public was also introduced to sports, music, and religion through the radio.
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 melodrama called The Great Train Robbery was the very first popular motion picture. Consequently, America fell into a movie making frenzy. Hollywood would come to be the motion picture capital in the whole world. Films such as The Birth of a Nation depicted the KKK’s acts throughout the Reconstruction Era. Motion pictures could also be utilized as propaganda, appealing to the viewers’ apathy toward Germans.
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.
Automobiles, airplanes, credit, radios, and motion pictures were all influential and technological advances in American society. They led to a changed economy and favored urban society. Women soon started to seek jobs, despite the low pay, in order to prove their ability to survive without depending on men. However, the reliance on credit had a negative effect. Many were enticed into debt and charged large amounts of interest.
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?
Writers strayed away from conventional patterns and instead expressed their individual talents. For example, Fitzgerald shared his stories of wild adventures, risking his life, and became a role model for the young. The Great Gatsby perfectly portrayed American ideals, such as power and the detrimental effects of wealth+ social positions. Ernest Hemingway was one of the great novelists to write about wars and published books such as A Farewell to Arms.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury, enacted many tax reductions. Congress followed by repealing surplus profits tax and gift tax, lessening excise, surtax, and income tax. These acts served to benefit the millionaires and burden the middle class with taxes. While Mellon decreased the national debt by 10 billion, he was attacked by adversaries for promoting a bull market and bolstering the business regime that already dictated American politics+ society.
A. Mitchell Palmer: Attorney General of US, convicted many during Red Scare
John T. Scopes: Teacher in Tennessee, charged for violating Butler’s Act and teaching evolution in the classroom
Clarence Darrow: Lawyer, defended teenage thrill killers, led American Civil Liberties Union
Andrew Mellon: Banker, industrialist, Secretary of the Treasury
Frederick W. Taylor: engineer, made industrial production more efficient
Margaret Sanger: Advocated birth control, was a sex educator and nurse
H. L. Mencken: Journalist, magazine editor, wrote about/satirized American life and culture
F. Scott Fitzgerald: American author, novels exemplify the Jazz Age
Ernest Hemingway: Author, his public image and adventures influenced many works of fiction+ future generations
Sinclair Lewis: playwright, novelist, won first Nobel Prize in Literature
Buying on Margin: Risky technique of buying securities with borrowed money
Red Scare: Fear of communism and radicals
Chapter #31 Guided Reading Questions
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.
After World War I, America once again turned to isolationism and criticized radicals/communists. During the Red Scare, Attorney Palmer, called the Fighting Quaker, arrested six thousand alleged Communists. Hundreds of supposed radicals (born in foreign countries) were shipped out on the Buford. Even the right of free speech was severely limited in order to abolish Communist ideas. A few states made a law banning the overthrow of government merely for social change. The court accused Sacco and Vanzetti guilty of murdering a Massachusetts paymaster, most likely because they were Italians, anarchists, and atheists.
Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK
2. Compare and contrast the new and old Ku Klux Klansmen.
The new Ku Klux Klansman were against foreigners, Catholics, African Americans, Jews, pacifists, Communists, internationalists, revolutionists, gambling, adultery, and birth control. The new KKK was very conservative and opposed the modernization of America. In comparison to the old KKK, the new one was more anti-foreign than anti-black. It did, however, favor Protestant whites over everything else.
Stemming the Foreign Flood
Know: Emergency Quota Act, Immigration Act
3. Describe the immigration laws passed in the 1920's.
`The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set a limit on the number of immigrants allowed to come to America each year. It was fixed at 3% of the people of the immigrants’ nationality who inhabited the US in 1910. Because it favored Europeans from the southeast, the law was replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924. This decreased the quota to 2% and focused on 1890, rather than 1910. The Japanese were deterred from immigrating to America from then on.
Makers of America: The Poles
Know: Prussian Poles, Russian Poles, Austrian Poles, American Warsaw
4. What factors led Poles to America?
Poles immigrated to America after the Civil War, which called for industrialization and more labor forces. The very first Poles arrived in 1608, helping colonize Jamestown and developing a timber industry. Throughout the next centuries, people from Poland came to America due to religious dissension and revolutionary upheaval back home. In the late 1800s, most Poles fled Poland in order to avoid starvation and to earn money to purchase land in America. These European peasant farmers were pressured by the competition of large-scale, mechanized agriculture.
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?
Many easterners opposed the 18th amendment because Old World styles of sociability were centered on drinking. Prohibitionists fail to realize that drinking was an American tradition and that the people were accustomed to a weak federal government. Therefore, many believed that lawmakers could not make something that millions do a legitimate crime. People thought that the only way to force the government to repeal the 18th Amendment was by violating it. Corner saloons were replaced by “speakeasies,” a secret way of buying alcohol drinks. The thirsty even cooked alcohol at home, creating “home brew” or “bathtub gin.”
The Golden Age of Gangsterism
Know: Al Capone, St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Lindbergh Law
6. What was Gangsterism?
Prohibition brought about the creation of gangs, who battled to distribute liquor. Due to gang wars in Chicago, almost 500 people were killed, without the criminals ever being captured. Scarface Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was the most infamous gang crime. Gangs also started other illegal activities such as prostitution, gambling, and narcotics. After gangsters kidnapped the hero Lindbergh’s son, the Congress passed the Lindbergh Law, enforcing the death penalty in cases of interstate abduction.
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.
Evolutionists clashed with creationists- the theory of evolution went against traditional religious beliefs. In the Scopes Monkey Trial, John T. Scopes, a teacher from Tennessee, was charged for teaching evolution in a high school. The trial was inconclusive, depicting the difference/fissure between the old and the new. More and more Christians were beginning to settle the conflicting ideologies between religion and modern science, as shown in the emerging modified Churches of Christ.
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.
Treasury Secretary Mellon’s tax policy, which advocated the quick growth of capital investment, led to prosperity in the Roaring 20’s. Henry Ford improved assembly-line production, allowing automobiles to be produced efficiently. The automobile was a symbol of freedom, luxury, and privacy. Advertising also became popular, persuading viewers to buy merchandise. Barton’s bestseller The Man Nobody Knows asserted that Jesus was the perfect salesman and that all salespeople should emulate his methods.
Putting America on Rubber Tires
Know: Henry Ford, Frederick W. Taylor, Model T
9. What methods made it possible to mass-produce automobiles?
Thanks to the new manufacturing method utilizing assembly lines, inventors such as Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor mass produced automobiles. Automobiles were produced at a quicker rate. This meant that the cost of the final product was also lower.
The Advent of the Gasoline Age
10. What were the effects of the widespread adoption of the automobile?
American economy sought new markets, including rubber, glass, fabrics, and fuel. After the production of the automobile, oil derricks were assembled overnight. The railroad was losing face. New roads were constructed, food was transported more efficiently, and the statistical calculation of casualties by car was enabled. Schools and churches even consolidated with the production of automobiles. Women were freed from their reliance on men.
Humans Develop Wings
Know: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh
11. What effects did the early airplane have on America?
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers were the first people to fly on a fueled air craft. People saw the early airplane as a flying coffin because several stunt fliers became dead heroes. However, air transportation grew to be safer than traveling on highways. Through riding airplanes, passengers could travel vast distances over the oceans. Shooting and dropping bombs from airplanes also became new war tactics.
The Radio Revolution
12. How did America change as the result of the radio?
The radio worked to repress the Americans from the allure of the mass consumption marvels. It replaced the warm hearth, as a family would gather around to hear new information. It held together the nation, informing people world-wide of national news. Advertising companies appeared on radios, selling their brand-name products. The public was also introduced to sports, music, and religion through the radio.
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 melodrama called The Great Train Robbery was the very first popular motion picture. Consequently, America fell into a movie making frenzy. Hollywood would come to be the motion picture capital in the whole world. Films such as The Birth of a Nation depicted the KKK’s acts throughout the Reconstruction Era. Motion pictures could also be utilized as propaganda, appealing to the viewers’ apathy toward Germans.
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.
Automobiles, airplanes, credit, radios, and motion pictures were all influential and technological advances in American society. They led to a changed economy and favored urban society. Women soon started to seek jobs, despite the low pay, in order to prove their ability to survive without depending on men. However, the reliance on credit had a negative effect. Many were enticed into debt and charged large amounts of interest.
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?
Writers strayed away from conventional patterns and instead expressed their individual talents. For example, Fitzgerald shared his stories of wild adventures, risking his life, and became a role model for the young. The Great Gatsby perfectly portrayed American ideals, such as power and the detrimental effects of wealth+ social positions. Ernest Hemingway was one of the great novelists to write about wars and published books such as A Farewell to Arms.
Wall Street's Big Bull Market
Know: Margin, Andrew Mellon
16. Was government economic policy successful in the 20's?
Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury, enacted many tax reductions. Congress followed by repealing surplus profits tax and gift tax, lessening excise, surtax, and income tax. These acts served to benefit the millionaires and burden the middle class with taxes. While Mellon decreased the national debt by 10 billion, he was attacked by adversaries for promoting a bull market and bolstering the business regime that already dictated American politics+ society.