Highs and Lows of Modern America

Question 1

Why did America return to an isolationist foreign policy after World War I?

Answer 1

• After WWI many Americans were overwhelmed by the war and were still struggling with mental health issues (such as PTSD).
• For this reason, many Americans never wanted to go to war in Europe again.

Question 2

What actions demonstrate the United States’ isolationist stance after WWI?

Answer 2

• The US refused to join the League of Nations.
• The US signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact
• The US agreed to terms at the Washington Naval Conference

Question 3

What was the Kellogg Briand Pact?

Answer 3

Agreement made between the US, France, and Germany during the 1920s to ban war.

Question 4

What was the Washington Naval Conference?

Answer 4

Meeting among many countries during the 1920s in Washington DC, where countries (including the US) agreed to decrease the size of their naval forces.

Question 5

Why did the First Red Scare emerge after WWI?

Answer 5

• After the Bolshevik Revolution occurred in Russia many Americans worried the US would experience a similar revolution.
• Strikes and bombings were already occurring, suggesting how unhappy many American workers had become.

Question 6

What is communism?

Answer 6

Economic system where the government distributes property and wealth to eliminate inequality and create a classless society.

Question 7

What actions did the US government take in response to the First Red Scare?

Answer 7

US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer ordered the Palmer Raids.

Question 8

What were the Palmer Raids?

Answer 8

• Police raids that were carried out to find suspected communists (especially those connected to recent bombings) during the First Red Scare.
• Those considered a threat were arrested, with many sent to jail or deported.

Question 9

Why did the US government limit immigration during the 1920s?

Answer 9

• Concerns about the growing number of immigrants wanting to enter the US after WWI.
• Rising nativism during the war (such as that toward German immigrants)
• Concerns about Russian immigrants bringing communism to America.

Question 10

What is nativism?

Answer 10

Belief among “native-born” Americans that their beliefs and ways of life were superior to that of new immigrants.

Question 11

Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?

Answer 11

• Two Italian-American anarchists who were convicted of a double murder near Boston.
• Despite having no physical evidence to convict the men, their immigrant status and political beliefs were used in trial; leading to the death penalty.

Question 12

What were the Emergency Quota Acts?

Answer 12

• US government policies passed during the 1920s to restrict immigration into the US.
• These policies adopted quotas (a number limit) on how many immigrants could come from different European countries– Southern and Eastern European immigrants were most limited.

Question 13

How did the KKK expand during the 1920s?

Answer 13

• The KKK grew to its largest size ever (5 million members)
• The KKK spread into new areas– like the North and West– during the 1920s.

Question 14

Why did the KKK expand during the 1920s?

Answer 14

• Popularity of the film “Birth of a Nation” which celebrated the KKK.
• Increased numbers of Black residents in northern cities after the Great Migration
• Widening of KKK hatred to include new immigrants, Catholics, Jews (anti-Semitism).

Question 15

What was “Red Summer”?

Answer 15

Period of intense racial violence that occurred in the United States immediately following World War I.

Question 16

What were some of the significant events of racial violence that occurred during the 1920s?

Answer 16

• Omaha Race Riots
• Washington DC Race Riots
• Elaine Massacre
• Tulsa Massacre
• Chicago Race Riots

Question 17

What was the 18th Amendment?

Answer 17

Constitutional amendment that adopted the prohibition of alcohol.

Question 18

Why did acts of violent crime become common during the 1920s?

Answer 18

• Because many Americans still wanted alcohol after it was banned- organized crime groups formed.
• Organized crime groups sold illegal (bootlegged) alcohol to the public
• Competition between rival gangs resulted in skyrocketing murder rates.

Question 19

Who was Al Capone?

Answer 19

Prominent Italian gangster who was heavily involved in bootlegged alcohol and the skyrocketing murder rate during Prohibition.

Question 20

What controversy occurred during the Scopes Trial in 1925?

Answer 20

The conflict over the teaching of traditional religious values (creationism) and modern scientific ideas (evolution) in schools.

Question 21

Who was John Scopes?

Answer 21

Math and science teacher who was put on trial for teaching evolution, breaking the Butler Act, in his high school classroom in Tennessee during the 1920s.

Question 22

What challenges faced American farmers during the 1920s?

Answer 22

• High levels of farm production during WWI stripped important nutrients from the soil.
• Demand dropped significantly after the war; lower profits.
• Farm foreclosures were common.

Question 23

What factors encouraged the growth of the American economy during the 1920s?

Answer 23

• Increased wages
• Advertising in radio and newspapers
• New technologies and products available
• Decreased prices for products (ex. cars)
• Availability of credit.

Question 24

What are installment plans?

Answer 24

Similar to credit today, consumers could purchase expensive items, and pay for that item in “installments” over a longer period of time.

Question 25

How did consumer and bank practices result in instability within the US stock market during the 1920s?

Answer 25

• Consumers were spending more than they could afford to pay back.
• Banks were loaning out too much money– sometimes to unreliable customers.
• People were buying on margin within the stock market.

Question 26

What is “Buying on Margin”?

Answer 26

Using borrowed money (bank loans or credit) to purchase stocks.

Question 27

What role did the US government take in the economy during the 1920s?

Answer 27

The government did very little to regulate the rapid growth or dangerous behaviors occurring within the US economy and stock market.

Question 28

What is “Laissez Faire” economics?

Answer 28

• When a government takes a “hands-off” approach to the economy; allowing it to grow and shrink without government regulation.

Question 29

Why did the American economy collapse in 1929?

Answer 29

• In October 1929 the stock market crashed after a series of irresponsible and dangerous behaviors in the market during the 1920s.
• The collapse caused many businesses and banks to collapse over the next few years.

Question 30

What factors caused the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression?

Answer 30

*Overfarming during WWI stripped the land of moisture and nutrients.
* A long drought impacted the Great Plains.
*High winds and static electricity caused massive dust clouds.

Question 31

What daily challenges faced most Americans during the Great Depression?

Answer 31

• Record high unemployment national (25% in 1932).
• Record high homelessness and foreclosure rates.
• Starvation and malnutrition
• People lived in makeshift homes built from trash in “Hoovervilles”
• Mental health issues, record suicide rates.

Question 32

What was President Hoover’s perspective about the role of the president in the economy?

Answer 32

• Hoover, like most politicians, believed that the economy would recover on its own (as it always had in the past) and therefore did little to respond to the emergency when it began.
• Hoover recommended “volunteerism” and “rugged individualism”

Question 33

What is volunteerism?

Answer 33

• Belief that companies and individuals who were not struggling should volunteer to support those in need.
• Giving to charities, helping at soup kitchens, bread lines, maintaining wages for workers.

Question 34

What is rugged individualism?

Answer 34

• The belief that individuals benefit from overcoming extreme challenges in their life- without receiving excessive help.

Question 35

How did President Hoover respond to the Great Depression?

Answer 35

After initially doing very little… Hoover did:
* Promote the construction of the Boulder Dam
* Organizing the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Question 36

What is Boulder (Hoover) Dam?

Answer 36

• Government project that provided cheap electrify, improved irrigation, and controlled floods during the Great Depression.
• Employed 20,000 Americans during its construction.
• Largest hydro-electric power station in the world when it was constructed.
• Gave hope to many struggling Americans.

Question 37

What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation?

Answer 37

• Government program that provided loans to banks, insurance companies, and businesses during the Hoover Administration.
• Aimed to stabilize the economy three years into the Great Depression; many Americans felt it was too little, too late.

Question 38

Who was the Bonus Army?

Answer 38

Group of homeless WWI veterans who travelled to Washington D.C., protesting to receive wartime “bonuses” early.

Question 39

What controversy happened during the Bonus Army March in 1932?

Answer 39

• After not receiving their bonuses from the government- the Bonus Army refused to end their protest, prompting police and military forces to respond.
• The Police and Military attacked the Bonus Army, set fire to their encampments, leaving 2 people dead and many injured.

Question 40

Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt?

Answer 40

• Democratic candidate for President in 1932 who campaigned to do more to help the American public during the Great Depression.
• FDR won the election in a LANDSLIDE; due to widespread anger at President Hoover.

Question 41

What factors hurt President Hoover in the Election of 1932?

Answer 41

• High unemployment, homelessness, starvation.
• Anger at Hoover for not doing enough to help.
• Attack on the Bonus Army protestors.
• Popularity of FDR, cousin of successful President– TR.