Were The 1920s An Age Of Change Or Tolerance

Question 1

What economic event is referred to as ‘The Crash’?

Answer 1

The economic boom ended after October 1929

Question 2

List five reasons why the economic boom came to an end after October 1929.

Answer 2

• Over-speculation in the stock market
• Bank failures
• Decreased consumer spending
• High unemployment rates
• Decline in international trade

Question 3

What term describes the decade of the 1920s in the USA?

Answer 3

A decade of unrivalled prosperity

Question 4

What significant change occurred in US immigration policy during the 1920s?

Answer 4

The first restrictions on immigration were implemented

Question 5

Which white supremacist group reappeared in the 1920s?

Answer 5

The Ku Klux Klan

Question 6

What was a consequence of the introduction of national prohibition?

Answer 6

The growth of organised crime

Question 7

What major political change occurred for women in the 1920s?

Answer 7

Women received the vote in federal elections for the first time

Question 8

What significant political event occurred in Russia in November 1917?

Answer 8

The Bolshevik Revolution created the world’s first communist state

Question 9

How were immigrants from central and eastern Europe viewed in the USA during the 1920s?

Answer 9

They were feared as being susceptible to un-American ideas

Question 10

What was the impact of the USA joining the First World War on immigrants from Germany and Austria-Hungary?

Answer 10

Resentment towards these immigrants increased

Question 11

What was a notable event in the USA during the year 1919?

Answer 11

Considerable industrial unrest and widespread strikes

Question 12

What caused inflation in the USA after the First World War?

Answer 12

The war itself

Question 13

How many workers were involved in strikes nationwide during the industrial unrest of 1919?

Answer 13

Over four million workers

Question 14

What extreme left-wing trade union was involved in the unrest of 1919?

Answer 14

International Workers of the World, also known as the Wobblies

Question 15

True or False: The 1920s were solely a decade of prosperity without any social issues.

Answer 15

False

Question 17

What was created in August 1919 to investigate socialist and communist activity in the USA?

Answer 17

A General Intelligence Division of the federal government.

It was the forerunner of the FBI.

Question 18

What were the Palmer raids?

Answer 18

Raids launched by the federal government against left-wing newspapers and activists in January 1920, resulting in 6,000 arrests.

Question 19

What was the outcome of the Red Scare by the middle of 1920?

Answer 19

The Red Scare had died down.

Question 20

What was the Sacco and Vanzetti case?

Answer 20

The trial of two Italian immigrants arrested for the murder of a paymaster, which divided the USA due to circumstantial evidence against them.

Question 21

What were the main reasons for the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti?

Answer 21

Their avoidance of military service and support for anarchist ideas.

Question 22

When were Sacco and Vanzetti executed?

Answer 22

In 1927, after facing a trial and an appeal.

Question 23

What does the Sacco and Vanzetti case indicate about the 1920s in the US?

Answer 23

It reflects the climate of fear and intolerance towards radical political views.

Question 24

What was the purpose of the report ‘To the American People’?

Answer 24

It was an appeal against the Palmer Raids, highlighting illegal practices by the Department of Justice.

Question 25

What illegal actions were reported by the lawyers in 'To the American People'?

Answer 25

Wholesale arrests without warrants, secret detention, property seizure without warrants, and abuse of suspected radicals.

Question 26

What did the Department of Justice do to create public sentiment against radicals?

Answer 26

It created a propaganda office and sent out newspapers and magazines to excite public opinion.

Question 27

What was the Immigration Act of 1917?

Answer 27

A law that denied entry to immigrants who could not read or write, overriding the president's veto.

Question 28

What inscription is on the Statue of Liberty?

Answer 28

Bring me your huddled masses yearning to be free.

Question 29

What was the general attitude towards immigration in the USA during and after WWI?

Answer 29

Opposition to unlimited immigration grew, particularly against those who could not speak English.

Question 31

What was the first-ever limit on immigration in the USA?

Answer 31

In 1921, the Emergency Immigration Act placed a limit on immigration, restricted to three percent of the total number from a national group already living in the US, based on the 1910 census. ## Footnote This favored immigrants from the British Isles and Western Europe.

Question 32

What did the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 establish?

Answer 32

It made immigration quotas permanent, limiting two percent from a particular region based on the US 1890 census, increasing bias against immigrants from eastern and southern Europe. ## Footnote Hispanic workers in California were exempt from this Act.

Question 33

What was the significance of the 18th Amendment?

Answer 33

Ratified in January 1919, it introduced national prohibition in the USA.

Question 34

What event marked the beginning of the decline of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)?

Answer 34

The David Stephenson murder case in 1925 marked the beginning of the decline of the KKK.

Question 35

What were the Confederate states?

Answer 35

Between 1861 and 1865, 11 southern states declared independence from the USA to preserve slavery. These states included Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. ## Footnote Slavery was abolished throughout the USA after the Civil War.

Question 36

What laws did former Confederate states introduce after the Civil War?

Answer 36

They introduced Jim Crow laws, which deprived black Americans of voting rights and enforced legal segregation until the 1960s.

Question 37

When was the KKK revived and by whom?

Answer 37

The KKK was revived in 1915 by William Simmons at Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Question 38

What influenced the revival of the KKK?

Answer 38

The revival was influenced by the publication of the book 'The Clansman' and the film 'The Birth of a Nation' which portrayed the KKK as heroes.

Question 39

Who were key figures in the rapid rise of the KKK in the 1920s?

Answer 39

Edgar Young Clark and Elizabeth Tyler used public relations techniques to encourage recruitment.

Question 40

What was the St. Valentine's Day Massacre?

Answer 40

It occurred in February 1929 and is often cited as a significant event in the context of organized crime during Prohibition.

Question 42

What was the total membership of the KKK by 1924?

Answer 42

The KKK had a national membership of four million across the whole of the USA.

Question 43

What event in 1925 damaged the KKK's reputation?

Answer 43

The conviction of KKK leader David Curtis Stephenson for the rape and murder of a 28-year-old woman.

Question 44

What was the KKK's membership by 1929?

Answer 44

KKK membership had declined to 200,000.

Question 45

Who was W. E. B. DuBois?

Answer 45

A leading black American supporter of equal rights.

Question 46

What did DuBois observe about the KKK in Akron, Ohio?

Answer 46

He found that the local Klan was openly active, with prominent community leaders being Klansmen or sympathizers.

Question 47

What was the cause of the Klan's resurgence according to DuBois?

Answer 47

The Klan's resurgence was a legacy of the World War, fueled by fear and hate.

Question 48

What did the 18th Amendment of the US Constitution do?

Answer 48

It banned the sale, manufacture, and consumption of intoxicating liquor.

Question 49

What did the Volstead Act define?

Answer 49

Intoxicating liquor as any drink with more than 0.5 percent alcohol.

Question 50

Which organizations campaigned for prohibition?

Answer 50

The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League.

Question 51

What was the primary support base for prohibition?

Answer 51

Small towns and rural areas dominated by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPS).

Question 52

How did World War I influence support for prohibition?

Answer 52

Many businessmen opposed alcohol consumption by workers operating complicated machinery.

Question 53

What was the most widely ignored law in the USA?

Answer 53

National prohibition.

Question 54

What were speakeasies?

Answer 54

Illegal drinking places set up across the USA during prohibition.

Question 55

What is moonshine liquor?

Answer 55

Alcoholic drinks made illegally from scratch or using industrial or medical alcohol as substitutes.

Question 56

What was bootlegging?

Answer 56

The illegal transportation and sale of intoxicating liquor.

Question 57

What role did organized crime play during prohibition?

Answer 57

Organized crime became heavily involved in the illegal alcohol trade, leading to bribery of officials.