Warm Up – Mon, April 8th
• Take a look at the graph “Union
Membership, 1933-1943” and complete
the two “Graph Skills” questions on pg.
693
1. Describe the political philosophies and
agendas of Presidents Harding and Coolidge.
Harding
Coolidge
• Normalcy – return to • Prosperity rested on
normal (after WWI)
business leadership
• Relaxed, easygoing
• Government should
interfere as little as
• Riddled with
possible
corruption
• Restore integrity to
– The Ohio Gang
the White House
– The Teapot Dome
Scandal
2. What examples of political corruption were
present in the Harding administration?
• The Ohio Gang – Harding appointed many of
his friends from Ohio to government positions
• Forbes Scandal – Ohio Gang member Charles
Forbes, head of Veterans Bureau, sold scare
medicines from veterans’ hospitals
• Teapot Dome Scandal – Albert Fall, secretary
of the interior, received bribes for secretly
leasing US lands with oil to private companies
3. Describe how the rise of the automobile
changed American social and economic life in
the 1920s.
• Allowed people to live farther from their work,
increased suburban living
• People could move more easily
• Rural life not so isolated
• Changed socializing and dating
• Created new small businesses (gas stations,
garages)
4. What did the Sacco and Vanzetti trial, the
Quota Acts, and the reemergence of the Ku
Klux Klan show about American attitudes
toward immigrants in the 1920s?
• The fear and prejudice many felt toward
Germans and Communists expanded to
include all immigrants. This triggered a
general rise in racism and NATIVISM.
5. What factors were responsible for the
economic boom of the 1920s?
Government
•Minimal
interference with
businesses
•Cut government
spending and debt
•Eliminated or
reduced taxes
•High tariffs
Business
•Mass production
reduced prices
•Technology such as
autos, airplanes,
and radios led to
new industries
•New consumer
goods fueled
manufacturing
boom
Consumers
•More disposable
income
•More leisure time
•Easily available
credit
•Mass advertising
6. What did people do for entertainment in the
1920s?
• Sports – Baseball, Boxing, and College Football
• Movies – Motion Pictures, silent films with
music and subtitles
• Radio Shows and Music – Jazz, news
programs, comedy, and drama
7. How did attitudes about gender and
sexuality change in the 1920s?
• Importance of romance, pleasure, and
friendship linked to successful marriages
• More women in the workforce
• More women attending college
• Flapper – young, dramatic, and stylish woman
– Smoked, drank, and dress too revealing
8. What was the Red Scare? How did
government officials respond the threat of
communism?
• Red Scare – the fear that Communists, or
“reds,” might seize power led to a nationwide
panic
• The Palmer Raids – a series of raids on the
headquarters of various “radical”
organizations; detained thousands and
deported nearly 600
9. Explain why the Scopes Trial reflected the
influence of religious fundamentalism.
• Clash between evolutionists and creationists
• 1925 Tennessee, Butler Act, outlawed any
teaching of evolution
• Teacher, John Scopes, arrested for teaching
evolution
• Convicted, later overturned
• Show strength of fundamentalists but also
change in culture
10. What factors encouraged the passage of the
18th amendment?
• Long-time temperance movement
• Religious fundamentalists
• Believed banning alcohol would help to
eliminate domestic violence, unemployment,
and divorce
11. What factors led to the Great Depression?
Stock Market
•Many investors bough
stock on margin
•Sharp drop in market
prices left investors in debt
•Bank runs closed banks
and left many in debt
Underlying Causes
•Overproduction and low
interest rates
•Uneven distribution of
income, which led to low
demand
•Depressed farm sector
•Weak international
market with high tariffs
12. How did Herbert Hoover and Franklin D.
Roosevelt differ in their responses to the Great
Depression?
Hoover
FDR
• Believed market would
recover quickly on its own
• Aid should come from local
charities and state
governments
• Aid from Federal
Government would cause
American’s to loose their
“Rugged Individualism”
• Massive government
spending to stimulate
economy (deficit spending)
• Federal aid to consumers
and businesses
• Public works giving jobs to
unemployed
• Reform of banking and
stock market
13. Explain Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to
“pack” the federal court system, the public’s
reaction, and its results.
• Supreme Court found several New Deal
actions unconstitutional
• FDR proposed law that would allow him to
appoint up to six new justices that would
support his New Deal
• Public feared president would have too much
power
• Law failed but scared Supreme Court
14. Was the New Deal an effective response to
the problems of the Great Depression?
• The New Deal provided many necessary
reforms to the banking and stock market
systems
• While it gave relief to some people it alone did
not bring the country out of the Great
Depression