Name:
Date:
Period:
The 1920s
Directions: Be concise, coherent and to the point in your answers, no fluff. Make sure each question is
answered completely and in full sentences (where applicable). For many of these questions you will need
to look the answers up online and in outside sources, use citations at the end of your answer – author’s last
name and page number or title of web site. Add a works cited page to the back of your paper, MLA
formatted. DO NOT COPY and it must be typed!
Chapter 25 – Transition to Modern America (pgs. 622-647)
1. What are the pros and cons of mass production during the 1920s era?
2. Due to the automobile boom, what changes were seen in the industry from 1922 to 1927?
3. Other than the automobile, which other industry also grew rapidly during the 1920s? Explain how
this industry leads to changes in American life.
4. Briefly describe the importance and/or important changes in the following industries:
a. Radio
b. Film
c. Chemical Engineering
d. Corporations
e. Marketing
f. Mass Production
5. Describe the “hidden” reasons for economic weakness in the 1920s.
6. Who thrived the most socially and economically during this era? Why were they so prosperous?
7. What did the 1920 census reveal in reference to urban versus rural life? What were the pros and cons
of life in the city?
8. Explain how the following events impacted women:
a. World War I
b. Suffrage/Feminist Movement
c. Equal Rights Amendment
9. What is a “flapper”? How do flappers challenge the code of Victorian morality?
10. What changes/strains are seen in the family during the 1920s? Why do these changes/strains
occur?
11. Why do sporting events become so popular during the 1920s? Name the sports which saw an
increase in participation or attendance (at games).
12. What was the central message of the writings of the 1920s?
13. What was the Harlem Renaissance? Why was this movement significant?
14.
Author/Poet
Ezra Pound
Significant Writings
Meaning & Connection to 1920s
T.S. Eliot
Ernest Hemingway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sinclair Lewis
Edith Wharton
Zona Gale
W.E.B. DuBois
Claude McKay
Langston Hughes
15. Describe the changes in art and music. In particular, how did African Americans influence the
change in music?
16. Who was Marcus Garvey? What were his beliefs on “negro equality”? Why did he form the
United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)?
17. What was Marcus Garvey’s impact on the era?
18. Why were there social tensions between people in rural areas and the city? What does this social
tension lead to in the era?
19. What is the Red Scare? Describe the Palmer Raids and the Sacco-Vanzetti Trail. What did both
events indicate about American society?
20. What is the Volstead Act? Name the pros and cons of Prohibition and how it impacted the era.
21. Why did the Ku Klux Klan increase in membership during the 1920s? How were they different
than the Klan of the post Civil War era? Why did they rapidly decline by the mid-1920s?
22. What is nativism? How does this lead to the adoption of the National Origins Quota Act? What
does the Act do?
23. What was the fundamentalist challenge? How did this challenge impact the 1920s “new” culture?
24.
President
Warren G. Harding
Republican Party
Calvin Coolidge
Republican Party
Herbert Hoover
Republican Party
Philosophy on the Presidency
Political Policies
25.What was the Teapot Dome Scandal? What impact did it have on the Harding administration?
26. Describe the Republican policy toward each of the following items:
a. Tariffs
b. Taxes
c. Farming Crisis
27. What is the Republican overall philosophy toward the economy? In the 1920s, what eventually
happens to the government’s role in the economy? Why does this occur?
28. Who were the two candidates in the Election of 1928? Why was the Election significant?
29. Describe the Scopes “Monkey” Trail. What is the background of the case? Who are the
participants? What is the verdict and why was fundamentalism discredited?