United States History
1920s Unit
Name: ___________________________________ Per: ____ Date: __________________
EQ: Were the 1920s a time of Conservatism or Change?
Directions: Using your problem solving and technology skills, research and respond to the
following questions in your own words. (Do not just copy and paste!) Please do not use
Wikipedia. When the question asks for images, please cut and paste the images in a word
document and print the images out at the end of your quest.
Your answers should be inserted in the spaces after each of the following questions. Save your
work to your documents or a flash drive and when you are finished print out a copy to be
turned in for review.
1) What was the Sacco and Vanzetti case about (who, what, where, when, why)? Find a
political cartoon about the Sacco and Vanzetti case, copy and paste it in the space
below, and interpret its meaning.
2) Find an image of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Describe it. What does the
image portray? You will need to research the rise of the KKK in the 1920s to answer the
following question:
Why do you think the Ku Klux Klan gained popularity in this decade?
3) Google Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, and then identify one
accomplishment or interesting fact about each of their presidencies. (Include an image
of each president)
4) Find an image of the any 1920s automobile –cut and paste– and then describe the
impact (economic, cultural, and social) of the automobile on America in the 1920s).
5) What were some of the new consumer appliances that Americans could purchase in the
1920s? Find three images and cut and paste. How did these technologies change daily
life for Americans?
6) What was Prohibition? Describe some of the problems associated with Prohibition
including bootleggers, speakeasies, and organized crime.
Do you think Prohibition was a success or failure? Why?
7) Find a political cartoon or image surrounding the Scopes trial – copy and paste it in the
space below – and then describe its meaning.
What was the trial about (who, what, where, when, why)?
8) Find an image of a flapper. Flappers are one of the enduring images of the 1920s – why
do you think they have come to represent the era?
9) What new careers were available to women in the 1920s? (list at least three)
10) Find an image of the Spirit of St. Louis and describe its significance.
11) What was the Harlem Renaissance? (Describe it using your own words) Find a Harlem
Renaissance poem from Langston Hughes, a painting by Jacob Lawrence, and a song by
Louis Armstrong, “Duke” Ellington, or Bessie Smith. Cut and paste image or lyrics.
12) Find an image of the Great Migration. What was the Great Migration all about? (who,
what, where, when, why).
13) What was the Emergency Quota Act of 1921? What was it designed to do? In your
opinion, was this act symbolic of nativism? Why or why not?
14) Find a graph which gives you an idea of the economy in the 1920s. Cut and paste. In the
space below, interpret what the graph says about the state of the economy in the
1920s.
15) Find an image of a movie poster from the 1920s and copy and paste it. In your opinion,
does the poster tell you anything about the culture of the 1920s?
16) Find an image of at least two fads that were popular during the 20s such as flag-pole
sitting and marathon dancing, etc. What do these fads tell you about the mood of the
1920s?