The Century: America’s Time- Boom and Bust
1. Why is Broadway known as the “Great White Way?”
2. What impact did Prohibition have on society & how did it help increase the presence of organized
crime in America?
3. Discuss how the culture of the 1920s broke and disobeyed different boundaries in American society,
especially the accepted roles for women.
4. What is meant by “Modern America”?
5. The 1920s saw a burgeoning of African-American culture and talent, centered in the Harlem section of
New York City. Discuss the contribution of the Harlem Renaissance to American art and literature.
6. Discuss some of the social principles of the Harlem Renaissance. What is meant by the term “NEW
Negro”?
7. In the 1920s, for the first time in the country’s history, more Americans lived in an urban setting than
a rural one. Discuss the process of urbanization and how it affected the country.
8. Compare rural and urban areas in the 1920s.
9. Discuss the role of credit, radio, & advertising in the 1920s.
10. Discuss some of the changes for women in the 1920s.
11. How did the Scopes trial illustrate the clash between science and religion that was a hallmark of the
early century?
12. How did the benefits of the technology and the values & virtues of the past create a strong sense of
nativism in America? What encapsulated racism in the 1920s?
13. What were some of the Ku Klux Klan’s tactics?
14. Discuss Klan membership in the 1920’s?
15. Who was Babe Ruth and what impact did he have on American society?
16. Why was Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight so important to America? What did he represent?
17. Why was Herbert Hoover’s statement in 1929 “American’s were on their way to riches” so ironic?
18. How did the stock market crash on Oct. 29, 1929.
19. How did the crash affect many Americans?
20. Sum up the 1920s in 5 words. What major differences will Americans’ experience in the 1930s as
opposed to the 1920s?