Unit 7A General Questions
Progressives
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What were the key reform "impulses" that characterized progressivism?
Who were the muckrakers? Identify some of the major muckrakers and their writings. How did they prepare the
way for Progressivism?
What contribution did the Social Gospel movement make to progressivism?
Identify the main points of the philosophy of the Social Gospel movement. What contributions did this movement
make to Progressivism?
What were the characteristics of the so-called new professionalism? How did it express itself in the social sciences?
Why did so many upper- and middle-class women become progressives?
What was meant by the "new woman?"
What organizations/clubs helped to politically organize women during the Progressive Era?
What role did Margaret Sanger play in challenging gender restrictions in the early 20c?
What were the principal arguments for and against women's suffrage?
How did the debate over the "sphere" of women shape the suffrage movement? Which position was probably the
most influential in finally obtaining the vote for women? Why was the West different?
What happened to the women's movement after suffrage was accomplished in 1920?
How did progressive reform impact the operation and structure of city government?
What was the basic purpose of the initiative, referendum, direct primary, and recall?
Who was Robert La Follette? Why did his state, Wisconsin, become known as "The Laboratory of Democracy?"
What was the relationship between the weakening of political parties and the rise of interest groups?
What were some of the progressive reforms pushed by organized labor?
By what means did some urban political machines, such as Tammany Hall, manage to survive the progressive era?
Why was progressivism especially strong in the western states?
Today, anti-liquor laws are often thought of as conservative. Why was prohibition regarded as a progressive
issue? What forces usually opposed prohibition?
Most progressives abhorred the urban disorder resulting from the influx of immigrants, but they differed about the
appropriate response to the problem. Which one dominated and why?
How did Teddy Roosevelt's earlier life prepare him to take the role as the youngest President in American history?
What were Teddy Roosevelt's assumptions about the proper role of government, especially with regard to economic
concentration?
What was T. R.'s theory of "trust busting?" To what extent would he be considered a "trust buster?"
How did the publication of Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle, in 1906 affect the safety of the meat that people eat today?
Identify the major laws passed during T. R.'s administration which effectively expanded the regulatory powers of the
federal government.
What changes did T. R. initiate in the traditional role of the federal government regarding labor disputes? How did
he deal with the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902?
What was Roosevelt's program for the conservation of natural resources? Who were the sources of opposition to
this program?
What was Roosevelt's lasting effect on national environmental policy?
What was the legacy of George Perkins Marsh?
How did T. R. modernize the role of the American Presidency?
Contrast the personalities of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.
What were the major political problems that confronted Taft during his presidential administration? How did his
actions, and lack of action, contribute to the division of the Republican Party?
Why was Teddy Roosevelt pushed into open opposition to Taft?
What role did Speaker of the House, "Uncle Joe" Cannon, play in the fragmentation of the Republican party by
1910? What other issues aided in this fragmentation?
Why did T. R. break from the Republicans to form the Progressive [Bull Moose] Party in 1912?
What were the key issues of the Progressive [Bull Moose] Party platform in 1912? What did T. R. mean by a "New
Nationalism?"
Identify the main points of Woodrow Wilson's "New Freedom."
Explain the philosophical contest between the "New Freedom" and the "New Nationalism in the 1912 presidential
campaign?
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What were the provisions of the Clayton Antitrust Act? How did it benefit labor?
What was the purpose of the creation of the Federal Trade Commission?
How does the Federal Reserve System work? Why is it considered to be one of the important domestic
achievements of Wilson's administration?
Why was a graduated income tax needed in 1913?
What was Wilson's tariff policy? How was it a departure from the tariff policies of the Gilded Age presidents?
Why did Wilson oppose women's suffrage?
After the initial spate of New Freedom legislation, why did Wilson back away from reform? What led him later in
his first term, to advance reform once again?
World War I
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Explain the structure of the European alliance system on the eve of World War I. Who were the member nations of
the Central Powers and of the Allied Powers?
What were the major long-term causes of World War I?
Trace the evolution of President Wilson's position on how America should deal with the conflagration in Europe?
What forced Wilson out of his professed stance of true neutrality?
What were the basic principles of "Wilsonianism?"
What were the points made by anti-war advocates in the peace movement?
Why did Germany rely on U-Boats? Why did it back off from the unrestricted use of them early in the war?
How did the German U-Boat campaign affect US public opinion and actions?
Why were more Americans sympathetic to the Allied side in the war?
What events finally prompted President Wilson to ask for a declaration of war in the spring of 1917?
What were the reasons for the US going to war that President Wilson enumerated in his speech to Congress on April
2, 1917?
How did the United States raise the troops necessary for the massive war effort?
What roles did women and African Americans play in the military? How were African-American troops treated?
What impact did the American Expeditionary Force [AEF] have on the ground war in Europe?
Identify the new technologies that the two sides employed in World War I. What were the consequences of this new
killing power?
On what two methods did the Wilson administration depend to finance the war effort? How did the war cost
compare with the typical peacetime budgets of that era?
How did the Wilson administration organize the wartime economy? List the government boards responsible for the
economy during World War I?
Why were there labor shortages at this time? How was this problem resolved?
How were things German perceived by Americans during World War I?
What was the impact of World War I on the lives of women and African-Americans?
What role did the Committee on Public Information play during World War I? What tactics did they employ to
propagandize the American people into unquestionable support of the war effort?
In what ways did the government use the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act to suppress criticism of the
war? What were the penalties for violating these Acts?
Who were the major targets of the Alien and Espionage Acts?
What other means of suppression were used by state and local governments as well as private groups?
Create a Supreme Court Case Analysis Sheet on these rulings: Schenck v US and Abrams v US.
Into what three parts could the Fourteen Points be characterized?
Why did the Allies ultimately win World War I?
How did the great global influenza pandemic of 1918 contribute to the end of the war?
How did President Wilson confront radicalism abroad immediately following World War I?
What was the diplomatic philosophy that President Wilson brought to the Paris Peace Conference?
Who were the major players at the Paris Peace Conference? What were the political agendas that each man pushed
forward?
What obstacles did Wilson face in getting the European leaders to accept his approach to peace? What domestic
development weakened his position?
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Identify the main provisions of the Versailles Treaty. What were its main weaknesses?
What were the political divisions within Congress regarding the ratification of the Versailles Treaty? What issues
led to the failure to ratify it?
How much of the blame for the Treaty's defeat must be laid on Wilson himself?
Why didn't World War I "make the world safe for democracy?"
Why was the Versailles Treaty a great disappointment? How did it create as many problems as it solved?
How were labor unions treated during World War I?
What was the economic and social impact that the war's end had on women, African-Americans, labor unions, and
radicals?
How did African-American military and industrial contributions during the war raise black aspirations? How did
whites react to this?
What inspired the Red Scare of 1919-1920? Was the threat real or imagined?
What did the results of the election of 1920 indicate about the mood of the American people?
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Roaring Twenties
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How did the adoration of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and, especially, Charles Lindbergh illustrate the
ambivalence with which many Americans regarded the decline of the "self-made man?"
What social forces combined to disenchant many intellectuals and give them the label of "The Lost Generation?"
How did the arts reflect the values of the 1920s? How did they challenge those values?
How was the "Flapper" reflective of those challenges?
Why was the term "Jazz Age" often used to describe the 1920s?
Identify the key black writers of the Harlem Renaissance. What were some of the important literary themes of
these writers? How was it a "rebirth?"
What changes took place in the way Americans used their time during the 1920s?
What role did the movies play in American life in the 1920s?
Why were the 1920s considered by some to be a Golden Age in sports?
What were the effects of Prohibition? How did criminals like "Scarface" Al Capone take advantage of it?
What were the changes in immigration laws brought about the the National Origins Act and subsequent
legislation? What ethnic groups were favored?
How did the resurrected Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s differ from the Reconstruction-era Klan? How influential
was this new Klan?
Compare and contrast the views of the modernists and the fundamentalists. How did Darwinism and the Scopes
trial symbolize the conflict between the two?
How were the cultural tensions of the 1920s reflected in the Democratic Party?
What features of President Warren G. Harding's personal background lead to his political reputation?
Describe the political scandals in the Harding administration.
Why did Herbert Hoover push so strongly for the creation of trade associations?
Why was President Coolidge called "Silent Cal?"
How did Coolidge establish the "Coolidge prosperity?"
Identify the candidates and the issues of the 1928 presidential election. Why did Governor Al Smith of NY lose?
Make a list of the long-term causes of the great stock market crash of 1929. What was the "last straw?
How did the weakness of consumer demand contribute to the severity of the depression?
What impact did domestic debt factors have on the American economy?
What role did U. S. policies on trade and international debt play in worsening economic conditions?
What weaknesses in banking helped lead to the Great Depression? What happened to the banking system early in
the Depression?
What happened to the banking system and GNP in the three years after the stock market crash of 1929? What
economic statistic best represents the human costs of the depression?