Lesson Plan
The Roaring 20s
Cultural Conflicts
Goals- Students will understand how society adjusted to rapid social and economic
changes during the 1920s.
Resources- PowerPoint, Lecture, Stock Market simulation, intro-depression video
Bell Ringer#47- Do you think that there is a generation gap now? Explain why you agree
or disagree. How is the 1920s like modern society?
Objectives- Students will analyze the affects of the social changes after WWI, referring
to the conflicts it caused among people with different beliefs and values. (Standard 5,
Objective2)
Instructional Input Talk about Bell Ringer
 Lecture/ Cultural Conflicts
 Finish the Stock Market Simulation-debrief
 Start depression if time (danger signs/video)
Checking for UnderstandingModelingGuided PracticeClosureExit Slip- What are some of the conflicts that arose during the 1920s, write as many as
you can think of.
Cultural Conflicts
Prohibition
Issues of religion
Racial Tensions
Prohibition
Prohibited all alcoholic beverages when the 18th amendment took effect on January 9,
1920. The Volstead Act was passed by Congress to enforce it, but many Americans still
didn’t follow these laws, and they found various ways around the law to avoid it.
Americans had to get their alcohol somewhere, and this is where we get a brand new type
of criminals called Bootleggers. This term first was used to describe people who hid
liquor in their boots, but during the 1920s it was used to refer to describe suppliers of
illegal alcohol.
Organized Crime
Bootlegging because of the Prohibition amendment during the 1920s contributed to
organized crime. Large and efficient organizations were established to distribute alcohol.
Individuals and gangs were competing with each other to be the best supplier, but this
wasn’t friendly competition, they would often run each other out of town or murder one
another. The streets in America were like a battleground because of the gangs, they had
machine guns and sawed-off shotguns.
Because bootlegging was so successful it expanded to over crimes, like gambling,
prostitution, and racketeering. (Businesses had to pay for protection) Example in
Chicago 157 bombs were set off by racketeers in less than a year. I don’t think that the
founders of the 18th amendment ever imagined that Prohibition would lead to organized
crime.
Al Capone
The most notorious of the gangster organizations was in Chicago, and he had murdered
his way to the top in 1925. This was Al Capone nicknamed Scarface. Even though he
was a ruthless criminal he was able to avoid going to jail time and time again. He made
at least $60 million dollars alone from bootlegging so he found it easy to buy the
cooperation of police and city officials. Many of these gov’t officials even took orders
from him.
Clip of Batman-bad guy
Finally in 1931 with the help of the FBI he was sent to prison, interesting though because
it wasn’t for his crimes, it was for tax evasion. Even though crime leaders like Al
Capone were put behind bars bootlegging didn’t stop and it continued until the 18th
amendment was repealed in 1933.
Issues of Religion
Americans during the 1920s were faced with new challenges regarding religion. Some of
the issues include
1- Science and Technology ere taking a larger role in everyday life and thought
2- War and widespread problems of modern society were causing more people to
question whether God existed or took an active role in human affairs
3- Some scholars were saying that the Bible was a document written by humans and
contained contradiction and even historical inaccuracies
Because of these challenges religious traditionalists published a series of 12 pamphlets
called The Fundamentals. They stated a set of beliefs that have now been called
Fundamentalism. These beliefs outlined traditional Christian ideas about Jesus Christ
and they declared that the Bible was inspired by God, and that it didn’t include errors.
Fundamentalism gained tremendous attention during the 1920s, they even used to radio
to convey their messages.
Evolution and the Scopes Trial
Evolution was a main contributing factor to the rise of Fundamentalism. They were
disturbed by the theory of evolution because it contradicted the history of creation as
stated in the Bible. They pushed for laws to be passed in schools that prevented public
schools from teaching evolution. Many bans of this type were passes and one was
particularly popular in Tennessee because of the Scopes Trial.
Scopes Trial
John T Scopes thought laws like this were unconstitutional so he still taught evolution
and asked a friend to file a suit against him. He did this so he could test the law in the
courts. Was especially popular and influential because of the two attorneys involved.
William Jennings Bryan (a Fundamentalist) volunteered to prosecute Scopes, and
Clarence Darrow volunteered for the defense. (In picture Darrow left and Bryan Right)
This trial had gained a lot of attention and it was the very first trial ever broadcasted over
the radio.
Outcomes
Scopes was fined $100 dollars (later threw out the fine it was too high)
Dramatic climax between Darrow and Bryan (Bryan admitting that the Bible wasn’t all
literal)
A set back for Fundamentalist
Modern Beliefs verses Traditional beliefs
Racial Tensions
This was another clash of the 1920s. Remember the Great Migration we talked about for
the African Americas (they were coming to the north for Jobs ect and I showed you the
%ages of the growth) They were also coming to the North because of increased violence
against them in the South. There was still violence in the North and in the summer of
1919 we get the worst of the race riots to break out. It was known as the “Red Summer”
because these types of riots broke out in about 25 cities nationwide. The bloodiest was in
Chicago- (story of 9 year old AF Am floating over to a whites only swimming area)
Next 13 days Chicago was without law and order, in the end 23 AF Am and 15 Whites
were dead, 537 wounded and 1,000 AF Am homeless.
Revival of the Klan
Contributing to the racial tensions was the revival of the KKK. During Reconstruction
with president Grant the Klan was mostly eliminated, but it was brought back in 1915 by
Colonel William J. Simmons. By 1922 (7 years) had about 100,000 members, get this by
1924 (2years) it was increased to 4 million!!! It wasn’t just in the South it was
everywhere.
(By 1927 Klan activity had been stopped)
Fighting the Klan
The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) rallied
efforts against the Klan. They worked to protect their votes too.
The Garvey Movement- Created the Universal Negro Improvement association. It
aimed to build up AFAm self-respect and economic power. Encourage AF Am to return
to the Mother Land (Africa). Black Pride is a lasting impact even today.
Exit Slip- What are some of the conflicts that arose during the 1920s, write as many as
you can think of.
Stock Market SimulationDebrief
(Talk about the economy/danger signs)
Economy in the late 1920s
Economy appears healthy
General mood of the 1920s was optimism. Stock prices were soaring. Wages had risen
more the 40%, and unemployment was below 4%. Americans thought that “everybody
ought to be rich”. The business world was thriving and Americans trusted it.
Danger Signs
Americans were blinded by all of this prosperity, and they didn’t realize until it was too
late that where were some obvious danger signs about the economy right in front of them.
1- Uneven prosperity (richer richer)
2- A small proportion of families held most of the nation’s wealth (In 1929 .1% of
the population had incomes of more than 100,000, 71% earned less than 2,500)
3- 80% of families had no savings
4- Buying on Credit (major sign of trouble b/c they are getting personal debt)
5- Get rich quick attitude and people started to speculate like crazy. This is the
practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a high gain.
6- Buying on Margin (only buying some of the stock and borrowing the rest)
7- Too many goods, too little demand – the assembly lines were making consumer
goods so quickly that they were piling up, and no one was buying them all. The
automobile is a good example of this overproduction. By the late 1920s it had
slumped and this effected other industries like steel, rubber ect, that depended on
it.
8- Trouble for farmers- they were having troubles long before the stock market
crashed. After WWI prices went down, and farmers couldn’t repay their bebts
(for new farm machinery or land investments)
9- Trouble for Workers- Life hard for factory workers
Lesson Plan
BOOM Times to Hard Times
Crash and Depression
1929-1933
Goals- Students will understand how the Great Depression and the New Deal Affected
the United States.
Resources- PowerPoint, Lecture, depression video and worksheet, New Deal charts, and
Debate materials.
Bell Ringer #48- If a major natural disaster happen right here in AF would you be
prepared? List three precautions you could take to ensure your survival.
Objectives- Students will investigate the causes of the Great Depression, and they will
examine its social effects. (Standard 6, Objective 1)
Instructional Input Talk about Bell Ringer
 Debrief about Stock Market Simulation/ Danger signs
 Watch Stormy Weather (The Century/ America’s Time)
 Lecture/ Depression
 Depression Debate (hand out materials or do the debate if we have time)
 Homework- New Deal Charts
Checking for UnderstandingModelingGuided PracticeClosureExit Slip- Pick one of the causes of the depression and write a paragraph about how you
would prevent this cause from contributing to the Great Depression.
Stock Market Simulation-debrief (talk about the economy/danger signs)
Economy in the late 1920s
Economy appears healthy
General mood of the 1920s was optimism. Stock prices were soaring. Wages had risen
more the 40%, and unemployment was below 4%. Americans thought that “everybody
ought to be rich”. The business world was thriving and Americans trusted it.
Danger Signs
Americans were blinded by all of this prosperity, and they didn’t realize until it was too
late that where were some obvious danger signs about the economy right in front of them.
10- Uneven prosperity (richer richer)
11- A small proportion of families held most of the nation’s wealth (In 1929 .1% of
the population had incomes of more than 100,000, 71% earned less than 2,500)
12- 80% of families had no savings
13- Buying on Credit (major sign of trouble b/c they are getting personal debt)
14- Get rich quick attitude and people started to speculate like crazy. This is the
practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a high gain.
15- Buying on Margin (only buying some of the stock and borrowing the rest)
16- Too many goods, too little demand – the assembly lines were making consumer
goods so quickly that they were piling up, and no one was buying them all. The
automobile is a good example of this overproduction. By the late 1920s it had
slumped and this effected other industries like steel, rubber ect, that depended on
it.
17- Trouble for farmers- they were having troubles long before the stock market
crashed. After WWI prices went down, and farmers couldn’t repay their bebts
(for new farm machinery or land investments)
18- Trouble for Workers- Life hard for factory workers
Depression
The Market Crashes
First Black Thursday October 24, 1929. This was when Americans were realizing that
there was a major problem with the Stock Market and they started to sell their stock.
Next is Black Tuesday 29, 1929. Know this date and know the differences. The amount
of shares that were normally sold quadrupled, and there was a run on the banks to get all
of their money back. The problem was that the money wasn’t there! The stock Market
crashing is called The Great Crash.
Great Depression
This crash triggered a much wider, long-term crises called the great depression. (A
severe economic decline that lasted from 1929 until the United State’s entry into WWII).
Causes of the Great Depression
1. Overspeculation -Speculators started buying stocks with borrowed money, and
then they would buy more stocks with the stocks they had borrowed as collateral
(make a deal to pay with it if you can’t pay up, example____ gives me there cell
phone if they don’t remember to bring in donuts, or ___ gives me their shoe until
they are back from the bathroom, me running out of gas story). The stock
market was bases on borrowed money and lots of optimism.
2. Government Policies- The Federal Reserve system (which regulates the amount
of money in circulation), cut interest rates to spur economic growth. In 1929
they limited the money supply to discourage lending, and this meant that after
the crash there was too little money in circulation to help the economy recover.
3. An unstable economy- Even though the economy appeared healthy it lacked a
firm base. Wealth was unevenly distributed, richer richer ect. More goods then
needed, farmers and workers had not shared in the success.
4. Stock Market Crash was the final straw to crush the fragile structure of
American economy.
Social Effects
Workers and Farmers- lose everything. Thousands lost their jobs and by 1932 more
than 12 million people were unemployed. Business had to close. Farmers couldn’t make
a living off of the lower food prices. Competition for jobs and minorities lost their jobs to
whites. (discrimination)
Banks closed- Thousands of banks closed and depositors couldn’t get their money back.
More than 5,500 banks failed and by 1933 9 million saving accounts had vanished.
Spread of Poverty- Hardest hit were those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Many
were evicted and had to leave their homes. They started to live in Hoovervilles=
homeless shelters. Called this to mock the president and blame him for the crisis.
Dust Bowl- this contributed to farm distress. This wasn’t an economic problem but a
environmental problem in the Midwest. Droughts and Dust storms raged during the
1930s and this left many farmers in terrible conditions. Had to sell their farms and leave
(Okies). More than 400,000 people left OK during the 1930s and about 300,000 left
Kansas. Places hit, N. Dakota, S Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, New
Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma
Health- health care was non-existent and some even died of starvation, there were added
stressors on families.
Impact on the World- US was the world’s leading economy so when we failed the rest
of the whole was bound to follow.
Migrant Mother Story
Look at Migrant Mother Picture and tell them her story
Florence Thompson and her daughters were sitting on the side of the road, when a nicely
dressed lady got out of a nice car and started taking pictures of Florence. She was far
away at first, but kept getting closer and closer. Florence thought who is the lady?
Florence than decided to ignore her. The photographer introduced herself and said she
was taking pictures to document the depression and that the pictures would be private and
never published. YEAH right! This picture is the face of the depression and is known
throughout the world.
Since then a book called Dust Bowl Descent was written. = This is where this new pic
comes from
Dust Bowl Descent was published in 1984 by the University of Nebraska Press, 136
pages, duotone. Photos from the FSA and Bill Ganzel's contemporary photographs are
coupled with oral history interviews to give an idea of what life was like during the
Depression and what has happened to these people since then.
Exit Slip- Pick one of the causes of the depression and write a paragraph about how you
would prevent this cause from contributing to the Great Depression.