Download Culture in the 1920s 65 - White Plains Public Schools

Culture in the 1920s
US History/Napp
Name: __________________
“As the 1920s dawned, social reformers who hoped to ban alcohol – and the evils
associated with it – rejoiced. The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, banning the
manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, took effect in January of 1920. Billy
Sunday, an evangelist who preached against the evils of drinking, predicted a new age of
virtue and religion. Sunday’s dream was not to be realized in the 1920s, as the law proved
unenforceable.
America changed dramatically in the years before 1920, as was revealed in the 1920
census. According to figures that year, 51.2 percent of Americans lived in communities with
populations of 2,500 to more than 1 million. Between 1922 and 1929, migration to the cities
accelerated, with nearly 2 million people leaving farms and towns each year. Small-town
attitudes began to lose their hold on the American mind as the city rose to prominence.
City dwellers read and argued about current scientific and social ideas. They judged one
another by accomplishment more often than by background. City dwellers also tolerated
drinking, gambling, and casual dating – worldly behaviors considered shocking and sinful
in small towns. For all its color and challenge, though, the city could be impersonal and
frightening. Streets were filled with strangers, not friends and neighbors. Life was fastpaced, not leisurely. The city demanded endurance.
One vigorous clash between small-town and big-city Americans began in earnest in
January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. This amendment
launched the era known as Prohibition, during which the manufacture, sale, and
transportation of alcoholic beverages were legally prohibited. Reformers had long
considered liquor a prime cause of corruption. They thought that too much drinking led to
crime, wife and child abuse, accidents on the job, and other serious social problems.
Support for Prohibition came largely from the rural South and West, areas with large
populations of native-born Protestants. At first, saloons closed their doors, and arrests for
drunkenness declined. But in the aftermath of World War I, many Americans were tired of
making sacrifices; they wanted to enjoy life. Most immigrant groups did not consider
drinking a sin but a natural part of socializing, and they resented government meddling.
Eventually, Prohibition’s fate was sealed by the government, which failed to budget enough
money to enforce the law. The Volstead Act established a Prohibition Bureau in the
Treasury Department in 1919, but the agency was underfunded. To obtain liquor illegally,
drinkers went underground to hidden saloons and nightclubs known as speakeasies – so
called because when inside, one spoke quietly, or ‘easily,’ to avoid detection.”
~ The Americans
Public disregard for Prohibition indicate
2. What was a major result of Prohibition in
(1) that the American film industry has
the United States during the 1920s?
great influence on public opinion
(1) restriction of immigration
(2) that the system of checks and balances
(2) growth of communism
does not work
(3) destruction of family values
(3) that attempts to legislate public morality
(4) increase in organized crime
may be met with strong resistance
(4) that Americans do not respect the law
“The 1920s saw the emergence of new values. Greater mobility and material comfort had
a key impact on social patterns and beliefs. Many groups, especially women, the young,
and African Americans, felt a new sense of power and freedom. Others felt threatened and
sought to preserve traditional values.
At the start of the 1920s, rural American continued to regard the rise of urban society
with suspicion. The best examples of the effort to defend traditional values were
Prohibition and the Scopes Trial.
1-
2-
3-
4-
5-
1234-
Prohibition
The Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial
Protestant reformers
1- Tennessee passed a
often saw liquor as
law that forbade
the cause of poverty
teaching Darwin’s
and crime
theory of evolution
In 1919, the states
because it
ratified the
contradicted the
Eighteenth
Biblical account of
Amendment, banning
creation
the sale of alcoholic
2- In 1925, John Scopes,
drinks.
a biology teacher, was
By 1933, most
tried and convicted
Americans saw this
for teaching evolution
‘experiment’ as a
3- The trial illustrated
failure because many
the clash between
people had refused to
new scientific theories
accept the ban on
and some older
alcohol.
religious beliefs
The demand for
illegal liquor
stimulated the growth
of organized crime in
the 1920s.
~ The Key to Understanding U.S.
Prohibition was
History
and Government
repealed by the
Twenty-first
Amendment
New Restrictions on
Immigration
1- After World War I,
nativist feeling
against immigrants
led Congress to
restrict immigration
from Southern and
Eastern Europe
2- The Immigration
Acts of 1921, 1924,
and 1929 established
quotas for each
nationality based on
America’s existing
ethnic composition
3- Under this system,
Great Britain,
Ireland, and
Germany were
allowed the greatest
number of
immigrants, while the
number of ‘New
Immigrants’ was
severely limited
4- Asian immigration
was barred altogether
What had a key impact on American social patterns and beliefs in the 1920s?
________________________________________________________________________
What groups felt a new sense of power and freedom?
________________________________________________________________________
Why did some Americans feel threatened in this time period?
________________________________________________________________________
What did some Protestant reformers believe about liquor?
________________________________________________________________________
5- Discuss the Eighteenth Amendment.
________________________________________________________________________
6- Why did many Americans by 1933 view the Eighteenth Amendment as a failure?
________________________________________________________________________
7- What had the demand for illegal alcohol stimulated?
________________________________________________________________________
8- Discuss the Twenty-first Amendment.
________________________________________________________________________
9- What law had Tennessee passed regarding Darwin’s theory of evolution?
________________________________________________________________________
10- Who was John Scopes and why was he convicted?
________________________________________________________________________
11- What did the Scopes Trial illustrate in American society?
________________________________________________________________________
12- What feelings had increased after World War I?
________________________________________________________________________
13- Define nativism.
________________________________________________________________________
14- Discuss the Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929.
________________________________________________________________________
15- What is an immigration quota?
________________________________________________________________________
16- What countries were allowed the greatest number of immigrants?
________________________________________________________________________
17- Why do you think these countries were allowed the greatest number of immigrants?
________________________________________________________________________
18- Who do you think were the “New Immigrants”?
________________________________________________________________________
19- What immigration was banned?
________________________________________________________________________
20- Why do you think this immigration was banned?
________________________________________________________________________
21- Was this preferential treatment of some immigrants and not other immigrants
ethnocentric?
________________________________________________________________________
22- Do these issues regarding immigration still exist today?
________________________________________________________________________
23- Does the conflict between religion and science still exist today?
________________________________________________________________________
24- What was most surprising to you on the chart?
________________________________________________________________________
25- How do you feel about Prohibition?
________________________________________________________________________
26- How do you feel about the Scopes Trial?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
1. The 1920’s are sometimes called the
“Roaring Twenties” because
(1) foreign trade prospered after
World War I
(2) the United States assumed a
leadership role in world affairs
(3) political reforms made government
more democratic
(4) widespread social and economic
change occurred
2. Speaker A: “To preserve our American
culture, people whose national origins do
not match the origins of our nation’s
founders must be refused admission.”
Speaker B: “. . . let us admit only the best
educated from every racial and ethnic
group . . .”
Speaker C: “. . . there is an appalling
danger to the American wage earner from
the flood of low, unskilled, ignorant,
foreign workers who have poured into the
country . . .”
Speaker D: “Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free . . .”
In the early 20th century, most labor
unions supported the view of
(1) Speaker A
(2) Speaker B
(3) Speaker C
(4) Speaker D
3. Which feature of the immigration laws
of the 1920’s was different from prior
laws?
(1) Quotas were set to limit
immigration from many countries
(2) Preference was granted to Chinese
immigrants
(3) Refugees from war-torn Europe
were encouraged to enter the
United States.
(4) Efforts were made to stop illegal
immigration from Latin America.
4. Which events best support the image of
the 1920’s as a decade of nativist
sentiment?
(1) the passage of the National
Origins Act and the rise of the
Ku Klux Klan
(2) the Scopes trial and the passage
of women’s suffrage
(3) the Washington Naval
Conference and the KelloggBriand Pact
(4) the growth of the auto industry
and the Teapot Dome Affair
5. In the United States, the decade of the
1920’s was characterized by
(1) a willingness to encourage
immigration to the United
States
(2) increased consumer borrowing
and spending
(3) the active involvement of the
United States in Europe
6. The 1925 trial of John Scopes reflects
the conflict between
(1) science and religion
(2) isolation and international
involvement
(3) traditional roles and new roles for
women
(4) Prohibition and organized crime
7. What was a major result of Prohibition
in the United States during the 1920s?
(1) restriction of immigration
(2) growth of communism
(3) destruction of family values
(4) increase in organized crime