Section One
Main Ideas
1. In general, how did the views of small-town Americans about morality and personal conduct differ from those of city dwellers during the 1920's?
Small town Americans believed in Christianity and if someone else didn't they judged them harshly, your personality and values was judged based on who your family was and what they did, how they were raised, their families religion and tendancies. In the city you were judged upon what you did as an individual, your religion didn't matter and social relations between men and women were less carefully regulated.
2. How did the Scopes trial demonstrate religious differences between modern and more traditional Americans?
John T. Scopes in his biology class used a textbook outlining Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The theory was accepted by a majority of scientests but fundamentalists were shocked by the idea. They believed it was to deny the Scriptures and to blaspheme against God.
3. What were the important results of Prohibition?
In the 1920's the Eighteenth Amendment- prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages- went into effect. Progresive reformers saw a prime source of corruption in the liquor trade. They felt drunkeness led to crime, child abuse, accidents on the job and similar problems. The use of alcohol actually declined significantly. Although there were things called speakeasis, places where liquor was illegally sold. For some however, liquors illegality added to it's attractiveness, and such persons may have increased their alcoholic consumption. In sophisticated circles the use of illegal liquor was a sign of being modern.
Critical Thinking
4. Prohibition involved two amendments to the constitution, one to establish the measure and one to abolish it. Did these amendments constitute an abuse of the Constitution? Explain.
Yes because if they were going to abolish the measure why would they spend their time establishing it?
Section two
Main Ideas
1. How did the women succeed in getting the federal government to recognize their right to vote?
During the war women took on jobs to serve their country in every possible capacity. They took jobs in steel foundries, chemical plants, and munitions factories. Many went overseas as nurses in the newly created Army Corps of Nurses. Their experiences away from home and traditional women's work gae them a strong moral argument for the right to vote. Women had also protested outside the white house non stop for a year. President Wilson invited them into the White House for hot coffee but did nothing to help. Later the women were jeered and beated by onlookers. Then sent to jail for being public nuisances. They went on a hunger strike and were force fed. Then on January 9th, 1918, President Wilson declared himself in favor of women suffrage and on the 10th the Anthony amendment was passed in the House.
2. How did Americans view the new fashions and hair styles for women in the 1920's?
Americans at first thought it was just a fashion style and it would go away but in the 1920's the skirt was above the womens knees and their hair was cut into a style called the bob or the boyish bob if it was very short. Many women and men were deeply shocked by such behavior. They believed it was a syptom of moral decay. Others thought of it as a symbol of freedom and progress. Young women who adopted all or most new styles were called flappers. Both the higher skirts and short hair styles were sensible, healthy and neat.
3. How did flappers differ from more emancipated women of the 1920's?
More emancipated women brought more to the 20's. They had received upbringings and educations similar to those of men. Progressive Era reforms had sharpened their interest in social, economic, and political problems. Victorious in the suffrage struggle, they had gained self assurance and were beginning to be able to deal with men on equal terms.
4. In the 1920's what importain change took place in the female labor force?
Between the 1910's and the 1930's the proportion of women in the labor force remained about the same at 20%. However, there was a notable change in the kinds of work some women did. The number of female cooks, dressmakers, household servants and farmhands dropped. The number of women doctors, bankers, lawyers, police and probation officers, social workers, and hair dressers rose.
Critical Thinking
5. How did womens suffrage improve American democracy? Explain.
A democracy is by the people for the people. When women were thought of as lower than men that seems more like (for lack of better word) a dictatorship than a democracy. When womens suffrage was successful they had the chance to think for themselves and do for themselves.
Section 3
1. What was the great migration and why did it occur?
In 1910 the black population became more urban than the white population. It began to shift the south from the north. Southern African Americans boarded railroad trains and headed north. Between 1910 and 1920 about 1 million African Americans migrated to such Northern cities as Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. Another 800,000 migrated during the 1920's, known as the great migration. The reason this is is because many cotton fields, where African Americans were traditionally employed in large numbers, were ruined by the bollweevil, an insect that had come to the United States from Mexico. Floods and drought added to the economic difficulties of black sharecroppers and field hands.
2. How did W. E. B. Du Bois's views on improving the position of African Americans in America differ from Booker T. Washingtons views?
W. E. B. Du Boi's views were that blacks should strive towards higher jobs.
