The 1920s

Question 1

Why did the Progressive Movement end?

Answer 1

• The American involvement in WWI fractured political unity.
  -Many social and political divisions reemerged,
• Progressives grew disillusioned with reform efforts.
• The government’s actions to suppress civil liberties during the war also alienated many.

Question 2

Espionage Act

Answer 2

• A federal law passed in 1917 which was used to suppress actions and expressions against the war effort during World War I.
  -It criminalized actions such as spying, obstructing the draft, and making false statements about the war.

Question 3

Sedition Act

Answer 3

• A federal law passed alongside the Espionage Act that criminalized disloyal or profane language directed towards the U.S. government or military and criminalized any speech intended to incite mutiny or refusal of duty.
• This law was enacted during World War I to suppress dissent against the war effort.

Question 4

Schenck v U.S

Answer 4

• A court case in 1919 that established the “clear and present danger” test in order to limit free speech during wartime.
• The case involved Charles Schenck, who was convicted for mailing documents urging resistance to the draft during World War I.
• The Court upheld his conviction, ruling that speech creating a clear and present danger of harm was not protected by the First Amendment.

Question 5

Fundamentalism

Answer 5

• A conservative religious movement characterized by a strict adherence to sacred texts and doctrines.
  -It emphasizes interpreting everything literally, the sacred texts are without any errors and contradictions, and a rejection of liberal theological perspectives.
• Many fundamentalist movements emerge as a response to what they perceive as a decline in moral values or an intrusion of secularism on religious traditions.

Question 6

The Scopes Trial

Answer 6

• A highly publicized trial in 1925 where science teacher John Scopes was prosecuted for violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which made it illegal to teach any theory that denied the scripture.
• The trial pitted religion against science.

Question 7

The 18th Amendment

Answer 7

• An amendment ratified in 1919, which established the criminalization of manufacturing, selling, or transporting alcohol.
• Despite its intent to curb alcohol consumption, reduce crime, and improve public health, Prohibition led to an increase in illegal activities, including bootlegging and the establishment of speakeasies.
• It was ultimately repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.

Question 8

1919 Strikes

Answer 8

• Significant labor strikes that occurred across America, reflecting post-war economic tensions and unrest among workers demanding better conditions.
• The strikes included the Great Steel Strike, the Seattle General Strike, and the Boston Police Strike.
• Due to the association between unions & strikes and the increasing emergence of socialism, these strikes increased red scare fears.

Question 9

Bloody Summer

Answer 9

• A period of widespread racial violence in the United States during the summer of 1919.
• It involved numerous race riots and massacres across the country and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, destruction of property, and deepened racial tensions.

Question 10

The Great Migration

Answer 10

Many African Americans moved from the rural South to urban areas in the North, leading to increased competition for jobs and housing.

Question 11

Red Scare

Answer 11

• A period of intense fear of communism and socialism in the United States, particularly after World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
• It led to widespread paranoia, the suppression of civil liberties, and the persecution of those suspected of radical beliefs.

Question 12

The Palmer Raids

Answer 12

A series of raids conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice Mitchell Palmer in 1919 and 1920. The raids primarily targeted immigrants especially those from Southern and Eastern Europe and people suspected of being involved in communist, socialist, or anarchist movements. Palmer arrested them without warrants or due process, and many were deported without trials.

Question 13

The FBI

Answer 13

During the Red Scare, it played a crucial role in identifying and combating perceived threats in the United States. The agency conducted extensive surveillance on suspected communists, radicals, and even civil rights leaders, often violating civil liberties.

Question 14

The Roaring 20s

Answer 14

The decade of the 1920s, characterized by a period of economic prosperity, widespread adoption of new technologies, significant cultural changes, social and political tensions.

Question 15

Consumerism

Answer 15

The obsession and pressure of the public to but goods and services especially ones they they cannot afford.

Question 16

The Harlem Renaissance

Answer 16

• A cultural, social, and artistic explosion that occurred in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s.
• This period was marked by a renewed sense of racial pride and a flourishing of African American arts, including music, literature, and visual arts.
• The movement also saw a surge in the migration of African Americans from the South to the North, with Harlem becoming a popular destination.

Question 17

Flappers

Answer 17

-Young, unmarried women of the 1920s who embraced a new, more independent and unconventional lifestyle.
- They challenged traditional gender roles by adopting short skirts, bobbed hair, wearing makeup, and engaging in activities like dancing, smoking, drinking, and driving which were previously considered unladylike in society.

Question 18

Klu Klux Klan

Answer 18

• A white supremacist hate group that reappeared in the 1920s, that has a history of promoting racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia fueled by fears of immigration, social change, and rising nativism.
  -They would assert their influence through acts of violence, intimidation, and propaganda.

Question 19

Nativism

Answer 19

A policy favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, often leading to anti-immigrant sentiments and policies. This ideology often involves negative perceptions and attitudes towards immigrants, which can be rooted in economic, social, and cultural anxieties.

Question 20

Silent Sentinels

Answer 20

• Women organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party to protest from 1917 to 1919.
• They would specifically target President Woodrow Wilson by protesting in front of the White House, demanding he support women’s suffrage.
• They nonviolently picketed (standing outside a workplace or other location during a demonstration or protest), held signs, and faced arrest for obstructing traffic.

Question 21

The 19th Amendment

Answer 21

The constitutional amendment ratified in 1920 that granted women the right to vote, marking a significant victory for the women’s suffrage movement. It officially prohibits any U.S. citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Question 22

The Johnson-Reed Act (Immigration Act of 1924)

Answer 22

• A US federal law that severely restricted immigration, particularly from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
• The act allowed only 2% of the number of people of the nationality living in the US in 1890 to immigrate each year, which disproportionately favored immigrants from Northern and Western European countries.
• The law also barred the entry of all those ineligible for naturalized citizenship, which barred the entirety of Asia.