Chapter 22: Cultural Conflict, Bubble, and Bust 1919-1932

Conflicted Legacies of World War I

• What challenges existed for African Americans at the conclusion of WWI?
A wave of racial violence and a struggle for equal rights.
• How did the war effort strengthen labor unions in America?
They had to ramp up productions.
o What was the impact of the National War Labor Board?
Worked on getting rights for workers.
• Why did many Americans begin to question the tactics of labor unions, particularly
strikes?
Disrupts businesses and causes inconveniences
o How did the Supreme Court chip away at labor rights throughout the 1920s?
They ruled anti-labor, weaking unions and empowering employers.
o What was the impact of these events/factors on labor union membership?
They weakened the union power.
• Describe welfare capitalism and its impact on the American economy
Business directly offered better conditions to their employees to prevent unions.
• Describe the origins of the Red Scare
The Bolshevik Revolution.

Politics in the 1920s

• Describe the impact of the Sheppard-Towner Federal Maternal and Infancy Act
First federally funded social welfare program.
• What were the goals of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom?
Permanent peace off of feminist foundations of freedom.
• What challenges/setbacks did women’s activists face throughout the 1920s?
Limited access to power despite suffrage.
• What consequences did the Teapot Dome Scandal have on the Harding and Coolidge
administrations?
Changed the reputation of the administration.
• Describe the factors leading to Calvin Coolidge’s victory in the presidential election of
1924
Assumed Harding’s presidency.
• How did the concept of “Dollar Diplomacy” shape much of America’s foreign policy
throughout the 1920s?
Financial power to extend international influence.
o Why did many Americans denounce Dollar Diplomacy?
 Believed to be imperialist.
• Describe the political ideology of nativism
Protecting the native-born citizens against immigrants.
• What factors led to the passage of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition)?
Abolitionists and immigrants lead to the demand for alcohol to be banned.
• Describe the background of the Scopes Monkey Trial
Outlawed the teachings of any theories not accepted in the Bible.
o How did the trial represent the culture wars of the 1920s?
Split up the sides of the United States who believed the Bible and those who didn’t.
• Why was Herbert Hoover successful in the presidential election of 1928?
The democrats failed to choose one candidate and so he got the majority.
Intellectual Modernism
• What was the Harlem Renaissance?
The period of expression among African Americans in Harlem, NYC.
• Describe the origins of jazz music
Emerged from New Orleans.
o What impact did jazz music have on American culture?
Promoted artistic expression and allowed for social integration.
• What were the goals of Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association
(UNIA)?
Establishing a black governed nation in African and promoting Pan-Africanism.
o How did the UNIA expand the ideas of pan-Africanism?
An ideology for unity and liberation for people of African descent.
• Why did many artists and intellectuals take a critical view of American life throughout
the 1920s?
They saw themes of disillusionment, materialism, and superficiality.
From Boom to Bust
• How did oligopolies begin to dominate the American economy?
A few large companies took control of individual sectors.
• How did consumer products spark the economic expansion of the 1920s?
After the war was over, spirits were high and consumers started buying, which led to the
roaring 20s.
o Despite the boom, what weaknesses existed within the American economy?
It was a bubble and it could lead to a big collapse.
• How did advertising change throughout the 20s?
Used to fuel the economy and put through new media like radio.
o What was the reality vs. myth in regard to how advertisers portrayed American
life?
 Promoted lifestyles and aspirations diverging from the realities of everyday life.
• How did installment plans lead to economic trouble for many Americans?
Drove up prices and inflation and considered a threat to the economy.
• How did the automobile personify the new concept of consumer culture?
Symbol for the consumer culture and its mass production, allowing for the average
American to have a car.
o What were the positives and negatives of the emerging automobile
economy/industry?
Mobility and economic opportunities, accidents and environment concerns.
o How did cars impact American culture and life?
Became a symbol for the average American.
• How did movies transform American culture?
Reflecting on societal values and influencing trends.
• Who were flappers? How did they change the perception of women in America?
Women who embraced a free lifestyle, and made women look more rebellious and free.
• How did America’s cultural changes lead to the idea of soft power?
The idea of enacting change through cooperation fit with the more frivolous lifestyles.
• What signs of economic strain began to show by the end of 20s?
Overproduction and underconsumption of the American economy.
o Although the stock market crash of 1929 would lead to the onset of the Great
Depression, why were many Americans unaware of the magnitude of America’s
pending economic crisis?
They didn’t think the economy would crash.
o How did a sharp drop in consumer spending help deepen the economic crisis?
It led to more people selling their stock into the stock market crash.
o How did the bank failures of the late 1920s and early 1930s worsen America’s
economy?
The banks were a failsafe to the economy and without it they crashed.
• What role did World War I, and its aftermath, play in the onset of the Great Depression?
The relations with other countries worsened the economy.
• Describe the impact that the international gold standard had on the Great Depression
It limited the central banks’ ability to simulate the economy.
• What steps did President Hoover take in attempts to ease the effects of the Depression?
Cooperation between businesses and government and implementing federal programs.
o How did the Depression lead to Franklin Roosevelt’s victory in the presidential
election of 1932?
Emphasized working together and proposed many New Deal ideals.