A.P. U.S. History
Unit Six Study Guide
Emergence of a Strong National
Government
(1896-1945)
Pageant:
Zinn:
Chapters 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35
Chapter 13-16
Documents:
Key Ideas:
-How the Other Half Lives: Jacob Riis
-Shame of the Cities: Lincoln Steffens
-The Jungle: Upton Sinclair
-A Theory of the Leisure Class: Thorsten Veblen
-The Souls of Black Folk: W.E.B Dubois
-The Promise of American Life: Herbert Croly
-Sister Carrie: Theodore Dreiser
-The Great Gatsby: F. Scott Fitzgerald
-Babbitt: Sinclair Lewis
-Vanzetti’s Last Court Statement
-The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck
-Hard Times: Studs Turkel
Progressivism, Populism, Socialism, Unionism, Isolationism, Nativism, Business Cycle, Keynsian
Economics, Welfare State
Perennial Unit Questions:
-What caused Americans to become “radical” at the beginning of the 20th century?
Where they successful in seeking change in the system?
-How did the relationship between the American people and the government change
between 1890 and 1945? Why?
DBQ:
Analyze the responses to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems of the Great Depression.
How effective were these responses? How did they change the role of the federal government?
Historian Pts/
Wikispace Activity:
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Find, post, and analyze a primary source in relation to the Perennial Unit Question
Develop a topic of interest related to the unit
Contribute to Unit 6 vocab or comment on another student’s wiki page
Concepts To Know:
1.
America experienced an immigration boom as increasing numbers of immigrants came from eastern or southern
Europe and poured into America through Ellis Island.
2.
Even though American cities consisted of ethnic islands, the diverse new urban populations attempted to
assimilate as “Americans” in society while maintaining their own ethnic ties.
3.
The large influx of immigrants led to a strengthening of the anti-foreigner feelings in America as some attempted
to limit or discriminate against non “natives.”
4.
In order to combat the loss of individualism and in response to the growing concentration of capital, workers
united in unions such as the Knights of Labor and the AFL to bargain for safer worker conditions, higher wages,
and child labor restrictions.
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While labor unions experienced some successes with their demands in isolated cases, overall labor unions failed
to deliver large changes in working conditions for their members as support for unions fell due to racial divisions
and violent union tactics that shocked the general population.
The Federal Courts and the government almost always supported corporations and trusts at the expense of labor,
farmers, and small business.
Progressivism succeeded Populism as a call for change in America. Progressive ideals and action existed both
outside the government through the actions of social reformers and within the government in the personae of
President Theodore Roosevelt.
“Muckrakers” such as Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Upton Sinclair exposed corruption in government and
industry and denounced waste and oppression in American society.
Social reform groups flourished, led often by women, and sought help for urban poor, temperance, and most of all
women’s suffrage.
In politics, reformers attacked the boss and party rule and financial corruption and sought to make politicians
more responsive to voters at practically every level of government.
President Roosevelt’s policies of balancing the interests of trusts and labor, conservation of America’s natural
resources, and regulating industry for the sake of the consumer made him the first president to actively use
government in favor of the people.
Despite the fact that President Taft actually “busted” more trusts than Roosevelt, he was seen as sedentary
compared to Roosevelt and many felt his policies betrayed the Progressive movement.
In the election of 1912, Roosevelt decided to run again for the presidency but he and Taft split the Republican
vote allowing Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, to win the presidency.
Wilson, although racist in his personal beliefs, was perhaps the most progressive of presidents in action. His
New Freedom policies substantially increased government regulation of business.
As the 1920’s began, the U.S. retreated into selfish isolationism.
The intolerance during WWI continued into the 1920’s with the advent of the Red Scare, the Sacco and Vanzetti
case and the rise of the KKK.
Economically and politically, the 1920’s were marked by a return to “laissez faire,” deregulation of industry, a
higher tariff, and a great bull market in stocks and bonds.
The 1920’s were also characterized by restrictions on immigration (the 1924 Act excluded all Asians) which
gravely insulted Japan and created embittered international relations.
The farm economy entered the 1920’s in a state of depression, which grew worse as time went on.
The popular culture of the1920’s focused on automobiles, consumerism, advertising, sports, buying on credit, and
an opening of sexual morals. White and black Americans were entertained by the new music of Jazz that was a
large part of the Harlem Renaissance.
The “Lost Generation” of American writers rejected traditional literary standards in favor of new codes of morals
and forms of expression.
Prohibition which was unpopular in urban areas, bred evils such as organized crime that were worse than those it
was designed to correct.
In religion, Fundamentalist Christianity became a dominant force behind leaders such as Billy Sunday. The best
example of their influence is the Scopes Trial over the issue of evolution.
In the 1928 election Herbert Hoover won over Al Smith the Democratic nominee, a “wet” and a Catholic, both of
which were major issues in the campaign.
The Tariff was raised to new heights during the Hoover administration with the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. The
collapse of the stock market in 1929 started 10 years of economic crisis known as the Great Depression.
President Hoover believed that the government must restrain its actions to deal with the Depression and allow
business and individuals to solve the problem. His view was that people must not become dependent on the
Federal Government, but must be self-reliant and stay true to the principle of “rugged individualism.”
Hoover’s views led to his defeat by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 election.
A Democratic Congress gave Roosevelt any legislation he wanted to deal with the nation’s economic crisis.
Roosevelt’s New Deal focused on three problem areas: relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt massively
expanded the federal government using John Maynard Keynes’ theory of deficit spending which he called “pump
priming.”
Roosevelt won an overwhelming victory in the 1936 election. Using his victory as justification, he sought to
alter the structure of the U.S. Supreme Court which had declared several New Deal programs unconstitutional.
This led to a bitter fight which Roosevelt lost.
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The loss of the “Court Packing” fight led to serious damage to Roosevelt’s coalition in Congress and with the
American people. Critics such as Huey Long and Father Coughlin charged both that he had gone too far in
strengthening government or not far enough.
By 1939 the problem of the Depression had not been solved by the New Deal. The coming war would end the
Depression. But the New Deal did alter how Americans view government, achieved temporary economic relief
and left America with many social programs.
With war imminent, FDR decided to run for a third term, rejecting past presidential precedent and causing a
debate about American democratic traditions.
Pearl Harbor shocked Americans and led to the restriction of civil liberties for Japanese-Americans although
German and Italian Americans were relatively unaffected due to immigration restrictions in the 30’s.
A conservative attack on FDR’s New Deal and the necessary wartime economic boom effectively ended New
Deal policies and organizations.
The War Production Board managed defense related manufacturing and Americans were required to ration many
products required by the military.
Large numbers of women worked in the growing number of factories during the war, gaining important
experience and pay. However, restrictions on prices and wages angered many unions and led to strikes which
were outlawed in 1943 and the Taft-Hartley Act.
A great migration occurred during the war with the South and the West gaining in population as workers sought
good paying jobs and a comfortable life style.
Vocabulary:
“New” Immigration
Knights of Labor
Great RR Strike
yellow dog contracts
Bill Haywood
Imm. Restriction League
AFL
Homestead Strike
Samuel Gompers
Mother Jones
-----------------------------Muckrakers
Helen Keller
Booker T. Washington
18th Amendment
Pure Food & Drug Act
Bullmoose Party
Women’s Club movement
Alice Paul
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Initiative/Referendum
Woodrow Wilson
“New Freedom”
Comm. On Public Info.
Lincoln Steffens
Jacob Riis
W.E.B. Dubois
Theodore Roosevelt
Gifford Pinchot
“New Nationalism”
19th Amendment
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Northern Securities Co.
Direct primary/recall
Payne-Aldrich Tariff
Federal Reserve Act
War Industries Board
-----------------------------Red Scare
Palmer Raids
A. Mitchell Palmer
Sacco and Vanzetti
Prohibition
The “New” KKK
religious fundamentalism
Billy Sunday
Flappers
New Woman
Jazz Age
Al Capone
A. Philip Randolph
Marcus Garvey
Margaret Sanger
Charles Lindbergh
Teapot Dome Scandal Calvin Coolidge
Wright Brothers
Dale Carnegie
Sheppard-Towner Act Black Tuesday
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Amer. Protective Assoc. National Labor Union
Molly Maguires
IWW
Henry Clay Frick
Pullman Strike
Terence Powderly
Eugene V. Debs
Haymarket Square
Pinkertons
Ida Tarbell
Edward Bellamy
Currency Act of 1900 W.E.B. Dubois
N.A.A.C.P.
Temperance Crusade
“The Square Deal”
The Jungle
John Muir
Sierra Club
Carrie Chapman Catt Hull House
“The Professions”
Jane Addams
William H. Taft
Socialism
Interstate Commerce Act
Robert La Follette
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Newlands Act
Louis Brandeis
George Creel
Espionage/Sedition Acts
Selective Service Act Schenck v. U.S.
Bolshevik Revolution
Chicago Race Riots
National Origins Act
Scopes/Monkey Trial
The Lost Generation
Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes
H.L. Mencken
Herbert Hoover
Federal Trade Comm. Act
Dust Bowl
Bull/Bear Markets of 20’s
American Plan
Scottsboro Case
Birth of a Nation
Clarence Darrow
Sinclair Lewis
New Negro
Emma Goldman
Warren Harding
Henry Ford
McNary-Haugen Bill
Popular Front
Great Crash
----------------------------Hoovervilles
RFC
Andrew Mellon
“rugged individualism” Bonus Army
Franklin D. Roosevelt
100 Days Congress
pump-priming
CCC NRA Wagner Act
WPA
Glass-Steagall Act
TVA
SEC
Frances Perkins
Huey Long
Dr. Townshend
Sit-down strike
American Liberty League
welfare state
Court packing plan
Schechter Poultry case
Harry Hopkins
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Eleanor Roosevelt
Social Security Act
AAA
Father Coughlin
“Black Cabinet”
---------------------------Rosie the Riveter
War Production Board Smith-Connally Act
FEPC
Wartime migration
Japanese internment
Double V
CORE
Zoot-suit riots
“no-strike” pledge
Korematsu v. U.S.
Study Questions:
1.
What patterns of migration and immigration did America experience at the turn of the century? How did
immigrants contribute to American society and culture both in the city and in the countryside?
2.
What was the connection between unionism and socialism at the turn of the century? Were unions and socialists
successful in their demands and actions?
3.
What were the key tools and acts with which progressives attacked monopolies and corporations? Which of the
Progressive presidents lived up to the nickname “trust buster”?
4.
How did women play an important role in the Progressive Movement? What issues were important to them?
Which women are the most important to remember?
5.
How did the views on race relations of Booker T. Washington contrast with those of W.E.B. Dubois? What
important ideas came out of this debate?
6.
Besides “busting” trusts, how was Teddy Roosevelt a “Progressive” president? How was he different than
previous presidents?
7.
How “progressive” was Wilson as president? Explain.
8.
What were three causes of the economic boom of the 1920’s? Explain.
9.
How were immigration and the Red Scare connected? Why were Americans fearful in general in 1919?
10.
How did women’s roles change in the 1920’s and 1930’s? What strengthened women’s role in society?
11.
What caused the economic downfall in the early 1930’s? Why couldn’t it be stopped? Does President Hoover
deserve all the criticism that he receives?
12.
Compare FDR’s first New Deal with the second New Deal. How were they different? Why? Was either
effective? What ended the New Deal?
13.
Who criticized/opposed the New Deal? What role did federal power play in their argument? Why?
14.
What did the New Deal offer African Americans? Were the Thirties and Forties a more tolerant time period than
the Twenties? Why?
15.
How was the home front organized differently during WWII than during WWI? How did American government
reflect FDR’s values by the end of the war?
Essay:
1.
Compare and contrast the attitudes of THREE of the following toward the wealth that was created in the United
States during the late nineteenth century.
-Andrew Carnegie
-Eugene V. Debs
-Horatio Alger
-Booker T. Washington
-Ida M. Tarbell
2.
Analyze the impact of any TWO of the following on the American industrial worker between 1865 and 1900.
-Government actions
-Immigration
-Labor unions
-Technological changes
3.
The Populist and Progressive movements challenged many entrenched institutions in American politics,
economics, and society. To what extent were the Populist and Progressive movements truly a revolution in
America?
4.
How successful was organized labor in improving the position of workers in the period from 1875 to 1900?
Analyze the factors that contributed to the level of success achieved. Use the documents and your knowledge of
the period from 1875 to 1900 to construct your response.
5.
Analyze the ways in which technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American
agriculture in the period 1865-1900. DBQ
6.
To what extent did the role of the federal government change under President Theodore Roosevelt in regard to
TWO of the following:
• Labor
• Trusts
• Conservation
• World Affairs
7.
Analyze the impact of print media (books, magazines, and newspapers) in shaping public opinion and government
policies during the period 1890-1920.
8.
Analyze the ways in which the Great Depression altered the American social fabric in the 1930’s.
9.
How did THREE of the following help cause the Great Depression?
-The Stock Market
-European debts
-The farm crisis
-Consumerism
-Tariffs
10.
To what extent was the New Deal a success?
11.
To what extent and why did the United States adopt an isolationist policy in the 1920’s and 1930’s?
12.
Historians have argued that Progressive reform lost momentum in the 1920’s. Evaluate this statement with
respect to TWO of the following.
-Regulation of business
-Labor
-Immigrants
13.
Presidential elections between 1928 and 1948 revealed major shifts in political party loyalties. Analyze both the
reasons for these changes and their consequences during this period.
14.
Analyze the roles that women played in Progressive Era reforms from the 1880s through 1920. Focus your essay
on TWO of the following.
•
•
•
15.
Politics
Social conditions
Labor and working conditions
Compare and contrast the ways that many Americans expressed their opposition to immigrants in the 1840s-1850s
with the ways that many American expressed their opposition to immigrants in the 1910s-1920s.
16.
Analyze the origins and outcomes of the intense cultural conflicts of the 1920s. In your
response, focus on TWO of the following.
• Immigration
• Prohibition
• Religion
17.
Analyze the impact of technological innovations on the lives of TWO of the following groups. Confine your
answer to the period 1865–1920.
• Factory workers
• Middle-class urban residents
• Midwestern farmers