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"Return to Normalcy"
Example of Change: After World War I, the US returned to isolationism and curtailed progressive ideas regarding executive, legislative, and judicial decisions that gave more freedom to businesses. -
18th Amendment
Example of Change: Although the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919, this issue divided the US into "wet," or pro-alcohol, and "dry," or anti-alcohol states. After the 18th Amendment was ratified, the US entered into the Prohibition Era where speakeasies emerged as a way to continue selling alcohol that lasted until the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933. -
"If We Must Die" Poem
Example of Evidence: At the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, Claude McKay wrote this poem. On the one hand, this evidence reflects on the conditions African Americans experienced in terms of violence. On the other hand, this evidence shows activism and agency to resist dying without a cause. -
Red Scare
Example of a historical cause for the resurgence of the KKK: Fear over communists in the US by blaming groups for secularism in US cities and labeling them as outsiders. -
Harlem Renaissance
Example of Empathy: Allows students to learn about African American culture by analyzing music, poetry, art, and literature. Because New York City was the birthplace of this movement, students learn about the mindset of Northern African Americans and how they explained their experiences and activism through different mediums. This movement lasted from 1919-1929; however, music, literature, and culture had a lasting impact on the African-American community. -
1920 Census
Example of a cause for the resurgence of the KKK: From 1910 to 1920, there was a 15% increase in the US population. These people primarily resided in US cities and consisted of a diverse group of people. -
19th Amendment
Example of Change: Women Receive the Right to Vote. -
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The Roaring Twenties
Example of Time: The 1920s -
Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Example of Evidence: On the one hand, this evidence argues against sentencing Sacco and Vanzetti for the alleged crimes. On the other hand, this evidence provides insight into nativism and leading perceptions toward immigrants in the US. -
"Dear Parents"
Example of change: Women worked in the public sphere during WW1 in factories, offices, and as nurses and received the right to vote in 1920. Although many returned to the private sphere, older and younger generations conflicted on the rights women should have. This primary source discussed how young women experienced their new freedom. Defining multiple descriptions of a flapper woman, students see how the younger generation viewed themselves and the importance of cultural freedom. -
TV Advertisement for a Radio
Example of change: Previously, radios were used primarily for sending information in morse code; however, advertisements in the 1920s influenced people's decisions to buy radios for leisure purposes. -
The Second KKK Peaks
Example of Empathy: Technically when involvement in the KKK peaked. Rising Nativism and reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan. Because this looks at a difficult time in US history, students must learn about the mindset White Protestant Anglo Saxons had towards other groups and how they defined an "American." -
Advertisement for Model T
Example of Change: This advertisement revealed mass consumerism and affordability in items once considered luxuries in US society. Throughout the 1920s, more people were able to buy goods on credit, allowing workers to participate in this mass consumerism. -
The Great Gatsby Published
Example of a historical account: Although fictional, this "captured the spirit of the era" and excess of wealth. Digital History emphasized the economic boom accessibility middle-class Americans had throughout the 1920s. https://www.nysl.nysed.gov/collections/roaring20s/ -
The Scopes Trial
Example of a historical account: Digital History provided a well-rounded outlook on the 1920s by discussing the positive and negative changes. One negative change included cultural clashes between fundamentalists and secularists. In one case, issues over evolution taught in school resulted in a Court decision that sided with the fundamentalists and revealed the conservatism from the judges. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=13&smtid=1 -
Stock Market Crashes
Example of Change but also a cause for the Great Depression in the 1930s