Title: The Jazz Age (1919-1929)
Course: Question Banks

Q: Which then-new technology transformed American culture during the 1920s?
- television (Incorrect. While very early television technologies were in the experimental stages in the 1920s, television did not have a serious impact on American culture until after World War II.)
- steamships (Incorrect. Steamships predate the 1920s by a few decades, although they were still commonly used as a means of transoceanic travel.)
- the telegraph (Incorrect. Although telegraphs were still used to convey news and information in places where telephones had not yet reached, this technology was already over seventy years old by the 1920s.)
- the radio (Correct! Radio became more commonplace in American households in the 1920s. It had a key role in expanding interest in sports such as boxing and baseball.)
A: the radio

Q: What is one way that the popularity of radio had an impact on American culture during the Jazz Age?
- It broke down harmful racial stereotypes. (Incorrect. Popular programs such as <em>Amos & Andy</em> fed into racial stereotypes of Black people as lazy and conniving.)
- It limited the success of motion pictures. (Incorrect. Motion pictures and radio both thrived during the 1920s. In a way, they complemented each other, since motion pictures were generally watched in public while radio was something that was listened to in the home.)
- Unexpectedly, it reinforced traditional values. (Incorrect. Although some popular radio programs featured religious programming, radio usually reinforced the consumerism and culture of celebrity that dominated the 1920s.)
- It diminished regional accents and slang. (Correct! As programs became syndicated and produced for national audiences, regional dialects diminished.)
A: It diminished regional accents and slang.

Q: Which statement best characterizes American attitudes toward the market in the 1920s?
- Thrift and rationing were still valued after their prominence in World War I. (Incorrect. The general prosperity of the 1920s led many Americans to call for “normalcy” and move beyond the privations of wartime.)
- There was a great demand for breaking up monopolies. (Incorrect. In politics, pro-business candidates routinely won elections and the larger progressive movement faltered.)
- The public demanded an inflationary money policy. (Incorrect. Deliberate inflation had been proposed during the Populist movement, but was no longer considered a serious solution to farmers’ chronic debt by the 1920s.)
- An attitude of consumerism dominated the decade. (Correct! Due to general prosperity, a desire to move beyond the sacrifice of World War I, and the advent of modern advertising, Americans valued buying new consumer goods, even if they could not immediately afford to do so!)
A: An attitude of consumerism dominated the decade.

Q: In what way did new radio programs of the 1920s such as Amos and Andy contribute to anti-Black racism?
- The main characters’ interracial relationships provoked intense backlash. (Incorrect. If a radio program or movie had dared to dramatize an interracial relationship, it would have provoked a firestorm of controversy. <em>Amos and Andy</em> avoided deliberately provocative plot lines.)
- The show’s scripts were written with the Klan’s blessings. (Incorrect. Although the Klan was resurgent in the 1920s, they did not often use mass media such as radio dramas. We recognize today how problematic <em>Amos and Andy</em> is, but it was not underwritten by the Klan.)
- The main characters were White workers who lost their jobs to Black workers. (Incorrect. Both Amos and Andy were Black characters, although they were portrayed by White voice actors.)
- They perpetuated stereotypes of Black people as conniving and untrustworthy. (Correct! Episodes of <em>Amos and Andy</em> invariably revolved around a shady get-rich-quick scheme. While the characters were portrayed somewhat sympathetically, the show reinforced ideas of Black people as childlike, foolish, and of dubious moral character. Tellingly, the voice actors for Amos and Andy were White, making this performance something of an audio equivalent of blackface. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Black listeners wrote to the F.C.C. to complain about the show’s unfavorable stereotypes.)
A: They perpetuated stereotypes of Black people as conniving and untrustworthy.

Q: What is one example of anti-Black racism in popular entertainment of the 1920s?
- Black characters on television were portrayed as foolish and untrustworthy. (Incorrect. These stereotypes were plentiful in other media, such as movies or the theater, but television was very much in its experimental stages in the 1920s.)
- The popularity of jazz music among White audiences. (Incorrect. Some of the country’s best jazz clubs were racially segregated, but the popularity of jazz itself is not an expression of anti-Black racism in the 1920s.)
- Black athletes were limited to being “second-stringers” or replacements in Major League baseball. (Incorrect. Major League baseball was racially segregated throughout the 1920s, leaving Black athletes to try their luck in the “Negro leagues.”)
- The prevalent use of blackface. (Correct! Although blackface has a long and sordid history in minstrel shows, it was adapted to newer mediums of entertainment, perhaps most famously in Al Jolson’s film <em>The Jazz Singer</em>.)
A: The prevalent use of blackface.

Q: What is one example of White Americans engaging with Black culture in the 1920s?
- The first Black players joined major league baseball teams. (Incorrect. Even outside the South, the major leagues were racially restricted. A few black players were on such teams before the advent of Jim Crow in the late 19th century, but otherwise, it would not be until the 1950s that a Black player joined a major league team.)
- The first Black baseball stars became popular celebrities in White culture. (Incorrect. While some White people attended and enjoyed games in the “Negro Leagues,” even the most talented Black players could not achieve the celebrity enjoyed by White counterparts such as Babe Ruth.)
- The adaptation of Langston Hughes’ plays for the cinema. (Incorrect. While Langston Hughes was one of the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance, his work did not resonate widely with White audiences until some decades later.)
- The growing popularity of Jazz music. (Correct! Jazz music became one– possibly <em>the</em>– form of fashionable entertainment in 1920s society. Unfortunately, while Black music was a source of revelry, the Black artists who created it were often treated as second-class citizens even in jazz clubs, where Black audiences were not welcome and the artists themselves were required to use side doors.)
A: The growing popularity of Jazz music.

Q: What is one way that the popularity of the automobile changed life for many Black Americans?
- Ford’s plants helped Black workers gain high-skill vocational training. (Incorrect. Ford’s use of the assembly line actually contributed to a decline in craftsmanship. Often workers, regardless of their race, would only know how to perform one small task in the process of assembling an automobile.)
- Because private transportation became viable, public transportation was compelled to desegregate. (Incorrect. Public transportation in the South, such as buses and streetcars, would remain desegregated until the 1950s and 1960s.)
- Black debtors were conscripted to work in the Fordlandia experiment in Brazil. (Incorrect. Henry Ford did attempt an ill-considered factory town in South America, but with the intention of hiring a largely South American workforce.)
- Many Black Americans moved from the South to Detroit to work in one of Ford’s factories. (Correct! The chance to escape Jim Crow and earn the same (fairly competitive) wage as White workers made the prospect of working for Ford an attractive one.)
A: Many Black Americans moved from the South to Detroit to work in one of Ford’s factories.

Q: Which of the following best describes Henry Ford’s philosophy toward workers on his assembly line?
- Keep wages low by pitting Black and White workers against each other. (Incorrect. One policy of Ford’s that historians praise today is his willingness to pay Black and White workers the same rate for equal work.)
- Move your factory to whichever state offers the best tax incentives. (Incorrect. This practice is more indicative of late 20th and early 21st century corporate policies. Frankly, “low-tax” states would have lacked the infrastructure for Ford to conduct his business in the 1920s.)
- Provide company housing for all employees. (Incorrect. By the 1920s, “company towns” with company-owned housing were given low regard, following such events as the Pullman strike.)
- Pay workers high enough wages to buy an automobile for themselves. (Correct! Ford’s assembly line system was designed to)
A: Pay workers high enough wages to buy an automobile for themselves.

Q: What is one way that the popularity of the automobile in the 1920s impacted American culture?
- Americans stopped flying on passenger airplanes. (Incorrect. Both automobiles and passenger flights grew throughout the decade. Moreover, in 1920, there was hardly a passenger air industry to be replaced!)
- The demand for national infrastructure declined. (Incorrect. To the contrary, the popularity of automobiles meant that a greater system of roads and highways (as well as restaurants and inns) were required to sustain the car culture of the 1920s.)
- Americans moved back to rural areas. (Incorrect. Although cars made transportation to and from the most rural parts of America much easier, this did not reverse the long trend toward urbanization.)
- More Americans took vacations. (Correct! The ability to move easily by car increased the popularity of vacations in sunnier destinations such as Florida.)
A: More Americans took vacations.

Q: In what significant way did the usefulness of aviation change during the 1920s and 1930s?
- The first successful flight around the world took place. (Incorrect. In the 1920s, simply flying across the Atlantic was a major accomplishment. It would not be until the next decades that flying around the world became technologically feasible.)
- Aviation was used for military purposes for the first time. (Incorrect. Rudimentary airplanes were used during the First World War. Additionally, with the U.S. and Europe at peace throughout the 1920s, there was not an urgent need to develop the military potential of aircraft.)
- It assisted Black families undertaking the “Great Migration.” (Incorrect. While many Black families moved to the North or Midwest during the 1920s and 1930s, very few indeed did so through air travel.)
- Passenger flights became commercially viable. (Correct! Beforehand, aviation was useful for delivering the mail or for public entertainment. The ability to safely ferry passengers over long distances opened up an entire new industry.)
A: Passenger flights became commercially viable.

Q: Barnstorming was a common activity for pilots in the 1920s. What is the best description of this activity?
- A transatlantic flight that took less than 48 hours. (Incorrect. Transatlantic flights were a sensational accomplishment in the 1920s, but this is not the correct definition of barnstorming.)
- A rigorous schedule for delivering mail by air. (Incorrect. Airplanes were indeed used to deliver the mail across long distances in the 1920s, but this is not the correct definition of barnstorming.)
- Using banners and skywriting for advertisements. (Incorrect. Although advertising made great strides in the 1920s, this activity is not precisely the correct definition of barnstorming.)
- A rousing show to demonstrate pilots’ skills. (Correct! Races and competitions among pilots at these shows helped them to refine the design of these planes.)
A: A rousing show to demonstrate pilots’ skills.

Q: In the 1920s, individuals in which fields became public celebrities for the first time?
- Politicians and Intellectuals. (Incorrect. While the writers of your U.S. history textbook believe that intellectuals should be treated like public celebrities, the consumerist mindset of the 1920s meant that the public’s adoration went in a different direction.)
- Generals and Admirals. (Incorrect. The United States was generally at peace throughout the 1920s. Accordingly, there was not much of a platform for military figures to achieve fame. Additionally, generals and admirals had been figures of great public esteem before in United States history, such as the Civil War.)
- Stage actors and Advertising executives. (Incorrect. Stage actors were well known before the 1920s. If anything, the advent of other forms of entertainment, such as movies and radio, diminished their popularity. Advertising became something of an art form in the 1920s, but those who created the ads remained quite anonymous.)
- Aviators and Sports heroes. (Correct! In part, the spread of radio and film reels allowed individuals in these fields of endeavor to become celebrities at a level not before witnessed in American society. Charles Lindburgh and Babe Ruth, respectively, embodied the fame experienced by men in these fields.)
A: Aviators and Sports heroes.

Q: What was one benefit that Northern cities of the Jazz Age could offer Black Americans, which Southern cities could not?
- Freedom for Black people to congregate for religious worship. (Incorrect. This was one freedom that was generally respected in both the North and the South. Indeed, the Church was the principal aspect of society where Black people could operate in the South without White oversight.)
- A wider range of acceptable careers. (Incorrect. Although life in the North was often safer for Black Americans than in the South, they often found themselves in the same types of menial work they might expect in the South. Thus, the Great Migration did not resolve every problem besetting Black Americans of the 1920s.)
- An escape from segregated public facilities. (Incorrect. While segregation was more customary than legal in the North, there were still many public spaces and neighborhoods where Black Americans were not welcome. As one example, many of the great jazz clubs of the 1920s refused Black clientele even as they required Black musicians to perform.)
- The opportunity for greater political engagement. (Correct! While few White people–North or South–would have considered Black people to be their social equals, the North at least did not restrict voting on a racial basis. Thus, Black Americans who took part in the Great Migration could express themselves politically, both through voting and through organizations and clubs.)
A: The opportunity for greater political engagement.

Q: Which route might a Black family undertaking the “Great Migration” in the 1910s and 1920s take?
- Boston to Chicago. (Incorrect. Neither Boston nor Chicago had a large Black American population at the start of the 20th century, and both were common destinations for Black people participating in the “Great Migration.”)
- California to Texas (Incorrect. Almost all of the migration began in the South, where the overwhelming majority of Black Americans lived at the start of the 20th century.)
- Los Angeles to New York City. (Incorrect. New York City was a common destination for Black people moving through the United States during the Great Migration. However, Los Angeles was not a frequent starting point, as the city did not have a substantive Black population at the time.)
- Alabama to Detroit. (Correct! The “Great Migration” refers to movement from the South and into Northeastern and Midwestern cities. Thus, Alabama to Detroit is one plausible route for the Great Migration.)
A: Alabama to Detroit.

Q: What is one important consequence of the “Great Migration” that Black families undertook in the 1910s and 1920s?
- Decline of New South cities such as Atlanta. (Incorrect. Many of Black families who undertook the “Great Migration” were sharecroppers and did not move away from Southern urban centers such as Atlanta. In short, the Great Migration was not just “South to North,” but also “rural to urban.”)
- A large professional class of Black doctors and lawyers. (Incorrect. The gains made by Black families who migrated were generally not economic and social, but political and cultural.)
- The introduction of sharecropping to the North. (Incorrect. Many of Black families who undertook the “Great Migration” were sharecroppers. However, the vast majority moved to cities where careers in agriculture were neither desirable nor available.)
- The Harlem Renaissance. (Correct! The movement to New York City and the creation of an urban community fostered a vibrant artistic culture we know as the Harlem Renaissance.)
A: The Harlem Renaissance.

Q: Which description fits many of the victims of the Tulsa Massacre?
- Activists attempting to unionize workers. (Incorrect. Few of the Black victims of the massacre were working-class individuals attempting unionization.)
- Immigrants from Catholic-majority countries. (Incorrect. While there was plenty of nativism directed at Catholics in the 1920s, when the massacre took place, the victims were not immigrants from such locales as Italy and Poland.)
- Individuals of mixed race heritage (Incorrect. Although many state laws expressly forbade marriage or sexual relations between different races, mixed-race persons were not a significant factor in the Tulsa Massacre.)
- Well-to-do Black individuals. (Correct! The Greenwood District where the massacre took place was sometimes called a “Black Wall Street,” and Black wealth in Greenwood eclipsed White wealth elsewhere in Tulsa.)
A: Well-to-do Black individuals.

Q: What false rumor led to the violence of the Tulsa Massacre in 1921?
- There were cases of Spanish Influenza in Black neighborhoods. (Incorrect. Black neighborhoods were sometimes portrayed by White people as brimming with disease and uncleanliness, but this does not have a significant effect on the outcome of the Tulsa Massacre.)
- Black schools were teaching the theory of evolution. (Incorrect. The controversy of teaching evolution has far more bearing on the Scopes trial later in the 1920s.)
- The city’s Black community was harboring communists. (Incorrect. Although the “Red Scare'' had taken place only a couple years before, the Tulsa Massacre was not related to anticommunist hysteria. To the contrary, many of its victims were successful business persons and their families, hardly the type to engage in anarchy or Marxism.)
- A Black man had assaulted a White woman. (Correct! The riot began when a 19-year-old Black man was falsely accused of sexually assaulting a White woman.)
A: A Black man had assaulted a White woman.

Q: As opposed to more conventional racial violence in the Jim Crow era, what made the Tulsa Massacre unique?
- Both the victims and the perpetrators were Black. (Incorrect. The Tulsa Massacre was a clear case of White vigilante violence against Black persons.)
- It took place within the boundaries of the South. (Incorrect. Lynching and other forms of racial violence commonly took place in the South, although they were not unknown elsewhere in the United States.)
- The victims were immigrants from Africa and Latin America. (Incorrect. The victims were predominantly Black Americans whose families had been in the United States since the days of the slave trade.)
- The use of military-grade weapons such as machine guns and airplanes. (Correct! One reason the neighborhood of Greenwood was decimated was the use of these technologies to exact an imagined revenge on the city’s Black community.)
A: The use of military-grade weapons such as machine guns and airplanes.

Q: How did the second Klan present itself to the public in the 1920s?
- As a supporter of urban growth in Southern cities. (Incorrect. While the Klan did have a presence in many cities, this description better fits the boosters of the New South in the 1880s, such as Henry Grady.)
- As a group willing to use violence against civil rights activists. (Incorrect. Make no mistake, the Klan did in fact use violence against those trying to further Black rights. However, they presented a more benign image of themselves to the wider public.)
- As a group that helped immigrants assimilate into public life. (Incorrect. The Klan opposed most forms of immigration in the 1920s; whether newcomers were properly “assimilated” or not was beside the point to them.)
- As a middle-class, churchgoing fraternal organization. (Correct! The second Klan modeled itself after the Freemasons and presented itself as participating in a rich civic life that prized traditional American values.)
A: As a middle-class, churchgoing fraternal organization.

Q: What is one way that the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s was different from the original Klan of the 1860s?
- The Klan endorsed acts of terrorism. (Incorrect. This descriptor is common to both iterations of the Klan, rather than just the 1920s second Klan.)
- The Klan sought out Catholic membership. (Incorrect. The Klan’s racism was complemented by its nativism. Accordingly, they believed that the United States was a Protestant Christian nation, and were not pleased by the large numbers of Catholic immigrants that had become citizens in the previous generation.)
- Members of the Klan were drawn from the very poorest White populations. (Incorrect. The second Klan was very heavily middle-class in its demographics.)
- The Klan achieved popularity outside the South. (Correct! The Klan’s bigotry became more inclusive in the 1920s, and now encompassed a distrust of immigrants and Catholics. Additionally, the Klan’s opposition toward Black social and political progress)
A: The Klan achieved popularity outside the South.

Q: Which event of the 1920s did the most to end the influence of the Ku Klux Klan?
- The Harlem Renaissance (Incorrect. While the renaissance disproved many of the Klan’s assumptions about Black culture, it did little to diminish the Klan’s standing.)
- The Sacco and Vanezetti trial (Incorrect. To the contrary, the trial increased the level of anti-immigrant nativism that fostered the second Klan.)
- The Federal Anti-Lynching Act (Incorrect. Although such an act was proposed throughout the 1920s, the threat of a Southern filibuster prevented its passage. A Federal law declaring lynching a hate crime was finally passed in 2022.)
- The Great Depression (Correct! Since the Klan needed member dues to operate, this economic catastrophe meant that fewer Americans could pay their fees. Subsequently, the Klan’s organizational apparatus fell apart with the onset of the Great Depression.)
A: The Great Depression

Q: Which division in American society did the Scopes or “Monkey” Trial of 1925 highlight?
- Flappers vs. Sheiks (Incorrect. While this was also a key part of 1920s culture, flappers and sheiks were, respectively, the female and male participants in freewheeling urban society.)
- Catholics vs. Protestants (Incorrect. Although Catholic teaching was historically accepting of evolution theory, this isn’t quite the correct answer. Moreover, Protestants themselves were heavily divided over evolution, with many fundamentalists disagreeing with the theory while more liberal Protestants supported it.)
- Immigrants vs. Natural-born Americans (Incorrect. This tension surfaced in a different trial from this era, the Sacco and Venzetti trial, where Italian immigrant anarchists were charged with murder.)
- Urban vs. Rural values (Correct! Throughout the trial, more cosmopolitan observers thought the judge and the prosecution were ignorant and backwards, while rural Tennesseans felt that the teaching of evolution was an unwelcome intrusion of modernity and secularism into their culture.)
A: Urban vs. Rural values

Q: The fundamentalism at the heart of the Scopes or “Monkey” trial was a reaction against what set of ideas?
- The racial hierarchies proposed by Social Darwinism. (Incorrect. Many of the Tennesseans who opposed the teaching of evolution would not have opposed the racial hierarchies proposed by Social Darwinism as a part of natural law.)
- New celebrity preachers such as Billy Sunday. (Incorrect. Sunday reinforced many of the messages of fundamentalism.)
- The lax morals of the Lost Generation. (Incorrect. While many of the Tennessee folk would have disapproved of the themes of the Lost Generations’ literature, this had no direct bearing on the Scopes trial.)
- Modern religious ideas which saw the Bible as metaphorical. (Correct! “Liberal” Christianity, heavily influenced by ideas circulating in Germany in the early 20th century, suggested that parts of the Bible which ran counter to scientific reasoning might be metaphorical or allegorical. Fundamentalism was an uncompromising rejection of these ideas, intending to return the faith of Christianity to its “fundamental” precepts.)
A: Modern religious ideas which saw the Bible as metaphorical.

Q: What was one important consequence of the Scopes or “Monkey” trial?
- Evolution could once again be taught in Tennessee schools. (Incorrect. The actual trial ended by upholding Scopes’ firing from his job for teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom. The trial did not overrule the law prohibiting such teaching, and indeed at that level of the court system, it lacked the authority to do so.)
- Movie cameras were no longer permitted in federal courtrooms. (Incorrect. Although there is some surviving video and audio footage of the Scopes trial, this was not a part of its long-term significance.)
- A movement of Midwestern Black families to the state of Tennessee. (Incorrect. Insofar as any internal migration was taking place at the time, it was in the opposite direction. Black Americans in Tennessee would have been migrating toward Midwestern cities such as Chicago or St. Louis. This would have had little to do with the trial concerning the teaching of evolution in public schools.)
- Fundamentalism seemed discredited and retreated from the public view. (Correct! The rhetoric of lawyer Clarence Darrow and journalists such as H.L. Mencken succeeded in making conservative rural Protestants come across as ignorant and backwards.)
A: Fundamentalism seemed discredited and retreated from the public view.

Q: Which way of life was common to the “New Woman” of the 1920s?
- A rejection of consumerism. (Incorrect. Consumerism, and the desirability of new products that might save labor and time, were at the heart of the “New Woman’s” experience in the 1920s.)
- Increased social activism in areas such as civil rights. (Incorrect. The “New Woman” was more inclined to personal fulfillment and consumerism. In this sense, it was a movement away from the social consciousness that typified many middle-class women during the progressive era.)
- Advocacy of temperance. (Incorrect. The “New Woman” archetype usually included indulging in drink and public life in ways that would have been scandalous to early generations.)
- A rejection of earlier forms of morality and respectability. (Correct! The “New Woman” moved away from the protective morality expected of women in the late 19th and early 20th century. The “New Woman” had career opportunities and a more vibrant, carefree social life.)
A: A rejection of earlier forms of morality and respectability.

Q: What element of life for women actually declined over the course of the 1920s?
- Use of birth control. (Incorrect. Although birth control for women would not become commonplace until the 1950s and 1960s, women such as Margaret Sanger lobbied with some success to make women more aware of contraceptives and other forms of birth control.)
- Range of careers available. (Incorrect. Although women were formally or informally blocked from many lines of work, retail and industrial work became available alongside more customary fields such as nursing and teaching.)
- Independence of movement. (Incorrect. With the advent of the automobile, women–whether escorted or not–enjoyed unprecedented freedom of movement in the 1920s.)
- Voter participation. (Correct! This may seem counterintuitive, given that they had only recently had their right to vote enshrined in the 19th amendment, but voter participation declined for both men and women in the 1920s.)
A: Voter participation.

Q: What facet of life for “New Women” of the 1920s changed the most dramatically?
- The level of political equality with men. (Incorrect. Once the 19th amendment was passed in 1919, validating the right of women to vote nationwide, political advancements for women came to a standstill. Measures such as the Equal Rights Amendment, that , did not generate widespread interest, as economic and cultural demands took priority for many women.)
- The amount of leisure time available. (Incorrect. Although leisure was more valued, the actual amount of leisure time did not rise appreciably. Even labor-saving devices such as washing machines, dryers, and electric ovens meant that these tasks were performed more often and with higher expectations, rather than opening up new pockets of free time.)
- Access to racially integrated public spaces. (Incorrect. Although “New Women” were often enamored of jazz music, even places that showcased Black artistry were not racially integrated during this period of time.)
- Style and fashion. (Correct! Flappers were easily identified by their short “bob” haircuts, as well as looser styles of clothing that allowed more skin to be shown and emphasized a slender and willowy physique.)
A: Style and fashion.

Q: In what areas of American culture did the Harlem Renaissance most directly contribute?
- Baseball and Boxing. (Incorrect. Although Black athletes made strides in both sports despite rampant segregation, the Harlem Renaissance is not primarily concerned with competitive athletics.)
- Science and technology. (Incorrect. These developments might have been more prominent at a Black institution such as Tuskegee, rather than the more lived-in and residential feel of 1920s Harlem.)
- Religion and theology. (Incorrect. While there are undoubtedly some spiritual elements in much of the Harlem Renaissance canon, this was not primarily a religious movement.)
- Literature and Art. (Correct! Figures such as Langston Hughes and Claude McKay invigorated Black New York with a vibrant flourishing of the arts.)
A: Literature and Art.

Q: What belief was common to the “New Negro” of the 1920s?
- Vocational training should take priority over art and literature. (Incorrect. The “new Negro” was a key component of the Harlem Renaissance. While not dismissive of learning an industrial trade, this community was prolific in its flourishing art and literature scene. The belief that one should prioritize industrial and vocational training is more closely associated with Tuskegee founder Booker T. Washington.)
- Public facilities should remain “separate but equal.” (Incorrect. As Black America underwent a cultural resurgence in the North, virtually all Black people in the movement recognized the absurdity of the “separate but equal” line that justified Jim Crow segregation.)
- Black people should return to the South once civil rights legislation had been passed. (Incorrect. Most participants in the Harlem Renaissance relished their new surroundings in the North. While some looked at aspects of life in the South with a certain degree of nostalgia, such as Zora Neale Hurston, there was no suggestion about a permanent return to the South in this field of literature.)
- Viewing Africa as a common homeland for all Black people. (Correct! Pan-Africanism, as suggested by intellectuals such as Marcus Garvey, invigorated Black life, and instilled a pride in one’s ancestral homeland.)
A: Viewing Africa as a common homeland for all Black people.

Q: What statement best reflects the underlying philosophy of the Harlem Renaissance?
- Reconstruction policies must be returned to the South. (Incorrect. The Harlem Renaissance was not without its political implications, but returning the South to military rule, as was the case in the 1860s and 1870s, was not a common belief among those taking part in the Harlem Renaissance.)
- Free enterprise would elevate New York’s Black population. (Incorrect. Conservative economic policies such as free enterprise were not common to Black artists engaged in the Harlem Renaissance. If anything, many saw unhindered free enterprise as underscoring the discrimination many of them experienced.)
- Racial minorities ought to band together in order to achieve upward mobility. (Incorrect. The writers of the Harlem Renaissance preferred to engage more fully in their own culture rather than form some kind of cross-cultural alliance with other marginalized races in the United States.)
- Black people should not seek to emulate White culture. (Correct! The Harlem Renaissance encouraged Black artists and writers to be proud of their Blackness, and create from uniquely Black perspectives.)
A: Black people should not seek to emulate White culture.

Q: What was one positive development stemming from Prohibition?
- A decrease in violent crime. (Incorrect. In the wake of Prohibition, organized crime filled a vacuum by illegally (and violently) importing, selling, and bootlegging alcoholic beverages.)
- A growing respect for law and order. (Incorrect. Although overindulging in alcohol is not always conducive to law and order, Prohibition led many Americans to illegally purchase, bootleg, or sell contraband liquor.)
- Unity within the Democratic Party. (Incorrect. As suggested by its disastrous 1924 convention, Democrats were deeply divided between urban voters trying to roll back Prohibition and rural voters who generally favored temperance.)
- A decrease in diseases such as cirrhosis. (Correct! Although alcohol was nonetheless consumed during Prohibition, limited access to intoxicating beverages led to a decline in liver diseases such as cirrhosis.)
A: A decrease in diseases such as cirrhosis.

Q: How did Prohibition divide a major American political party?
- Democrats were divided between free silver supporters and “hard money” advocates. (Incorrect. By the 1920s, when Prohibition was in force, the free silver issue was no longer of much importance. Its attendant questions of inflation and money supply had little to do directly with Prohibition.)
- Republicans were divided between Black and White voters. (Incorrect. Black voters (at least those who could legally and safely vote) constituted a small minority of Republicans, and any disagreements between them had little to do with Prohibition.)
- Republicans were divided between progressives and conservatives. (Incorrect. This better explains the state of the Republican Party around 1912, where Theodore Roosevelt led a breakoff Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party.)
- Democrats were divided between its northern urban and Southern rural wings. (Correct! Northern Democrats were often Catholics who resented the Protestant moral reform at the heart of Prohibition.)
A: Democrats were divided between its northern urban and Southern rural wings.

Q: What is one unintended consequence of the 18th Amendment, also known as Prohibition?
- A unified Democratic Party. (Incorrect. To the contrary, the question of Prohibition drove a wedge between an urban, often heavily Catholic wing and its rural, Southern, and quite Protestant wing. This came to a head at the 1924 convention for the Democrats, where a standstill between these wings meant that a nominee wasn’t chosen until the 103rd ballot.)
- A religious revival called the Third Great Awakening. (Incorrect. Although Prohibition was seen by its supporters as an important goal toward making the United States a more godly country, Prohibition itself did not instigate a religious revival.)
- The decline of segregation in the North. (Incorrect. Although the Jazz Age stimulated interest in Black culture among White urbanites, segregation by custom or law did not decline as a result of Prohibition.)
- A marked rise in organized crime. (Correct! Gangsters such as Al Capone used illegal means–and frequently violence–to meet the widespread but illicit demand for alcohol throughout the 1920s.)
A: A marked rise in organized crime.

Q: What traits were common to Lost Generation writers?
- Anti-imperialism and sympathy for minority races. (Incorrect. Whatever their personal politics, views critiquing race relations and America’s role in the world were not at the forefront of Lost Generation literature.)
- A disdain of cities and idealizing rural America. (Incorrect. To the contrary, writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald were captivated by the thriving urban culture of the 1920s. Lost Generation writers did not usually touch on rural settings.)
- An embrace of big business and consumerism. (Incorrect. Insofar as the Lost Generation writers addressed consumerism, it was often with a critical lens and touched on the shallowness of pursuing money and material goods.)
- Living abroad, and disillusionment with American society. (Correct! Feeling unmoored from modern developments in American society, many writers in this clique wrote and lived in other countries.)
A: Living abroad, and disillusionment with American society.

Q: This movement of writers had, in the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, “grown up to find all gods dead, all wars fought, all faith in man shaken” after World War I. What was this movement called?
- The Transcendentalists. (Incorrect. The Transcendentalists thrived well before the Civil War and favored communion with nature and passive resistance.)
- The Beatniks. (Incorrect. The Beatniks were critics of material culture and middle-class respectability, but they thrived during the prosperity of the 1950s.)
- The Naturalists. (Incorrect. This movement, favoring realism in art and literature, was more prominent toward the end of the Gilded Age.)
- The Lost Generation. (Correct! This quote demonstrates the disillusionment with mainstream, middle-class society that was common to the Lost Generation writers.)
A: The Lost Generation.

Q: How did many of the Lost Generation find inspiration for their writing?
- Enjoying Black culture during the Harlem Renaissance. (Incorrect. While many Lost Generation writers harbored less racial prejudice than their forebears, racial themes were not prominent in their body of work.)
- By engaging with the natural world, particularly the American West. (Incorrect. Most of these writers dwelt on urban themes, and were not especially inspired by the vistas of the American West.)
- By moving to “automobile suburbs” that were replacing older “streetcar suburbs” (Incorrect. Most Lost Generation writers were urban denizens by definition. They might have condemned the banality of suburban life, but it is unlikely that they found much inspiration there.)
- Living in other countries for extended periods of time. (Correct! Many of the Lost Generation writers were expatriates who lived the high life in other countries, due in part to their disillusionment with the United States after the First World War.)
A: Living in other countries for extended periods of time.

Q: Which of the following best describes the scandals of the Harding administration?
- Harding’s supporters used violence to suppress the vote in the South. (Incorrect. Harding’s Republican Party was in no shape to do such a thing in the South. What violence there was tended to be directed at Black voters who intended to vote Republican at the time.)
- Harding refused to resign the presidency after a series of health setbacks. (Incorrect. Harding’s decline in health happened suddenly, with a heart attack followed shortly by a fatal stroke while he was on a railroad journey through the West.)
- Harding accepted bribes and kickbacks from labor unions. (Incorrect. Harding himself was free from any direct wrongdoing of this magnitude. Also, Harding was no friend of labor unions and would probably have not been in league with them.)
- Harding’s subordinates abused their positions for private gain. (Correct! Teapot Dome is the most well remembered of the Harding administration scandals. The Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, awarded a company a favorable no-bid contract for drilling oil in exchange for a princely sum of cash.)
A: Harding’s subordinates abused their positions for private gain.

Q: Which slogan best characterizes the agenda of the Warren Harding presidency?
- A Square Deal for all Americans (Incorrect. This motto came from Theodore Roosevelt, and suggested using the apparatus of government to level some of the inequalities faced by Americans.)
- Make the World Safe for Democracy. (Incorrect. This slogan was a favorite of Woodrow Wilson, and used to justify American involvement in the First World War.)
- Forty acres and a mule. (Incorrect. This was an aspirational slogan used by the Freedmens’ Bureau during the Reconstruction era.)
- Return to normalcy. (Correct! Harding believed the best course for the country was to undo the spirit of reform, experimentation, and foreign involvement that characterized his predecessor, Woodrow Wilson.)
A: Return to normalcy.

Q: How would President Warren Harding’s political views be best characterized?
- The government should uplift its least privileged citizens. (Incorrect. This philosophy is more in line with the progressive movement, which was in decline by the 1920s. Indeed, Harding’s quote about “returning to normalcy” was seen as refuting the ambitions of progressivism.)
- The best way to secure peace is to prepare for war. (Incorrect. Harding’s policies in terms of foreign policy favored undoing some of the arms buildup that had led to World War I, and favored international cooperation.)
- Stay out of partisan politics and hire honest men and women. (Incorrect. Although a few of Harding’s appointees were men of great talent, such as Herbert Hoover, Harding showed a severe lapse in judgment by choosing others such as Albert Fall, who was responsible for the Teapot Dome scandal.)
- The government should be run like a business. (Correct! Harding’s cabinet had a number of accomplished businessmen, including Andrew Mellon and Herbert Hoover.)
A: The government should be run like a business.

Q: Which phrase best describes Coolidge’s guiding beliefs as president?
- We must return to normalcy. (Incorrect. This is a good representation of Coolidge’s predecessor, Warren Harding, but Coolidge’s unapologetic admiration for the business world was hardly a return to a normal state of affairs.)
- Make the world safe for democracy. (Incorrect. This slogan is associated with the United States’ justification for entering World War I.)
- Free coinage of silver. (Incorrect. This policy is more common to populists of the late 19th century and early 20th century, such as William Jennings Bryan.)
- The chief business of America is business. (Correct! Coolidge believed that it was private industry, rather than the government, that was the most positive and productive force in American society.)
A: The chief business of America is business.

Q: Which of these best characterizes Calvin Coolidge’s policies as president?
- Radical Republican. (Incorrect. While Coolidge did belong to the Republican Party, the Radical Republicans sought to remake the South during the Reconstruction era and broadly expand rights to Black Americans. While Coolidge had a degree of sympathy for Black Americans during the Jim Crow era, this was not in any respect a priority of his administration.)
- Free-silver populist. (Incorrect. By the 1920s, the free silver issue had essentially died out, and Coolidge’s politics rarely proposed putting more direct power into the hands of ordinary people.)
- Progressive reformer. (Incorrect. Both Harding and Coolidge sought to roll back some of the reforms and experiments in government regulation conducted by the Wilson administration.)
- Pro-business conservative. (Correct! Coolidge was skeptical of the wisdom and efficacy of using the government to address inequality in society, and thought that the country would run best if businesspersons could operate unhindered.)
A: Pro-business conservative.

Q: What policies best characterize the foreign policy of Harding and Coolidge?
- Dollar diplomacy. (Incorrect. This mixture of aid and intervention abroad was more characteristic of William Taft’s foreign policy.)
- A commitment to join the League of Nations. (Incorrect. The League of Nations had been Woodrow Wilson’s dream, although he failed to convince Congress to permit the United States to join. Republicans of the 1920s–including Harding and Coolidge–were strongly against the United States joining the League.)
- “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” (Incorrect. This quote–often associated with outright imperialism–is connected to Theodore Roosevelt.)
- International cooperation and disarmament. (Correct! The Kellogg-Briand treaty was emblematic of these efforts. Earlier historians sometimes characterized U.S. policy during these years as “isolationism,” but the U.S. frequently engaged with other countries, albeit on its own terms and for its own interests.)
A: International cooperation and disarmament.

Q: Wynn is assigned with writing a research paper on a topic of her choice from the 1920s. Which of the following research questions is neither too narrow or too broad?
- Who completed the first solo transatlantic flight? (Incorrect. This question is too narrow - it can be answered simply. A better question would be “What was the impact of the advent of transatlantic flight on the transportation revolution?”)
- What were the political tensions of the 1920s? (Incorrect. This question is too broad. It requires investigating multiple issues, over multiple groups of people. A better question would be “In what ways did the rise of nativism shape American politics in the 1920s?”)
- What was the great migration? (Incorrect. This question is too narrow - it can be answered with a single sentence. A better question would be “What were the push and pull factors that contributed to the Great Migration?”)
- What was the impact of Ford’s assembly line on America’s industries and workforce? (Correct! This question is somewhat narrow in focus - it asks specifically about Ford’s assembly line and its impact on not society as a whole, but on the American labor force. However, it is not too narrow - there is enough material there to be explored and considered.)
A: What was the impact of Ford’s assembly line on America’s industries and workforce?

Q: Estrella needs to find authoritative and credible sources for her paper. How would she determine what is a scholarly article vs. what is a popular article?
- Scholarly sources are only available in a library, while popular sources can be found online. (Incorrect. Your library will often have digital access to scholarly journals and using your online library is a great way to find scholarly sources.)
- Scholarly sources appeal to a reader’s emotions and are more entertaining to read. (Incorrect. Popular articles appeal to emotions and are entertaining to read, as opposed to scholarly articles which are meant to share research in the academic community. Therefore, scholarly articles can often be more challenging to read because of specialized vocabulary and detailed explanations.)
- Scholarly sources include lots of images and may have ads and don’t include references. (Incorrect. This describes popular articles. They often have ads because they are included in magazines, blogs, or newspapers.)
- Scholarly sources are written by experts or researchers in a field and have citations and bibliographies. (Correct! Scholarly articles are written by experts and are often reviewed by a panel of experts as well. They are most often found in academic journals.)
A: Scholarly sources are written by experts or researchers in a field and have citations and bibliographies.

Q: Mason is writing a research assignment on the changing roles of Women in the 1920s. He is gathering research, but is having a hard time figuring out which of his sources are most credible and authoritative. Which of the following sources are most likely to be scholarly?
- An article called “How Flappers of the Roaring Twenties Redefined Womanhood” on History.com (Incorrect. While popular articles like this one can still be useful in helping you understand your topic and develop questions and understand the issues and terminology that will allow you to further focus your research, it is not an example of a scholarly article. That doesn’t mean that the information in it is incorrect, but its main objective is to entertain, and it may not include a citation of sources and has not been peer reviewed.)
- The page on the Roaring Twenties on Wikipedia (incorrect. Wikipedia can be a great place to start your research and understand your topic and the terminology and issues involved. However, it is not an example of a scholarly article.)
- A Time Magazine from 1926 in your library’s historical documents (Incorrect. While this is an example of a primary source, and can be a valuable addition to your research, <em>Time Magazine</em>, no matter how old it is, is not an example of a scholarly source.)
- An article entitled “The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s” in The Journal of American History (Correct! <em>The Journal of American History</em> is a very well respected scholarly journal of American History. It is overseen by a board of historians, its articles are written by researchers and experts, and are peer reviewed.)
A: An article entitled “The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s” in The Journal of American History

Q: Kaleo is evaluating the quality of his research sources to determine if they are relevant and useful by using the SIFT method. Which of the following is the first step?
- Search for scholarly articles (Incorrect. The SIFT method helps you evaluate the sources you already found to determine if they are relevant and useful.)
- Summarize the main point of the article (Incorrect. Summarization is not part of the SIFT method.)
- Start writing your ideas (Incorrect. Before using the sources to start writing your assignment, you need to evaluate your source, beginning with thinking critically about your own biases.)
- Stop and think critically. (Correct! The first step is to stop and think critically to ensure that you are not finding sources that confirm your own biases or that you are too emotionally charged.)
A: Stop and think critically.

Q: Katie knows that thinking critically about her sources is an important part of conducting historical research. Which of the following statements best describes the most important part of thinking critically?
- Finding sources that align with your point of view (Incorrect. The point of thinking critically is to consider a wide variety of sources and to be careful that you don’t just gather information that confirms your own biases.)
- Getting a second opinion on your research (Incorrect. Getting a second opinion can always be helpful, but thinking critically is a skill you can develop on your own by having an open mind and asking questions.)
- Using scholarly articles (Incorrect. It is important to use scholarly articles in your research, but it is not a substitute for thinking critically, asking questions, and evaluating your own emotions and biases on a topic.)
- Asking questions (Correct! Asking who, what, when, where, and why will help you understand, evaluate, and evaluate the information and ideas you are looking at.)
A: Asking questions

Q: Leah is trying to determine if one of her sources is trustworthy and reliable. She knows she can use the CRAAP method as a way of evaluating her source. However, she can’t remember what the P stands for – what is the last criteria she should use as she determines if her source is appropriate for her research paper?
- Point of View (Incorrect. It is important to consider sources from various points of view, so this is not one of the criteria in the CRAAP method.)
- Pragmatic (Incorrect. This is not one of the criteria used in the CRAAP method to determine if a source is reliable and trustworthy)
- Primary (Incorrect. Both primary and secondary sources are useful when conducting research, so this is not one of the criteria used in the CRAAP method.)
- Purpose (Correct! It is important to evaluate what the purpose of the source is. Is it to entertain? Inform? Share research? Make money? Promote an organization?)
A: Purpose