APUSH Chapter 34 Essay Questions

1.             The 1920s was a decade of "heroes." Why? Explain why Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford were so greatly admired in the twenties.

2.             Describe the dominant themes of American literature in the 1920s. Explain why these themes prevailed.

3.             Do you think the twenties should be most noted as a decade of

                                a.             anxiety and intolerance?

                                b.             hedonism and liberation?

                                c.             or both?

Cite specific features of life in the twenties to explain your view.

4.             Do you think the "noble experiment" with prohibition did more harm than good, or vice versa? Explain by citing specific consequences of the implementation of the prohibition amendment.

5.             Some historians have posed the tensions of the twenties in terms of a rural backlash against a rising urban America. Do you agree with this proposition? Why or why not?

6.             List at least five major economic and/or technological developments of the 1920s. Then select the three most significant ones and explain why you chose those three.

7.             Explain how the automobile industry in the 1920s had an impact on the national economy similar to that of the railroad industry in the 1870s and 1880s.

8.             Do you think you would like to have lived in the 1920s? Why or why not? Note what you find most alluring about the decade and what you would not have liked.

9.             Which of the postwar literary talents seem to you to be the most interesting? Why? Tell why you have enjoyed reading or would like to read the works of any three of these jazz age writers.

10.           Describe your reaction to the text authors’ assessment of immigration legislation in the twenties as having "caused America to sacrifice something of its tradition of freedom and opportunity, as well as much of its color and variety." Do you agree that immigration restrictions were necessary? Why or why not?

11.           Do you see any hidden dangers in the social and economic life of Americans in the 1920s for which they would one day have to pay? What were they, and in what way were they potentially threatening?