The 1920s A Unit Plan

Written ByMike Mazzie

Fall 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction Page 3Curriculum Standards Page 4Curriculum Grid Page 5Grading Rationale Page 6Grade Tracker Page 7Lesson Plan 1 – Intro/Postwar Troubles Page 8Lesson Plan 2 – Republicans in Power Page 10Lesson Plan 3 – A Nation Divided Page 12Lesson Plan 4 – Life in the 20s Page 15Lesson Plan 5 – Creative Era Page 17Appendices

Appendix 1-1 “A Turbulent Decade” Graphic Organizer Page 19Appendix 1-2 “The Jazz Age” Graphic Organizer Page 21Appendix 1-3 Primary Source Analysis Page 23Appendix 2-1 Drawing Conclusions Skill Worksheet Page 25Appendix 2-2 Chapter 11 Review Worksheet Page 27Appendix 2-3 Chapter 11 Quiz 1 Page 29Appendix 2-4 Chapter 11 Quiz 2 Page 30Appendix 2-5 Chapter 11 Quiz 3 Page 31Appendix 3-1 Rubrics for Presentations/Posters Page 32Appendix 4-1 Chapter 12 Review Worksheet Page 35Appendix 4-2 Chapter 12 Quiz 1 Page 37Appendix 4-3 Chapter 12 Quiz 2 Page 38Appendix 4-4 Chapter 12 Quiz 3 Page 39Appendix 5-1 Langston Hughes Excerpts Page 40Appendix 5-2 James Weldon Johnson Excerpts Page 41Appendix 5-3 Claude McKay Excerpts Page 43Appendix 5-4 Countee Cullen Excerpts Page 44Appendix 5-5 Claude McKay Excerpts #2 Page 45Appendix 5-6 Zora Neale Hurston Excerpts Page 46Appendix 6-1 Final Assessment Page 49

References Page 50

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INTRODUCTION

This unit will cover the time period known as the “Roaring 20s”. The 1920s have been called the “gateway to a modern America” and students will learn how the United States moved from a war machine to a prosperous nation at peace in the world. However the world peace was shaky and the glittering life of the era masked an underlying fear at home. Fear of communism, immigrants, and minorities arose as the cultural and social norms were challenged by men and women of all walks of life. On the economic front, war weary voters wanted “normalcy” and elected Republican leaders who promised a return to the normal life as well as a promise for more promotion of big business by the government. Technology was rapidly changing both the business world and the consumer world as the assembly line helped churn out the latest invention: the automobile. A mass culture developed, fueled by radio and a “renaissance” in Harlem led by African American artists, musicians, and writers. All of the good times were to come crashing down by the end of the decade when the economy collapsed.

Through the lessons presented here, students will gain an appreciation and understanding of the era including its relevance and similarities to modern history. There will be lectures, class discussion, group activities, written assignments, quizzes and a final test that includes objective as well as essay questions.

This time period is full of fascinating events and people, and ideally, students will have fun as they relive the Jazz Age.

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CURRICULUM STANDARDS11.2 Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.

1. Know the effects of industrialization on living and working conditions, including the portrayal of working conditions and food safety in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

2. Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity, and class.

11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.

11.5 Students analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s.

1. Discuss the policies of Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. 2. Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks

on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey's "back-to-Africa" movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks.

3. Examine the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act (Prohibition).

4. Analyze the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the changing role of women in society. 5. Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special

attention to the work of writers (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes). 6. Trace the growth and effects of radio and movies and their role in the worldwide diffusion of popular

culture. 7. Discuss the rise of mass production techniques, the growth of cities, the impact of new

technologies (e.g., the automobile, electricity), and the resulting prosperity and effect on the American landscape.

Content Standards Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

11.2.2 Students analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. XX

11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty. XX

11.5.1 Discuss the policies of Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover

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11.5.2 Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that prompted attacks on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey's "back-to-Africa" movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of

XX XX XX

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organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks. 11.5.3 Examine the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead Act (Prohibition).

XX XX

11.5.4 Analyze the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment and the changing role of women in society.

XX XX

11.5.5 Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special attention to the work of writers (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes). XX XX

11.5.6 Trace the growth and effects of radio and movies and their role in the worldwide diffusion of popular culture.

XX XX

11.5.7 Discuss the rise of mass production techniques, the growth of cities, the impact of new technologies (e.g., the automobile, electricity), and the resulting prosperity and effect on the American landscape. XX

CURRICULUM GRID

GRADING RATIONALE

Learning and demonstrating competency about history can take a variety of

forms. I believe that a core of knowledge is necessary for the understanding of historical

events. Therefore in my classroom, the student will be expected to know what happened

but also will be expected to explain how and why these events happened. Finally, the

student will be able to evaluate and assess the meaning of historical events during the

time in which they occurred and the trends and impacts for the future. In this way, the

student will come to a full and appreciative understanding of history.

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This class will be more than lecture. The student will have opportunity for

participation in discussions, role plays and debates. The student will be asked to write

both factual and creative papers as well as journals. And finally the student will be

exposed to a variety of visual and audio media to enhance their view of history. Testing

and evaluation will be based on a variety of methods to allow each individual the chance

to showcase their strengths. However, as mentioned there is a core of knowledge that the

student is expected to comprehend.

All students will be expected to maintain a respectful environment in the

classroom where ideas and issues can be freely discussed. This is extremely important

and will be reflected in the participation grade.

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GRADING TRACKER

A = 90 – 100% of total points

B = 80 – 89%

C = 70 – 79%

D = 60 = 69 %

F = 59% and below

Assignment Number of PointsDrawing Conclusions 15

Primary Source Analysis 15Nation Divided Essay 15Creative Era Project 50Class Participation 50Group Presentation 50Peer Evaluations 20Facts Quizzes (6) 60Final Assessment 75

TOTAL 350

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT WORK

Your participation in discussions on history is extremely important. One of the best ways to understand historical concepts is to analyze and discuss them.

In light of the goal for class participation, you should understand that any disrespect in the classroom will not be tolerated. I expect students to listen to their peers without making inappropriate jokes or comments. Part of your grade for participation includes your listening skills. Points will be deducted if this occurs. If the problem continues, you will be serving class or school detention.

Late work will only be worth 50% of original amount at most. Extra credit is only available if all the work is turned. The purpose of extra credit

is to provide an opportunity to add on to your grade, not to make up for missing assignments.

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LESSON #1 – UNIT INTRO/POSTWAR TROUBLES

Teacher: Mr. Mazzie

Subject Area: US History

Grade Level: 11

Unit Title: 1920s

Lesson Title: Unit Introduction / Postwar Troubles

Overview: In this lesson, the students will be introduced to the 1920s using KWL interaction and graphic organizers. The lesson will touch on post-World War I troubles in the US using lecture.

Connection to the Curriculum: History

Connection to Standards:11.5.2

Time: 60 minutes

Materials/Equipment Required: Graphic Organizer handouts for “Decade of Disorder” and “A Decade of Change”. Textbook: The American Nation in the 20th Century

Objectives: The learner will be able to

1. Describe economic conditions after World War I2. Identify how workers reacted to hard times3. Explain why many Americans feared a communist revolution

Suggested Procedure

Opening: Ask student volunteers to review the changes that took place on the home front during WWI. Also ask students to review what life was like prior to WWI especially the dominance of rural life and the hopes for WWI. Then lead the discussion to the fact that the upcoming chapter will look at how the US made the transition from war to peace. Use the “KWL” approach to the 1920s and list on the board responses from the students about what already know about the 1920s. Find out what they might want to learn about this period and list those items on the board.

Development:

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Two graphic organizers will be distributed. The first is entitled “Decade of Disorder” (See Appendix 1-1) and the second is “A Decade of Change” (See Appendix 1-2). Students will fill these organizers in as the unit progresses.

Ask for a student volunteer to read the “Understanding the Main Idea” for Chapter 11 in their textbook. Discuss what the term “normalcy” might mean and the different interpretations of that word that different groups, such as African Americans, immigrants, demobilized white soldiers, might have.

Have students get into groups of 3 to discuss and answer the following “themes” questions. Allow 5-7 minutes for group discussion, then 10-15 minutes for class discussion

1. How might a democratic government respond to a perceived threat of revolution?

2. In what ways might ethnic and racial groups respond to acts of discrimination?

3. What actions should the federal government take to promote economic prosperity?

Vocabulary: preview people, places, and terms such as demobilization, normalcy, Red Scare, A. Mitchell Palmer, Emma Goldman, Seattle WA, Blair Mountain labor uprising, Boston MA, Ole Hanson, Edwin Curtis, Emma Goldman (10 minutes)

Lecture and discussion on the postwar economic troubles, demobilization, labor issues, Red Scare. Tie in Red Scare to the current War on Terrorism and Patriot Act. Use Venn Diagram to compare and contrast. (15 minutes)

Primary Source Analysis: Students individually read the primary source excerpts shown in Appendix 1-3 and in writing answer the question listed. (10 minutes)

Closing: Ask for students to recall three things they learned in the lesson.

Student Assessment: Informal assessment via question asking. In addition, the primary source analysis is a form of assessment.

Extending the Lesson: For homework, students will read Section 1 in Chapter 11 of the textbook.

Additional Resources:

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LESSON #2 – REPUBLICANS IN POWER

Teacher: Mr. Mazzie

Subject Area: US History

Grade Level: 11

Unit Title: 1920s

Lesson Title: Republicans in Power

Overview : This lesson will focus on details of the Republican presidents of the 1920s, their scandals, policies, and effectiveness. A PowerPoint presentation and analysis of Harding scandals will be done.

Connection to the Curriculum: History, English

Connection to Standards: 11.5.1

Time: 30 minutes

Materials/Equipment Required: Textbook: The American Nation in the 20th Century. Computer and overhead projector for PowerPoint presentation.

Objectives: The learner will be able to

1. Explain why voters chose Republican presidents in the 1920s2. Analyze how the economy fared under Republican leadership3. Assess the Republican presidencies of the 1920s4. Describe some effects of Republican pro-business policies

Suggested Procedure

Opening: Write “Bill Clinton” on the board (or George W. Bush). Have students write down their rating for the president’s performance (good, fair, poor) and list reasons for their rating. Ask for volunteers to explain their rating and criteria. Based on class input, develop a general list of criteria for evaluating a president and then tell students to use this list and rate the presidents of the 1920s.

Development:

PowerPoint presentation including vocabulary covering Harding, normalcy, Cooldige, Andrew Mellon, Teapot Dome, American Plan, mergers, presidential elections, Hoover (15 minutes)

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Students will work individually on Social Studies Skills Worksheet 11 (see Appendix 2-1) – Drawing Conclusions regarding Harding administration scandals. (15 minutes)

Closing: Have students fill in graphic organizers for topics discussed in lessons 1 and 2.

Student Assessment/Extending the Lesson: The Skills worksheet will be collected at the end of class. For homework, students will read Sections 2 and 3 in Chapter 11 of the textbook. Quiz show in Appendix 2-2 will be given at the start of the following day.

Additional Resources:

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LESSON #3 – A NATION DIVIDED

Teacher: Mr. Mazzie

Subject Area: US History

Grade Level: 11

Unit Title: 1920s

Lesson Title: A Nation Divided

Overview: Using jigsaw cooperative learning groups, students will learn about issues that divided the nation in the 20s. Each group will study/research a separate issue from the following:

1. Red Scare/Immigration: Sacco and Vanzetti Trial2. Black Migration/Nationalism: Garvey vs. DuBois3. Fundamentalism: Scopes Trial4. Women: 19th Amendment/ERA/Flappers5. Native Americans/Mexican Americans6. KKK Revival7. Prohibition

After studying/researching the issue, each group will then teach their topic to the class using skits, lecture, or other method of their choice. A poster will be required from each group that will be hung in class. Presentations will be peer evaluated as well as teacher evaluated.

Connection to the Curriculum: US History

Connection to Standards: 11.2.2, 11.3, 11.5.2, 11.5.3, 11.5.4

Time: 3.5 hours spread out over 3 class periods: 65 minutes class 1, 90 minutes class 2, 50-70 minutes class 3

Materials/Equipment Required: Computer tech lab for additional Internet research, American Century with Peter Jennings – 1920s video tape, colored pens/markers, drawing paper.

Objectives: The learner will be able to

1. Describe how Native Americans and Mexican Americans responded to discrimination

2. Summarize factors that led to black nationalism in the 1920s3. Analyze the revival of the Ku Klux Klan and immigration laws4. Describe the changing ways of women in the 1920s including equal rights

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5. Interpret the impact of the Sacco and Vanzetti case6. Compare and contrast the debates over prohibition and fundamentalism

Suggested Procedure

Opening: Ask students to name some of the divisions within American society today and then speculate why some of these same divisions may have existed in the 1920s?

Development:

Day 1

Students will be put into 7 groups. Each group will research one issue and present to class in a 5-10 minute presentation. Each group will be required to create a poster for their issue that will be hung in class. (Group assignments and discussion of project: 5 minutes)

First half of period will be in the tech lab for research (40 minutes) For the remainder of this class period students will work in class on their

assignments while I circulate to each group for assistance. (20 minutes) Check for Understanding of project as a class (2 minutes) Lecture and discussion on celebrities and heroes. Show first part of video on

1920s. (18 minutes). This is actually part of “Lesson 4”. Closing:

Day 2

First half of period will be in the tech lab for research (40 minutes) For the remainder of this class period students will work in class on their

assignments while I circulate to each group for assistance. (40 minutes) Closing:

Day 3

Presentations by each group and hanging of posters (50-70 minutes) Students will evaluate their peers presentations/posters using the rubrics shown in

Appendix 3-1. Go to Lesson 4 for remainder of period

Closing: Have students return to their original groups of 3 to re-visit, discuss and answer the following “themes” questions.

1. What steps did the federal government take during the 1920s to reduce the perceived threat of revolution?

2. In what ways did Native Americans, African Americans and Mexican Americans respond to discrimination?

3. How did Republican pro-business policies attempt to stimulate the economy?

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Student Assessment: The project/presentation will be graded according to rubric shown in Appendix 3-1. In addition, the information presented will be part of a quiz.

Extending the Lesson: Use the seven sentence essay format to write an expository response to the concept of a Nation Divided in the 1920s – the essay can address any one of the topics presented. For homework, students will read Section 1 and 2 of Chapter 12 in the textbook.

Additional Resources:

Marcus Garvey info: http://www.isop.ucla.edu/africa/mgpp/ Sacco/Vanzetti Trial:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm Scopes Trial: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/scopes.htm History Channel video tapes on Scopes Trial and Sacco and Vanzetti trial. Pacifism vs. Patriotism in 1920s women’s movement:

http://womhist.binghamton.edu/teacher/milit.htm

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LESSON #4 – LIFE IN THE 20s

Teacher: Mr. Mazzie

Subject Area: US History

Grade Level: 11

Unit Title: 1920s

Lesson Title: Life in the 20s

Overview: This lesson will cover a broad spectrum of life in the 1920s. There will be discussion comparing many of the aspects of 1920s life with modern life, a documentary video will be shown and students will work in groups to discuss and analyze life in the 1920s in terms of prosperity/productivity, changes in work (assembly line), creating consumerism, the land of automobiles, and the use of entertainment (radio, celebrities, heroes).

Connection to the Curriculum: US History

Connection to Standards: 11.5.6, 11.5.7

Time: 90 minutes

Materials/Equipment Required: Computer tech lab for additional Internet research, American Century with Peter Jennings – 1920s video tape, colored pens/markers, drawing paper.

Objectives: The learner will be able to

1. List the factors that led to the economic boom of the 1920s2. Identify the processes that changed work habits during the 1920s3. Describe how the automobile affected American life4. Analyze the development of consumerism5. List the most popular forms of entertainment during the 1920s

Suggested Procedure

Opening: Ask students how and in what forms advertising influences their lives today. Show examples of 1920s ads as well as older and more current ads and discuss the changes in advertising.

Development:

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Have students get into groups of 3 to discuss and answer the following “themes” questions. Allow 5-7 minutes for group discussion, then 10-15 minutes for class discussion

1. How might increased consumer spending help improve a nation’s economy?

2. How might new technology transform people’s lives?3. How might the cultural traditions of a particular area or group conflict

with or contribute to a national culture?

Show American Century video, 1920s section. (total of 45 minutes – some shown during lesson 3)

Have students read out loud the “Changing Ways: Hitting The Road” excerpt from the textbook (p. 305). Next ask students for the positive and negative effects of the automobile during the 1920s and beyond. Create a word web/mind map on the board using student input.

Do a comparison (Venn diagram) of women’s dress and behavior in the 1920s vs. today.

Discuss role of heroes, entertainers, sports figures in the 1920s and draw comparisons to today.

Closing: In groups, students analyze and respond to the statement that the 1920s are “the gateway to modern America.” Specific examples must be given to support the statement.

Student Assessment: Chapter 12 Quiz 2.

Extending the Lesson: For homework, students will read Section 3 of Chapter 12 in the textbook.

Additional Resources:

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LESSON #5 – A CREATIVE ERA

Teacher: Mr. Mazzie

Subject Area: US History

Grade Level: 11

Unit Title: 1920s

Lesson Title: A Creative Era

Overview: This lesson will cover the creative arts of the 1920s including music/dance, the Lost Generation, and mainly the Harlem Renaissance. Selected literature will be read and analyzed and an expository paper will be written.

Connection to the Curriculum: US History, English

Connection to Standards: 11.3, 11.5.5

Time: 90 minutes

Materials/Equipment Required: Hand outs of writings from Harlem Renaissance and Lost Generation authors. CDs from Jazz Age musicians. Textbook: The American Nation in the 20th Century.

Objectives: The learner will be able to:

1. Explain how African Americans contributed to the arts during the Harlem Renaissance

2. Identify key African American writers and musicians3. Identify the Lost Generation of writers and how they got their name4. Compare and contrast the Harlem Renaissance with the Lost Generation

Suggested Procedure

Opening: Play CDs of jazz age music. Discuss how music, art and literature can set the tone for a generation – 60s, grunge, punk, etc.

Development:

Activate prior knowledge by discussing the northern migration of African Americans and its influence on the growth and development of Harlem. Students examine a map showing the African American population of the United States in 1910 and draw conclusions regarding the economic and social motivation for

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movement. What impact did World War I have on the growth of American cities? Where did the majority of Americans live by 1920? Why was there an increase in urban population? Where did most African American migrants settle? Why did African Americans congregate in specific areas of major northern cities? (5-10 minutes)

Divide the class into five groups and have each group read a different biographic sketch of a Harlem Renaissance poet (Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, and Countee Cullen) and one of his works included on the handout (see Appendices 5-1 thru 5-5). Each group selects a student to read the poem to the class. Instruct the remainder of the class to listen carefully and to reflect on the feelings expressed in each reading. Then within groups have students discuss such questions as: 1. What were the author's intentions? 2. In what ways did the selected poems reflect the history of the period? 3. What was the central message of each poem? 4. Which of the poems imparted a desire to remedy inequality? 5. Are there any universal messages in these selected works?

Students should read "My People! My People!" (Appendix 7) and discuss the arguments Hurston presents in the essay. Compare and contrast Hurston's writing to that of Claude McKay. (45 minutes for both above)

Discuss Lost Generation – use excerpt from Hemingway or Fitzgerald. (15 minutes)

Closing: Have students return to their original groups of 3 to re-visit, discuss and answer the following “themes” questions.

1. How did advertising, merchandising, and installment buying help the nation’s economy in the 1920s?

2. How did new technology affect Americans’ lives at work and at home?3. How did the mass media help preserve ethnic culture?

Students should also complete their graphic organizers.

Student Assessment: As a homework assignment, have each student write an essay comparing any two of the selections from the point of view of one of the above questions. Essays to be collected the following day. Chapter 12 Quiz 3.

Extending the Lesson:

Additional Resources:

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Appendix 1-1

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Appendix 1-2

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Appendix 1-3Our object...is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power....We are glad...to fight...for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German peoples included: for the right of nations great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy....We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make....

It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war....We shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts,--for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own Governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.

President Wilson's war message, April, 1917

Never forget that this league is primarily...a political organization, and I object strongly to having the politics of the United States turn upon disputes where deep feeling is aroused but in which we have no direct interest. It will tend to delay the Americanization of our great population....We have interests of our own in Asia and in the Pacific which we must guard upon our own account, but the less we undertake to play the part of umpire and thrust ourselves into European conflicts the better for the United States and the world.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, 1919, on the League of Nations

To what extent was America's war a war for business? Did Woodrow Wilson lead America into war in order to serve the selfish interests of the few? The answer is determined by looking into the essential facts. In the first place, Wall Street wanted war.

John Kenneth Turner, 1922

Every disloyal native-born American should be disfranchised and interned. It is time to strike our enemies at home heavily and quickly.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1917

People...ask questions which involve the reasons for my acts against the "Reds." I have been asked...to what extent deportation will check radicalism in this country. Why no ask what will become of the United States Government if these alien radicals...carry out the principles of the Communist Party?

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In place of the United States Government we should have the horror and terrorism of Bolshevik tyranny such as is destroying Russia now....The whole purpose of communism appears to be a mass formation of the criminals of the world to overthrow the decencies of private life, to usurp property....

A. Mitchell Palmer, 1920, on the Red Scare

This indictment is founded wholly upon the publication of two leaflets....The first....says that the President's cowardly silence about the intervention in Russia reveals the hypocrisy of the plutocratic gang in Washington....It says that there is only one enemy of the workers of the world and that is capitalism....The other leaflet...says..."Workers in the ammunition factories, you are producing bullets, bayonets, cannon, to murder not only the Germans, but also your dearest, best, who are in Russia and are fighting for freedom"....

The United States constitutionally may punish speech that produces or is intended to produce a clear and imminent danger that it will bring about forthwith certain substantive evils that the United States constitutionally may seek to prevent. The power undoubtedly is greater in time of war than in time of peace because war opens dangers that do not exist at other times....

It is only the present danger of immediate evil or an intent to bring it about that warrants Congress in setting a limit to the expression of opinion where private rights are not concerned. Congress certainly cannot forbid all effort to change the mind of the county....

When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe...that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas....I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissenting opinion in Abrams et al. v. U.S.

1. What questions of loyalty and civil liberties were raised by the war?

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Appendix 2-1

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APPENDIX 2-2

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APPENDIX 2-3

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APPENDIX 2-4

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APPENDIX 2-5

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APPENDIX 3-1

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APPENDIX 4-1

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APPENDIX 4-2

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APPENDIX 4-3

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APPENDIX 4-4

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APPENDIX 5-1

LANGSTON HUGHES

James Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an African American poet, essayist, novelist, playwright, and journalist. Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri and lived for a time with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. Her first husband died at Harpers Ferry fighting for John Brown and her second husband, Langston’s grandfather, was an ardent abolitionist. Throughout his life Langston Hughes recognized his grandmother for instilling in him a devotion to social justice. After her death, he lived with his mother in Illinois and later joined his father in Mexico. In 1921 he attended Columbia University for a year but became disillusioned and took various jobs as a seaman and traveled to Africa and Europe. Returning to the United States he worked at odd jobs in Washington, D.C. before moving to Harlem. Although a prolific writer, Hughes is best known for his poems which expressed the anguish of unfulfilled promises of full participation in American democracy. He published thirteen volumes of poetry, numerous works of fiction, a history of the NAACP, an autobiography, a dozen children’s books, patriotic songs written during World War II, and translated works from French and Spanish. Hughes became a leader of the Harlem Renaissance and is often called “the poet laureate of Harlem.

His poem, “I, Too”, written as a response to Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”, is an affirmation that African Americans will achieve equality in American society.

I, TOO

I, too, sing America.I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody’ll dareSay to me,“Eat in the kitchen,”Then.Besides,They’ll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed—I, too, am America.

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APPENDIX 5-2

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was a writer, promoter of African American arts, and a civil rights leader. Johnson attended Atlanta University and graduated in 1894, practiced law in Florida in 1897, and was the first African American lawyer admitted to the Florida bar since Reconstruction. He traveled widely and was fluent in several languages. He was devoted to education and followed his mother’s career as a teacher working in Harlem. Johnson promoted educational opportunities for African Americans in his native Florida and served as a principal of a black school in Jacksonville. He was a man of many talents. He was in the foreign service as consul to Venezuela and Nicaragua during the Theodore Roosevelt administration. Between 1916 and 1930 Johnson worked for the NAACP; first as a field secretary, and between 1920 and 1930 as executive secretary of the organization. During his leadership, the NAACP assumed an active strategy to end segregation in housing, promote anti-lynching legislation, and improve the criminal justice system.

During the 1920s, Johnson helped shape the course of African American literature and became one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. His novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man was one of the most influential books of its time. In addition he wrote poetry, translated libretti for the Metropolitan Opera, and worked with his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, writing lyrics for Broadway musicals, popular songs and comic opera. His best know song is “Lift Every Voice and Sing” which has become an anthem for African Americans.

O BLACK AND UNKNOWN BARDS

O black and unknown bards of long ago,How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?How, in your darkness, did you come to knowThe power and beauty of the minstrel’s lyre?Who first from midst his bonds lifted his eyes?Who first from out the still watch, one and long,Feeling the ancient faith of prophets riseWithin his dark-kept soul, burst into song?

Heart of what slave poured out such melodyAs “Steal away to Jesus”? On its strainsHis spirit must have nightly floated free,Though still about his hands he felt his chains.Who heard great “Jordon roll”? Whose starward eyeSaw chariot “swing low”? And who was heThat breathed that comforting, melodic sigh,“Nobody knows de trouble I see”?

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What merely living clod, what captive thing,Could up toward God through all its darkness grope,And find within its deadened heart to singThese songs of sorrow, love and faith, and hope?How did it catch that subtle undertone,That note in music heard not with the ears?How sound the elusive reed so seldom blown.Which stirs the soul or melts the heart to tears.

Not that great German master in his dreamOf harmonies that thundered amongst the starsAt the creation, ever heard a themeNobler than “Go down Moses.” Mark its barsHow like a mighty trumpet-call they stirThe blood. Such are the notes that men have sungGoing to valorous deeds; such tones there wereThat helped make history when Time was young.There is a wide, wide wonder in it all,That from degraded rest and servile toilThe fiery spirit of the seer should callThese simple children of the sun and soil.O black slave singers, gone, forgot, unfamed,You—you alone, of all the long, long lineOf those who’ve sung untaught, unknown, unnamed,Have stretched out upward, seeking the divine.

You sang not deeds of heroes or of kings;No chant of bloody war, no exulting paeanOf arms-won triumphs; but your humblestringsYou touched in chord with music empyrean.You sang far better than you knew; the songsThat for your listeners’ hungry hearts sufficedStill live,—but more than this to you belongs:

You sang a race from wood and stone to Christ.

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APPENDIX 5-3

CLAUDE MCKAY

Claude McKay (1890-1948) was a Jamaican-born poet who came to the United States in 1912. As a young man in Jamaica he had a reputation as an accomplished poet with the publication of two volumes of Jamaican dialect verse. On arriving in the United States, McKay attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and later Kansas State Teachers College. He was a regular contributor to the Liberator, a leading avant-garde journal. He published two volumes of poetry in the early 1920s, Spring in New Hampshire and Harlem Shadows which established his reputation as one of the literary leaders of the Harlem Renaissance.

Disillusioned with racism in the United States, McKay left the country in 1922 and spent a year in the Soviet Union before traveling to France, Spain, and Morocco. He returned to New York in 1934. On his return he was attacked by communists who felt he had repudiated his earlier support of Soviet leaders and by some African Americans and liberal whites for advocating racial solidarity rather than integration as a means of achieving equality. Throughout his life, McKay wrote about black identity. In addition to writing poetry, he wrote a collection of short stories and published several novels in which he captured the vitality of African Americans. His most famous novel, Home to Harlem, described the return of a young African American to the United States after World War I. He also published an autobiography, A Long Way from Home, in 1937.

AMERICA

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,Stealing my breath of life, I will confessI love this cultured hell that tests my youth!Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,Giving me strength erect against her hate.Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,I stand within her walls with not a shredOf terror, malice, not a word of jeer.Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,And see her might and granite wonders there,Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

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Appendix 5-4

COUNTEE CULLEN

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was born in New York City and grew up in Harlem where his foster father was a Methodist minister. He had a keen interest in poetry, as a student won a citywide poetry contest, and began publishing poetry before graduating from college with a BA degree from New York University and a MA degree from Harvard. He worked as assistant editor of Opportunity, an African American magazine published during the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen published several volumes of poetry which were highly acclaimed and contributed to his winning the Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed him to study in France. While in Europe he wrote The Black Christ and Other Poems. The title poem is the story of Christ substituting himself for an African American youth about to be lynched. He also published a humorous novel, One Way to Heaven, about life in Harlem, and several children’s books.

YET DO I MARVEL

I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,And did He stoop to quibble could tell whyThe little buried mole continues blind,Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die,Make plain the reason tortured Tantalusis baited by the fickle fruit, declareIf merely brute caprice dooms SisyphusTo struggle up a never-ending stair.Inscrutable His ways are, and immuneTo catechism by a mind too strewnWith petty cares to slightly understandWhat awful brain compels His awful hand.Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:To make a poet black, and bid him sing!

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Appendix 5-5

Claude McKay

If We Must Die

If we must die, let it not be like hogsHunted and penned in an inglorious spot,While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,Making their mock at our accursed lot.If we must die, let it not be like hogsSo that our precious blood may not be shedIn vain; then even the monster we defyShall be constrained to honor us, though dead!Oh kinsman! We must meet the common foe;Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave,And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!What thought before us lies the open grave?Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,Pressed to the wall, dying, but--fighting back!

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Appendix 5-6

Zora Neale Hurston

Excerpts from: My People! My People!

“My people! My people!” From the earliest rocking of my cradle days, I have heard this cry go up from Negro lips. It is forced outward by pity, scorn and hopeless resignation. It is called forth by the observations of one class of Negro on the doings of another branch of the brother in black. For instance, well mannered Negroes groan out like that when they board a train or a bus and find other Negroes on there with their shoes off, stuffing themselves with fried fish, bananas and peanuts, and throwing the garbage on the floor. Maybe they are not only eating and drinking. The offenders may be “loud-talking” the place, and holding back nothing of their private lives, in a voice that embraces the entire coach. The well-dressed Negro shrinks back in his seat at that, shakes his head and sighs, “My people! My people!”

Now, the well-mannered Negro is embarrassed by the crude behavior of the others. They are not friends, and have never seen each other before. So why should he or she be embarrassed? Is it like this: the well-bred Negro has looked around and seen America with his eyes. He or she has set himself to measure up to what he thinks of as the white standard of living. He is conscious of the fact that the Negro in America needs more respect if he expects to get any acceptance at all. Therefore, after straining every nerve to get an education, maintain an attractive home, dress decently, and otherwise conform, he is dismayed at the sight of other Negroes tearing down what he is trying to build up. It is said every day, “And that good-for nothing, trashy Negro is the one the white people judge us all by. They think we’re all just alike. My people! My people!”

...It being a traditional cry, I was bound to hear it often and under many circumstances. But it is not the only folk label that I heard. “Race Pride”--”Race prejudice”--”Race man”--”race Solidarity”--”Race Consciousness”--”Race.”

“Race Prejudice” I was instructed was something bad that white people used on us. It seemed that white people felt superior to black ones and would not give Negroes justice for that reason. “Race Pride” was something that, if we had it, we would feel ourselves superior to the whites. A black skin was the greatest honor that could be blessed on any man. A “Race Man” was somebody who always kept the glory and honor of his race before him. Must stand every ready to defend the Negro race from all hurt, harm and danger.... People made whole careers of being “Race” men and women. They were champions of the race.

“Race Consciousness” is a plea to Negroes to bear their color in mind at all times. It was just a phrase to me when I was a child. I knew it was supposed to mean something deep. By the time I got grown I saw that it was only an imposing line of syllables, for no Negro in America is apt to forget his race. “Race Solidarity” looked like something solid in my

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childhood, but like all other mirages, it faded as I cam close enough to look. As soon as I could think, I saw that there is no such things as Race Solidarity in America with any group. It is freely admitted that it does not exist among Negroes. Our so-called Race Leaders cry over it. Others accept it as a natural thing that Negroes should not remain an unmelting black knot in the body politic. Our interest are too varied. Personal benefits run counter to race lines too often for it to hold. If it did, we could never fit into the national pattern. Since the race line has never held any other group in America, why expect it to be effective with us?...

...By the time that I got to high school, I was conscious of a group that was neither the topnor the bottom of Negrodom. I met the type which designates itself as “the better-thinking Negro.” I was thrown off my stride by finding that while they considered themselves Race Champions, they wanted nothing to do with anything frankly Negroid. They drew color lines within the race. The Spirituals, the Blues, any definitely Negroid thing was just not done.... Booker T. Washington was absolutely vile for advocating industrial education. There was no analysis, no seeking for merits. If it was old cuffy, down with it! “My People! My People!”

This irritated me until I got to the place where I could analyze. The thing they were trying to do went wrong because it lacked reason. It lacked reason because they were attempting to stand equal with the best in America without having the tools to work with. They wereattempting a flight away from Negrodom because they felt that there was so much scorn for black skin in the nation they their only security was in flight. They lacked the happycarelessness of a class beneath them and the understanding of the top-flight Negro abovethem. Once, when they used to set their mouths in what they thought was the Boston Crimp, and ask me about the great differences between the ordinary Negro and “the better-thinking Negro,” I used to show my irritation by saying I did not know who the better-thinking Negroes were, but who the think-they-are-better Negroes were, but who were the better thinkers was another matter. But when I came to understand what made them make their useless motions, and saw them pacing a cage that wasn’t there, I felt more sympathy than irritation. If they want to establish a sort of fur-coat peerage, let ‘em! Since they can find no comfort where they happened to be born, no especial talents to lift them, and other doors are closed to them, they have to find some pleasure somewhere in life. They have to use whatever their mentality provides. “My People! My People!

But one thing and another kept the conflict going on inside me, off and on for years.Sometimes I was sure that the Negro race was all that the platform speakers said. Then Iwould hear so much self-deprecation that I would be deflated....

Light came to me when I realized that I did not have to consider any racial group as a whole. God made them duck by duck and that was the only way I could see them. I learned that skins were no measure of what was inside people. So none of the Race clichés meant anything any more. I began to laugh at both white and black who claimed special blessings on the basis of race. Therefore I saw no curse in being black, nor no extra favor by being white. I saw no benefit in excusing my looks by claiming to be half Indian. In fact, I boast that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on

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the mother’s side was not an Indian chief. Neither did I descend from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or any Governor of a Southern state. I see no need to manufacture me a legend to beat the facts....

I do not share the gloomy thought that Negroes in America are doomed to be stomped outbodaciously, nor even shackled to the bottom of things. Of course some of them will betromped out, and some will always be at the bottom, keeping company with other bottomfolks. It would be against all nature for all the Negroes to be either at the bottom, top, or in between. It has never happened with anybody else, so why with us? No, we will go where the internal drive carries us like everybody else. It is up to the individual. If you haven’t got it, you can’t show it. If you have got it, you can’t hide it. That is one of the strongest laws God ever made.

I maintain that I have been a Negro three times--a Negro baby, a Negro girl and a Negrowoman. Still if you have received no clear cut impression of what the Negro in America is like, then you are in the same place with me. There is no The Negro here. Our lives are so diversified, internal attitudes so varied, appearances and capabilities so different, that there is no possible classification so catholic that it will cover us all, except My people! My people!

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FINAL ASSESSMENTThis will be a combination objective test (multiple choice, matching) and subjective test (short answer, essay). Multiple choice and matching will be similar (but not identical) to what is shown for the daily quizzes. Possible short answer/essay questions include:

1. Discuss the immigration laws passed during the 1920s. Explain the ways in which the laws reflected attitudes towards immigrants.

2. Discuss the effects of demobilization on the US economy after World War I.3. Discuss how Republican pro-business policies during the 1920s affected the U.S.

economy. Include both positive and negative effects of these policies.4. Trace the rise in the fear of communism in the United States after World War I.5. Discuss the factors that contributed to the rise of consumerism in the United

States during the 1920s. Include the effect of new merchandising techniques on the consumer market.

6. Analyze the crisis of values that emerged during the 1920s as illustrated by Prohibition, Fundamentalism, and the “new women” known as flappers.

7. Discuss the changes in work habits and industrial organization during the 1920s and analyze the impact on the economy.

8. Describe the changes in entertainment during the 1920s and how these changes contributed to the development of a mass culture.

9. How did social changes contribute to the popularity of religious revivals?10. Why did many farmers fail to benefit from the economic boom of the 1920s?

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REFERENCES

Teacher’s Edition and supplemental teaching aids for The American Nation in the 20th Century by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Lesson 1 Primary Source analysis from: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us16.cfm

Lesson 3 rubrics created using http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Lesson 4 advertising ideas from: http://history.osu.edu/projects/hti/Lessons/1920sconsumercult.htm

Lesson 5 on the Harlem Renaissance adapted from the California History-Social Science Course Models website: http://www.history.ctaponline.org/center/hsscm/index.cfm?Page_Key=1691

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