The Roaring 1920s: Myth or Reality??

The 1920s have been romanticized for almost a century as "The Roaring Twenties," when America dried up but still partied, money flowed like water, and The Babe and Murderers' Row held the sporting public enthralled.

But that's only part of the story. Much like the Gilded Age, what was seen on the surface only hid a deeper conflict underneath: the promoters of modernism against the forces of traditionalism. From the speakeasies to the public schools, there were very few arenas in which a fundamental clash did not occur duirng the 1920s.

Your task: attempt to uncover the truth as opposed to the myth...

1.) "The Chicago Race Riots of 1919" - we will look at this together on Thurs., 3/8, in the context of post-WWI tensions growing out of unemployment caused by demobilization. The assignment we begin in class will be due on Fri., 3/9.

2.) "The Florida Terror: Race Relations in Florida after World War I" - this PDF file is on my website. WARNING: you will be disturbed by some of the things that you read about in this lesson. Yes, they all happened in your home state, and yes, it's all true. Be thankful that I did not include any pictures. For 5 points Extra Credit, look up Billie Holliday's immortal song "Strange Fruit" on http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/film.html and write a 100-word response to this song and its effect as a protest song. Both of these assignments (the "Florida Terror" Graphic Organizer & the "Strange Fruit" write-up) are due on Tues., 3/20.

3.) Monterey Institute, Unit 8, Ch. 19, Lesson 58 - Both assignments due on Wed., 3/21

A.) Complete one podcast sheet (front and back) for each section (there are 5), and;

B.) Complete the Unit 8 Discussion Question ("The 1920s was a decade of tremendous tension between forces of tradition and modernity. Analyze how the United States began to modernize and how many Americans clung to 'traditional' values."...use at least 3 specific examples, and at least 500 words in length). - this needs to be emailed to me to verify word count

4.) Ch. 31 & Ch. 32 Guidebooks - both on my website and both due on Thurs., 3/22.

The Transformation of America, 1865-1900

This is the United States at night. It's such a plain picture, maybe even a little boring, but it explains so many things about our country today, and where we were just over a century ago. What would a nighttime picture of the United States have looked like in 1899, for instance (assuming there had been a satellite to take it)? Where would there not have been any light? What made all of it possible? Hopefully, some of these things will be shown to you in the next couple of weeks.

Of course, you have "American Pageant" guidebooks to give you a plethora of background information, and these guidebooks are on my McKeel webpage. You will need to complete Ch. 23 & Ch. 24 by this Friday, 1/20, and Ch. 25 & Ch. 26 by next Friday, 1/27. You will also be able to find the PPTs for Ch. 23-26 on my webpage as we continue through this material.

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT:

1.) Zinn, Ch. 11 - "Robber Barons & Rebels" - questions due on Wed., 1/25

2.) Haymarket Riot - George Engel was a German immigrant who was also an avowed anarchist; he was accused of helping to plot a bombing in a crowded Chicago public square during a labor protest in early May 1886. This PDF file on my webpage allows you to read some of his testimony during his trial. Answer #1 - #4 using the testimony and other information you deem necessary. This will be due on Thursday, 1/19.

3.) The Pullman Strike - one of the more famous workers' strikes in American history; this PDF file shows George Pullman's (president of the Pullman railway car company) statement to a presidential commission that investigated the bloody dispute. Read the interview and answer the questions that follow. This should be turned in on Thursday, 1/19, with the Haymarket Riot assignment.

*It is very important with these Monterey Institute assignments that you take them seriously; there is a LOT of useful information in these units, and it is not good enough to just answer the "Consider This" questions that you turn in to me. Make sure that you view the presentations that are assigned and complete each lesson topic's activities. You are training yourself for future assessments by doing this!

4.) Monterey Institute, Unit 6, Ch. 14, Lessons 41 & 42 (we will get to the other lessons in Chapter 14 in a couple of weeks) - Lesson 41 has TWO "Consider This" questions for you to answer. (Due Tues., 1/24)

5.) Monterey Institute, Unit 6, Ch. 15, Lessons 46 through 48 (Due Wed., 1/25)

-Lesson 46 - 2 "Consider This" questions
-Lesson 47 - 1 "Consider This" question
-Free-Response Question (Part C, #4 on Page 9 of the link)
-Writing Assignment
-Discussion Question

6.) Monterey Institute, Unit 6, Ch. 16, Lessons 49 & 50 (Due Thurs., 1/26)

-Free-Response Question (Part B, #3 on Page 7 of the link)
-Writing Assignment (Nast Cartoons, #1-#3)
-Discussion Question

7.) Andrew Carnegie Document-Based Question - we'll take a look in class at several documents that shed light on Carnegie's background, business methods, worker-management relations, and philanthropy. This written DBQ will be due on Fri., 1/27.

8.) Homestead Riot Class Assignment(given on Wed., 1/18) - Due on Fri., 1/20
For the week starting on Mon., 1/30, we will begin our look at the final major conflicts between the last Native American tribes on the frontier and the United States government.

The Ordeal of Reconstruction, 1865-1877

Your class was introduced to the Reconstruction of the South on Tues., Jan. 3rd. Below are the lyrics:

Oh, I’m a good old rebel, now that’s just what I am.
And for this Yankee nation I do not give a damn.
I’m glad I fought agin’ her, I only wish we’d won,
And I ain’t asked any pardon for anything I’ve done.

I hates the Yankee nation, and everything they do;
I hates the Declaration of Independence, too.
I hates the glorious Union, ‘tis dripping with our blood;
And I hates the striped banner – I fit [fought] it all I could.


I rode with Robert E. Lee for three years nearabout,
Got wounded in four places and I starved at Point Lookout.
I cotch [caught] the rheumatism a-campin’ in the snow,
But I killed a chance of Yankees, and I’d like to kill some mo’.

Three hundred thousand Yankees is stiff in Southern dust;
We got three hundred thousand before they conquered us.
They died of Southern fever, and Southern steel and shot;
And I wish they were three million instead of what we got.


I can’t take up my musket and fight ‘em now no more,
But I ain’t gonna love ‘em, now that is certain sure.
And I don’t want no pardon for what I was and am,
And I won’t be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.

Oh, I’m a good old rebel, now that’s just what I am.
And for this Yankee nation I do not give a damn.
I’m glad I fought agin’ [against] her, I only wish we’d won,
And I ain’t asked any pardon for anything I’ve done.



•“The Good Old Rebel”, written by a former Confederate Army officer, was very popular among former Confederate soldiers who disliked the Reconstruction policies of the federal government.

•Many of these former rebels headed west to Texas and Mexico to avoid Reconstruction.

•This song exemplifies the resistance and anger that many Southerners felt toward the policies of Reconstruction.

•Your task in the next few days is to determine why Reconstruction was so opposed in the South, and which side was more to blame for the ultimate failings of Reconstruction, the North or the South.

Questions

•What were three words or phrases that showed the attitude of the rebels in “The Good Old Rebel?”

•Identify three items that the song seems to dislike.

•Identify any events that seem to be significant to the song’s narrator.

-Answer these questions as a reply to this blog entry by Thurs., Jan. 5th.


After the Civil War, the United States government began the long & arduous process of Reconstruction. The next dozen years saw former slaves reach new heights socially, economically, and politically, but not without resistance among white Southerners. Then, upon the inauguration of new President Rutherford B. Hayes in March 1877, Reconstruction abruptly ended. Was the work the federal government began to remake the South truly finished, or was the end premature?

There is a wealth of information to learn about Reconstruction, and not much class time to do it in. It is truly a fascinating topic, one that I think helps to explain race relations and regional differences still alive today in the United States. And yet, it is such a little known topic.

The following are due dates that you have in APUSH for the next week-and-a-half. Manage your time wisely, because this is a lot.

1.) "American Pageant" Guidebook for Ch. 22 due on Fri., Jan. 6th.

2.) Monterey Institute, Unit 5, Lessons 39-40: view the videos, complete all “Consider This” questions (there are only two, both from Lesson 40), and also complete the following:

a.) Chapter 13 Writing Assignment (straight from the Monterey Institute website)
b.) Chapter 13 Discussion Question (same as above)
c.) Both “Consider This” questions & the two other questions are due on Mon., 1/9

3.) Read the article saved on my McKeel website ("The American Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction on the World Stage," by Edward L. Ayers) and write a precis', minimum 500 words, posted on this blog. This is due by Thurs., Jan. 12th.

4.) DBQ - "Who Killed Reconstruction: North or South?" (will not be analyzed in class; you will receive on Thursday, Jan. 5th, and it will be due on Fri., Jan. 13th. If you have questions about any of the documents, you will need to ask me before Thurs., Jan. 12th.

6.) Ch. 17-22 Exam on Tues., Jan. 10th.