Assignment
1. The Harlem Renaissance describes the changes that African Americans experienced during the time period beginning in the 1920s.
Describe in your own words the idea of The Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro.
Discuss the reasons why African Americans were moving north.
What was the Black Star Steamship Line? Why were some members of the African American community against it?
2. Though Prohibition was law during the 1920s, the concept was far from a reality for many people. However, it was such a significant movement that TWO constitutional amendments were created because of it.
Why was the ban of alcohol such a popular idea?
How did people attempt to circumvent the law?
How did prohibition help organized crime at this time?
3. As the Depression hit the nation hard, many argued that President Hoover did not seem to know how to handle the problems it caused. When the homeless population began to increase dramatically, "Hoovervilles" began to spring up all over the country, and many were right on the steps of the White House.
What were Hoovervilles and why did they have that name?
Describe in your own words what Hoovervilles were like.
In what other ways did people show their distaste for President Hoover?
4. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president, he ushered in a New Deal for America and helped put people back to work. However, some of his critics expressed concern over how much power Roosevelt was wielding.
Describe the power President Roosevelt had?
Why were some of his critics concerned by this power?
How did the Supreme Court respond?
5. Once again, US soldiers found themselves in trenches of Europe fighting an even bigger enemy than in World War I. However, it was not until the end of the war that many soldiers would see and experience the most terrible things humans can do to each other.
Describe in your own words what the European front was like.
Why was D-Day such an important win for the Allies?
Discuss the reactions of those men who saw first hand the horrors of the Holocaust.
6. For the United States, the Pacific front was personal. Hawaii had seen firsthand what the Japanese could do, and many feared that Alaska would also be attacked. The Japanese were a formidable opponent as the war in the Pacific dragged on, and the US knew it.
How was the war in the Pacific different from that in Europe?
Why were the Japanese such a strong enemy?
Describe how the United States planned to win the war in the Pacific.