Losers of the 'boom' in 1920s America
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how some groups in the USA lost out during the boom.
Key learning points
- Agriculture and the coal industry suffered from overproduction, tariffs and new competition in the 1920s.
- Native Americans lived in poor conditions on reservations and faced discrimination under US law.
- Poverty, discrimination and racism made African American lives difficult.
- By the 1920s, most immigrants travelling to America came from eastern and southern Europe.
- Recent immigrants faced widespread intolerance.
Keywords
Discrimination - unfair treatment of someone because of their gender, race, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion is described as discrimination
Reservations - reservations are areas of land set aside for use by Native Americans
Segregated - groups of people are segregated if they are separated from one another. In the USA, people were often segregated based on their race
Ghetto - a ghetto is an area of a city where people of a particular race or religion live, especially a poor area
Quota - a quota sets a maximum or minimum number for the amount of people who can do something
Common misconception
Losers were only those who belonged to minority groups who suffered because of racism.
Economic problems made life difficult for many people aside from racist issues. These issues affected minorities and non-minorities.
Teacher tip
For more evaluation, students could compare the experiences of different groups and rank them according to who lost out the most during the 1920s (i.e. farmers, African Americans, Native Americans etc). This would work as a partner/group discussion.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Write the missing word. The Model T was designed and manufactured by Henry ...
Q2.Which American political party introduced laissez-faire policies during the 1920s?
Q3.Write the missing word. Racial involves treating people unfairly because of their race.
Q4.Which statement is most accurate?
Q5.Match each industry with the correct description of how it benefitted from increased car production and ownership.
$1 billion worth of roads were built per year
provided roadside restaurants and hotels for drivers
supplied increased demand for petrol
supplied key goods used to manufacture cars
Q6.Starting with the first step, sort the following developments into order to explain how car manufacturing benefitted the oil industry.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match up each keyword with its correct definition.
an area of a city where people of a particular race live
when groups kill a person they consider guilty without trial
areas of land set aside for Native Americans
separating groups of people based on their race
Q2.Write the missing name. The was a popular organisation during the 1920s which focused most of its attention on intimidating and attacking African Americans.
Q3.Which of the following was not a reason for the decline in agriculture and the coal industry?
Q4.What was the religion of most recent immigrants who were arriving in the USA by 1920?
Q5.Why did many African Americans move from the South during the Great Migration?
Q6.Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
To help you plan your 11 history lesson on: Losers of the 'boom' in 1920s America, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 history lesson on: Losers of the 'boom' in 1920s America, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 history lessons from the America 1920–1973, Opportunity and inequality unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.