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.

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.

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

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.

Teacher tip

Content guidance

Contains depictions of discriminatory behaviour.
Contains conflict or violence.

Supervision

Adult supervision suggested.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

Write the missing word. The Model T was designed and manufactured by Henry ...

Correct Answer: Ford, ford

Q2.

Which American political party introduced laissez-faire policies during the 1920s?

Conservative Party

Democrat Party

Labour Party

Correct answer: Republican Party

Q3.

Write the missing word. Racial involves treating people unfairly because of their race.

Correct Answer: discrimination, Discrimination

Q4.

Which statement is most accurate?

Henry Ford allowed his workers to join trade unions

Henry Ford encouraged his workers to join trade unions

Correct answer: Henry Ford opposed his workers joining trade unions

Q5.

Match each industry with the correct description of how it benefitted from increased car production and ownership.

Correct Answer:construction industry,$1 billion worth of roads were built per year

$1 billion worth of roads were built per year

Correct Answer:hospitality industry,provided roadside restaurants and hotels for drivers

provided roadside restaurants and hotels for drivers

Correct Answer:oil industry,supplied increased demand for petrol

supplied increased demand for petrol

Correct Answer:rubber industry,supplied key goods used to manufacture cars

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.

1 - cars like the Model T mass produced

2 - car prices fell

3 - more Americans were able to own a car

4 - more drivers on American roads

5 - demand for petrol increases

6 - new jobs and investment generated in the oil industry

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

Match up each keyword with its correct definition.

Correct Answer:ghetto,an area of a city where people of a particular race live

an area of a city where people of a particular race live

Correct Answer:lynching,when groups kill a person they consider guilty without trial

when groups kill a person they consider guilty without trial

Correct Answer:reservation,areas of land set aside for Native Americans

areas of land set aside for Native Americans

Correct Answer:segregate,separating groups of people based on their race

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.

Correct Answer: KKK, kkk, Klu Klux Klan, klu klux klan

Q3.

Which of the following was not a reason for the decline in agriculture and the coal industry?

competition

overproduction

tariffs

Correct answer: unemployment

Q4.

What was the religion of most recent immigrants who were arriving in the USA by 1920?

Correct answer: Catholicism

Hinduism

Islam

Correct answer: Judaism

Protestantism

Q5.

Why did many African Americans move from the South during the Great Migration?

Correct answer: hoped to escape poverty and racism in the South

majority of African American's lived in northern US cities

US government encouraged African Americans to move

Q6.

Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.

1 - most established immigrants in the USA came from countries like Britain and Germ

2 - most recent immigrants in the USA came from countries like Italy and Russia

3 - US Immigration Quota Law limited immigration to 350 000 people per year

4 - US National Origins Act limited immigration to 150 000 people per year

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