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HIGH LEVEL DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION This DBQ adheres to New York State Learning Standard 1- History of the United States and New York, Commencement Level, Key Ideas #2 & 3. Additionally, this lesson plan corresponds with the National Social Studies Curriculum Standards thematic strand of Time, Continuity & Change.
DIRECTIONS
This Document Based Question (DBQ) consists of two parts. Part A includes scaffolding questions for each primary source. Answer each scaffolding question in the space provided. Part B is the DBQ. Write an essay that fully answers the DBQ.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The 1920s were a time of great change economically, socially, and politically, in the United States. President Harding vowed to return to “normalcy”. However, consumerism, technology, structural economic flaws, mass lending and a clash of values all contributed to less than “normal” America.
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION
What were the social changes of 1920s America?
TASK Answer each scaffolding question in the space provided based on the corresponding primary source. Answer the DBQ using information from at least three of the primary sources in Part A and your knowledge of United States history.
GUIDELINES
- Support your essay with specific facts and details
- Write in an organized and logical manner
- Include a clearly developed introduction and conclusion
- Include information from at least three of the documents in Part A
Part A
Document 1
“
America’s present need is not heroics, but healing, not nostrums (remedies) but normalcy, not revolution but restoration, not surgery but serenity
”
-Warren G. Harding, Presidential Election Speech, 1920
SCAFFOLDING QUESTION
What does President Harding mean by “normalcy”?
Document 2
“
We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves
”
-Langston Hughes, Regarding the Harlem Renaissance, "The Big Sea", 1925
SCAFFOLDING QUESTION
How did the Harlem Renaissance transform the lives of African Americans?
Document 3
-Eastman and Edison with motion picture camera, Unidentified photographer, August, 1928
SCAFFOLDING QUESTION
How did the technology shown above change American life in the 1920s?
Document 4
| 1921 | | 1926 |
| 140,000 | Northwestern Europeans | 70,000 |
| 180,000 | Central Europeans | 50,000 |
| 40,000 | Eastern Europeans | 5,000 |
| 295,000 | Southern Europeans | 10,000 |
| 20,000 | Asians | 2,000 |
SCAFFOLDING QUESTION