Discussion Questions
July 2, 2013
- What were the major issues which defined the
relationship between labour and capital in the postwar period?
- Based on the content of the readings, what was the
"Red Scare"? What were the chief characteristics, ideas, and
assumptions which defined that phenomenon? In the context of the Red
Scare, how were actions such as the suppression of free speech or other
civil liberties justified?
- What defined an "American" during this
period? What were the supposed characteristics of those defined as
non-American?
- Based on all the readings, how would you define the
"mood" of the immediate post-war years?
- According to Schlesinger, the trial of Sacco and
Vanzetti"... was one of those half dozen cases
which a historian of the United States covering the 20th century could fix
upon as a way of getting in, penetrating some of the deep conflicts in
American life." Do you agree with Schlesinger's assessment, and if
so, on what basis? What do we learn about America at that time from the
trial?
- What was the focus of KKK activities in the 1920s?
- How was the KKK a reflection of the changes and new
forces in post-WWI America?
- What were the characteristics of KKK membership?
How might the article be seen as revisionist history?
- Define "nativism".
What are four examples of that found in the readings for this
class?