About Quizzes

War, Prosperity, and the Great Depression

World War I has been called the first modern war due to the widespread use of new technologies such as machine guns, airplanes, land vehicles, and radio communications. The war exacted heavy human casualties—nearly 20 million soldiers and civilians according to some historians. Initially, the U.S. resisted entering into World War I, but it emerged from the chaos as a world leader.

The 1920s ushered in the Roaring 20s, which was a period of economic prosperity for some Americans and a time when adventurers, entertainers, writers, and sports captured the interest of the nation. But this era came to an end in 1929 when the stock market crashed and the U.S. experienced widespread bank and business collapse. Eventually, the Great Depression left millions of people out of work. The ineffectual and anemic response of the Hoover administration proved unpopular and paved the way for a new president.

In the early 1930s, an environmental disaster took hold in the southern plains of the U.S. that exacerbated the effects of the Depression. Called the Dust Bowl, the worst drought in U.S. history pushed residents into starvation and eventually led to the mass migration of people to the Western states.

    WORLD WAR I & SPANISH FLU

  • World War I Timetable - On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson addressed Congress and asked for a declaration of war.... Continue Reading
  • Military Preparations for World War I - The outbreak of World War I in 1914 did not inspire Americans to join the fray. The initial incident, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Serbians, became quickly lost in the sequence of declar... Continue Reading
  • World War I Participants Timetable - In all, 32 nations were listed as combatants in World War I - some in name only, however.... Continue Reading
  • World War I Agencies - During World War I, the economy was placed under an unprecedented degree of federal control to produce the materiel needed to win the war in Europe.... Continue Reading
  • Influenza - Influenza is caused by a virus that causes acute infections of the respiratory tract and is easily transmitted, causing frequent small outbreaks and occasional worldwide pandemics. The first recorded ... Continue Reading
  • Armistace - During the World War I offensives of 1918, the futility of the German war effort became clear to a number of their military leaders.... Continue Reading
  • Versailles - After winning re-election in 1916 with the slogan "He Kept Us Out Of War," Woodrow Wilson quickly found in early 1917 that the drift toward war was becoming more difficult to resist. However, he was a... Continue Reading
  • Covenant of the League of Nations - The initial draft of the Covenant of the League of Nations was completed hurriedly in early 1919, under the close supervision of President Woodrow Wilson.... Continue Reading
    • THE ROARING 20S

  • Roaring 20s - The 1920s era went by such names as the Jazz Age, the Age of Intolerance, and the Age of Wonderful Nonsense.... Continue Reading
  • Post-World War I Recession - A general deterioration of economic conditions in the United States was evident by the spring of 1920.... Continue Reading
  • Tulsa Race Massacre - As Black veterans returned to the U.S. after World War I in the late 1910s, many anticipated new respect from white Americans after serving nobly overseas. By 1919, some 500,000 Black people had migra... Continue Reading
  • Harding Scandals - Warren Gamaliel Harding was born in Corsica (later Blooming Grove), Ohio, the eldest of eight children.... Continue Reading
  • Negro Leagues - The legacy the Negro Leagues is one of courage, perseverance, and strength to overcome the oppressive racial segregation and volatile times of the era. Conversely, by losing its stars to the Major Lea... Continue Reading
  • Black Sox Scandal - The year was 1919. The Great War had ended the previous Fall. The American public clamored to return to normalicy. And what better way to begin the catharsis than immersing themselves in the American ... Continue Reading
  • Babe Ruth - George Herman Ruth, known to the world as "Babe Ruth," was the first sports superstar.... Continue Reading
  • Charles Lindbergh - Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan.... Continue Reading
  • "Satchmo" Armstrong - Louis Armstrong was one of the great early influences on jazz, during a period in which it became a nationally popular form of music in America.... Continue Reading
  • Albert Einstein - Albert Einstein was the most famous physicist of the 20th century, and perhaps of all time. His extraordinary insights into the nature of space and time revolutionized physics.... Continue Reading
  • Amelia Earhart - Amelia Earhart was perhaps the most famous female aviator in American history, setting speed and distance records not only for female, but also male pilots. She was initially unimpressed with airplane... Continue Reading
    • GREAT DEPRESSION & THE DUST BOWL

  • Stock Market Crash - The tremendous increase in stock market prices during the 1920s was largely based upon value.... Continue Reading
  • The Great Depression - America`s future appeared to shine brightly for most Americans when Herbert Hoover was inaugurated president in 1929.... Continue Reading
  • The Dust Bowl - The Dust Bowl was a period of severe drought and wind that occurred along the Great Plains prairies and grasslands of the U.S. and Canada during the 1930s. The ensuing dust storms damaged the agricult... Continue Reading
  • Soil Conservation - The United States was blessed with abundant fertile soil when the colonists first arrived, and the need to maintain that fertility did not immediately arise. Soon after the introduction of intensive t... Continue Reading