Industrialization Case Study

Key Concept 7.1 I. In what way did the United States continue to industrialize during this time and what caused this industrialization?
During this time, the United States continued its industrialization as people moved from farms to cities and small farms were consolidated into large farms. Though both rural and urban areas grew, urban areas generally grew faster, going from 20% to 68% urban population during this time period. Despite more than 1 million farms being claimed during this under the Homestead Act, areas such as the Imperial Valley of California consolidated small farms into commercial enterprises during this same period, and rural areas simply could not keep up with urban areas in terms of growth. This growth in urban areas is

When the Great Depression first started under President Herbert Hoover, it severely damaged the economy. To respond to this major issue, he created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, though this change did not do enough to aid struggle Americans, many of whom lived in so-called Hoovervilles, or villages made of cardboard. Following the Election of 1932, New York Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, and almost immediately enacted what he called a “New Deal.” As a part of this, new government agencies like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority were born and began to employ millions of Americans in various government jobs around the nation. FDR also introduced the Emergency Banking Act, which stopped runs on the bank, among other things. These relief and recovery actions only constituted part of the government response, however. Roosevelt also introduced laws like the Wagner Act and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which sought to establish new standards for labors and reform the banking industry, respectively. All of these new government agencies and laws significantly increased the government’s role in the economy, making it clear that the government’s main response was to increase its role in the

This increased involvement of African Americans in the arts came largely through the Harlem Renaissance. In this time of cultural prosperity for black Americans, authors such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston grew famous for their work. With these new African American leaders in cultural activities rising to fame, many other African Americans followed, as they saw the successes of these other African Americans (though the advancement of African Americans in this Jazz Age was soon cut short by the Great Depression). Furthermore, the popular culture of the Roaring Twenties helped to normalize previously taboo behavior, particularly for women. This meant the increased use of birth control, an effort led by activists such as Margaret Sanger, and increasingly promiscuous “flappers,” or young, single women. Other taboo changes included greater acceptance of ideas such as Darwinism, which had long been too controversial to be taught in many parts of the United