Question

After the horror and devastation of World War One, American society was ready for social change.

In Unit 14, find and explain at least one change that could be considered positive, and at least one that could be considered a negative change.

(Unit 14 lesson 3, 5, 6)



Remember that your answers must be a minimum of three sentences!

Answer 1

After World War One, American society did move in several new directions—some positive and some harmful. A clear positive change was the passage of the 19th Amendment (1920) and the broader expansion of roles for women: women gained the right to vote, more women entered the workforce and higher education, and flapper culture and new fashions signaled greater social freedom and independence for many women. A prominent negative change was the rise of nativism and restrictions on civil liberties—visible in the Red Scare, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, race riots (such as those in 1919), and restrictive immigration laws like the Emergency Quota Act (1921) and Immigration Act of 1924—which increased xenophobia, racial violence, and limited the rights of immigrants and minorities. These developments show how the postwar era produced both expanded freedoms for some groups and increased intolerance and repression for others.