Concepts:

The first two sentences of the second paragraph of Bernstein's CROSSROADS Essay IX explain the reason for studying the period in the way proposed:

This approach [viewing the period under discussion in two parts, 1921-1929 and 1929-1933] seems to comport better with history as the American people experienced it. They saw the period from 1921 through 1929 as an organic whole (the "Roaring Twenties") and they saw the slide into the Great Depression from 1929 through 1933 as a grim, ironic coda to that period.

This period offers many parallels to students' lives today: The perplexing problems faced by American government in a dramatically changing economy moving from an industrial base to a service base; huge public and private debt; ever-increasing deficit spending and unfavorable balance of trade in foreign markets; crime exacerbated by a seemingly uncontrollable use of illicit drugs; an increasing number of people becoming millionaires and an even greater number becoming paupers; the challenge of providing for an aging population that is an ever-growing proportion of the national

population; adulation of "celebrities" drawn from popular culture, sports, and entertainment; and state and local governments threatened by debt and potential insolvency due to overextension of debt, shrinking tax bases, and growing calls upon public services.

Studying the history of the United States in the 1920s can provide valuable information and insights for students to frame legitimate hypotheses concerning life in the 1990s and beyond.

Lesson 1
A Crossroads Resource: Independent Study Activity
Lesson 2
A Crossroads Resource: "Saloons and the Burden Iron Works"
Lesson 3