7.11 Comparison in Period 7

Comparing Responses to Industrialization & Depression

Progressives, the New Deal, and earlier laissez-faire approaches offered different solutions to industrial capitalism's problems. Progressive Era reformers used regulation and trust-busting; New Deal programs under FDR expanded federal power dramatically through relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs). Compare these to the limited government role favored by conservatives in the 1920s.

Comparing Foreign Policy Approaches

U.S. foreign policy shifted between imperialism (Spanish-American War, Big Stick, Dollar Diplomacy), isolationism (Neutrality Acts, rejecting the League of Nations), and internationalism (Wilson's idealism, WWII alliance-building, founding the UN). Compare motivations: economic expansion, moral mission, and security concerns drove different presidents toward intervention or restraint.

Comparing Social and Cultural Change

Compare the Great Migration and urbanization's effects on Black Americans with immigration restriction (Emergency Quota Act, 1924 National Origins Act) targeting new immigrants. Also compare cultural conflicts of the 1920s (modernism vs. traditionalism, Scopes Trial, Prohibition) to wartime unity and shared sacrifice during WWI and WWII, showing how crisis and prosperity differently shaped identity debates.

Key terms

Progressive reform vs. New Deal reform

Progressives regulated trusts/corruption within capitalism; the New Deal vastly expanded federal power via relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs).

Imperialism vs. Isolationism

Imperialism (1898–WWI) sought territory/influence abroad; isolationism (1920s–30s) avoided foreign entanglements via Neutrality Acts.

Internationalism

Belief in active U.S. engagement in world affairs, e.g., Wilson's League of Nations idea and FDR's UN founding after WWII.

Great Migration vs. Immigration Restriction

Black Americans moved north for jobs/freedom (Great Migration) while nativist laws (1921, 1924) restricted foreign immigration—both reshaped U.S. demographics.

1920s cultural conflict vs. WWII unity

1920s saw modernism vs. traditionalism clashes (Scopes Trial, Prohibition); WWII fostered relative national unity despite tensions like internment.

Try an AP-style question

Compared to Progressive reforms, the New Deal…

1. was led by Republicans
2. ignored economic problems
3. expanded federal power much further
4. reduced the federal government