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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Roosevelt's Critics

For Students 5th - 8th
Franklin Roosevelt had many critics, many of whom criticized him for not going far enough with his New Deal legislation. Read about three such critics and their plans.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Fdr's Alphabet Soup

For Students 5th - 8th
Amazing number of agencies formed as a result of New Deal legislation. Read about the agencies and legislation whose acronyms have become part of governmental history.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: A Bank Holiday

For Students 5th - 8th
Actions taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt upon becoming president in 1933. Read about how he took immediate steps to restore confidence in the banking segment of the American economy.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Hoover's Last Stand

For Students 5th - 8th
The Great Depression was not the fault of Herbert Hoover, but see how he was unable or unwilling to take the steps to address it. Find out how the election of 1932 was the result of his misunderstanding of the economics of the time.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Bonus March

For Students 5th - 8th
Read how anger about the increasing hardships affecting people in the Great Depression resulted in a march on Washington, D.C., by veterans of World War I. See what the demands were of the so-called Bonus Army, and how the demands were met.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Domestic and International Politics

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the politics, both domestic and international, of the three presidents in the 1920s. Domestic scandals and attempts to patch international problems stood out in this decade.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Books and Movies

For Students 5th - 8th
A look at the literature and movies written and produced in the Jazz Age. See how the writers of the age reflected the consumer society and the emptiness of middle class. Movies appealed to mass culture and millions went to the movies...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Intolerance

For Students 5th - 8th
The 1920s was a time of intolerance and a return to nativism, a claim to return to American values, defined as those held by white, western European descendents. Read about the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, restriction on immigration,...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Red Scare

For Students 5th - 8th
A dark side to the Jazz Age was the increase in the fear of Communism. Read about the federal government's actions to stem anything that was thought to threaten American security.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Old Values vs. New Values

For Students 9th - 10th
An overview of the clash between the old way of life of the Victorian Age and the new, the Jazz Age.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: A Consumer Economy

For Students 5th - 8th
The booming economy of the 1920s introduced new products and ways of paying for those products. Read about the increase in the kinds of household appliances, places to buy the appliances, and the financing of all those new consumer goods.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Flappers

For Students 5th - 8th
The liberation of women as expressed by the flappers of the 1920s was in stark contrast to the actions of women in the Victorian Age. Read about how flappers expressed their freedom in fashion, employment, and leisure activities.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Fight Against "Demon Rum"

For Students 5th - 8th
The Eighteenth Amendment showed how difficult it is to legislate morality. Read about the advantages of Prohibition, especially in terms of public health. The disadvantages far outweighed the advantages. See how lawlessness increased...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Age of the Automobile

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Henry Ford's use of the assembly line to manufacture his automobiles led to many ramifications. Read about the spin-off industries created by the growth of the automobile industry, and see what impact the auto had on culture.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Over Here

For Students 5th - 8th
World War I was not fought by Americans just in Europe. Read about the many ways people at home helped the war effort. See how badly German-Americans were treated as anti-German passions were fueled.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Election of 1912

For Students 5th - 8th
William Howard Taft was a disappointment to the progressive-minded Theodore Roosevelt. Read about how he tried to be the Republican Party candidate in 1912, and when that failed, he started a third party, the platform of which was filled...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Passing the Torch

For Students 5th - 8th
See how William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt's handpicked successor, qualifies as one of the progressive presidents, but infuriated progressives because of some of his policies.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Preserving the Wilderness

For Students 5th - 8th
See how Theodore Roosevelt became a champion of conservation and protection of the American wilderness as president. In addition, take the short quiz about Roosevelt.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Trust Buster

For Students 5th - 8th
Theodore Roosevelt, as a Progressive president, wanted government to work for all the people, not just the rich. See how he used legislation already in place, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, to sue what he considered "bad" trusts in order to...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Teddy Roosevelt: The Rough Rider in the White House

For Students 5th - 8th
A brief, but very interesting biography of the country's youngest president at that time, Theodore Roosevelt. The article gives a good look at his life before he was president, and a hint of what was in store for the country after he...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Progressives in the White House

For Students 5th - 8th
Read a brief overview of the three presidents, two Republican and one Democrat, who believed in an activist government to help all the people, and pushed for legislation to reflect their views.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: w.e.b. Du Bois

For Students 5th - 8th
Read a brief biography of W.E.B. DuBois, who was an early civil rights activist and supporter of equal opportunity and treatment for African-Americans. See how he acted on his beliefs. Included is a brief quiz about the Progressive Era.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Roots of the Movement

For Students 5th - 8th
Progressivism got a push from the Populist movement, a reaction to the forgettable presidents and laissez-faire government in the Gilded Age. Find a listing of authors who wrote about progressive ideas, and see what influence populism...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Ways of the Cowboy

For Students 5th - 8th
The cowboys were the background of the cattle boom in the 19th century. Read about their life, and their demise.