Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumSocial and Political Controversies of the 1920s

"Prohibition cannot be successfully enforced in our great cities because it is against the will of the majority of the people. It has created a class of bootleggers who have grown rich by violating the law, and who have corrupted public officials, police forces, and courts. This failed experiment has introduced a widespread disregard for all law, which is now spreading through the youth of our country. Instead of reducing drunkenness, it has increased the consumption of hard liquor, often of a poisonous quality, in secret speakeasies. We must realize that we cannot make people moral by passing a federal law that the public does not support and actively resists."

— Representative Fiorello La Guardia, Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Prohibition, 1926

Based on the excerpt, the opposition to Prohibition expressed by La Guardia most directly reflects which of the following cultural or political conflicts of the 1920s?

  1. A
    The debate between agrarian reformers and industrial capitalists over the nationalization of private banks.
  2. B
    The conflict between political factions over the isolationist stance of United States foreign policy in Europe.
  3. The division between modern, urban populations and traditional, rural communities over moral legislation.Answer
  4. D
    The campaign by labor unions to eliminate federal safety regulations in industrial workplaces.

Answer

The division between modern, urban populations and traditional, rural communities over moral legislation.
The division between modern, urban populations and traditional, rural communities over moral legislation is correct because Prohibition (established by the Eighteenth Amendment) was a major point of contention between urban 'wets' who opposed the law and rural 'drys' who supported it as a moral necessity.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus passage.
The excerpt shows Fiorello La Guardia arguing that Prohibition cannot be successfully enforced in 'great cities' because the public does not support it, leading to corruption, bootlegging, and the rise of secret speakeasies.
Understanding the context of the source is essential for identifying the specific historical conflict it represents.
2
Connect the stimulus to the broader 1920s historical context.
The debate over Prohibition (the 'Noble Experiment') divided the nation along cultural lines, particularly between the wet, modern, diverse cities and the dry, traditional, Protestant rural areas.
This links the specific arguments of La Guardia to the general social and political controversies of the decade.
3
Evaluate the answer choices.
The option referencing the division between modern urban populations and traditional rural communities directly matches this historical tension, whereas the other options describe unrelated economic or foreign policy debates.
This allows for the selection of the correct option while rejecting the historical misconceptions presented in the distractors.

Key Concept

The clash between urban modernism and rural traditionalism during the 1920s, as demonstrated by the debate over Prohibition.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Rate this question

Topics

Social and Political Controversies of the 1920s

More questions from this topic