Mini-Investigation Paper (Final Draft)

A Plan of the investigation

1. Topic: Whether the unemployment rate increased the number of protests against the government.

2. Question: Did the amount of unemployed people during the economic depression increase the number of protests against the government?

3. Reason: During the economic depression, the unemployment rate increased rapidly. Many Americans were out of jobs and didn’t have enough money to buy anything they needed. The number of people that would go against the government might have increased and caused more protests to happen during the Great Depression.

4. Method of Investigation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, online articles from The Library of Congress on the Great Depression, Encyclopedia of Chicago

B Summary of evidence

1. VanGiezen, R., & Schwenk, A. E. (2003, January 30). Compensation from before
World War I through the Great Depression. In Bureau of labor statistics.
Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm#dol-banner

‐ From 1923-1929 the average unemployment rate is 3.3%

‐ Stock market declined 90% from 1929-1932

‐ Highest unemployment rate in 1932 with unemployment of about 25%

‐ Economic recovery was slow, hesitant, far from complete

‐ In 1940, unemployment rate still at 15%

2. Great Depression. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 8, 2009,
from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/542.html

‐ Great Depression had some strikes and protests that broke out with the most violence in Chicago’s history

‐ “The Great Depression saw some of the most volatile strikes and protest movements in the city’s history.”

‐ Active social protest movements occurred

‐ “Active social protest movements extended outside of the workplace.”

‐ Housewives also protested about businesses that refused to lower prices

‐ “Across the city, angry housewives protested retailers’ misleading advertising and refusal to lower prices.”

3. Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945. (n.d.). The learning page.
Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://rs6.loc.gov:8081/learn/features/
timeline/depwwii/race/race.html
timeline/depwwii/race/race.html>

‐ Half of the African Americans were out of jobs

‐ Racial violence became more and more common in the South

‐ “Radical violence again became more common, especially in the South.”

‐ Lynching occurred more often during the depression

‐ “Lynchings, which had declined to eight in 1932, surged to 28 in 1933.”

C Evaluation of sources

The website by Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk contains statistics of the unemployment rate during the economic depression. This website was posted by the government and has a limitation because the government may leave out information that they don’t want the people to know about. The information that was left out could have been useful information that could change the reader’s perspective of the whole event or situation which can make the source not as valuable. The purpose of the document, which is to inform the reader of what happened and how it was like during World War I and the Great Depression, can give limitations. The author may want to inform the reader about what happened but would still leave out information that would give bad impressions on to the government. Its purpose could also change the value of the document. Important information could have been left out by the government because they didn’t want to look bad to the American citizens. This reason for leaving out information can decrease the value of the document.

D Analysis

Facts in the first source have given enough information on the unemployment rate during the Great Depression. The source contains accurate statistics of the percentages of unemployment and the condition the United States was in during the depression. It was written that from 1923 to 1929, the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent. This information could be used to compare to the unemployment rate during the Great Depression which had the highest percentage in 1932 of about 25 percent. The source also gives extra information on how the stock market was going on and how well the economy was recovering from the economic downturn.

Factual material in the second source has given some information on how the people in the United States have felt during the depression. The facts that were given in the source weren’t enough to give a complete answer to the question. The whole document only contained facts on the city Chicago. It would be better if I could get more information on the topic in this document of other places than just Chicago.

The third source gave facts that told how the people were like during the Great Depression. Half of the whole population of African Americans didn’t have any jobs. Many people including housewives protested. Racial violence increased during the Great Depression as well has lynching, but all of the information from the source didn’t give the exact information I need to answer my question fully. Some of the facts in the document were not related to the question I was trying to answer.

Writing Assignment

Anti-immigration was an important social issues of the three sources. The Ku Klux Klan mentioned in HA was a group that was revived from anti-immigration feelings and became a strong and effective group. Zinn agrees with HA according to the quote, “The Ku Klux Klan was revived in the 1920s, and it spread into the North.” “Confederate flag-wavers, white-robed Ku Klux Klansmen (whose organization had plummeted in membership since the 1920s), and potbellied southern sheriffs still stood out as not-so-comical symbols of white racism,” is a quote that was told by Schweikart. He agrees with HA that the KKK was active but thinks that it wasn’t really effective or powerful.

Liberal organizations were also another important social issue of the three sources. In HA, the American Civil Liberties Union was a liberal organization that helped protect immigrants and freedom of speech. In the passage, “The NAACP seemed helpless in the face of mob violence and race hatred everywhere,” Zinn mentions another liberal group but says that they are not effective. In Schweikart’s passage, he says that there are liberals but those people are also racists themselves.

The government’s ideas are also an important social issue of the three sources. According to HA, the government follows the ideas of the Nativists. “Congress, in the twenties, put an end to the dangerous, turbulent flood of immigrants (14 million between 1900 and 1920) by passing laws setting immigration quotas: the quotas favored Anglo-Saxons, kept out black and yellow people, limited severely the coming Latins, Slavs, Jews,” was written by Zinn that shows he fully agrees with HA. In Schweikart’s passage, he doesn’t mention what side the government follows.

Mini-Investigation Paper (Rough Draft)

A Plan of the investigation

1.          Whether the unemployment rate increased the number of protests against the government.

2.          Did the amount of unemployed people during the economic depression increase the number of protests against the government?

3.          During the economic depression, the unemployment rate increased rapidly. Many Americans were out of jobs and didn’t have enough money to buy anything they needed. The number of people that would go against the government might have increased and caused more protests to happen during the Great Depression.

4.          Reliable websites (government websites), encyclopedias, books on the Great Depression

B Summary of evidence

1.            VanGiezen, Robert, and Albert E. Schwenk. "Compensation from before World War I through the Great Depression." Bureau of Labor Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2009. .

‐              From 1923-1929 the average unemployment rate is 3.3%

‐              Stock market declined 90% from 1929-1932

‐              Highest unemployment rate in 1932 with unemployment of about 25%

‐              Economic recovery was slow, hesitant, far from complete

‐              In 1940, unemployment rate still at 15%

2.            "Great Depression." Encyclopedia of Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2009. .

‐              Great Depression had one of the most volatile strikes and protests in Chicago’s history.

‐              Active social protest movements occurred

‐              Housewives also protested about businesses that refused to lower prices

3.            "Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945." The Learning Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2009. .

‐              Half of the African Americans were out of jobs

‐              Racial violence became more and more common in the South

‐              Lynching occurred more often during the depression

‐              There were protests that were caused by the depression

C Evaluation of sources

The website by Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk contains statistics of the unemployment rate during the economic depression. The origin of the document has a limitation where the information that the author thinks is not important is left out by the author. The origin also affects the value of this document where information that may be needed by the reader is left out of the document, which loses its value. The purpose of the document can limit the information given. The author may want to persuade the reader by only giving out certain information. Its purpose could also change the value of the document. If the author was trying to persuade the reader, there would only be one side of the situation, with the other side of the situation left out. This could change the reader’s value of the document.

D Analysis

Facts in the first source have given enough information on the unemployment rate during the Great Depression. The source contains accurate statistics of the percentages of unemployment and the condition the United States was in during the depression.

Factual material in the second source has given some information on how the people in the United States have felt during the depression. The facts that were given in the source weren’t enough to give a complete answer to the question. The whole document only contained facts on the city Chicago.

The third source gave facts that told how the people were like during the Great Depression. Many people including housewives protested. Racism was also mentioned in the document. The source didn’t give the exact information needed to answer the question fully. Some of the facts in the document wasn’t needed at all for answering the question.

Writing Assignment (Edited with Step 3)

Question: Did the amount of unemployed people during the economic depression increase the amount of protests against the government?

Wish List:

1. unemployment rate before and during the economic depression
2. how the people felt during the economic depression
3. whether there were more protests than before the depression

Step 3:

1. United States Department of Labor (http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm)
2. Encyclopedia of Chicago (http://www.encyclopedia.chocagohistory.org/pages/542.html)
3. The Learning Page (http://rs6.loc.gov:8081/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/race/race.html)
   

Writing Assignment

Question: Did large amounts of unemployed people during the economic depression create large amounts protests against the government?

Wish list:

1. percentage of unemployment before economic depression
2. amount of protests during the economic depression
3. leaders of protest groups
4. particular protest groups that protested against the government