Documenting United States History

400 ChApTEr 17 | ChaLLenGes to the statUs QUo | period seven 1890 –1945

ApplyINg Ap® historical Thinking Skills

sKill review Comparison, appropriate Use of Evidence,

and Contextualization

Consider the following prompt:

Compare the speech by Eugene Debs in Canton, Ohio (Doc. 17.9), and the news-

paper article about a meeting of the Communist Labor Party (Doc. 17.10). How does

each document characterize socialist activism in the United States? What contextual

factors created the similarities and differences between them?

steP 1 Compare and use evidence appropriately

Use your response to the “Evaluate” question for Document 17.10 as a starting point for com-

parison and appropriate use of evidence. Organize your information in a subject-by-subject

outline:

I. Introduction

II. Eugene Debs speech

A. Language of the speech

B. Key examples of the speech

III. Communist Labor Party meeting

A. Language of the speech

B. Key examples of the speech

steP 2 Contextualize and use evidence appropriately

Determine what contexts were most influential in the years 1918 and 1919 for contex-

tualization and appropriate use of evidence.

•   

Economic?

•   

Social?

•   

Political?

Consider the broad context of America in the world (one of the key themes of this

course). How did the end of World War I and the broad, international context influence the

perception of communism in the United States?

TopIC II | Challenges to Civil Liberties 401

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