Intolerance and suspicion
How do attitudes towards immigrants, blacks and other minorities reflect the intolerance of the decade? How does the nostalgia and attitudes from the past conflict with modern ideas of the decade?
During the 1920s there was a great deal of discrimination towards minorities in America. A new sense of Americanism and nativism rose up with the influx of immigrants from all over. It was essentially a decade of intolerance. America was happy with where they were at, and didn't want to change. New minorities seemingly threatened the American way of life and there was social unrest. Old ideas allowed for some acceptance of these minorities, but with new leisure activities, new job opportunities, and new innovations, Americans were not ready to compete with other minorities "invading" their country.
Thinking like a historian
Turning Point- A major turning point in the 1920s was the Immigration Act of 1920 Although intended as temporary legislation, the Act proved in the long run the most important turning-point in American immigration policy because it added two new features to American immigration law: numerical limits on immigration from Europe and the use of a quota system for establishing those limits. Never before had the U.S. taken steps like this to limit immigration, yet this Act would set the stage for all future regulations on immigration.
- What caused Immigration restriction? How was immigration restricted? How strong was Nativism?
A strong sense of Americanism in the 1920s led to great restrictions on immigration. Before now, immigration was virtually unrestricted other than specific laws prohibited select groups, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Growing nativism and discrimination towards southeastern Europeans was very strong. Groups such as the Jews, Italians, and other European nationalities were being heavily discriminated against in the 1920s. This led to the passage of immigration restricting legislation. The Immigration Act of 1921 established a quota system in which any country could only send immigrants constituting 3% of the population from that country already living in the U.S. at the time, each year. This led to a steep decline in immigration. The Immigration Act of 1924 further restricted immigration to a 2% quota, and was specifically aimed at discriminating against the undesirable immigrants from southeastern Europe. There was very little Congressional opposition, which proved the strong nativism of the time.
- What was the KKK? What did the Ku Klux Klan stand for? How did they should the intolerance of the decade?
The KKK, or Ku Klux Klan was a strong nativist group. Their main goal was white supremacy. The KKK stood for all of the old country ideals, such as the Anglo-Saxon supreme race, and America representing Americans, not immigrants. They demonstrated their ideas through unconventional means such as burnings, late night gatherings, and even lynchings. In a conventional matter the KKK was even powerful enough at one point to gain support of many in the government. The KKK, and their sheer popularity really represented the intolerance for minorities in the time period, as many in the U.S. supported their ideas, rather than universally reject them like most do today.
What were the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids? How does this fear add to the intolerance of the decade? How was the “Red Scare” an example of America’s reluctance to be involved in world affairs?
The Red Scare occurred between 1919 and 1920, amongst post war reluctancy. The Red Scare was marked by an increase in discrimination against so called anarchists and far left groups. The Socialist Party, and the International Workers of the World were two leading groups who opposed WWI and were therefore dubbed anarchists following the end of it. A serious of strikes, and bombings heightened feelings in the U.S. and thus began the Palmer Raids. The Palmer Raids were the U.S. Department of Justice's and Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's attempts to curb anarchism in the U.S. They were a serious of illegal search and seizures and nearly 500 deportations of suspected anarchists that could threaten U.S. security. All of this represents America's reluctance to get involved in foreign affairs
- What was the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial? Why was this an example of suspicion and intolerance?
The Sacco and Vanzetti trial was the trialing and indictment of two Italian friends Nicola Sacco, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti on accounts of a crime committed in the Boston suburb of Braintree. While these men were found carrying weapons at the time of the arrest, they were in fact innocent of the actual crime they were tried for. They fell into the police's hands in the first place, because they had fallen into a trap set by the authorities to capture a fellow Italian accused of being a radical. This sheer discrimination in purposefully, and unfairly convicting two innocent men, and trying to capture another just because they were Italian truly expresses the suspicion of the time. Following World War I there was a heightened intolerance of radical views, often expressed by foreigners in labor strikes and unrest, so often radical actions like this were taken to curb it.
- Scopes Trial – fundamentalism/creationism vs. evolution. Why is this trial indicative of the conflict of old vs. new in the 1920’s?
The Scopes Trial was a staged case originating as the brainchild of George W. Rappelyea, who sought to bring publicity to the city of Dayton, Tennessee through the trial. He recruited John T. Scopes, a teacher in Dayton, to challenge to Butler Law, a law that outlawed the teaching of evolution in public schools, to initiate the case. This case was essentially Creationism vs. Evolution, Christianity vs. Science, Faith vs. Reason. The outcome was a defeating of the defendant and a holding up of the Butler law, but it was instrumental in proving the shifting ideas of the 1920s. Before now it would be unheard of to challenge faith, but new ideas of evolution were diffusing along with the culture of the era, reflecting a change in times. The old unchallenged faith doctrine was on the out, and people of the time were looking towards a more scientific and individualistic approach.
Vocab
- Immigrant- a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.
- Anarchist- a person who seeks to overturn by violence all constituted forms and institutions of society and government, with no purpose of establishing any other system of order in the place of that destroyed.
- Communism- a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
- Race- a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, or social affiliation.
- Bolsheviks- a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic party, 1903–17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.
- Fundamentalism- strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles
- Evolution- any process of formation or growth; development
- Quota- a proportional part or share of a fixed total amount or quantity.
Apparts: The independent, Spring/summer 1921: unfair hardships to immigrants
A- The author was a writer from the 1920s magazine The Independent who was most likely not a strong nativist
P- The place was a growing nativist America, just at the beginning of the 1920s, shortly following the Red Scare.
P- I know that there was a growing fervor of Americanism at this time and immigrants were widely rejected by the American public.
A- The audience was any American reading this magazine, but the author tailored it most likely towards current immigrants in America to sympathize with them.
R- The author wrote this to raise awareness of the awful discrimination towards immigrants the U.S. was taking part in, and to sympathize with current immigrants.
T- The main idea here is that the U.S. government was taking part in some immoral acts towards immigrants, i.e. sending them all the way back, separating families, etc...
S- This is important because it shows to what extent immigration was being restricted at the time. It proves there was a true nativism in America, and it was ugly.
Link to document: http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/IMMIGRANTS-Hard-Times.PDF
P- The place was a growing nativist America, just at the beginning of the 1920s, shortly following the Red Scare.
P- I know that there was a growing fervor of Americanism at this time and immigrants were widely rejected by the American public.
A- The audience was any American reading this magazine, but the author tailored it most likely towards current immigrants in America to sympathize with them.
R- The author wrote this to raise awareness of the awful discrimination towards immigrants the U.S. was taking part in, and to sympathize with current immigrants.
T- The main idea here is that the U.S. government was taking part in some immoral acts towards immigrants, i.e. sending them all the way back, separating families, etc...
S- This is important because it shows to what extent immigration was being restricted at the time. It proves there was a true nativism in America, and it was ugly.
Link to document: http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/IMMIGRANTS-Hard-Times.PDF