1919-1929 Flashcards
Define general strike
A mass strike involving a substantial amount of workers in a particular region, across man industries
Who were targeted by the Government during the Red Scare?
Unionists, communists, foreigners and socialists
What was the Government accusing targeted groups during the Red Scare?
Disloyalty and being apart of a worldwide communist conspiracy
Why did Immigrants become resented?
Fear of their numbers, influence and believing they threatened American institutions and society
What did the Immigration Act of 1917 also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act restrict?
Immigration from any country not owned by the USA adjacent to Asia
What two dates were the Palmer raids and who sent/ what were they?
-November 1919 and January 1920
-Attorney General A Mitchell Palmer sent federal agents to raid the offices of radical organisations
What was Congress’s and conservative’s reactions to the Palmer raids?
-Congress criticised it for breaching civil liberties
-Conservatives approved for suppressing radicals
What happened to the two Italian Americans Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti?
-Accused and arrested for murdering a payroll guard and paymaster during a robbery on 15 April 1920 in Massachusetts
-Given death penalty despite the lack of evidence
What did Sacco and Vanzetti believe?
They were anarchists who believed that government, churches and private property should be abolished and capitalism destroyed and felt that violence was an appropriate way to achieve this
What was the Red Summer?
The epidemic of racial violence that swept the US in 1919-1920
How many race riots were there and what did the federal government do about them?
-26
-They did nothing to stop the violence
What did the Red Scare cause in terms of racial equality?
Groups that supported racial equality lost power and influence, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) was driven out of the South and there was no equality in either the North or South
Define eugenics
The theory of improving the genetic characteristics of a population by controlling reproduction in order to produce offspring with desirable characteristics
What did many Americans believe surrounding immigrants?
The US(which they saw as superior) was being ‘polluted’ by foreigners
What did employers see immigrants as and when/what did that change to?
-Cheap labour who would complete for work by accepting cheaper wages and poorer conditions
-By 1921 they joined the belief to limit immigration due to the fear of radicalism being greater than their desire for cheap labour
What did the temporary Immigration Quota measure in 1921 state?
No more than 3% of the total foreign born population of each nationality in the US could be admitted
What did the Immigration Act 1924 reduce the previous immigration quota in 1921 to?
2%
What did president Calvin Coolidge declare while signing the Immigration Bill and what did it restrict?
-‘America must remain America’
-Immediately restricted the entry of Jews from eastern Europe
Why did the KKK numbers increase in 1920?
Two public relations specialists Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler made a deal with its founder William Simmons that in exchange for a share of the profits they would provide a recruitment system
Which groups did the Klan target?
African Americans, Immigrants, Catholics and Jews
Why did people join the KKK? (besides their own racism)
It was good for business as Klan members were expected to co-operate in business, and organise boycotts against Jewish and catholic enterprises
Why did the KKK begin to decline by 1924?
As the organisation became wealthier, there were more battles for power and profits between the leaders and scandals began to appear exposing corruption and hypocrisy. It also failed to deliver on its promises and fear generated from the war, Red Scare and Red Summer dissipated due to the Immigration Act of 1924
What promises did the Klan fail to deliver?
It was unable to assure law and order, end crime and immortality or turn America into a Protestant Anglo-Saxon nation but instead exacerbated law and order by carrying out vigilante actions, terrorising black and ethnic groups and sparked riots
Define Anglo-Saxon nation
A nation full of people from British or English ancestry
