Increased Social Tensions in the 1920's Flashcards
2.1 What are four reasons that some Americans feared the early 20th Century wave of immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe?
Basically, many Americans feared what was different. The Southern and Eastern European immigrants were different in several ways:
- Religion - Catholics and Jews had different religious and cultural traditions from the White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASP’s) who were already here.
- Language, Education, Socio-Economic: Many immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were poor, illiterate and could not speak English.
- Fear of Radicalism - After the Russian revolution, there was great fear that S. & E. European immigrants would spread communism.
- Fear of Unemployment - Americans feared that immigrants would take their jobs.
2.1 What two laws did Congress pass in the early 1920’s to restrict immigration and to try to keep the ethnic mix of the US population the same?
- 1921- Immigration Quota Act - Total of 357,000. AND only 3% of the number of immigrants from each country that were already in the US as of 1920 were allowed per year.
- 1924 - National Origins Act - Total number of 164,000. AND quota was reduced to 2% of the 1890s census (1929 - further quota reduction to 150,000)
Why did middle and upper class Americans fear communism?
- They were worried that communism would take away their wealth and power.
- After the October Revolution, in 1917, Americans feared Communism because communism was becoming a worldwide movement that was being spread by the Soviet Union.
- Many immigrants from eastern and southern Europe brought communist and anarchist ideas with them. This scared many Americans.
2.2 What caused Americans’ fears of communism and anarchy to increase, in 1919?
- A major wave of strikes across the United States by angry industrial workers and police made politicians and business owners feel threatened.
- A series of mail bombs and coordinated bomb attacks against politicians and industrialists caused the U.S. Attorney General to take action.
2.2 Who was Alexander Palmer, and what did he do?
- Alexander Palmer was the Attorney General of the U.S., the chief lawyer of the US government.
- Palmer created a spy division which was to expose and arrest radical political activists.
- Arrested thousands of suspects and deported around 600 radicals.
2.2 What were the effects of the Palmer Raids?
- They increased public support for immigration restrictions out of fear that immigrants supported radical ideas.
- They weakened the workers’ rights movement, because some union members were communists and had organized the strikes.
2.3 What was the significance of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial?
The trial showed that even without conclusive evidence, two anarchist immigrants from southern Europe could be found guilty of a crime and sentenced to death.
It revealed that even the great democratic US judicial system was influenced by anti-immigrant sentiment.
2.3 How did the Sacco Vanzetti trial and execution affect anti-immigrant sentiment?
- Workers protested all over the world, especially in Italy.
- U.S. immigrants became u
2.4 What were the Jim Crow laws?
Laws that segregated blacks from whites in schools, restaurants and public places. They were denied good education, good jobs, voting and personal freedoms.
2.4 What are two problems the Black American experience in the northern states?
- Since most blacks had unskilled jobs, they earned low wages and had to live in ghettos. So blacks were segregated because of their poverty.
- Blacks also faced anger from white industrial workers who felt that the blacks were taking their jobs. ( this sometimes caused race riots)
2.4 What were four difficulties faced by black Americans because of racism in the USA?
- Job Opportunities
- Job Security
- Living Conditions
- Right to Vote
What was the significance of the KKK?
A white supremacist group wanting to reinforce white power with anti foreign attitudes and that WASPs are superior. They claimed to have more than 5 million members in 1925 and lynched black people.
What was the significance of the Monkey Trials?
Made religious fundamentalists in the Bible Belt region seem really foolish and unbanned the Theory of Evolution from the South.
Why was the Prohibition introduced?
Female reformers claimed there were links between drunkenness and domestic abuse of women. And Ford said drinking reduced efficiency and output of work and religious groups saw it as sinful. There were anti-German sentiment from WWI as many brewers were German so it was unpatriotic and beer was named “The Kaiser’s Brew”
Effects of the Prohibition
Speakeasies which were illegal bars operated under the law, in ?NYC there were more than 30,000 by 1930. Owners had to bride the police to stay open. Smuggling was rampant from Europe, Mexico and Canada. Brewing industry was crippled, 589 breweries were permanently closed down even after the Prohibition. Deaths from alcoholism fell by 80% but deaths by poisoned alcohol use rose to 50,000 by 1926.
