Mock Exam Flashcards
What laws were passed against immigrants?
1917 - imposed a literacy test on immigrant
1921 - Congress passed the Emergency Quotas Act
1924 - the National Origins Act was passed
Before the first world war, did USA have restrictions on immigrants?
No, America had instead become a ‘melting-pot’ of races and nationalities. There were more religions and more languages in the USA than in any other country
What was the law of 1917 passed for immigrants?
- law passed for a literacy test on immigrants
- this mostly favoured those from Northern and Western Europe (mostly whites and those protestant)
- this law wasn’t effective
- after war ended, fears that millions of Europeans would flood to USA
What was the law of 1921 passed for immigrants?
- Congress passed the Emergency Quotas Act
- number of people admitted to USA each year limited to 3% of all emigrants from that country who were resident in USA in 1910
- this favoured Northern and Western Europe again bc these were the people who had emigrated in the largest numbers over the previous 200 years
What was the law of 1924 passed for immigrants?
- the National Origins Act passed
- 3% figure reduced to 2% and the year of residency moved back to 1890
- the overall number of European immigrants was restricted to 100,000
In 1896, what did the US supreme court give legal approval to?
- the Jim Crow Laws (treating blacks as inferior people)
- white southerners could protect their way of life and continue to exploit those who they believed to be racially inferior
Why did Americans dislike black people?
- immigrants provided cheap labour and therefore created competition for jobs
- immigrants might bring political ideas (ie communism from Russia)
- racial abuse because of their colour
What Act made alcohol illegal?
The Volstead Act - January 1920
Last until 1933
What was ‘liquor’
Anything that contained 0.5% alcohol or more
By 1914, how many states in the USA were ‘dry’
12 states
Why were people against alcohol?
- many alcohol drinks were german, and it was said to be unpatriotic to be drinking german drinks during the war
- became associated with absenteeism from work
- poor families suffered from the alcoholic activities of the father of the house
What groups campaigned for prohibition?
- Women’s Christian Temperance Union
- Anti-Saloon League
By the end of the war, how many states were ‘dry’?
75%
By the end of the decade, how many speakeasies were across the USA?
30,000 in New York alone
200,000 across USA as a whole
Disadvantages of alcohol?
- 5,000 people died each year from drinking homemade moonshine
- alcohol trade simply driver underground
- bootleggers made lots of money smuggling into USA
- speakeasies opened and sold beer and other drinks
- prohibition agents - far too few in number
Who were two well-known prohibition agents?
Einstein and Smith
Facts of two prohibition agents
Einstein and Smith:
- raided 3,000 speakeasies
- arrested 4,900 people
- confiscated 3 million bottles of spirit in the first 5 1/2 yrs of prohibition
How many members did the KKK have between 1920-1925
About 5 million members, including judges, policemen and local politicians
Why did people join the KKK?
- out of fear for their own safety bc if they didn’t support their white neighbours
- believed they were defending American way of life (culture)
What activities did the KKK get up to?
- sometimes parades during the day
- met in secret at night
- wore white hoods and white sheets
What violence did the KKK inflict on African Americans?
- being beaten
- raped
- lyched
Example to show racism decreasing
In the late 1920’s, a court convicted one of the leaders in KKK of the kidnap, rape and murder of a woman on a train. After this, influence of KKK decreased.
How many people in Germany were unemployed by 1932?
6 million
How did people suffer from the Wall Street Crash?
- 6 million by 1932 were unemployed
- many suffered from part-time jobs and low wages
- many became homeless (unable to pay mortgage)
How did Hitler reduce unemployment?
- used public money on job-creation schemes (the public money doubled between 1933 to 1938)
- German Labour Front organised and directed workers into jobs
- Public works provided thousands of jobs: forestry work, water projects, building new hospitals, schools and sports stadiums
- by 1939, Labour Front had 44,500 paid officials
- increase in military expenditure stimulated other industries and provided more jobs (ie coal and chemical production)
- Germany moving towards self-sufficiency under the Four Year Plan (started in 1936)
How did Hitler come to power?
- failure of Weimar government (public turning to extreme parties)
- Wall Street Crash (1929)
- propaganda - Josef Goebbels
- violence and the SS (Night of the Long Knives)
How did the failure of the Weimar government help Hitler become Chancellor?
- the Weimar government struggled with the Depression
- people thought it was failing them - turned to extremist parties
- coalition governments were weak
- Brüning (chancellor 1930-1932) raised taxes and cut benefits - unpopular
- people wanted a strong decisive government to act firmly
How did the Wall Street Crash benefit Hitler when trying to become Chancellor?
- people felt let down by weimar government
- people turned to extremist parties
- communists only appealed to middle-class
- nazi’s appealed to middle class and wealthy Business men
- Hitler promised to regain Germany’s pride
- he blamed the Treaty of Versailles - of course everyone agreed
How did Hitler use propaganda to become Chancellor?
- emphasised family values and German traditions to appeal to women
- made promises to retrieve Germany’s pride
- said how Germany had been betrayed by ‘cowardly politicians’
- spread ideas about Nazism
How did Hitler use violence and the SS to become Chancellor?
- caused trouble and violence at meetings run by political opposition. The Nazis then blamed the Communists for causing the trouble.
