Prejudice, Intolence And Compeition For Work Flashcards
Who was appointed to capture and deport communists?
J Edgar Hoover (became very famous - bigwig).
He built up many files on suspects from all walks of life incl. movie stars (witch hunt). Any trouble makers branded Communists and deported. Easy way to get rid of them.
Only 556 out of the over 10,000 cases brought by Hoover had any basis of fact.
Why didn’t the Captains of Industry like Reds?
Different language, religion and culture.
Anti - Capitalism (American way of life). Didn’t want them to rise up and strike / riot for more money / better conditions. Affected production and profits.
How did the Red scare come about?
In 1919 there were bombings in the US followed by stricken and riots.
This really came about because of the economic down turn after WW1 as workers were laid off because wartime production levels fell.
But US said it was the work of Communists or other radical groups. Appointed J Edgar Hoover.
Fear of radical ideas / communism and immigrants - allowed the Red Scare to become real. People wanted the Communists out (Anti American).
Name two famous Italian Anarchists who became the focus of the red scare?
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
Following a number of bombing on (one killing the US Attorney General) the US rounded up people with radical beliefs and tried them on flimsy evidence.
Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of murder and robbery and executed in 1927 - lots of protests cos clear that the judge was prejudice.
What is the Red Scare?
Reds = Russian / Eastern Europeans.
New immigrants - many communists (state rules and everyone the same) - opposite to Republican beliefs (no Govt inference - work hard, get more)
Scared of more strikes and riots as workers demanded more from employers.
Blamed Communists and radical groups like anarchists. Not completely unjustified. Many immigrants did hold radical beliefs. Wanted to overthrow the Govt.
When did slavery stop?
1865
What is the Ku Klux Klan?
KKK = white supremacy group based in South.
Formed in 1860s - but gained popularity in early 1920s (membership grew to 4 million by 1925 to include many officials). Met at night. Secret organisation.
Gained popularity cos many black southern moved north to work in factories.
Claimed to be defenders of American values. Wanted to keep black people down (inferior) so preserve the southern way of life. Threat to social order.
Also disliked all immigrants, Jews and Catholics.
Stopped black people getting unskilled jobs, allowing white unskilled people to get them instead.
What are the Jim Crow laws?
1896 - This was a collective name for laws that discriminated against African Americans.
Passed in the south to preserve the southern way of life after slavery was abolished. Whites were outnumbered by blacks and scared that they may gain control by numbers.
Some states made it difficult for African Americans to vote (or only vote if your grandad did….but slaves couldn’t vote).
Allowed segregation - black people to live separately - attended different school, sit in different areas in the park, on transport, cafes, theatres, toilets etc. Supposed to be separate but equal but black peoples had it much worse.
Why did the KKK membership decline after 1925?
In 1925 a scandal broke out where a KKK leader, D.C. Stephenson was convicted of kidnapping and murder.
People didn’t like it and the group never really recovered.
Also, jazz music was gaining popularity and African Americans were becoming celebrities. Also there was still a lot of prejudice, people were becoming less racist.
What was it like to be African American in the 1920s?
People looked down on non- white immigrants, but they looked down on black people who they saw as inferior (since coming to the US). The darker your skin, the lower down the social ladder.
Whilst there were some improvements in the north (better jobs, schools, higher life expectancy), creating some middle-class African Americans, there was also great poverty for the majority of the black people.
Poor ghettos existed, and there was inter-racial tensions from the better educated, proud West Indianian, than the newly arrives southern farmers
