Society

Question 1

Who were Fundamentalists and what did they do?

Answer 1

Fundamentalists firmly believed in the description of the creation of the world as it was told in the bible.
Wanted to make it illegal to teach Darwin’s theories.
1921-2 fundamentalist politicians led by William Jennings Bryan passed laws in 6 southern states banning the teaching of evolution (the Butler Act).

Question 2

Why did Fundamentalists want to ban evolution?

Answer 2

Believed the Protestant faith was the basis of America’s success and society.
Convinced by the charismatic Bryan.
Progressive religious ideas seen as foreign, particularly associated with Germany.
Series of high profile murder cases, they felt the decline of the bible would lead to more.
Concerned America was being seduced by science.
Concerned about social progressivism.

Question 3

What was the Monkey Trial?

Answer 3

1925
John Scopes deliberately broke the law so he could be arrested and put his case against creationism to the courts.
Creationists were subject to great mockery, publicly ridiculed by Scopes’ lawyer Clarence Darrow.
Bryan, who claimed to be an expert on the Bible and science, was shown to be ignorant and confused.

Question 4

What characteristics did rural Americans generally have?

Answer 4

WASP. 
Religious fundamentalist. 
Valuing freedom and independence from government interference (self reliance). 
Hard working.
More likely to be working on farms. 
Family values. 
Reverence of tradition and high morals.

Question 5

What characteristics did urban Americans generally have?

Answer 5

Not necessarily white. 
Sometimes Catholic or Jewish. 
Might be atheist. 
Multi-ethnic background. 
Wanting to spend greater leisure time having fun. 
Mobile. 
More likely to be working in industry. 
More likely to question accepted norms in society and open to new ideas. 
Scientific and modern in outlook.

Question 6

How did rural Americans view urban Americans?

Answer 6

Widespread distrust of cinema, jazz music and its associated dances.
Women who wore short skirts, smoked and frequented speakeasies were seen as shameless.
There was concern with the growth of crime and fear that it might spread to rural areas.
Wanted to keep rural America WASP.
Feared immigrants would shift racial balance and introduce communism.
Feared African Americans and the influence of their culture in the young.

Question 7

How did the Great War cause anti-immigrant feelings?

Answer 7

Fears about loyalty of German and Austrian immigrants.
Economic problems.
High unemployment with returning soldiers.
War helped create an atmosphere of intolerance and fear.
War made many Americans want to adopt an isolationist stance, including not welcoming immigrants.

Question 8

How did the Russian Revolution and the Red Scare cause anti-immigrant feelings?

Answer 8

Uprisings across Europe sparked by Russian Revolution increased fear of immigrants.
Fear of communism spreading.

Question 9

How did anarchy and the Sacco and Vanzetti case cause anti-immigrant feelings?

Answer 9

1919, series of bombing by followers of Italian immigrant Luigi Galleani causing suspicion.
Suspicion focused on Boston’s Italian community.
Sparked fear of immigrants.

Question 10

How did eugenics cause anti-immigrant feelings?

Answer 10

The Passing of the Great Race by Madison Grant, 1916.

Fear grew that the Nordic American race was being polluted by new immigrants.

Question 11

What did the 1917 Immigration Act do?

Answer 11

Asiatic barred zone.
Rigorous health checks.
Literacy test.
Banned certain people from entering eg. homosexuals.

Question 12

What anti-immigrant groups contributed to anti-immigrant feelings?

Answer 12

KKK

Immigration Restriction League

Question 13

What did the 1921 Emergency Quota Act do?

Answer 13

Limited immigration to 3% of the total number of each nationality resident in the US according to the 1910 census (approx. 357,000 per year).

Question 14

What did the 1924 Quota Act do?

Answer 14

Modified 1921 act by making base figure 2% of 1890 census, cutting immigration to about 164,000.
Favoured Northern Europeans over Southern and Eastern Europeans.
Stopped all practical immigration from India and East Asia.

Question 15

How was the 1924 Quota Act modified in 1927?

Answer 15

Quota fixed at 150,000, not implemented until 1929.

Question 16

What was the Red Scare?

Answer 16

6,000 arrests known as the Palmer Raids.
1919, Palmer created General Intelligence Division to investigate revolutionary activities.
Undercover informants and warrantless wire taps helped identify several thousand leftists and radicals.
Most detainees had to be released within a few days due to lack of evidence.

Question 17

What was the outcome of the Red Scare?

Answer 17

Palmer announced there would be a huge communist demonstration in New York on 20 May 1920.
The nation prepared for the worst: assassinations, bombings and general strikes.
New York City’s 11,000 man police force worked for 32 hours straight.
When nothing happened, Palmer looked ridiculous and the Red Scare died away.

Question 18

What caused the Red Scare?

Answer 18

After FWW, high inflation caused industrial unrest, during 1919 an estimated 4,000,000 workers went on strike.
Many people believed that strikers were led by communists.
Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were associated with communism and attempts to overthrow the government.
Palmer wanted to make a name for himself and hoped to use this to get the democratic nomination.
Fear of all things foreign.

Question 19

What was the Sacco and Vanzetti affair?

Answer 19

Italian born anarchists convinced of murdering a guard and a paymaster during an armed robbery, 1920.
Suspicion focused on Boston’s Italian community.
Although they produced supported alibis, the dubious evidence presented and the bias of the judge led to their conviction.
Sentenced to death in 1921 and executed in 1927.

Question 20

Why were Sacco and Vanzetti convicted?

Answer 20

As Italian immigrants, they were victims of racial discrimination.
Victims of the political mood at the time - height of the Red Scare.
Evidence that condemned them was highly circumstantial, their supporters claimed that vital evidence had been disregarded.

Question 21

Why did the race riots happen?

Answer 21

Demobilisation of troops - competition for jobs.
By 1919, estimated half a million African Americans had migrated from South to North and Midwest.
In 1919, President Wilson stated that ‘the American negro, returning from abroad, would be the greatest medium in conveying Bolshevism to America.’

Question 22

What happened during the race riots?

Answer 22

Judiciary sympathetic to whites, short sentences.
Black people made aware of what was happening through various black newspapers eg. Chicago Defender.
Press and government linked black protest to Bloshevism.

Question 23

What happened in the Chicago race riots?

Answer 23

1919, late July, early August.
38 killed, 500 injured.
Started when an African American boy was struck by a rock and died at a segregated beach, white people were throwing rocks at him.

Question 24

What happened in the Washington race riots?

Answer 24

Rumoured arrest of a black man for rape led to 4 days of violence.
Black population fought back and police refused to protect them.
15 people killed.

Question 25

What did the Hayes Report show?

Answer 25

Unpunished lynchings caused bitterness in the black community and therefore trivial matters could spark a riot.

Question 26

Were lynchings a problem?

Answer 26

National problem.
Few if any white prosecutions.
At least 43 blacks lynched.
38 separate riots in which whites attacked blacks.

Question 27

What did the government think of race riots?

Answer 27

Palmer criticised black leadership for not doing more to stop the violence and for being influenced by Bolshevik propaganda.

Question 28

Did the Harlem Renaissance benefit all of Harlem’s black residents?

Answer 28

By the end of the 1920s, Harlem had become a slim.
High rents and overcrowding.
Standards of health and hygiene very poor.
Poets, writers and musicians attracted the attention of white patrons who admired the talent of the few whilst ignoring the poverty and suffering of the masses.
When black musicians entertained in the Harlem jazz clubs, black people were banned from the audiences.

Question 29

How did sport affect society?

Answer 29

Huge venues overflowed with spectators.
Advertisers latched on to athletes’ popularity, paying professional sports heroes to put their names on products like cereal and footwear.

Question 30

How did the Harlem Renaissance affect society?

Answer 30

Made white Americans view African Americans as worldly and accomplished rather than impoverished and uneducated.

Question 31

How did cinema affect society?

Answer 31

A rating system did not yet exist, films often explored themes such as sex and crime.
Daily ticket sales topped $10 million.
By the end of the decade a hundred million cinema tickets were being sold each week.
Became a multi billion dollar business.

Question 32

How did jazz affect society?

Answer 32

The 1920s became known as the Jazz Age.

The older generation saw jazz as corrupting younger people.

Question 33

How did literature affect society?

Answer 33

Writers such as Mencken highlighted the cynicism of the times, attacking society and culture.
Writers nicknamed the Lost Generation eg. Ernest Hemingway captured the anger and frustration of the decade.

Question 34

How did radio affect society?

Answer 34

Staple of American life and culture in the 1920s.
In 1921, only one radio station in America, by end of 1922, 508.
Amos and Andy, popular show.
By 1929, NBC were making $150 million a year.
Advertisers soon began sponsoring shows as well as producing their own programming to hawk their products.

Question 35

When was the KKK revived and by whom?

Answer 35

1915 by W. J. Simmons

Question 36

How did the Klan recruit new members?

Answer 36

1920, professional fund raisers and publicity agents Elizabeth Tyler and Edward Clarke joined.
Klan organisers called Kleagles organised huge rallies, often with cross burning, to attract members.
Kleagles signed up hundreds of new members.

Question 37

How did the Klan make money?

Answer 37

Initiation fee of $10 and the robes, which cost $3.28 to make, were made by a Klan-owned clothing company and sold for $6.50.

Question 38

Why did the Klan become popular?

Answer 38

Time of renewed immigration.
High inflation, unemployment and industrial unrest.
Red scare.
War had created a mistrust of foreigners which made the Klan appealing.
Opposed the perceived immorality and progressivism of the towns making them popular in some rural areas.

Question 39

What shows that the KKK had an influence?

Answer 39

Membership reached 5,000,000 in 1925, 15% of the eligible US population.
1924, had successes in both local and state elections.
Indiana elected a Klan member as governor in 1924.
In some areas, the local police and judiciary were Klan supporters.
The Klan took control of the Anaheim city council in 1924 (and lost it in 1925).
Pressured Al Smith, a Catholic, to withdraw from the democratic presidential nomination.
Bibb Graves, former Klan chapter head, won Alabama’s governor’s office in 1926.

Question 40

How did scandals lead to the decline of the Klan?

Answer 40

In 1925, the Grand Dragon of Indiana and 22 Northern States D. C. Stephenson was convicted of rape and second degree murder.
Membership in Indiana and the North declined dramatically.
Many politicians that had supported the Klan abandoned them when charged of crime and corruption emerged.
Revelations of financial mismanagement in Pennsylvania.

Question 41

How did the Klan’s narrow base lead to a decline in membership?

Answer 41

Very little influence in big cities.
40% of its membership came from 3 states.
Overwhelmingly a morning of small towns and rural areas.
It’s base was mainly in the old confederacy and it had few followers in the north, Midwest or Pacific coast.

Question 42

How did newspaper criticism lead to a decline in the Klan’s membership?

Answer 42

Subjected to severe criticism in newspapers making it less appealing.
Attacks in their ideas, methods and general style became common in the press.
Appeared crude.

Question 43

How did discontent from its members lead to a decline in the Klan’s membership?

Answer 43

Evans tried to turn the Klan into a social club angering extremists.
Internal leadership divisions and the perceived dictatorial rule of Evans undermined the Klan’s further development.
The ideas and aims of the Klan offered no positive way forward, it was based on hatred, meaning its appeal was limited and its message depressing.

Question 44

What was the position of women in education in 1920?

Answer 44

Growing higher education opportunities.
By 1890, 4 million women were in higher education.
By 1910, there were 7.8 million studying in a variety of academic disciplines.
Mainly only upper-middle class women went into higher education.

Question 45

What was the social position of women in 1920?

Answer 45

Middle class women involved in social campaigns against poverty and poor living and working conditions. 
Tended not to enter paid employment. 
A lot of working-class women were in the work place however many were young immigrant workers who worked long hours in sweatshops for low wages.

Question 46

What was the political position of women in 1920?

Answer 46

Suffrage movement in late 19th century.
Immigrant males had the right to vote but not women.
In 1920, Woman Suffrage Associations were successful in achieving equal voting rights with the passing of the 19th Amendment.

Question 47

In what ways were the 1920s a decade of opportunity for women?

Answer 47

Methods of mass production increased job opportunities and provided devices that promised liberation from time consuming domestic work.
By 1928, sales of vacuum cleaners, irons, refrigerators and washing machines had risen phenomenally.
Married women entering the workplace rose from 22.8% to 28.8%
The media boom of the 20s provided images of affluent young women, flappers.

Question 48

In what ways were the 1920s not a decade of opportunity for women?

Answer 48

For large sections of the urban and rural populations, women were forced by poverty to focus on the daily struggle to survive rather than their rights.
Not all jobs nor the goods they were producing were accessible to all women.
Women faced discrimination in wages.
Faced hostility of male trade unionists who argued that if women needed special legislation to protect them in the workplace, perhaps thy shouldn’t be there.

Question 49

In what ways did the lives of women change politically?

Answer 49

1920, 19th Amendment gave women over 21 the right to vote.
1916, Democratic and Republican parties gave backing to female emancipation.
By 1928, 145 female representatives in State legislature.

Question 50

In what ways did the lives of women not change politically?

Answer 50

Attempts to pass Equal Rights Amendment Act repeatedly failed.
Opposition to 19th Amendment came from a variety of areas including alcohol and textile industries.
By 1928, only 5 women in the House of Representatives and only 2 had been State Governors.

Question 51

In what ways did the lives of women change economically?

Answer 51

Began to enter professions during the 20s.
Gained greater economic independence allowing them to have disposable income.
1929, over 10 million women in paid employment, 24% more than in 1919.
Cosmetic industry boomed.
More jobs for women created by new booming industries, as well as in clerical and sales jobs.
More middle class and urban women began to work.

Question 52

In what ways did the lives of women not change economically?

Answer 52

Low paid jobs, not equal pay with men.
Many young female working class immigrants worked long hours in sweatshop conditions for low wages.
700,000 female domestic servants.
Number of female college graduates fell by 5% during the 20s.
By 1930, fewer than 100 female accountants and only 150 dentists.

Question 53

In what ways did the lives of women change socially?

Answer 53

The media, especially magazines and movies, exposed women, middle and upper class, to a wider variety of experiences than before.
Gained benefits of electrical devices.
1921, federal funded healthcare for pregnant women.
Greater spread of birth control reduced unwanted pregnancies.
For young urban women (flappers), traditional rules of behaviour seemed to end; smoked in public, drank alcohol, wore makeup, etc.
More middle and upper class women went to speakeasies.

Question 54

In what ways did the lives of women not change socially?

Answer 54

1929, federal funds for maternity clinics withdrawn.
Combination of traditional religion and old country values kept most rural women in a more restricted role than young urban women.
Widespread distrust of jazz music and its associated dances in rural communities.
Flappers were regarded as shameless by many in rural communities.