Ch 15: The Jazz Age 1921-1929
Section 1: A Clash of Values
Anti-immigration
• Immigration on the rise after WWI
• 14 million immigrants out of 105 million
Americans
• Mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe
• Americans afraid of losing jobs to new comers
• Quota Act-limited immigrants to 3% of their
people in U.S. population
Pro-American View Point
• Americans wanted to stop immigration
• Didn’t want people from Russia, Germany, and
Italy here
• Rise in racism and nativism
– Ex: Sacco-Vanzetti Case
Racism with Science
• Eugenics: the idea that we should stop
breeding people with “bad” genes
• Americans considered “bad” to be anyone not
from northern Europe
Eugenics: “Unfit” People
• Groups include:
– Minorities
– Disabled
– Ethnic Europeans
– Anyone from
a poor social class
• Solution:
– Birth control
– Sterilization
Eugenics “Fit” People
•
•
•
•
Middle to High Class Americans
Physically fit people
Were encouraged to have lots of kids
Were told using birth control was hurting your
race
Ku Klux Klan
• Second wave of KKK in the 1920s
• Targeted
– African Americans
– Catholics
– Jews
– Immigrants
– Groups that were considered Un-American like
communists
KKK
•
•
•
•
Membership rose to 4 million people
Northern and Southern members
Paid politicians for anti-immigration bills
Lost power with the decline of immigration by
the 1930s
National Origins Act
• Used the 1890 census to determine the
amount of immigrants that can come from
each country
• Limited immigration to 150,000 people per
year
• Northwestern Europe got the most people to
come over
Mexican Immigrants
• Were allowed for farming during WWI
• 600,000 came between 1900-1920 to help
with irrigation projects in the SW U.S.
• Mexicans did not qualify for the Quota Act
Cultures Merge
• When new groups came together, they shared
ideas
• Youth wanted more
freedom
• Women wanted to work
• Minority groups gained powerful positions for
the first time in areas like Chicago and New
York
Causes For New Freedom
• Employment of the youth in new jobs
• Higher education
– Pre-war: 7% of people graduated from high
school
– Post-war: 41% graduated from high school by the
1930s
– College was not an option for most people
• Rise in car sales
“Flappers”
•
•
•
•
•
Rebellious women
Wore short skirts/dresses
Drank alcohol
Smoked
Copied images of
celebrities from the day
Conservative America
• Fundamentalist Beliefs:
– Bible was true/without error
– Didn’t believe in Evolution
– Believed in Creationism
• Scopes Trial:
– Took place in Tennessee
– TN said it was illegal to teach evolution
– John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution
– Split Fundamentalists after the trial
Prohibition
• 18th Amendment:
– Made it illegal to make, sell, and drink alcohol in
1920
• Goal of Prohibition:
– To reduce unemployment
– To reduce domestic violence
– To reduce poverty
Volstead Act
• Gave U.S. Treasury Dept. the task of enforcing
prohibition
• Gave police powers to a new group of people
– No longer given by states
– Federal gov’t gets to give out the power
Anti-Prohibition
• People still smuggled alcohol or made their
own “moonshine.”
• Illegal bars called speakeasies were created all
over the country in big cities.
• The Italian mob also provided liquor.
– Ex: Al Capone in Chicago
End of Prohibition
• Prohibition failed
• Illegal alcohol made for a billion dollar
business
• Prohibition failed to reduce poverty, domestic
violence, and unemployment
• 21st Amendment-ended prohibition in 1933
Sources:
• The American Republic Textbook Since 1877
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peoplee
vents/e_eugenics.html
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpmec
h2.htm