11.3 SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL TENSIONS
OBJECTIVES
Compare economic and cultural life in rural
America to that in urban America
Discuss the changes in U.S. immigration policy
in the 1920s
Analyze the goals and motives of the KKK in
the 1920s
Discuss the successes and failures of the 18 th
amendment
FIRST TIME FOR EVERY THING
1920 census-more people lived in urban areas
than in rural regions
Split between urban and rural America
Education becomes more important
 Ingredient for success
Modernism
 Growing trend to emphasis science over secular
values over traditional ideas about religion
Fundamentalism
 Emphasized Protestant teachings and the belief that
every word in the Bible was literal truth
SCOPES TRIAL 1925
 Fundamentalism and
Modernism clash head-on
 John Scopes-Tennessee
teacher who wanted to
teach evolution to his
science class
 Clarence Darrow -most
celebrated defense attorney
 Scopes found guilty of
breaking the law -fact that
was never in question
 Fined $100
 Each side still believed in
the truth of its position
THE BATTLE OVER EVOLUTION
O P P O N E N T S O F D A R W I N ’ S T H E O R I E S S E T U P S H O P AT T H E O P E N I N G O F T H E
FA M E D “ M O N K E Y T R I A L ” I N D AY T O N , T E N N E S S E E , I N 1 9 2 5 . T H E T R I A L W A S A N E A R LY
B AT T L E I N A N A M E R I C A N “ C U LT U R E W A R ” T H AT I S S T I L L B E I N G W A G E D M O R E T H A N
S E V E N T Y- F I V E Y E A R S L A T E R .
RESTRICTING IMMIGRATION
Congress passed a law requiring immigrants
to take a literacy test before WWI began
Immigrants who could not read or write their
own language were prohibited
Emergency Quota Act 1921
 Put quota on immigration from specific countries
National Origins Act
 # of immigrants of a given nationality could not
exceed 2% of the # living in the U.S. in 1890
 Excluded most Asian immigrants
THE ONLY WAY TO HANDLE IT
I S O L AT I O N I S T S A N D N AT I V I S T S S U C C E E D E D I N D A M M I N G U P T H E F L O W
O F I M M I G R A N T S T O T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S I N T H E E A R LY 1 9 2 0 S . T H E
I M M I G R AT I O N A C T O F 1 9 2 4 P L A C E D S T R I C T Q U O TA S O N E U R O P E A N
I M M I G R A N T S A N D C O M P L E T E LY S H U T O U T T H E J A PA N E S E .
ANNUAL IMMIGRATION AND THE
QUOTA LAWS
MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS
Quota system did not apply to Mexico
Settled in sparsely populated regions of
the Southwest and contributed to
economies
Found work harvesting crops ion TX and
CA
Smaller number worked factories and
farms in North and Midwest
KKK-KU KLUX KLAN
 Targeted African Americans,
Catholics, Immigrants,
Jews, and suspected
radicals
 Revived in 1915 from
original KKK after Civil War
to terrorize African
Americans who sought to
vote
 Burned crosses, boycotted
businesses, and terrorized
citizens in the darkness of
night
 Wore masks, waved flags,
preached hate and followed
leaders-Grand Dragon and
Imperial Wizard
KLANSWOMEN ON PARADE, 1928
FOUNDED IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA, THE KU KLUX KLAN
ENJOYED A REMARKABLE RESURGENCE IN THE 1920S. HERE
WOMEN MEMBERS, UNMASKED AND UNAPOLOGETIC, MARCH DOWN
P E N N S Y LVA N I A AV E N U E U N D E R T H E S H A D O W O F T H E C A P I T O L
DOME.
ANTI-KKK
 NAACP and the Jewish
Anti-Defamation
League
 Embraced idea of
racial, ethnic, religious,
and cultural diversity
 Focused on positive
aspect of “melting pot”
 Eventually, KKL never
disappeared, but lost
importance
PROHIBITION
18 th amendment– prohibited the
manufacture, sale and transportation of
alcoholic beverages on the U.S.
Volstead Act-officially enforced the
amendment
Supporters “drys” argued that alcohol was the
root of many problems
Speakeasies-clubs or bars where liquor was
sold illegally
bootlegging-illegal sale or distribution of
alcohol
NO MORE MOONSHINE
F E D E R A L A G E N T S G L O AT O V E R A C A P T U R E D S T I L L I N D AY T O N , O H I O , I N
1930. “MOONSHINERS,” OR MAKERS OF ILLEGAL LIQUOR, ENJOYED A
BOOM DURING PROHIBITION, THOUGH ZEALOUS G -MEN (GOVERNMENT
AGENTS) PUT THE OWNER OF THIS MAKESHIFT DISTILLERY OUT OF
B U S I N E S S — AT L E A S T T E M P O R A R I LY.
GANGSTER AL CAPONE FISHING IN FLORIDA
CAPONE MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE ANY CHICAGO BUSINESSMAN ON VACATION, BUT HIS
BUSINESS WAS BIGGER AND NASTIER THAN MOST, AS HE OFTEN ELIMINATE D HIS
COMPETITION BY MURDER. HE WAS REPORTED AS SAYING, “EVERYBODY CAL LS ME A
RACKETEER. I CALL MYSELF A BUSINESSMAN. W HEN I SELL LIQUOR, IT’S BOOTLEGGING.
WHEN MY PATRONS SERVE IT ON A SILVER TRAY ON LAKE SHORE DRIVE, I T’S HOSPITALITY.”
HE WAS FINALLY JAILED IN 1932 FOR FALSIFYING HIS INCOME TAX RETU RNS.
CRIME
Al Capone- Gangster who controlled Chicago
with his small army of mobsters
 Sold alcohol
 Carried out violence against rival gangs
Elliot Ness- Led group called the
Untouchables
 Carried out raids against bootlegging
 Responsible for the conviction and arrest of Al
Capone
21 ST AMENDMENT
Repealed the 18 th amendment
Selling, manufacturing, and consuming of
alcohol legal again