American Culture in the 1920s
US History/Napp
Name: __________________
Do Now:
“The 1920s saw the emergence of new values. Greater mobility and material comfort had
a key impact on social patterns and beliefs. Many groups, especially women, the young,
and African Americans, felt a new sense of power and freedom. Others felt threatened and
sought to preserve traditional values.
At the start of the 1920s, rural American continued to regard the rise of urban society
with suspicion. The best examples of the effort to defend traditional values were
Prohibition and the Scopes Trial.
Prohibition
The Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial
New Restrictions on
1- Protestant reformers
1- Tennessee passed a
Immigration
often saw liquor as
law that forbade
1- After World War I,
the cause of poverty
teaching Darwin’s
nativist feeling
and crime
theory of evolution
against immigrants
2- In 1919, the states
because it
led Congress to
ratified the
contradicted the
restrict immigration
Eighteenth
Biblical account of
from Southern and
Amendment, banning
creation
Eastern Europe
the sale of alcoholic
2- In 1925, John Scopes,
2- The Immigration
drinks.
a biology teacher, was
Acts of 1921, 1924,
3- By 1933, most
tried and convicted
and 1929 established
Americans saw this
for teaching evolution
quotas for each
‘experiment’ as a
3- The trial illustrated
nationality based on
failure because many
the clash between
America’s existing
people had refused to
new scientific theories
ethnic composition
accept the ban on
and some older
3- Under this system,
alcohol.
religious beliefs
Great Britain,
4- The demand for
Ireland, and
illegal liquor
Germany were
stimulated the growth
allowed the greatest
of organized crime in
number of
the 1920s.
immigrants, while the
5- Prohibition was
~ The Key to Understanding
number of ‘New
repealed by the
U.S. History and
Immigrants’ was
Twenty-first
Government
severely limited
Amendment
4- Asian immigration
was barred altogether
Questions:
1- What had a key impact on American social patterns and beliefs in the 1920s?
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2- What groups felt a new sense of power and freedom?
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3- Why did some Americans feel threatened in this time period?
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4- What did some Protestant reformers believe about liquor?
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5- Discuss the Eighteenth Amendment.
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6- Why did many Americans by 1933 view the Eighteenth Amendment as a failure?
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7- What had the demand for illegal alcohol stimulated?
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8- Discuss the Twenty-first Amendment.
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9- What law had Tennessee passed regarding Darwin’s theory of evolution?
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10- Who was John Scopes and why was he convicted?
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11- What did the Scopes Trial illustrate in American society?
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12- What feelings had increased after World War I?
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13- Define nativism.
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14- Discuss the Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929.
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15- What is an immigration quota?
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16- What countries were allowed the greatest number of immigrants?
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17- Why do you think these countries were allowed the greatest number of immigrants?
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18- Who do you think were the “New Immigrants”?
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19- What immigration was banned?
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20- Why do you think this immigration was banned?
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21- Was this preferential treatment of some immigrants and not other immigrants
ethnocentric?
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22- Do these issues regarding immigration still exist today?
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23- Does the conflict between religion and science still exist today?
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24- What was most surprising to you on the chart?
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25- How do you feel about Prohibition?
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26- How do you feel about the Scopes Trial? _____________________________________
Pre- Reading:
“The Scopes Trial, (July 10–21, 1925, Dayton, Tennessee, U.S.), was a highly publicized
trial (known as the ‘Monkey Trial’) of a Dayton, Tennessee, high-school teacher, John T.
Scopes, charged with violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
In March 1925 the Tennessee legislature had declared unlawful the teaching of any
doctrine denying the divine creation of man as taught by the Bible. World attention focused
on the trial proceedings, which promised confrontation between fundamentalist literal
belief and liberal interpretation of the Scriptures. William Jennings Bryan led for the
prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. The judge ruled out any test of the law’s
constitutionality or argument on the validity of the theory, limiting the trial to the single
question of whether John T. Scopes had taught evolution, which he admittedly had. He was
convicted and fined $100. On appeal, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality
of the 1925 law but acquitted Scopes on the technicality that he had been fined excessively.
The law was repealed in 1967.” ~ Britannica
The Primary Source:
The 1925 Scopes trial pitted defense attorney Clarence Darrow against special prosecutor
William Jennings Bryan. Called as a defense witness, Bryan answered a blistering volley of
questions fired at him by Darrow. As you read this transcript from the trial, think about which
side – the fundamentalists or the evolutionists – prevailed.
DARROW: Mr. Bryan, could you tell me how old the earth is?
BRYAN: No, sir; I couldn’t.
DARROW: Could you come anywhere near it?
BRYAN: I wouldn’t attempt to. I could possibly come as near as the scientists do, but I had
rather be more accurate before I give a guess. . . .
DARROW: Have you any idea how far back the last glacial age was?
BRYAN: No, sir.
DARROW: Do you know whether it was more than six thousand years ago?
BRYAN: I think it was more than six thousand years.
DARROW: Have you any idea how old the earth is?
BRYAN: No.
DARROW: The book you have introduced in evidence tells you, doesn’t it? (Darrow held
up a copy of the Bible.)
BRYAN: I don’t think it does, Mr. Darrow.
DARROW: Let’s see whether it does. Is this the one?
BRYAN: That is the one, I think.
DARROW: It says, B.C. 4004?
BRYAN: That is Bishop Usher’s calculation.
DARROW: That is printed in the Bible you introduced?
BRYAN: Yes, sir. . . .
DARROW: Would you say the earth was only four thousand years old?
BRYAN: Oh, no; I think it is much older than that.
DARROW: How much?
BRYAN: I couldn’t say.
DARROW: Do you say whether the Bible itself says it is older than that?
DARROW: I don’t think the Bible says itself whether it is older or not. (a long pause)
DARROW: Do you think the earth was made in six days?
BRYAN: Not six days of twenty-four hours.
DARROW: Doesn’t it [the Bible] say so?
BRYAN: No, sir.
ATTORNEY GENERAL STEWART: I want to interpose another objection. What is the
purpose of this examination?
BRYAN (Pale and trembling, he rose, shaking his fist above his head.): The purpose is to
cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible, and I am perfectly willing that the
world shall know that these gentlemen have no other purpose than ridiculing every person
who believes in the Bible!
DARROW: We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling
the education of the United States, and you know it, and that is all.
From L. Sprague de Camp, The Great Monkey Trial (New York: Doubleday, 1968), 401–
404.
1- What was the purpose of Mr. Darrow’s questions?
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2- So, which side [the Fundamentalists or the Evolutionists] do you believe prevailed?
Why?
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3- By the way, why is the trial called the Scopes Monkey Trial?
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1. Public disregard for Prohibition
3. Which events best support the
and for laws prohibiting gambling
image of the 1920’s as a decade of
indicates that
nativist sentiment?
(1) the American film industry has
(1) the passage of the National
great influence on public
Origins Act and the rise of the
opinion
Ku Klux Klan
(2) the system of checks and
(2) the Scopes trial and the passage
balances does not work
of women’s suffrage
(3) attempts to legislate public
(3) the Washington Naval
morality may be met with
Conference and the Kelloggstrong resistance
Briand Pact
(4) American citizens have little, if
(4) the growth of the auto industry
any, respect for laws
and the Teapot Dome Affair
2. The 1920’s are sometimes called the
“Roaring Twenties” because
(1) foreign trade prospered after
World War I
(2) the United States assumed a
leadership role in world affairs
(3) political reforms made government
more democratic
(4) widespread social and economic
change occurred
4. In the United States, the decade of
the 1920’s was characterized by
(1) a willingness to encourage
immigration to the United
States
(2) increased consumer borrowing
and spending
(3) the active involvement of the
United States in Europe
5. In the 1920’s, the Immigration Act of
1924 and the Sacco-Vanzetti trial were
typical of the
(1) rejection of traditional customs and
beliefs
(2) acceptance of cultural differences
(3) increase in nativism and
intolerance
(4) support of humanitarian causes
6. Speaker A: “To preserve our American
culture, people whose national origins do
not match the origins of our nation’s
founders must be refused admission.”
Speaker B: “. . . let us admit only the best
educated from every racial and ethnic
group . . .”
Speaker C: “. . . there is an appalling
danger to the American wage earner from
the flood of low, unskilled, ignorant,
foreign workers who have poured into the
country . . .”
Speaker D: “Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses yearning to
breathe free . . .”
In the early 20th century, most labor
unions supported the view of
(1) Speaker A
(2) Speaker B
(3) Speaker C
(4) Speaker D
7. Which feature of the immigration laws
of the 1920’s was different from prior
laws?
(1) Quotas were set to limit
immigration from many countries
(2) Preference was granted to Chinese
immigrants
(3) Refugees from war-torn Europe
were encouraged to enter the
United States.
(4) Efforts were made to stop illegal
immigration from Latin America.
8. The 1925 trial of John Scopes reflects
the conflict between
(1) science and religion
(2) isolation and international
involvement
(3) traditional roles and new roles for
women
(4) Prohibition and organized crime
9. What was a major result of Prohibition
in the United States during the 1920s?
(1) restriction of immigration
(2) growth of communism
(3) destruction of family values
(4) increase in organized crime
10. During the 1920s, controversies
concerning the Scopes trial, national
Prohibition, and the behavior of
“flappers” were all signs of disagreement
over
(1) the return to normalcy
(2) traditional values and changing
lifestyles
(3) causes of the Great Depression
(4) the benefits of new technology
11. Which event of the 1920s symbolized a
conflict over cultural values?
(1) election of Herbert Hoover
(2) transatlantic flight of Charles
Lindbergh
(3) Scopes trial
(4) stock market crash
12. Which pair of events illustrates an
accurate cause-and-effect relationship?
1. Sacco and Vanzetti
trialratification of the woman
suffrage amendment
2. rebirth of the KKKformation of
the Populist Party
3. Red Scaredemand for limits on
immigration
4. high food pricesstart of the Great
Depression
Analyze the Political Cartoons:
What is the meaning of the political cartoon?
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What is the meaning of the political cartoon?
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