The U.S. in the ‘ 20 ’ s can be best described as:
1. Practiced international political isolation that continued throughout the decade
2. Economic prosperity which promoted overproduction of goods, overspending, & incurring debt
3. Explosion of culture: amusement, art, music, sports, film and literature.
4. Weak government scarred with political scandal & unreliable leadership.

Bell Ringer
• What kind of things scared
Americans post WWI and throughout the 1920s?
• What were some things Americans were divided about during the
1920s.

A. Nativism = New
Immigrants bring new
A. Ideas
B. Religion
C. Beliefs
D. Want to change America
B. Racism- Different gender/races
A. Are inferior
B. Have different beliefs
C. Dilute our purity “white”
D. Want to change America
• Ethnic Prejudice-
Different people are un-
American
– Different Religions
• Communist
• Jews
• Catholics
– Not all whites are good
• Eastern & Southern Europe
– Different beliefs
• Socialist
• Anarchist
• Communist

– Red Scare
• Communism
– Immigration Restriction
– Eugenics
– Social Darwinism
– Ethnic Prejudice
• Different religions, cultures, customs, l
– Racism
• Different race

• Immigrants compete with returning soldiers for jobs

Nativism Increases
• Eugenics: False science of improving society by manipulating heredity.
– Idea: Inferior people should not breed.
– Only real Americans should live in America.
– Burden on the rest of us

Ethnic Prejudice
 Basis for Sacco & Vanzetti
Case.
 2 shoe factory employees robbed & murdered.
 Police arrest Sacco &
Vanzetti
 Anarchists
 Italian Immigrants
 Sentenced to death.
Appeals denied.
 Executed 1927.

Social Darwinism
• Theory by Charles Darwin
• Everything evolves from a lower life form
• Natural Selection
• Survival of the fittest
– Herbert Spencer
– Strong will survive
– Weak will die
• Justified racism, imperialism, & nativism towards others.

KU KLUX KLAN
• Leaders to Restrict
Immigration
• African Americans, Catholics, nd
Jews, other immigrants.
•
•
1924 over 4 million members
Poor leadership leads to
KKK ’ s decline and political supporters voted out of office.
– Supporters
• Violence leads to distance

15 th
Amendment
• African Americans right to vote
Ku Klux Klan
• Use scare tactics to keep
African Americans from voting
W.E.B
DuBois
• Establish the NAACP to stop lynching in the south

• Marcus Garvey believed that
African Americans should build a separate society
• GO BACK TO AFRICA
• His work would influence the radical BLACK POWER
MOVEMENT of the 60s
Garvey represented a more radical approach to equality

• Communism is the exact opposite of AMERICA
– Economics different
– Government different
• Communism took over in
Russia(Vladimir Lenin)
• Immigrants from Europe bring these ideas.
• Strikes & Labor Unions
– Palmer Raids
– Espionage Act
– Sedition Act

Why are immigrants BAD
• Pure Americans are
– English
– White
– Protestant
• Other European Immigrants bring
– Problems form their home country
– Anarchy
– Socialism
• Religions
– Catholics
– Jews
– Muslims
Eastern Southern
Europeans

Emergency Quota Act
1921
Limited Immigration based ethnicity and national origin
Limit people from a country per year. 3%
Especially southern and eastern Europeans (Jews &
Catholics)

National Origins Act 1924
• Immigration restrictions permanent
• Lowered EQA 2%
• Literacy test
– Less stupid people = better America

The idea of fearing others
• Is…..The more non-Americans that came here or were born here via immigrants tainted the country with their religious or political beliefs.
Americans justified their ignorance, racism, hatred & their actions using a pseudo scientific belief systems that some races were superior to others. Some groups grew so powerful that they initiated legislation to support their beliefs. Minority groups fought back but achieved very little support

Clash of Values
• Clash of ideas, beliefs & values that resonated throughout the decade and often divided the nation.
– Social Reform vs. Social Decline
– New Morality vs. Fundamentalism
– Evolution vs. Creationism (religion vs. science)
– Traditional Values vs. Modern America

Clash of values
New Morality
Alcohol = all societies problems Flappers
Speakeasies independence
18 th Amendment
Prohibition
Fundamentalism
Evangelical
Christians
Traditional Values Organized crime
Speakeasies
Bootleggers corruption

Prohibition-
• Alcohol = all
Spousal & Child Abuse
I drink cause you
I yell cause you drink….
problems in society.
• Women’s Christian
Temperance Union
& Organized Crime
– Ban Alcohol
– 18 th amendment

18 th Amendment
Organized Crime,
-
alcohol
Illegal Alcohol activity
o Volstead Act made the enforcement of Prohibition
.
o Americans ignored the laws of Prohibition
• Went to secret bars speakeasies -where alcohol could be purchase.
• Crime became big- gangsters took control.

Social Issues
Birth of Organized Crime (Al
Capone) -Chicago
Moonshine (alcohol)
Rumrunners (Smugglers)
Bootleggers (illegal distributors)
1933-ratification of 21 st amendment ended
Prohibition

• Challenged traditional ideas
• New Ideas about life, work, marriage
• Glorified youth and freedom.
• New roles for women
– Workforce
– College
– Flappers
– Professionals
• Women live for themselves

• Believed that Social decline in cities was spreading to small town America.
• People needed more God to combat New Morality

• Believed
– “ NEW MORAILTY
Decline
” = Social
– Small town values
– Creationism
– God created the World as in the
Bible
• Joined
– Religious movements
• Evangelicals
• Rejected
– Darwin ’ s Theory of Evolution
• Man evolved from a lower order of animal.

Creation Vs Evolution
• Butler Act- 1925
(Tennessee)
– Illegal to teach evolution or refute creationism.
• Brought the issue of evolution and creation to the limelight
• Dayton, TN. 1925
• John T Scopes biology teacher (sub) taught evolution in his class he was arrested

• Darrow(evolution) vs Bryan (creation)
• Darrow stumped
Bryan by calling
Bryan to the stand as an expert witness on the Bible.
• Scopes was found guilty, but the case was later overturned
• CASE was STAGED

Modern America vs. traditional America
• Technology make life easier
• Technology making Americans lazy
• Jazz music = expression of youth = fun
• Jazz music = lack of morals = social decline
• Drinking, dancing, smoking = fun
• Drinking, dancing, smoking = sin
• Want progress and new products
• Prefer old way of doing things