More About the 1920s
Review
What were the 2 reasons that the US entered WWI?
Who were the “irreconcilables”?
Who were the “Reservationists”?
Why didn’t the US join the League of
Nations?
More About the 1920s
Post War Turmoil
Factors that led to turmoil after
WWI
Fear of Communism.
Immigration
Blacks leaving the South for the
North—The Great Migration.
Prohibition
The Red Scare
“Reds” are Communists.
Red Scare = Anti-Communist panic that swept through the US in the early 1920s
During WWI, the communists had taken over Russia through revolution.
1919 Communist International
(Comintern)
Tied to fear/hatred of immigrants in that many are communists or anarchists.
The Palmer Raids
A. Mitchell Palmer was Wilson’s
Attorney General.
He believed that Communists wanted to take over the world.
He felt that Communists in the
US wanted to overthrow the
Govt.
On 6/2/1919, bombs went off in 8-cities (1-in front of
Palmer’s house).
Palmer Raids (continued)
J. Edgar Hoover begins to gather information on radicals.
In 1919-1920, Palmer’s men staged raids throughout US cities in which suspected radicals were arrested.
In January of 1920, more than 6,000 were arrested in a single night.
Most of these people were immigrants and 500 were deported.
Most were seized without warrants and denied lawyers and denied food, water heat, and bathrooms. Some were beaten.
What would be a reason to defend the
Palmer raids and how they were carried out?
What would be some arguments against the
Palmer raids?
Sacco and Vanzetti
Were Italian immigrants accused of murder during a robbery in 1920.
Both were also anarchists.
The judge in their case was hostile towards them and called them “dagos.”
They were executed in
1927.
The Great Migration
During the 1920s, the exodus of blacks leaving the South to go to cities in the
North continued.
Blacks wanted out of the South because of low wages and Jim
Crow laws.
Cities = factories.
Racial Tensions
The large amounts of blacks to cities in the North (and LA) led to race riots in many cities in the early
1920s.
Marcus Garvey
Black from Jamaica who came to New York at the age of 28.
Preached a message of
Black pride and self-help
(black nationalism).
United Negro
Improvement Association
(UNIA).
“Back to Africa” Movement—Called for African Americans to return to
Africa.
Black Star Line—ships that would take blacks back to Africa.
Lots of corruption—Garvey found guilty of mail fraud and deported.
Economic Unrest
Postwar Recession
Women quit jobs or are forced to.
Pressure for jobs with returning vets.
1919 = 3,600 Strikes
– Seattle
– Boston Police
– Steelworkers ALL
FAILED
Review
What was the “Red Scare”?
What were the “Palmer Raids”?
How did the Great Migration Lead to racial tension?
Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?
What was Marcus Garvey for?
