Opening:

Conservative

Backlash Stations

Work Period:

Role of women and

anti-immigration

PPT/Notes

STANDARD 6.2 -EXPLAIN THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE

SOCIAL CHANGE AND CONFLICT BET WEEN TRADITIONAL AND

MODERN CULTURE THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THE 1920S

Closing:

Quiz

AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1920S

Although the 1920s are

thought of as a care-free

boom time, society was

divided by the trauma of

change. Not everyone

experienced prosperity!

Social changes were the

result of:

Industrialization

Immigration

Urbanization

By 1920, more than half of

the population lived in

cities, and there was an

increasing emphasis placed

on science.

All of these factors led to

social change which led to

conflict between traditional

American conservatism and

modern scientific

liberalism.

THE TWENTIES WOMAN

After the tumult of World War I, Americans were looking for a little fun in the 1920s

Women were becoming more independent and achieving greater freedoms (right to vote, more employment, freedom of the auto) Chicago

1926

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Women gave up wartime jobs when soldiers returned. After fighting for suffrage (the right to vote) since Seneca Falls in 1848, women gained the vote through the 19 th amendment to the Constitution. Did not make politics more moral as they had promised to do…most voted the way their husbands did. Chicago

1926

ROLES FOR WOMEN

Women did not gain new opportunities, and many continued working as nurses, teachers, phone operators, & secretaries. Also domestic servants, factory workers and sweatshop laborers.

Women earned less than men and were kept out of many traditional male jobs (management) and faced discrimination

Early 20th Century teachers

ROLES FOR WOMEN

Movement to the cities during the war nurtured new sexual attitudes and aroused public anxiety about the decline of moral values.

The iconic image of the flapper represented this change but posed little threat to the traditional roles of wife and mother.

POSTWAR AMERICAN WORKERS

War-time propaganda

of “100 percent

Americanism” turned

American nativism into

xenophobia (dislike of

people from other

countries).

High inflation,

competition from

returning veterans and

end of wartime

concessions to workers

led to labor unrest.

A TIME OF LABOR UNREST

Strikes (Boston police,

coal miners) frightened

middle and upper class

Americans as did the

Russian Revolution and

growing socialist

movement in Europe.

1920S: TOUGH TIMES FOR

UNIONS

The 1920s hurt the labor movement

Union membership dropped from 5 million to 3.5 million

Why? African Americans were excluded from membership and immigrants were willing to work in poor conditions

Ford Foundry workers in 1926; only

1% of black workers were in Unions

at the time

FEAR OF COMMUNISM

Anarchist bombs exploded in 8 American cities in 1919.

One perceived threat to American life was the spread of Communism

Communism is an economic and political system based on a single-governmental party, equal distribution of resources, no private property and rule by a dictatorship

SOVIET UNION

COMMUNISM

Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union in 1917, a Communist state

Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks and overthrew the Czarist regime

He was a follower of the Marxist doctrine of social equality

A Communist party was formed in America, too

Lenin

RED SCARE AND THE

PALMER RAIDS Taking advantage of

public fear, Mitchell Palmer led a series of raids.

The government arrested 4,000 alleged communists who were held without bond.

Later, hundreds were deported.

Palmer later discredited by an incorrect prediction about anarchist attacks.

He brought fear against dangerous foreigners.

THE KLAN RISES AGAIN

As the Red Scare and anti-immigrant attitudes reached a peak, the KKK was more popular than ever

By 1924, the Klan had 4.5 million members

The film “Birth of a Nation” intensified racism and the Red Scare added radicals, immigrants and Catholics to those targeted by the KKK.

THE KLAN RISES AGAIN

The Klan was now a national organization with a following in small towns and cities of the Midwest and the South.

Thought they were moral regulators and targeted bootleggers and gamblers by burning crosses, public beatings and lynchings.

However, Klan leaders involved in sex scandals and corruption undermined “moral leadership”.

ANTI-IMMIGRATION

Congress, in response to nativist pressure, decided to limit immigration from southern and eastern Europe and Asians barred entirely.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system to control and restrict immigration based on Social Darwinism and Anglo Saxon superiority.

America changed its formally

permissive immigration policy

PROHIBITION

One example of the clash between city & farm was the passage of the 18 th Amendment in 1920 due to anti-German sentiment and grain shortages during the war years.

This Amendment launched the era known as Prohibition

The new law made it illegal to make, sell or transport liquor, but not to consume it.

Prohibition lasted from 1920 to

1933 when it was repealed by

the 21st Amendment

SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION

Reformers had long believed alcohol led to crime, child & wife abuse, and accidents

Supporters were largely from the rural south and west

The church affiliated Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union helped push the 18 th Amendment through

Poster

supporting

prohibition

SPEAKEASIES AND BOOTLEGGERS

Many Americans did not believe drinking was a sin

Most immigrant groups were not willing to give up drinking

To obtain liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons known as speakeasies

People also bought liquor from bootleggers who smuggled it in from Canada, Cuba and the West Indies

ORGANIZED

CRIME

Prohibition

contributed to the growth

of organized crime in

every major city

Chicago became

notorious as the home of

Al Capone – a famous

bootlegger

Capone took control of

the Chicago liquor

business by killing off

his competition

Al Capone was finally convicted on tax

evasion charges in 1931

GOVERNMENT FAILS TO

CONTROL LIQUOR

Eventually, Prohibition’s fate was sealed by the government, which failed to budget enough money to enforce the law

The task of enforcing Prohibition fell to 1,500 poorly paid federal agents --- clearly an impossible task

Federal agents pour wine

down a sewer

SUPPORT FADES, PROHIBITION

REPEALED

By the mid-1920s, only

19% of Americans

supported Prohibition

Many felt Prohibition

caused more problems

than it solved

The 21st Amendment

finally repealed the 18th

amendment and ended

prohibition in 1933

SCIENCE AND RELIGION CLASH

Another battleground during the 1920s was between fundamentalist religious groups and secular thinkers over the truths of science

The Protestant movement grounded in the literal interpretation of the Bible is known as fundamentalism

Fundamentalists found all truth in the Bible – including science & evolution

SCOPES TRIAL

In March 1925, Tennessee passed the nation’s first law that made it a crime to teach evolution

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised to defend any teacher willing to challenge the law – John Scopes did

Scopes was a biology teacher who dared to

teach his students that man derived from

lower species

SCOPES TRIAL

The ACLU hired Clarence Darrow, the most famous trial lawyer of the era, to defend Scopes

The prosecution countered with William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential nominee

Darrow

Bryan

SCOPES TRIAL

Trial opened on July 10,1925 and became a national sensation In an unusual move, Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible – key question: Should the Bible be interpreted literally? Under intense questioning, Darrow got Bryan to admit that the Bible can be interpreted in dif ferent ways Nonetheless, Scopes was found guilty and fined $ 100 The conflict between social conservatives who advocate conformity to a traditional moral code and liberals who advocate individual rights took place in the 1920s and continues today.

Bryan Darrow