Ch 15: The Jazz Age 1921-1929

Section 1: A Clash of Values

Anti-immigration

• Immigration on the rise after WWI• 14 million immigrants out of 105 million

Americans• Mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe• Americans afraid of losing jobs to new comers• Quota Act-limited immigrants to 3% of their

people in U.S. population

Pro-American View Point

• Americans wanted to stop immigration• Didn’t want people from Russia, Germany,

and Italy here• Rise in racism and nativism– Ex: Sacco-Vanzetti Case

Racism with Science

• Eugenics: the idea that we should stop breeding people with “bad” genes

• Americans considered “bad” to be anyone not from northern Europe

Eugenics: “Unfit” People

• Groups include:– Minorities– Disabled– Ethnic Europeans– Anyone from a poor social class

• Solution:– Birth control– Sterilization

Eugenics “Fit” People

• Middle to High Class Americans• Physically fit people• Were encouraged to have lots of kids• Were told using birth control was hurting your

race

Ku Klux Klan

• Second wave of KKK in the 1920s• Targeted– African Americans– Catholics– Jews– Immigrants– Groups that were considered Un-American like

communists

KKK

• Membership rose to 4 million people• Northern and Southern members• Paid politicians for anti-immigration bills• Lost power with the decline of immigration by

the 1930s

National Origins Act of 1924

• Used the 1890 census to determine the amount of immigrants that can come from each country

• Limited immigration to 150,000 people per year

• Northwestern Europe got the most people to come over

Mexican Immigrants

• Were allowed for farming during WWI• 600,000 came between 1900-1920 to help

with irrigation projects in the SW U.S.• Mexicans did not qualify for the Quota Act

• 1921 Quota Act – A temporary quota system limiting immigration.

Cultures Merge

• When new groups came together, they shared ideas

• Youth wanted more freedom

• Women wanted to work• Minority groups gained powerful positions for

the first time in areas like Chicago and New York

Causes For New Freedom

• Employment of the youth in new jobs• Higher education– Pre-war: 7% of people graduated from high

school– Post-war: 41% graduated from high school by the

1930s– College was not an option for most people

• Rise in car sales

“Flappers”

• Rebellious women• Wore short skirts/dresses• Drank alcohol• Smoked• Copied images of celebrities from the day

Conservative America

• Fundamentalist Beliefs:– Bible was true/without error– Didn’t believe in Evolution– Believed in Creationism

• Scopes Trial:– Took place in Tennessee– TN said it was illegal to teach evolution– John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution– Split Fundamentalists after the trial

Prohibition

• 18th Amendment:– Made it illegal to make, sell, and drink alcohol in

1920

• Goal of Prohibition:– To reduce unemployment– To reduce domestic violence– To reduce poverty

Volstead Act• Gave U.S. Treasury Dept. the task of enforcing

prohibition• Gave police powers to a new group of people– No longer given by states– Federal gov’t gets to give out the power

Anti-Prohibition

• People still smuggled alcohol or made their own “moonshine.”

• Illegal bars called speakeasies were created all over the country in big cities.

• The Italian mob also provided liquor.– Ex: Al Capone in Chicago

End of Prohibition• Prohibition failed• Illegal alcohol made for a billion dollar

business• Prohibition failed to reduce poverty, domestic

violence, and unemployment• 21st Amendment-ended prohibition in 1933

Sources:

• The American Republic Textbook Since 1877• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/

peopleevents/e_eugenics.html • http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/

snpmech2.htm