A Clash of ValuesA Clash of ValuesThe Roaring Twenties

Nativism ResurgesNativism Resurges

As the 1920s opened, America found itself surrounded by feelings of disillusionment and intolerance.

Nativism resurfaced because of fear and prejudice many felt towards Germans and Communists.

Immigrants seemed to pose a threat to stability and order.

Trial of Sacco and VanzettiTrial of Sacco and Vanzetti

After a controversial trial and a series of appeals, the two Italian immigrants were executed on August 23, 1927.

Violent demonstrations swept through many cities the next day, including Geneva, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.

There is a highly politicized dispute over their guilt or innocence, as well as whether or not the trials were fair

April 15, 1920 two men shot and killed two employees of the Slater & Morrill Shoe Co. and robbed them of their $15,000 payroll.

The investigation centered on local Italian anarchists, Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

While neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had a criminal record, the authorities knew them as radical militants. Police speculated that the robbers were motivated by the need to finance more bombings.

““Keep America American”Keep America American”

After WWI, American immigration policies changed in response to economic recession and the pleas of nativists.

Immigration IssuesImmigration Issues

Emergency Quota Act (1921): Cut the number of immigrants who could enter America to 3% of their nationality’s U.S. population in 1910

National Origins Act of 1924: made immigrant restriction a permanent policy; sliced the number down to 2% of the population from 1890 (before many New Immigrants arrived)

Natives of the Western Hemisphere were excluded from the quota system.

EugenicsEugenics

Eugenics: A pseudo-science claiming to improve the genetic features of human populations through selective breeding and sterilization.◦ Based on IQ Testing, physical traits, social mobility, and

predisposition towards violence and crime.◦ Reaffirmed the existing class and racial hierarchies and

explained why the upper-to-middle class was predominately white.

◦ Eugenicists believed poverty to be a characteristic of genetic inferiority, which meant that that those deemed “unfit” were predominately of the lower classes

31 U.S. states passed compulsory sterilization laws. ◦ Men were sterilized to treat their aggression and to

eliminate their criminal behavior, while women were sterilized to control the results of their sexuality

◦ The state of California was at the forefront of the American eugenics movement, performing about one third of the 60,000 nationwide from 1909 up until the 1960s

Effects of the War – The Ku Klux Effects of the War – The Ku Klux KlanKlan

The Ku Klux Klan had a revival in the aftermath of WWI.Fear and hatred caused many to join the Klan.

◦ The list of “we don’t likes”: Catholics, Jews, pacifists, communists, socialists, anarchists, bootleggers, gamblers, birth control activists, and, of course, African Americans.

◦ Used the same methods of fear, intimidation, and lynchingAt its peak they boasted over 5 million members, including

prominent members of local, state, and the national government.

Birth of a NationBirth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation (1915) – A silent film by D.W. Griffith that chronicled the “true story” of the American Civil War, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

The first movie blockbuster and was the first motion picture to be shown at the White House. President Woodrow Wilson supposedly said the film was "like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true."

Bell RingerBell Ringer

Do you think it is important to have a school dress code? Why or why not? Are there any rules you think are unnecessary?

The New MoralityThe New MoralityThe struggle between tradition and modernityThe struggle between tradition and modernity

The New MoralityThe New Morality

The Great War left in its wake a shift in the beliefs of many Americans on family, relationships, gender roles, religion, and especially, war.

The Fundamentalist The Fundamentalist MovementMovement

Fundamentalism – the belief that the Bible is literally true and without error.

Rose out of fear that America was losing its traditional values.

Rejected Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and believed in creationism – the belief that God created the world as described in Genesis.

Popularized by Billy Sunday, a former pro baseball player, who drew huge crowds to his fiery and theatrical sermons.

Scopes Trial – AKA: The “Monkey Trial”

The case centered on high school science teacher, John Scopes, who was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to teach evolution in any state-funded school.◦ He volunteered to be the test case

from an ad placed by the ACLUDefended by Clarence Darrow;

William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution

Found guilty, but drew more attention to the growing divide between the older and younger generations; Fundamentalists vs. Evolutionists

The New Morality for WomenThe New Morality for Women

Women’s roles changed drastically during the 1920s, largely as a result of their actions and independence during WWI.◦Women in the

workforce◦Women and

consumer culture◦Women’s colleges◦Romance and

relationships

Margaret SangerMargaret Sanger

Founded the American Birth Control League (would later become Planned Parenthood)

Believed that families standard of living would improve if they limited the number of children they had.◦ Would later become one of the

driving forces for the FDA approval of “The Pill”

Was also a proponent of eugenics, believing that birth control was the best method of stopping the increase of the “unfit” in society.

Women’s SuffrageWomen’s Suffrage

Suffrage was achieved gradually, at state and local levels, during the 19th century and early 20th century, but had failed to achieve national acceptance.

After President Woodrow Wilson announced that World War I was a war for democracy, women were up in arms.

The National Women's Party led by Alice Paul became the first "cause" to picket outside the White House.

Alice Paul and Women’s SuffrageAlice Paul and Women’s Suffrage

Alice Paul joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and was appointed Chairwoman of their Congressional Committee in Washington, DC. Their focus was lobbying for a constitutional amendment to secure the right to vote for women.

When her lobbying efforts proved fruitless, Paul and her colleagues formed the National Woman's Party (NWP) and began implementing more militant tactics to get public attention to their cause.

In January 1917, the NWP staged the first political protest to picket the White House. Picketers were arrested on charges of "obstructing traffic." Many, including Paul, were convicted and incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia.

The Night of Terror: November 14, The Night of Terror: November 14, 19171917

Under orders from W. H. Whittaker, superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse, as many as forty guards with clubs went on a rampage, brutalizing thirty-three jailed suffragists. They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her there for the night. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed, and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate Alice Cosu, who believed Mrs. Lewis to be dead, suffered a heart attack. Women were lifted into the air and flung to the ground. One was stabbed between the eyes with the broken staff of her picket banner. According to affidavits, other women were grabbed, dragged, beaten, choked, slammed, pinched, twisted, and kicked.In a protest of the conditions in Occoquan, Paul commenced a hunger strike, which led to her being moved to the prison’s psychiatric ward and force-fed raw eggs through a feeding tube.

Women’s SuffrageWomen’s Suffrage

News of the treatment of the women at Occocquan, combined with the continuing demonstrations and attendant press coverage, kept pressure on the Wilson administration.

In January, 1918, Wilson announced that women's suffrage was urgently needed as a "war measure", and strongly urged Congress to pass the legislation.

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which provided: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.“

America Loves Their LiquorAmerica Loves Their Liquor

The temperance movement of the Progressive Era gained steam after the turn of the century.◦ People believed prohibition would

end unemployment, domestic violence, and poverty.

18th Amendment: Prohibits the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol in the United States.◦ Volstead Act: Gave the

government the ability to enforce Prohibition, making over 540,000 arrests.