A Clash of Values

Ch.15 Sec.1

Nativism Resurges

• Reasons for Nativist Resurgence– Immigration increased again after the war ended– Economy still bad after WW1– Lingering prejudice towards Germans &

Communists added tension

Sacco & Vanzetti

• Sacco & VanzettiCase– Accused of a murder/robbery in Braintree, MA– Were accused of being anarchists– Evidence was slim against them– Public anger was high because they were recent

immigrants– Found guilty, both executed

• Anarchists – Those who oppose all forms of govt

Pseudo-Scientific Racism• Eugenics– Belief that human hereditary traits can be

improved through elimination of inferior individuals

– Those w/ superior genetics were descendents from Northern Europe

– Supported by Nativist as another reason limit limit immigration, bolstered feelings of racism

– Embraced by Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Grahme Bell, John Harvey Kellogg, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler

Nativism Grows

• Resurgence of the KKK– Recruited a new generation of nativists– Targeted Catholics, Jews, immigrants– Group publicly claimed they fought for

“Americanism”– Membership reached 4 million by 1924

Limiting U.S. Immigration

• Emergency Quota Act– Passed in 1921– Set quotas on the amount of each ethnic group

that could enter the U.S. each year– Only applied to Southern & Eastern Europeans

• National Origins Act of 1924– Tightened the allowed quota for each ethnicity– Further discriminated against Southern & Eastern

Europeans

The New Morality in the U.S.

• The New Morality– Name given to the new ideas that were

challenging traditional views– Referred to ideas that glorified youth and personal

freedom– Emphasized the pursuit of pleasure as important

for families, singles– Promoted education and independence for

women

Women in the 1920s

• 1920s Female Fashion– Short hair became fashionable (bobbed hair)– Knee length skirts & flesh colored stockings

became popular• Flapper – A young, dramatic, stylish female

who smoked, drank, dressed in modern clothes, and sought self-reliance and independence

Traditionalist Fight Back!

• Fundamentalist Movement– Grew out of a concern that the new morality was

destroying America– Was a religious movement that called for

Americans to turn back to right moral living– Popular in rural America– Fought for authority of the Bible, rejection of

evolution– Famous preachers included Billy Sunday & Aimee

Semple McPherson

Traditionalists Fight Back!

• Scopes Trial– Defining moment in Fundamentalism vs. New

Morality– John T. Scopes was a high school biology teacher

in Tennessee– Violated state laws and taught theory of evolution

to his students– Taken to trial, became a national sensation– Was found guilty & fined $100.00

Traditionalists Fight Back!• Prohibition– A law passed in the U.S. that banned the sale of

alcohol– Passed due to pressure across the country from

Fundamentalists– Was believed to be a main reason for moral decline

in America– 18th amendment passed in 1920, repealed in 1933

• Volstead Act – Gave U.S. Treasury police power to enforce Prohibition

• Speakeasies – Secret bars that sold alcohol