Intolerance In The USA Between 1919 And 1930s Essay
Why was there so much intolerance in the USA between 1919 and 1930?
During the 1920’s, American economy flourished. Industrial production doubled and the economy grew rapidly over a relatively short amount of time. The boom in the American economy happened for several reasons. First of all, America was late into world war one, therefore, the country had not seen the destruction of financial loss that most of Europe had. In addition, technological advances in industry developed. This resulted in many more things, such as factories and machines became much more automated. This meant more products could be made for a fraction of what it cost prior to the development of the machines. For many American people, this resulted in success and money, however, the growth in economy did not benefit all living in America equally. After WW1 had come to an end, racial prejudice and unfair treatment levels towards people who were not considered ‘real Americans’ was high. This was apparent in …show more content…
the South where over 75% of blacks in the entire United States lived. From 1921 to 1931, every president in office was republican. This resulted in a laissez faire government which meant that they left the economy alone. This resulted in very little tax which meant big-businesses could expand relatively quickly without government restrictions. The first president to do this was Warren Harding. He reduced taxes and then went on to establish the Fordney-McCumber Tariff act. This increased taxes on foreign goods, encouraging Americans to the cheaper, American goods only.
To add to this, by the early 1900's, around 12 million black people were living in the USA. Out of these, 76% lived in the South. However, in the years building up to 1920 intolerance grew and people feared anybody ‘different’. This victimisation included black people. They were discriminated against in almost every part of their life. They did not have equal opportunities for education, voting, housing and jobs and this high level of intolerance led to the creation or the KKK.
The KKK, short for the Klu Klux Klan, was an organisation which terrorised and committed illegal acts against anybody they thought of as inferior or different. By 1921, the KKK had reached over 1 million members, all of these being WASPS. This shows how intolerance increased rapidly throughout the 20’s as the numbers of the KKK also increased. They followed the belief of white supremacy and usually took the law into their own hands regarding the people they victimised. This led to lynching’s, burnings and other violent acts and killings against black people. The KKK would go to extreme extents against the law to victimise and kill. Source 1 shows two black males, Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp who were accused without trial of murdering a white man. They were dragged from the jail by around 5000 locals in Marion, Indiana. This illustrates the extent the KKK would go just to get what they wanted, even if the blacks were already being punished. It also shows the number of people who supported the KKK’s actions and even got involved themselves. However, not all violence against blacks was just because of belief. The KKK would also victimise blacks for their own gain. Source 2 states “A black man was whipped until he sold his land to a white woman”. This quote illustrates how the KKK did not only aim for the most vulnerable of the black communities but also quite successful and higher status blacks who had made their own money to buy land and try and make a living. From this I infer that the KKK did not just victimise for their belief but also for personal wealth and gain by using the KKK’s beliefs to expose the weakest groups of people in their already segregated society.
Although slavery had ended in America by 1865, many states, especially southern ones where black population was high passed ‘Jim Crow Law’s’. These laws were put in place with the aim of segregating blacks and they covered all aspects of life. Black Americans were stopped from using the same swimming pools, restaurants, libraries taxis and even cemeteries.Source 3 shows how far the laws went. The source shows a segregated drinking fountain with one side showing a sign saying ‘For Colored Only’. This source illustrates how detailed the laws were and how segregated the blacks actually were. They couldn’t even drink out of the same fountain or be buried in the same place as whites. This source is reliable and useful as it is a picture, therefore displays an accurate representation of life for a black person at the time. To add to all of this, blacks were forced to pay high taxes and pass literacy tests before being considered the right to vote. Altogether, intolerance against blacks was extremely high in the 1920’s which is shown clearly through how they were treated and the laws passed to make their lives harder.
Overall, from this we can learn that the government only strengthened intolerance by making segregation and discrimination towards people with differences a legal matter.
Before the 1920’s, America run on a ‘melting pot’ policy. This meant that America welcomed immigrants into the country as long as when they got to Ellis Island, they passed certain medical exams before being allowed into the country. It is estimated around 10% of the population of Europe migrated to the USA. The main reasons for their choice to move being the ideal lifestyle of ‘The American Dream’. Free speech, democracy, wealth and education was something they would not have access to in countries such as Italy, Poland and Russia, therefore, America was looked upon as the ‘Land of Opportunity’ However, a sad reality was many immigrants faced the opposite of the ‘American Dream’ they had been hoping for. They were faced with terrible living conditions, violence, low wages and a poverty ridden lifestyle. Source 4 shows the atrocious living conditions immigrants dealt with. It shows a woman in a small, cramped room with her two children. This suggests that as many immigrants got low wages, they did not have the money needed to buy a decent living space or provide for their families like they had hoped for. Instead, many ended up struggling to survive with the same or worse conditions they were in prior to their move in search for the ‘American Dream’ they soon realised wasn’t an option for them. Low wages weren’t the only problem many immigrants faced at work. Source 5 illustrates the high levels of intolerance shown in the workplace during 1919. The source states “I’ve had my fingers broken.” This suggests that the other factory workers, ‘true’ Americans do not like the fact immigrants are working in the factory and taking jobs away they could have otherwise had. To add to this, as immigrants were willing to work for lower wages out of desperation, many factories brought their wages down altogether. This angered many Americans as they now had to do the same work for a lower wage because of the immigrants. If not, an immigrant who was willing would simply take their place. In vision, stealing their jobs.
Altogether, this shows us that the main reason for intolerance in immigrants was the overall fear that they were stealing American jobs and money from the ‘true’ Americans.
To add to this, Americans were scared of opposing ideas and beliefs, such as capitalism entering the country. The red scare was the fear of communism which occurred during the communist revolution that occurred in Russia in October 1917. America was afraid that because of the melting pot policies, communists from Russia were going to immigrate and start a revolution in the USA. Source 6 shows a Russian ‘revolution maker’ coming across the sea with propaganda and an America waiting in the U.S with a bat called 100 per cent Americanism. From this we can tell the illustrator is against foreign immigration. From this source we can learn how the media acted in a negative way about the red scare and used it to fear monger. We can clearly see this was done in a bias, one sided way. Source 7 further shows this. A lot of socialist newspapers claimed that the bombings were the work of right wing extremists encouraging attacks on socialists. This illustrates how media, even though no evidence was found, came to conclusions to blame a group of people. To add to this, it shows how different types of media and groups of people blamed different people in order to exploit fear in people who supported their ideas or beliefs. In the year 1919, around 100,000 members of the Boston Police strike for better work and working conditions. The communists were blamed for this event. In September 1920, a bomb destroyed Mitchell Palmer’s house. After this he dedicated himself to round up anyone he believed was a communist as he estimated that around 150,000 communists lived in the USA. He claimed that these communists were secretly working for the government and this resulted in 6000 communists being arrested and held in prison without a trial. Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti were two of these. After a very short, bias trial they were sentenced even though a lot of evidence surfaced that they may have been innocent. All appeals after the sentence were ignored and eventually, both were executed by electric chair. Many other immigrants were deported. These were called the Palmer raids and, altogether, were a response to an imaginary threat.
Overall, the red scare increased intolerance In America through fear mongering and the big media attention it attracted which presented immigrants and anyone with opposing views as violent, dangerous anarchists.
Intolerance was clearly becoming common place throughout the 1920’s. Prohibition is a prime example of how people were also being intolerant of the laws of the land during the 1920’s. Prohibition, a law introduced on the 16th of January 1920 prohibited the manufacturing, selling and transport of any drink containing more than 0.5% alcohol. This was the decision of the federal government and it was supported by many groups such as the Anti-Saloon League. WW1 helped this anti alcohol group as they put the idea forward that not only was alcohol a demon drink but if you drunk it you were also a traitor to your country. This idea came about as many of the beers for sale in America were either produced in Germany or by German immigrants that had come to America. However, the prohibition was never successful. People were prepared to break a law they did not want in the first place and they found many ways to get around it. Many gangs took the opportunity to gain profit and opened secret bars called speakeasies. Speakeasies sold bootlegged alcohol which is alcohol smuggled in from abroad by bootleggers. Although a password was needed to get into a speakeasy, to find where one was was relatively easy. Source 8 shows a man looking over directions to a speakeasy chalked onto pavement. This shows how popular they were and how the local police didn’t charge people as they were equally involved. However, some speakeasies were more hidden than others. . Source 9 states “you’d appear to be drinking coffee not wine”. This shows how people were taught how breaking the law could be done discreetly and that it was worth it. I can also infer from this that speakeasies were hidden as other things so no smuggling of alcohol was suspected.
Over the years America became more intolerant and less afraid of crime than before. By 1933, the government had realised prohibition had failed and Roosevelt repealed the laws. Altogether, although America was trying to achieve a more honest and less violent country, they only increased the crime numbers as people were less afraid of the law and smart enough to get around it.
The monkey trials were the banning of the Theory of Evolution being taught in schools.
Darwin argued that life had developed after millions of years of evolution and that we as humans developed from apes. This was unacceptable for the millions of American people who believed in god and that he created the world. Source 10 quotes “teaches our children to forsake god” illustrates the extent to which people disagreed with Darwin’s theory. The idea that to teach it is ‘forsaking god’ shows how strong people believed in their religion and how they believed their children should have the same opinion as them. Due to this, a law was passed in several states prohibiting Darwin’s theory being taught in schools. One teacher, John Scopes found this outrageous and to make a statement, still taught the theory in his lessons. Due to this he was arrested. As the case gained more popularity it informally gained the name ‘Monkey Trial’. After a court case, Scopes was found guilty and charged a fine of
$100.
Overall, I believe one of the main reasons for intolerance in America during the 1920’s was sue to the government being controlled by WASP’S who wanted to remain in power. This was clearly shown as very little was done about the KKK and a lot was done to segregate blacks and keep them in a less fortunate and wealthy position compared to the WASP’S who owned most business and land at the time. To add to this, I believe intolerance was further encouraged by the economical fear Americans established. As the amount of immigrants increased, so did the demand for jobs and as immigrants did not expect as much money as American citizens, many factories lowered their wages. This outraged many workers who had been there longer than the newer immigrants and also put them in a worse economical state. Furthermore, I believe one big influence on intolerance was the fact that Americans were scared of difference. Communist views and ideas go against the American dream as in a communist society everyone is treated equally. Americans were scared of these ideas entering the country through immigrants that very little immigrants were seen highly of in society, therefore, increasing intolerance.
During the 1920’s, American economy flourished. Industrial production doubled and the economy grew rapidly over a relatively short amount of time. The boom in the American economy happened for several reasons. First of all, America was late into world war one, therefore, the country had not seen the destruction of financial loss that most of Europe had. In addition, technological advances in industry developed. This resulted in many more things, such as factories and machines became much more automated. This meant more products could be made for a fraction of what it cost prior to the development of the machines. For many American people, this resulted in success and money, however, the growth in economy did not benefit all living in America equally. After WW1 had come to an end, racial prejudice and unfair treatment levels towards people who were not considered ‘real Americans’ was high. This was apparent in …show more content…
the South where over 75% of blacks in the entire United States lived. From 1921 to 1931, every president in office was republican. This resulted in a laissez faire government which meant that they left the economy alone. This resulted in very little tax which meant big-businesses could expand relatively quickly without government restrictions. The first president to do this was Warren Harding. He reduced taxes and then went on to establish the Fordney-McCumber Tariff act. This increased taxes on foreign goods, encouraging Americans to the cheaper, American goods only.
To add to this, by the early 1900's, around 12 million black people were living in the USA. Out of these, 76% lived in the South. However, in the years building up to 1920 intolerance grew and people feared anybody ‘different’. This victimisation included black people. They were discriminated against in almost every part of their life. They did not have equal opportunities for education, voting, housing and jobs and this high level of intolerance led to the creation or the KKK.
The KKK, short for the Klu Klux Klan, was an organisation which terrorised and committed illegal acts against anybody they thought of as inferior or different. By 1921, the KKK had reached over 1 million members, all of these being WASPS. This shows how intolerance increased rapidly throughout the 20’s as the numbers of the KKK also increased. They followed the belief of white supremacy and usually took the law into their own hands regarding the people they victimised. This led to lynching’s, burnings and other violent acts and killings against black people. The KKK would go to extreme extents against the law to victimise and kill. Source 1 shows two black males, Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp who were accused without trial of murdering a white man. They were dragged from the jail by around 5000 locals in Marion, Indiana. This illustrates the extent the KKK would go just to get what they wanted, even if the blacks were already being punished. It also shows the number of people who supported the KKK’s actions and even got involved themselves. However, not all violence against blacks was just because of belief. The KKK would also victimise blacks for their own gain. Source 2 states “A black man was whipped until he sold his land to a white woman”. This quote illustrates how the KKK did not only aim for the most vulnerable of the black communities but also quite successful and higher status blacks who had made their own money to buy land and try and make a living. From this I infer that the KKK did not just victimise for their belief but also for personal wealth and gain by using the KKK’s beliefs to expose the weakest groups of people in their already segregated society.
Although slavery had ended in America by 1865, many states, especially southern ones where black population was high passed ‘Jim Crow Law’s’. These laws were put in place with the aim of segregating blacks and they covered all aspects of life. Black Americans were stopped from using the same swimming pools, restaurants, libraries taxis and even cemeteries.Source 3 shows how far the laws went. The source shows a segregated drinking fountain with one side showing a sign saying ‘For Colored Only’. This source illustrates how detailed the laws were and how segregated the blacks actually were. They couldn’t even drink out of the same fountain or be buried in the same place as whites. This source is reliable and useful as it is a picture, therefore displays an accurate representation of life for a black person at the time. To add to all of this, blacks were forced to pay high taxes and pass literacy tests before being considered the right to vote. Altogether, intolerance against blacks was extremely high in the 1920’s which is shown clearly through how they were treated and the laws passed to make their lives harder.
Overall, from this we can learn that the government only strengthened intolerance by making segregation and discrimination towards people with differences a legal matter.
Before the 1920’s, America run on a ‘melting pot’ policy. This meant that America welcomed immigrants into the country as long as when they got to Ellis Island, they passed certain medical exams before being allowed into the country. It is estimated around 10% of the population of Europe migrated to the USA. The main reasons for their choice to move being the ideal lifestyle of ‘The American Dream’. Free speech, democracy, wealth and education was something they would not have access to in countries such as Italy, Poland and Russia, therefore, America was looked upon as the ‘Land of Opportunity’ However, a sad reality was many immigrants faced the opposite of the ‘American Dream’ they had been hoping for. They were faced with terrible living conditions, violence, low wages and a poverty ridden lifestyle. Source 4 shows the atrocious living conditions immigrants dealt with. It shows a woman in a small, cramped room with her two children. This suggests that as many immigrants got low wages, they did not have the money needed to buy a decent living space or provide for their families like they had hoped for. Instead, many ended up struggling to survive with the same or worse conditions they were in prior to their move in search for the ‘American Dream’ they soon realised wasn’t an option for them. Low wages weren’t the only problem many immigrants faced at work. Source 5 illustrates the high levels of intolerance shown in the workplace during 1919. The source states “I’ve had my fingers broken.” This suggests that the other factory workers, ‘true’ Americans do not like the fact immigrants are working in the factory and taking jobs away they could have otherwise had. To add to this, as immigrants were willing to work for lower wages out of desperation, many factories brought their wages down altogether. This angered many Americans as they now had to do the same work for a lower wage because of the immigrants. If not, an immigrant who was willing would simply take their place. In vision, stealing their jobs.
Altogether, this shows us that the main reason for intolerance in immigrants was the overall fear that they were stealing American jobs and money from the ‘true’ Americans.
To add to this, Americans were scared of opposing ideas and beliefs, such as capitalism entering the country. The red scare was the fear of communism which occurred during the communist revolution that occurred in Russia in October 1917. America was afraid that because of the melting pot policies, communists from Russia were going to immigrate and start a revolution in the USA. Source 6 shows a Russian ‘revolution maker’ coming across the sea with propaganda and an America waiting in the U.S with a bat called 100 per cent Americanism. From this we can tell the illustrator is against foreign immigration. From this source we can learn how the media acted in a negative way about the red scare and used it to fear monger. We can clearly see this was done in a bias, one sided way. Source 7 further shows this. A lot of socialist newspapers claimed that the bombings were the work of right wing extremists encouraging attacks on socialists. This illustrates how media, even though no evidence was found, came to conclusions to blame a group of people. To add to this, it shows how different types of media and groups of people blamed different people in order to exploit fear in people who supported their ideas or beliefs. In the year 1919, around 100,000 members of the Boston Police strike for better work and working conditions. The communists were blamed for this event. In September 1920, a bomb destroyed Mitchell Palmer’s house. After this he dedicated himself to round up anyone he believed was a communist as he estimated that around 150,000 communists lived in the USA. He claimed that these communists were secretly working for the government and this resulted in 6000 communists being arrested and held in prison without a trial. Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti were two of these. After a very short, bias trial they were sentenced even though a lot of evidence surfaced that they may have been innocent. All appeals after the sentence were ignored and eventually, both were executed by electric chair. Many other immigrants were deported. These were called the Palmer raids and, altogether, were a response to an imaginary threat.
Overall, the red scare increased intolerance In America through fear mongering and the big media attention it attracted which presented immigrants and anyone with opposing views as violent, dangerous anarchists.
Intolerance was clearly becoming common place throughout the 1920’s. Prohibition is a prime example of how people were also being intolerant of the laws of the land during the 1920’s. Prohibition, a law introduced on the 16th of January 1920 prohibited the manufacturing, selling and transport of any drink containing more than 0.5% alcohol. This was the decision of the federal government and it was supported by many groups such as the Anti-Saloon League. WW1 helped this anti alcohol group as they put the idea forward that not only was alcohol a demon drink but if you drunk it you were also a traitor to your country. This idea came about as many of the beers for sale in America were either produced in Germany or by German immigrants that had come to America. However, the prohibition was never successful. People were prepared to break a law they did not want in the first place and they found many ways to get around it. Many gangs took the opportunity to gain profit and opened secret bars called speakeasies. Speakeasies sold bootlegged alcohol which is alcohol smuggled in from abroad by bootleggers. Although a password was needed to get into a speakeasy, to find where one was was relatively easy. Source 8 shows a man looking over directions to a speakeasy chalked onto pavement. This shows how popular they were and how the local police didn’t charge people as they were equally involved. However, some speakeasies were more hidden than others. . Source 9 states “you’d appear to be drinking coffee not wine”. This shows how people were taught how breaking the law could be done discreetly and that it was worth it. I can also infer from this that speakeasies were hidden as other things so no smuggling of alcohol was suspected.
Over the years America became more intolerant and less afraid of crime than before. By 1933, the government had realised prohibition had failed and Roosevelt repealed the laws. Altogether, although America was trying to achieve a more honest and less violent country, they only increased the crime numbers as people were less afraid of the law and smart enough to get around it.
The monkey trials were the banning of the Theory of Evolution being taught in schools.
Darwin argued that life had developed after millions of years of evolution and that we as humans developed from apes. This was unacceptable for the millions of American people who believed in god and that he created the world. Source 10 quotes “teaches our children to forsake god” illustrates the extent to which people disagreed with Darwin’s theory. The idea that to teach it is ‘forsaking god’ shows how strong people believed in their religion and how they believed their children should have the same opinion as them. Due to this, a law was passed in several states prohibiting Darwin’s theory being taught in schools. One teacher, John Scopes found this outrageous and to make a statement, still taught the theory in his lessons. Due to this he was arrested. As the case gained more popularity it informally gained the name ‘Monkey Trial’. After a court case, Scopes was found guilty and charged a fine of
$100.
Overall, I believe one of the main reasons for intolerance in America during the 1920’s was sue to the government being controlled by WASP’S who wanted to remain in power. This was clearly shown as very little was done about the KKK and a lot was done to segregate blacks and keep them in a less fortunate and wealthy position compared to the WASP’S who owned most business and land at the time. To add to this, I believe intolerance was further encouraged by the economical fear Americans established. As the amount of immigrants increased, so did the demand for jobs and as immigrants did not expect as much money as American citizens, many factories lowered their wages. This outraged many workers who had been there longer than the newer immigrants and also put them in a worse economical state. Furthermore, I believe one big influence on intolerance was the fact that Americans were scared of difference. Communist views and ideas go against the American dream as in a communist society everyone is treated equally. Americans were scared of these ideas entering the country through immigrants that very little immigrants were seen highly of in society, therefore, increasing intolerance.