Zusammenfassung der Ressource
How far was the USA a
divided society in the 1920s?
- Rich vs. poor
- In early 1929, about
one-third of the
nation's wealth was
shared by 5% of the
population
- Blacks
- Seen as inferior; poor living conditions in the South; Ku Klux Klan
- Immigrants
- If they weren't WASPS, they were seen as a threat to American culture
- Native Americans
- Secluded on reservations
- Workers in old industries
- Shipbuilding, textiles, coal mining
- Didn't benefit from the boom and were exploited
with bad working conditions and low wages
- Children were also exploited
- Farmers
- Struggled due to overproduction and consequent low prices
- With tariff barriers and more competition, many lost their land due to debt
- New synthetic fibres (rayon) reduced the demand for cotton
- Immigration controls
- Before WW1 there
were no restrictions on
immigration, however
some Americans
became alarmed at the
growing number of
immigrants
- This led to the growing feeling that they were inferior
- 1917 - a law was passed which imposed a literacy test on immigrants
- Favoured WASPS
- Fairly ineffective
- 1921 - Emergency Quotas Act
- Number of people admitted into the USA each year
was limited to 3% of all emigrants from that country
who were resident in the USA in 1910
- Favoured Northern and Western Europe
- 1924 - National Origins Act
- 3% figure was reduced to 2%
- Year of residency moved back to 1890
- In the quarter-century before WW1 there
had been many immigrants from Italy,
Russia, Turkey and Greece
- Ku Klux Klan
- With segregation still legal in
southern states, black people had
the worst jobs and houses, couldn't
eat/travel with whites, and couldn't
expect fair treatment in court
- In 1986, the US Supreme Court legally approved the Jim
Crow laws - treating blacks as inferior, second class citizens
- With industrial expansion in the 1920s, many moved
to the north but there was still racial discrimination
- Ghettos grew in some cities
- Preached intolerance and spread fear
among blacks, while claiming they were
standing up to traditional American values
- Reformed in 1915, now opposed to
Catholics, Jews and all foreigners too
- Members included judges,
policemen and local politicians
- This increased the power of
the group and caused more
people to join out of fear
- Klansmen met in secret at night, wearing white
sheets and hoods, carrying lit burning crosses
- Blacks suffered beating, rape and lynching
- Popularity decreased in 1925 when
a leader, David Stephenson, was
found guilty of the kidnapping, rape
and murder of a woman on a train
- Prohibition
- Brought into force by the
Volstead Act in January 1920
- Prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation
of intoxicating liquors (more then 5%)
- The movement started in the late-19th century because
many poverty-stricken homes suffered through the
alcoholic activities of the father of the house
- Women's Christian Temperance Union and Anti-Saloon League
- By 1914, 12 states were dry
- During WW1 alcohol caused absenteeism from
work and 2 of the leading firms supplying beer
were German, which was unpatriotic
- By the end of the war,
75% of states were dry
- Groups against Prohibition formed in 1918, claiming the medicinal benefits of alcohol
- Association against the Prohibition Amendment
- More support in North
- The week before the law was passed, huge
quantities of alcohol were bought, however the
law came into force without any major protests
- Many churches held thanksgiving prayer meetings, saying their
success would cut down on social abuse and absenteeism from
work, and that the money saved could now be spent on education
- Prohibition agents were appointed but
their were far too few (Izzy and Moe)
- Speakeasies began to appear, disguised as jazz clubs - by the
end of the decade there were over 200,00 across the USA
- Each year, 5000 people died from drinking home-made moonshine
- Bootleggers smuggled alcohol across USA borders
with Mexico and Canada, selling it at high prices
- Organised crime
- Gangsters from cities supplied booze, set up speakeasies
and ran 'protection rackets', threatening to damage
property unless they received money to protect it
- Gangsters were generally immigrants from poorer backgrounds,
poorly educated, however they were also clever and ruthless
- They fought viciously to control the liquor trade
- Al Capone
- Gained control over Chicago by bribing local
officials, politicians and the police
- Didn't fear arrest so he operated openly
- Employed up to 1000 men
- Business activities worth between $60 million and $100 million per year
- 227 murders in 4 years
- St Valentine's Day Massacre, 1929
- Some of Capone's gang, disguised as policemen,
shot down 6 members of rival Bugs Moran gang
- End of Prohibition
- Became clear that Prohibition wasn't working and it was
argued that the drinks industry would provide jobs for some
of the unemployed after the Great Depression
- In the 1932 election, Roosevelt promised to repeal the Prohibition law
- This involved another amendment to the constitution - the 21st Amendment, which came into force in 1933
- Flappers
- Women gained more freedom, and greater
wealth provided more opportunities for leisure
- Fashions changed and the conduct of some
young middle-class girls shocked their parents
- Short hair, smoked in public, wore rouge, lipstick, short skirts.
- Stayed out late dancing, were keen to cast aside social restraints and were a symbol of the boom
- However, not every woman