The Roaring 20s: Conflicts Over Values Unit 3 Section 1 Part 2

A. Conflicts Over Values The clash of urban and rural people values Rural people represented traditional values -(hard work, self-reliant, independent, religious) Urban people represented changes that threatened those values

The KKK experienced a revival in the 20s Most members were workers and small farmers (traditional beliefs) They saw their status declining with the rise of urbanization Targeted recent immigrants esp. Catholics and Jews Tried to influence politics Membership reached in the millions in the 20s Membership declined b/c Klan leaders involved in political scandals

B. The Rise of Fundamentalism – In changing times, many Americans turned to religion – Christianity criticized 1920s changes – Their beliefs were based on a literal interpretation of the Bible – -this is called fundamentalism – -this belief says that events happened in the Bible exactly like they are told

C. The Scopes Trial – Fundamentalism conflicted w/ science – In the 1800s, Charles Darwin created the idea of evolution -organisms evolve from simpler life forms -said that humans may have evolved from an ape-like species conflicted w/ Christian teachings that God created people Fundamentalists worked hard to make sure evolution was not taught in schools

Tenn. 1925, a law forbade evolution to be taught John Scopes, a teacher taught evolution anyway He was taken to trial Scope’s lawyer was Clarence Darrow William Jennings Bryan led the prosecution Trial not about whether or not Scopes broke the law (he obviously did) It was about which was right, evolution or creation Called the Scopes Monkey Trial

Bryans didn’t defend the Bible very well The trial ended with John Scopes being convicted and fined $100 He never had to pay, and evolution continued to be taught