T HE J AZZ A GE ! A Clash of Values

L EARNING T ARGETS By the end of this lesson you will: Know how nativists used eugenics and the Emergency Quota Act to limit immigration. Explain how the National Origins Act of 1924 favored immigrants from some regions of Europe over others. Discuss how the automobile played a role in encouraging the new morality of the 1920s. Describe a flapper. Identify Al Capone and the activities he participated in. Know how fundamentalist felt about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Creationism Relate the effects of the Scopes Trial to education today. Know the effects of the Volstead Act. Discover the activities of speakeasies and bootleggers. Know the mandates of the Twenty-First Amendment.

I NTRODUCTION Many Americans clung to traditional values and took action to preserve them. Other Americans embraced new values associated with a freer lifestyle. The Harlem Renaissance gave African Americans new pride.

N ATIVISM R ESURGES The poor economy of caused Americans to blame immigrants. The Sacco-Vanzetti Case Italian Immigrant Anarchists Pseudo-Scientific Racism A false science called eugenics that deals with improving hereditary traits Enforced by Nativists and helped fuel racism. Return of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Hired public relations experts African Americans, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and other groups that represented “un-Americanism”

C ONTROLLING I MMIGRATION People blamed the poor economy on immigrants Nativists: “Keep America American” Big businesses: feared immigrants were radicals Emergency Quota Act of 1921: Limited immigration with a quota system Only 2% of the number of people in an ethnic group already living in the U.S. could enter each year The National Origins Act of 1924 Made the Emergency Quota Act permanent Hispanic Immigration to the United States The Emergency Quota and National Origins Acts reduced the amount of cheap labor in the U.S. Record numbers of Mexicans entered the U.S. illegally

T HE N EW M ORALITY Views from popular magazines and other media Women began joining the workforce Cars encouraged independence Women in the 1920’s Fashion The “bob” Silk stockings The “flapper”—women with “bob” haircuts who often drank liquor and dressed/acted immodestly Margaret Mead started the American Birth Control League to limit the number of children families had in order to raise the standard of living

T HE F UNDAMENTALIST M OVEMENT Fundamentalism: a return to the traditional value system Fundamentalist Beliefs Creationism (as opposed to evolutionism) Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson The Scopes Trial The Butler Act (Tennessee): Outlawed any teaching that denied “the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the bible” and taught instead that “man descended from a lower order of animals” The ACLU tested the law and asked John T. Scopes, a teacher in Tennessee, to be arrested for teaching evolution Scopes was fined $100 but a technicality overturned the verdict The trial was broadcast over the radio and the lawyer for the defense, Clarence Darrow, became famous for his cross- examinations which hurt the fundamentalist movement

P ROHIBITION The 18 th Amendment to the Constitution (Jan. 1920) The Volstead Act (National Prohibition Act) Many people believed it would reduce unemployment, domestic violence, and poverty. Responsibility of the U.S. Treasury Department Many Americans blatantly ignored the law Speakeasies: secret bars where alcohol was served Bootleggng: illegal production and selling of alcohol Increased organized crime and smuggling Al Capone was a notorious gangster of the 1920s who produced and distributed alcohol and killed anyone who got in his way. He had many police officers, judges, and politicians on his payroll. The 21 st Amendment ended Prohibition in 1933 Victory for supporters of modernism Defeat for supporters of traditional values

R EVIEW Q UESTIONS : How did nativists use eugenics and the Emergency Quota Act to limit immigration? Describe a flapper. How did fundamentalist feel about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Creationism? What effects does the Scopes Trial have on education today. What were the effects of the Volstead Act? What were the activities of speakeasies and bootleggers? Who was Al Capone and what activities did he participate in? What were the mandates of the Twenty-First Amendment.

E SSAY Q UESTION : Explain how the National Origins Act of 1924 favored immigrants from some regions of Europe over others.

E SSAY Q UESTION : Explain how the National Origins Act of 1924 favored immigrants from some regions of Europe over others. The law set quotas at 2% of each national group already residing in the United States in Although the law seemed to limit immigrants from all countries, it actually favored immigrants from regions already heavily represented in the U.S. Because more immigrants from northwestern European countries lived in the U.S. as of the 1890 census, a larger portion of the quota would go to new immigrants from this region than from southern or eastern Europe.

E SSAY Q UESTION : Discuss how the automobile played a role in encouraging the new morality of the 1920s.

E SSAY Q UESTION : Discuss how the automobile played a role in encouraging the new morality of the 1920s. America’s youth loved cars because they made them more independent and allowed them to escape the careful watch of their parents. Instead of socializing with family, many youths used cars to seek new forms of entertainment with their friends and to find privacy.

E SSAY Q UESTION Explain the relationship between Prohibition and the rise in organized crime.

E SSAY Q UESTION Explain the relationship between Prohibition and the rise in organized crime. In the 1920s, Americans persisted in blatantly ignoring Prohibition laws. People flocked to secret bars called speakeasies where they could buy alcohol. Organized crime specialized in supplying and often running these speakeasies, which popped up all over the country. The great demand for liquor meant that huge profits could be made. Because making and selling liquor were illegal, legitimate businesses could not fill this need. As a result, supplying the demand for liquor became a billion dollar industry for gangsters.

E SSAY Q UESTION Describe the changes in women’s lives in the 1920s.

E SSAY Q UESTION Describe the changes in women’s lives in the 1920s. Although not the typical American woman, the young, unconventional “flapper” personified women’s quest for personal freedom in the 1920s. While flappers pursued social freedoms, other women sought financial independence by entering the workforce. Many single and working class women worked simply because they needed the wages for themselves or for their family, but for some young, single women, work was a way to break away from parental authority and establish a personal identity. Work also provided the wages that allowed women to participate in the consumer culture. Many women who attended college in the 1920s found support for their emerging sense of independence. Women’s colleges, in particular, encouraged their students to pursue careers and to challenge traditional ideas about the nature of women and their role in society.