1. The Rise of Nativism

2. Causes of racial tension: The Great Migration and the end of WWI
Cause of the Riots: Death of a young African American man at an informally segregated beach.
The riot lasted about a week. During the riot, dozens died and hundreds were injured.
Red Summer of 1919: A wave of violence and riots that occurred during the summer following WWI.
Chicago Race Riots

3. Postwar Labor Disputes
Many laborers went on strike following the end of WWI
Deals under the WLB no longer valid
Strikes were only mildly successful; fear of Communist revolution limited their success

4. The Red Scare
Cause: Bolshevik Revolution and Russia’s retreat from WWI
The Red Scare: A fear of the rise of socialism, communism, and anarchists destroying the American way of life.
Fearful of workers revolutions (unions) and immigrants from undemocratic countries (South and Eastern Europe).
Xenophobia: An irrational or unreasoned fear of anything perceived to be foreign or strange.

5. Italian anarchists sent letter bombs to prominent government officials, including AG A. Mitchell Palmer
Bureau of Investigation (future FBI) created to investigate bombings and other radical groups
Led by J. Edgar Hoover
The Red Scare

6. The Palmer Raids: A series of well- publicized and violent raids on suspected anarchists and socialist sympathizers by the Bureau of Investigation.
November 7, 1919, (the 2nd anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution)
Many arrested, few actually deported (little to no evidence)
The Red Scare

7. Emergency Quota Act (1921): Restricted immigrants to 3% of their nationality’s U.S. population in 1910
National Origins Act of 1924: Restricted to 2% of the population from (before many New Immigrants arrived)
Natives of the Western Hemisphere were excluded
Immigration Issues

9. Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti accused of robbery and murder
Italian immigrants; militant anarchists
Found guilty and executed
Spurred violent demonstrations worldwide
Trials generally seen as unfair, targeting radical immigrants, and holding opinion over evidence at trial
April 15, 1920 two men shot and killed two employees of the Slater & Morrill Shoe Co. and robbed them of their $15,000 payroll.
The investigation centered on local Italian anarchists, Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
While neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had a criminal record, the authorities knew them as radical militants. Police speculated that the robbers were motivated by the need to finance more bombings.
After a controversial trial and a series of appeals, the two Italian immigrants were executed on August 23, 1927.
Violent demonstrations swept through many cities the next day, including Geneva, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.
There is a highly politicized dispute over their guilt or innocence, as well as whether or not the trials were fair
Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti

10. What are these men protesting about?
Eugenics

11. Eugenics: Believed it was possible to improve human genes through selective breeding and sterilization
Based on IQ Testing, physical traits, social mobility, and predisposition towards violence and crime.
Reaffirmed the existing class and racial hierarchies
31 U.S. states passed compulsory sterilization laws.
Men were sterilized to treat aggression and eliminate criminal behavior
Women were sterilized to control their sexuality
60,000 nationwide from 1909 up until the 1960s
Eugenics

12. “Keep America American”
Revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s
Caused by fears from WWI era
Targets: Catholics, Jews, pacifists, communists, socialists, anarchists, bootleggers, gamblers, birth control activists, African Americans.
Used the same methods of fear, intimidation, and lynching
Over 5 million members, including prominent members of local, state, and the national government
“Keep America American”

13. The Birth of a Nation (1915) – A silent film by D. W
The Birth of a Nation (1915) – A silent film by D.W. Griffith that chronicled the “true story” of the American Civil War, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
The first movie blockbuster and was the first motion picture to be shown at the White House.
“Like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true."