1. Chapter 20: The Jazz Age
American History

2. Nativism resurfaces
After World War I, strong feelings against immigrants, especially German Americans and Communists, existed
The re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan came due to strong feelings against immigrants, Jews, Catholics, and African Americans
The eugenics movement, or improvement of hereditary traits, began to form
Believed human inequalities could be inherited and warned against “unfit” species

3. Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants, were accused of killing two employees of a shoe company
News reports confirmed that the two were anarchists, or opposed all forms of government, and that Sacco owned the gun similar to the one used in the murder
Even though they claimed themselves innocent, the public, and the jury, were quick to find the two guilty and sentenced them to death

4. Controlling Immigration
In 1921, President Warren Harding signed the Emergency Quota Act, which established a temporary quota system, limiting immigration
3% of an ethnic group could be admitted in a year
The quota system was made permanently, and decreased it for all nations by 2% in the National Origins Act of 1924
Further restricted immigrants to a total of 150,000 admitted a year
Due to the availability of jobs, corporations requests the help and influx of Mexican immigration to fill those jobs
Began in 1902, and increased in the 1920’s with their exemption from the National Origins Act

5. The New Morality A new morality came into being during the 1920’s
Ideas of romance, pleasure, and friendship came into discussion
Single women began holding up jobs of their own and attending college
The automobile gave teenagers the opportunity to escape the watchful eyes of their parents
Fashion changed, with the introduction of bobbed haircuts and flappers, a type of dress

6. The Fundamentalist Movement
Others joined the Fundamentalist movement, and wanted to keep traditional values, and were afraid of the new morality
Believed the Bible was all true, and rejected the theory of evolution and support the theory of creationism, or the belief that God created the world as described by the Bible
Fundamentalist and Evolutionist clashed during the Scopes Monkey Trial
The Butler Act in Tennessee forbade the teaching of anything that negated the creationist theory
John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution to his high school biology class
Scopes was convicted, but Fundamentalist soon lost favor with the public

7. Prohibition The movement towards prohibition began in the late 1800’s
Believed that prohibiting alcohol would decrease unemployment, domestic violence, and poverty
Progressives, traditionalists, and fundamentalists supported the passing of the 18th Amendment, banning the manufacturing, distribution, and consumption of alcohol
To try and enforce the amendment, Congress passed the Volstead Act
Power to enforce the amendment was granted by the state and federal governments under the Treasury Department
Used police powers, or the power to control people and property in the interest of public safety, health, welfare, and morals

8. Loopholes to Prohibition
Despite the powers of the government, people still disregarded the 18th amendment
Flocked to speakeasies, or illegal bars
Bootlegging was common in rural towns
Organized crime, especially among Italian and Irish immigrants, began to use the illegal distribution of alcohol from Canada as big business opportunity

9. Art and Literature
Many artists and writers flocked to New York’s Greenwich Village and the South Side to embrace the Bohemian movement
Many new art forms, including Impressionism, were derived from European art forms
Several poets and writers, including T.S. Eliot, Eugene O’Neill,F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, began to immerge during this time

10. Sports and Entertainment
The rise of professional sports, such as boxing, baseball, and football, began to become organized and viewed by the public
With the innovation of motion pictures came the rise of movie stars and Hollywood
Radio and music became the main entertainment outlet of the 1920’s
Mass media, or radio, movies, newspapers, magazines aimed at a broad audience, began to gain influence

11. The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an influx of African American arts and culture in the Harlem section of New York
Many writers, such as Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, made their careers during this time
The introduction of jazz, blues, and African American theater, made its way to Harlem
Many famous artists of these categories started out at the famous Cotton Club

12. African American Politics
A surge in racial pride not only brought on the Harlem Renaissance, but also more involvement in politics
African Americans in the North helped elect Republican Oscar DePriest, the first African American in Congress
The NAACP battles lynching and discrimination in the South
First victory was defeating Judge John J. Parker’s nomination to the Supreme Court
Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association
Supported self-education and segregation and independence from whites