Roaring Twenties
by Alejandro Vega 1/11/15
Lead Story: The rise of the Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan
Table of Contents
1. Cover Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Nativism
4. Politics
5. Court Cases
6. Scopes Monkey Trials
7. Innovations, Innovators, & Culture
8. Letter to the editor
9. Political Cartoon & Analysis
Nativism
Nativism, protecting the interests of the natives who lived in the area beforehand against immigrants which played a big role in the 1920's due to a rapid increase in population growth and diversity increasing. Many different laws and acts were then taken into action in order to prevent as many immigrants from entering the nation and causing an unbalance. The Immigration Act of 1924 decreased the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United states greatly which helped the natives as they didn't have to compete with the immigrants because there weren't as many. In the year 1921, the Emergency Quota Act was taken into action in order to quickly limit the number of entering immigrants into America. Although not in the 1920's, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was also another result of nativism as Americans believed there was too many Chinese immigrants entering the United States so they passed the law in order to restrict it. Also, some nativist even took an extreme turn towards getting rid of and preventing immigrants and those who aren't necessarily up to their own "standards" which the most famous extreme group was named the Ku Klux Klan. More info can be read about above.
Politics
Warren G. Harding: On March 4, 1921 Warren became the 29th president and served until his death on August 2, 1923. He believed in the hardships women endured and people voted for him for some people believing he wanted to do something or sided with something specific but in reality did not.
Teapot Dome Scandal: The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery that took place and was believed to be a sign of corruption as it was done in the very top ranks of political leaders.
Kellogg Briand Pact: An agreement to prevent war from occurring. Initially was made to prevent another world war from happening. Although, it had little impact, as World War 2 still happened afterwards.
Political Cartoon:
Court Cases
Red Scare: Referring to the fear of communism in the USA. Although there were many communist living in the United States, it wasn't enough to represent anything well enough for it to become something major. They had very little representation as they didn't have nearly as many supporters.
Palmer Raids: Under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, there was a series of raids by the United States Department of Justice intended to capture, arrest and deport radical anarchists, from the United States. This helped many other citizens feel a lot safer from any communism ever occurring in America.
Sacco & Vanzetti: Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italians that were born in the United States. Both anarchists and both adhered to an anarchist movement that advocated relentless warfare against a violent and oppressive government.
Schenck vs. United States: A United States Supreme Court decision enforcing the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I. It concluded that defendants who distributed leaflets to draft-age men, urging resistance to induction, could be convicted of an attempt to obstruct the draft, a criminal offense.
Scopes Monkey Trials
Clarence Darrow: After defending seemingly impossible or difficult cases such as the Scopes Monkey Trials, he became famous for being an incredible lawyer in American history.
William Jennings Bryan: A Politician who supported Prohibition and attacked Darwinism, most famously known from the Scopes Trials.
Outcome: Scopes Trial found the defendant John Scopes guilty and was fined a good amount of money.
Aviation
The first World War helped in the development of aeroplanes, so that by the early 1920's they were much more reliable and capable of flying longer distances and carrying heavier loads. This made possible the carrying of passengers on a commercial basis.
Literature
Henry Ford
Letter to the Editor
It seems to me that some people believe that Ku Klux Klan seemed to be doing the right thing by driving away all the immigrants and all those who are different from the "ideal American." Although, I choose to believe that what they did was morally wrong and forced society to take a step backwards towards progression in equal rights for all men. All they did was cause harm and delay the future for the great things it holds for us. Please identify them as more of a negative group rather than just a group that tried to help the nativist.