Transcript Slide 1

Objective: To
examine the
impact of the Red
Scare on
American society.
Describe the
political climate
in the US
between 1914
and 1920
Three facts:
1.Ku Klux Klan. “We
believe that the American
stock, which was bred
under highly selective
surroundings … and should
not be mongrelized …
automatically and
instinctively developed the
kind of civilization which is
best suited to its own
healthy life and growth; and
this cannot be safely
changed except by
ourselves and along the
lines of our own character. .
2..
3...
4..
Date
Fact
5-8 Aug.
1920
In West Frankfort, Illinois, mobs burned the homes of foreigners,
clubbed and stoned immigrants on the streets. 5000 state police
were called out to restore order.
May 1920
Henry Ford launched anti-Jewish propaganda campaign.
1920
Georgia politician Tom Watson won a seat in the US Senate.
Major plank = anti-Catholicism
1919
Alabama state legislator passed a convent inspection law
Sep 1920
5,000 immigrants p/day passed through Ellis Island, NY
1918
“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” (a document created by
Semitic Russian secret police, purporting to “prove” a Jewish plot
existed for world domination) 1st appeared in the US
19191920
Postwar economic recession afflicted the US. Agricultural
depression began in 1920
Oct 1915
The new Ku Klux Klan was founded by William Simmons.
1919
The 18th Amendment is ratified
1914
The Menace (an anti-Catholic weekly) had a circulation of nearly
1.5 million
1917
Beginning of Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The US refused to
recognize the Bolshevik government.
1919
Red Scare in the US. Fearing infiltration and influence, Attorney
General A. Mitchell Palmer was extremely active in “hunting
suspicious person”
Summary …
What is the political climate in the US between 1914 and 1920?
•Anti-immigrant and violence erupted
•Henry Ford prominent American very anti-semitic, anticatholic, and anti-African American
•Americans saw anarchists and communists as threat to
government.
How does the political climate change after 1917 and why?
•Bolshevik Revolution – Czar overthrown
•Russia becomes U.S.S.R. – with a Communist government
•America fears anarchists and communists will overthrow
government in U.S.
•America leaves our troops in U.S.S.R to fight Lenin &
refuses to recognize the Soviet government.
Fear of Radicals
· People feared a
communist revolution
would occur in the
U.S.
Labor Unrest
· People blamed
communists and
Anarchists for labor
strikes, labor
problems
Since many
anarchists were
immigrants,
discrimination
against
immigrants
increased.
Post-War American Attitudes Following
WWI
deep social tensions aggravated by high wartime inflation
Food Prices
Clothing Prices
deep social tensions aggravated by high wartime inflation
Steel Strike (1919)
Organized Labor had won 8-hour workday due
to war time production (contract work)
By 1919 – ½ workers had a 48-hour work week
Unions on decline because
seen as a direct connect to radicals = immigrants
rise in violent labor strikes
discriminatory (women or African Americans)
made strides in work-hours
farmers in industrial work used to working alone
Study: Table 1 & analyze the numbers
1.
Immigration numbers for 1891
1.
2.
2.
3.
total Northwestern Europe __
total Southern and Eastern Europe ___
Immigration numbers for 1911
1.
Total Northwestern Europe __
2.
Total Southern and Eastern Europe _
Immigration numbers for 1925
1.
2.
4.
5.
Total Northwestern Europe __
Total Southern and Eastern Europe ___
What are the obvious changes in the
totals from 1891 to 1925?
In which year of the 1920’s was
immigration from all countries higher?
Immigration and National Origins
Use both the text and graphs to answer the analysis questions.
Using Interpreting Information
1. From where had most of the old immigrants come?
2. From where did most of the new immigrants come?
3. What were the intended purposes of the Immigration Act of 1921 and the
National Origins Act of 1924?
4. Which groups were not affected by either of the National Origins Acts?
Forming Generalizations
1. List four reasons why people opposed immigration from eastern and southern
Europe.
2. What effect did the National Origins Act of 1924 have on immigration from eastern
and southern Europe? Why?
3. The day the National Origins Act of 1924 went into effect was marked as
Humiliation Day in Japan, the beginning of a major “Hate America” campaign.
Why did the Japanese react this way?
4. Explain how the National Origins Act of 1924 was result of World War I.
Evaluating Policy
1. Why might the people of a nation want to keep their racial and ethnic balance the
same? What might they miss by adopting such a policy?
Read the excerpt Immigration and National Origins
In the decade before World War I, more than 10 million people flooded
into the United States. Unlike the old immigrants, who had come from
northern and western Europe in the 1800s, these new immigrants
were primarily from eastern and southern Europe. They were not
Anglo-Saxon, nor were they Protestants.
For various reasons, including prejudice, many Americans wanted to
limit the number of these immigrants. Some citizens believed that the
newcomers did not have adequate job skills to be self-sufficient. Many
worried that the immigrants would not be able to adapt to the
American way of life. Labor unions feared that immigrant laborers
would work for lower wages than their union workers. This would
make it difficult for union members to find work at the higher wage
they desired. Labor unions therefore headed the drive for more
restrictive immigration laws.
In 1921, Congress passed the first Immigration Act to establish an
effective quota system. Three percent of the total of each nationality
already in the country, based on the census of 1910, would be
admitted. The maximum quota for all nationalities combined was to be
375, 803 per year.
This proved to be a temporary measure. Continued opposition to
immigrants from eastern and southern Europe led to the passage
of the National Origins Act of 1924. This was designed to prevent
any major racial or ethnic changes in the population of the United
States.
By the terms of this new law, the quotas were set at 2 percent of
each nationality based on the census of 1890. Most of the
immigration from eastern and southern Europe began after 1890.
The maximum quota for all immigration was to be 164,667.
Canadians and Latin Americans were not part of the quota system
in this or future acts. The Japanese were specifically excluded
from all future immigration as “aliens ineligible to citizenship.” The
law of 1924 was a slap in the face to the Japanese. It marked the
beginning of disintegration in United States-Japanese relations.
In 1929, a second National Origins Act was passed. The 1929 act
established quotas of 2 percent of each nationality based on the
census of 1920 but limited to a maximum quota of 153,714 of all
nationalities. The years of unlimited immigration had ended long
since.
Closing the
Golden Door
The Emergency
Quota Act of 1921
set up a quota
system allowing
only a certain
number of people
from each country
into the U.S.
Keep on Guarding the Gates
1. What problems did
immigrants pose?
2. Why did the quota
l a w, 1 9 2 1 , s e e m t o
be satisfactory?
3. If these were
satisfactory why did
the restrictions
become more strict?
4. Where did the
“older type of
immigration” come
from and provide?
5. What drain on
society did
immigrants cost?
The Door
gets locked?
The National Origins Exclusion Act and the Immigration Act of 1924,
superseded the 1921 Emergency Quota Act – further aimed at restricting
Southern and Eastern Europeans and prohibited East Asians.
1. Compare the numbers allowed under the 1921 Act to the 1924 Act .
How are the people from Southern and Eastern European countries
impacted (numbers); Northwestern Europe?
•The law favored Protestant
nations from northern Europe.
• However, people from the
Western Hemisphere were
unaffected by the quota, and
thousands of Mexicans and
Canadians entered the U.S.
More Post-War American Attitudes
Following WWI
Period of Disillusionment …
1.
2.
3.
4.
veterans, artists, and intellectuals
Society was lacking idealism and vision
Sense of personal alienation
Americans were obsessed with materialism
and outmoded moral values.
Safeguarding America for Americans
“In this brief review of the work which the Department of Justice has
undertaken, to tear out the radical seeds that have entangled
American ideas in their poisonous theories, I desire not merely to
explain what the real menace of communism is, but also to tell how
we have been compelled to clean up the country …”
A. Mitchell Palmer
The Palmer Raids
Several cities across the country
A. Mitchell Palmer and John Edgar Hoover
A. found no evidence of a proposed
revolution
B. numbers of suspects, many of them
members of the Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW) were held without trial.
C. Many “suspects” were deported
D. In New York, five elected Socialists were
expelled from the legislature.