How Far Was the Usa Intolerant in the 1920's?
How far was the USA intolerant in the 1920's?
The roaring 20's was a period of economic boom and prosperity, but there was a darker underside to this. American society was undergoing vast changes in the early twentieth century. The world was changing and America was not to be left behind. In the past America had been a very intolerant society with slavery being one of its key industries and although it operated a ‘melting pot’ open door policy was the white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant (W.A.S.P) society really as open minded as they liked to believe about the mixture of other cultures? The aim of this essay is to try and explore how intolerant American society really was, looking into the key areas of racism, political and religion intolerance and the other side of the argument.
After the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan, used terrorist tactics to frighten former slaves. A new version of the Ku Klux Klan started to rise during the early 1920s. Throughout that time period, immigration, fear of radicalism,and foreigners were only the most obvious targets of the Klan. Bootleggers and divorcees were also targets. Contributing to the Klan's growth was a post-war depression, the migration of African Americans into Northern cities. The Klan efforts were directed against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. . Lynchings (of Blacks, mostly) were still common. The Civil Rights Act didn't even exist, and "Jim Crow" laws (separate drinking fountains, seats on buses, ability to own property in certain areas) were uncontrolled, not only in the South. Latinos in California had their land stolen basically worked for slave wages on farms there. Chinese and Japanese immigrants were also badly treated and like Blacks and Jews, herded into segregated neighbourhoods, usually nicknamed "Chinatown". Even Italian and Irish immigrants were seen as second-class citizens and along with many Jews.
There was also Religious intolrane in the 20's like scopes or the monkey trial, what
The roaring 20's was a period of economic boom and prosperity, but there was a darker underside to this. American society was undergoing vast changes in the early twentieth century. The world was changing and America was not to be left behind. In the past America had been a very intolerant society with slavery being one of its key industries and although it operated a ‘melting pot’ open door policy was the white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant (W.A.S.P) society really as open minded as they liked to believe about the mixture of other cultures? The aim of this essay is to try and explore how intolerant American society really was, looking into the key areas of racism, political and religion intolerance and the other side of the argument.
After the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan, used terrorist tactics to frighten former slaves. A new version of the Ku Klux Klan started to rise during the early 1920s. Throughout that time period, immigration, fear of radicalism,and foreigners were only the most obvious targets of the Klan. Bootleggers and divorcees were also targets. Contributing to the Klan's growth was a post-war depression, the migration of African Americans into Northern cities. The Klan efforts were directed against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. . Lynchings (of Blacks, mostly) were still common. The Civil Rights Act didn't even exist, and "Jim Crow" laws (separate drinking fountains, seats on buses, ability to own property in certain areas) were uncontrolled, not only in the South. Latinos in California had their land stolen basically worked for slave wages on farms there. Chinese and Japanese immigrants were also badly treated and like Blacks and Jews, herded into segregated neighbourhoods, usually nicknamed "Chinatown". Even Italian and Irish immigrants were seen as second-class citizens and along with many Jews.
There was also Religious intolrane in the 20's like scopes or the monkey trial, what