Post WWI America: Red Scare and Ku Klux Klan

• After World War I, Americans became more isolationist

The Red Scare

• The Bolshevik Revolution prompted fears of communism in America, leading to the Red Scare
• Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer led a crusade against left-wingers, arresting about six thousand suspects
• Some states enacted criminal syndicalism laws, which were anti-red statutes
• Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were convicted of murder in 1921 and were executed, due to prevailing anti-redism and antiforeignism

Ku Klux Klan

• The Ku Klux Klan resurfaced in the 1920s, targeting foreigners, Catholics, Blacks, and Jews
• The Klan was anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, anti-black, anti-Jewish, antipacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, anti-evolutionist, antibootlegger, antigambling, anti-adultery, and anti-birth control, also pro-Anglo-Saxon
• By the mid-1920s, it had about 5 million members and had significant political influence
• The Klan's activities, such as violence and embezzlement by officials, led to its decline in the late 1920s

Immigration

• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited European immigration based on nationality percentages from the 1910 census
• The Immigration Act of 1924 cut quotas further and shifted the base census to 1890, and it banned Japanese immigration
• The Act marked a shift in American policy, limiting immigration and sacrificing traditions of freedom and diversity
• Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne advocated for cultural pluralism, supporting the preservation of immigrant cultural uniqueness and interchange

The Prohibition

• The Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, enforced by the Volstead Act, prohibited alcohol
• Prohibition was popular in the South and West but faced opposition in eastern cities
• The law was difficult to enforce due to American traditions and limited government control
• Speakeasies, bootlegging, and home brewing became common and the lack of enforcement led to general crime

Gangsterism

• Prohibition led to increased crime and the rise of gangs, especially in Chicago with Al Capone
• Gangsters engaged in illegal activities such as bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, and narcotics
• In 1932, Congress passed the Lindbergh Law, which made interstate abduction a death-penalty offense

Education and Religion

• Education was emphasized, with more states requiring school attendance until older ages
• John Dewey promoted "learning by doing" and progressive education
• Fundamentalists opposed Darwinian evolution and progressive education, leading to the Scopes "Monkey Trial" in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee

Mass-Consumption Economy

• The economy grew, with increased capital investment and productivity
• The automobile industry boomed, and by 1930, Americans owned 30 million cars
• Advertising emerged to encourage consumption and create demand for new products

Revolution on Rubber tires

• The automotive industry spurred growth in steel, rubber, gasoline, and highway construction
• New roads were built; marketing and transportation advanced
• The automobile offered freedom, changed social interactions and sexual behavior

Airplanes

• The Wright brothers launched the air age in 1903, and aviation developed, including the first transcontinental airmail route in 1920
• Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic generated excitement and boosted the aviation industry

Radio

• Guglielmo Marconi invented wireless telegraphy, which was used in World War I, resulting in the advent of voice-carrying radio
• Radio programs and advertising became popular, unifying the nation and transforming culture

Hollywood Films

• The movie industry began in the early 1900s, revolutionizing entertainment.
• The first "talkie," The Jazz Singer was a hit in 1927
• The movie industry grew, with Hollywood becoming the movie capital of the world

Dynamic Decade

• The 1920 census showed that most Americans lived in urban areas for the first time.
• Women's employment and the birth-control movement grew
• Flappers" challenged traditional norms
• Jazz music and dancing became popular, though controversies persisted

Harlem Renaissance

• Harlem in New York City became a center of African American culture, fostering the Harlem Renaissance
• Writers like Langston Hughes and jazz artists expressed black culture and advocated for equality

Cultural Liberation

• After World War I, modernism questioned social conventions and traditional authorities in arts and literature
• H. L. Mencken criticized American culture and values
• Writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner explored new themes and styles
• Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and T. S. Eliot experimented with literary forms as part of the modernist movement

Modernism

• Modernism challenged traditions with uncertainty and experimentation
• Artists like Duchamp revolutionized art, while architecture followed ""form follows function""
• Modernism spread with a few supporters and its impact extended world wide with its global scope

Economic Problems

• Real-estate speculation and stock market trading were popular; many bought stocks on margin
• The Bureau of the Budget was created in 1921 to manage federal finances, and Mellon implemented tax reductions, shifting the tax burden to middle-income groups