The 1920’s has the character of being a time of anxiety. What were the leading causes for such a reputation?
One of the periods of the American history received the name Age of Anxiety, in reality the 1920s proved to rather tumultuous, bringing serious social challenges and changes, refusal from the Victorian age restrictions, which were in the nineteenth century the defining force for social relations and developments. Various domestic issues along with international tensions resulted in increase of intolerance and anxiety in the country, the original roots of which were related to the outcomes of World War One.
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One of the most serious fears of the beginning of that period – was fear of communism, which was gradually spending in other countries of the world. American citizens were not ready to support the spread of the Soviet-Style Communism in their country. Directly or indirectly this fear resulted in negative attitude towards foreigners and increased the levels of xenophobia and nativism. “A wave of American labor strikes in 1919 convinced conservative Americans that the democratic system was in a fight to the death with anarchism and communism, beginning the Red Scare.” (Price 1999). U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer initiated struggle against radicals and communism supporters without consideration of their legal rights. There was a wave of mass arrests, deporting of foreigners, beating and assaults. An important role was played by the Sacco-Vanzetti murder case, when two Italians, one was atheist and the second was socialist, were accused of being the murders of the factory paymaster …show more content…
Racial and ethnic conflicts were growing and becoming more evident. On the one hand multicultural nation in the United States was still encouraged, on the other hand there was evident hostile attitude towards newcomers and foreigners. American society of that period revealed utterly negative perception of cultural diversity issues and this was forced the social and racial minorities, living in the country, be in the bottom of the social pyramid. Nativism of the twentieth century served the driving force to revival of the well-known Ku Klux Klan. “In 1915 William J. Simmons reorganized the secret society and addressed its duty as the safeguard of "comprehensive Americanism.” (Price 1999). After the World War One the new Klan was spreading rapidly all over the country. There were differences between the first Ku Klux Klan, which aimed at fighting against African American and whites supporting them. This time the geography of their activity was much greater and Catholics and Jews were also seen as enemies in addition to African Americans. The members of this organization were sure that their main target was to protect their
During the early 1920s the Great Depression took place. The Great Depression affected many people's lives. The immigrants caught the worst of it. They had just come from another country and were trying to start their new lives when the depression hit. They had to struggle once more with poverty and desperation in taking care of their families, the main reason they had left their old countries was to escape the same epidemic that was now overtaking ?the land of the free?. Immigrants, such as the Jewish immigrants, had to live in poverty-stricken ghettos without the necessities they needed to live healthy lives. The 1920s was the time of rapid change, it was the time of risque fashion, it was the time of which that if you were rich and had all the latest fashions then you were ?in? but if you did not then you were an outcast.
After World War One and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, fear of communism was escalating in America. Everybody seemed to fear the so-called “Red Menace”, a term introduced by Edgar J. Hoover. Partnering with Hoover was a man named A. Mitchell Palmer, head of the Justice Department. Palmer became a leader in the fight against communism. He most likely was prompted by being a target of one of the infamous 1919 bombings (Dumenil 220). Palmer wanted to be known as the embodiment of Americanism, fighting all that threatened our society. He also had future hopes of running for the Presidency. With anti-communistic attitudes building throughout the country, Palmer rounded up 500 federal agents on the night of January 2nd, 1920 to sweep through various towns in America capturing “reds”. These were called the Palmer Raids. Thousands of immigrants were arrested and held without due process. They were given no rights when arrested and their homes were raided without warrants. Eventually 240 immigrants were deported to Russia as a result of these raids.
Hooded Americanism: The First Century of the Ku Klux Klan: 1865 to the Present by David Chalmers records the history of the Ku Klux Klan quite bluntly, all the way from its creation following the civil war, to the early 1960’s. The author starts the book quite strongly by discussing in detail many acts of violence and displays of hatred throughout the United States. He makes a point to show that the Klan rode robustly throughout all of the country, not just in the southern states. The first several chapters of the book focus on the Klan’s creation in 1865. He goes on to discuss the attitude of many Americans following the United State’s Civil War and how the war shaped a new nation. The bulk of the book is used to go through many of the states, and express the Klan’s political influence on both the local and state governments. The author starts with Texas and Oklahoma, and goes through the history of the Klan geographically, finishing with New Jersey and Washington. The author stresses that the KKK did not just commit acts of violence towards minorities, but also carried political power. He continues to discuss the impact of the Klan on Civil Rights movements in the 1960’s, and various other important political controversies between the 1920’s and 1970’s. Towards the middle of the book, David M. Chalmers focuses on portraying the feelings of governments and state legislatures, as well as normal citizens towards the Klan. To do this more effectively, the author uses excerpts and quotes from editorials and newspapers, along with several dozen pictures. The conclusion of the book was used mainly as an overview of all of the major incidents and deaths involving the Klan, and how their persistence has allowed them to still exist today despite a lack of resources and support.
The Red Scare in the 1950’s was actually America’s second red scare. The 1920’s red scare was what helped start suspicion over Communists, but was put off during World War 2. It was no coincidence that what many people called the second red scare ignited after World War 2, during the Cold War, in the 1950’s. The 1920’s red scare started because Americans were paranoid over the fact that Russia may seek revenge after they had overthrown a royal Russian family in 1917. What started Communist ideas in the U.S at the time was the fact that since the war was over many of people were out of jobs which caused people to ask how efficient was the government. The most successful and noteworthy of all the Soviet parties in the 1920’s had to be the International Workers of the World, which was also called the I.W.W or the Wobblies. The Wobblies first strike was on January 21 1919 where about 35,000 shipyard workers struck. They were immediately labeled reds, or Communists. After the first strike mass panic struck the U.S and many major chain stores had to reassure their customers that their workers would not revolt. A mayor named Ole Hansen from Seattle took the Wobblies strikes personally. Strikes continued over the next 6 months and were labeled as “crimes against society”, “conspiracies against the government” and even “plots to establish Communism”. This was when Attorney General A. “
There are some psychological views that might help to explain why the events of 1919 -1920 took place. Some Americans during this time were always on the verge of attacking. They were hostile toward minorities. extremely patriotic, and ready to rid their nation of any intruder. seemed to threaten them, he said. The postwar effort for "one hundred percent" Americanism" may have left our citizens with the desire to keep our country pure.
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon once said, “Communism is never sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting.” From 1919 – 1921, a hysteria over the perceived threat of communism spread like wildfire across the nation. Known as the First Red Scare, the widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism quickly invaded the infrastructure of the U.S. government and radically influenced the American people. American citizens, such as Sacco and Vanzetti, were convicted and found crimes that evidence showed otherwise only because they supported anarchism. The US government arrested and deported radicals only because of their political standing.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been a number of great revolutionary movements going on in the United States, contributing to a huge spectrum of changes, ranged from American people’s everyday lives, to a more comprehensive view about the world and themselves, even to the national economic system. Those movements had reached a climax in the 1920’s, known as the “The Roaring Twenties”. Accompanied with the changes were conflicts and tensions rising rapidly between the adaptation to new attitudes and the preservation of traditional values. The emergence of the “New Morality”, the development of Science and Technology, and the changes in economy were the three most significant winds of changes leading to the enormous tension in the 1920’s, manifesting in their own distinct ways.
The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now. Major and still important was the First Red Scare stemming from the First World War’s end and America’s Great Depression beginning to kick off. With food and living expenses drastically increasing certain propaganda began to appear.
Why were the years 1919 and 1920 such a scary time for many Americans? World War I just ended and it caused a series of problems for the United States of America. Everything went crashing down at once for Americans. Political relationships with an ally and economic issues being the center of it all. With Communism on the rise and unemployment running rampant, America as a nation was at the brink of panic. The Red Scare and the end of World War I led to a sense of nativism and anti-immigration in many Americans from then to now.
The 1920’s is a period that defines the United States. Conflict and opposing values were increasingly prevalent in the American society. The country was torn between new political practices, views on the role of women, religion, social and artistic trends, science and more traditional beliefs. These were ideologies that were surfacing during the 1920’s. Much tension between the 'new America' and the 'old America' was caused by a number of wars and outbreaks (Lyndon).
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of production, it was the age of destruction, it was the epoch of nativism, it was the epoch of racism, it was the season of skepticism, it was the season of anti-communism, it was the spring of gain, it was the winter of loss – in short, it was the 1920's. Indeed, the decade of the 1920s was a truly “roaring” and prosperous time, but at the same time, it was a period of chaos and conflict. The events that happened during this decade influenced the world as we know it today. More importantly, the thought that the 1920’s was an era of major change in the United States, both positive and negative, is indeed fascinating and it deserves thorough examination.
The American anticommunist attitude began in 1919, with the Red Scare. In 1917, Russia experienced the culmination of multiple social revolutions as the Bolsheviks seized control of the government. Discarding the old Russia, the Bolsheviks ushered in an era of communism under Marxist philosophy. The world responded with suspicion and a healthy dose of hostility. Little over a year later, the United States experienced a crisis as mail-bombs detonated in eight separate cities. Even though they were less than 70,000 professed communists in the Untied States, they attracted the full weight of public ire. Mitchell Palmer, the leader of this anticommunist crusade, believed that communism was eating its way into the homes of the American workman stating: “tongues of revolutionary heat were licking the alters of the churches, leaping into the belfry of the school bell, crawling into the sacred corners of American homes, seeking to replace marriage vows with libertine laws, burning up the foundations of society,” (The Palmer Raids). The Palmer Raids peaked in December 1919, when Palmer arrested 249 resident communist aliens and deported them to the Soviet Union. Essentially, the Red Scare nurtured American fear of communism and created initial hostility between Communist Russia and the United States.
Wukovits, John F., ed. America's Decades: The 1920's. San Diego: Greehaven Press Inc., 2000. Print.
which swept the nation. The Fear of communism (also known as the Red Scare), in 1919 there were labour grievances along with bombings which was seen as a result of Communist Russia influences and a brief revolt in Hungary which built to the fear that America may be on a verge of a revolution. In 1919 to 1920 America saw the prosecutions of thousands of suspected radicals and those proven foreigner were deported. This in turn created a belief and connection that chaos was a result of foreigners and radicalisms. Such connections are best represented in the Sacco and Vanzetti case. Two Italian men convicted guilty (July 1921) for the robbery and murder in Massachusetts. Their execution took place in August 1927. The fear of communism spread to