What Was The Fundamentalist Revolt Of The 1920's

In the early 1920’s, a new movement began, known as the Fundamentalist Revolt. This New movement all started when Protestants started feeling threatened by all of the modernists and new cultures arising. Fundamentalists didn’t like that modernists were completely changing entertainment, sexual rules, and general morals. Fundamentalists believed that people had to start going back to their old ways and the ways things were written the Bible. As this idea got bigger and bigger people started preaching their ideas of how fundamentalism should regain its position in society. Anti-modernist preached about the ideas of alcohol in public and even Darwinism to prove the points of fundamentalism. More specifically the fundamentalist revolt impacted religion, race, and immigration in many ways all across country.

When the fundamentalist revolt began in the 1920s Protestants pushed their beliefs to the extreme. They wanted all members of society to stop bringing these new modern ideas in, and for all old morals from the Bible to be expressed throughout all aspects of society. By doing so this enhanced religion extremely. Since religion was the newest talk in the town things such as

evolution and Darwinism we’re frowned upon. In fact, in 1925, “high school teacher John Thomas Scopes was charged with violating Tennessee’s law against teaching evolution instead of the divine creation of man.” Later Scopes was found guilty although the Supreme Court later overturned decision. This case was a very big deal in small town Dayton, Tennessee. It brought a lot of people to start thinking about their religion and if Darwinism really was all that bad.
In another case two people were thought to be felons just because of their race.

A woman by the name of Nicola Sacco and man by the name of Bartolomeo Vanzetti were accused of robbing a factory in Massachusetts. Later in a letter, Vanzetti wrote, “I am suffering because I am a radical and indeed I am a radical; I have suffered because I was Italian, and indeed I am an Italian. These young Italians both knew that they were not in the wrong they were just in a time when other races were not accepted in America. The Sacco-Vanzetti case, proved that “the outcome symbolized the nativist prejudices and stereotypes are haunted in the communities.” This Fundamentalist Revolt wasn’t against a single race. It was against all races. These ant-modernist wanted an end to all immigration of all

races.
In 1921, Lucian W. Parrish spoke to Congress about Immigration. In this speech he states, “We should stop immigration entirely until such a time as we can amend our immigration laws and so right them that he hereafter knowing shall be admitted except he be in full sympathy with our constitution laws, willing to declare himself obedient to our flag, and willing to release himself from any obligations he may owe to the flag of the country from which he came.” (792) During this Fundamentalist Revolt, anti-modernists wanted to put an end to immigration. Immigration was said to be “the undesirable foreign element to poison our civilization.” (792) People were afraid that immigrants would just come to the country and bring their culture. When in fact the anti-modernists wanted everything ti be exactly how it was in the Bible.
This revolt that began in the 1920’s was a huge change in American history. Citizens wanted to become more advanced and modernize everything that they possibly could and then these Fundamentalists come in and tell Americans that they cannot do so. Overall this decade dealt with a lot of adaptation through religion, race and immigration. Unfortunately, those who were modernists, were unable to create a more modern society with mire modern morals.