HOW

WIDESPREAD WAS
INTOLERANCE IN
THE US IN THE
1920’S?
Background
● American Society In the 1920’s was full of contradictions and
contrast. More established American’s wanted to maintain
traditions and were fearful of those groups who were thought to
threaten the American way of life: new immigrants, communists,
anarchists, blacks and Jew’s.

● So therefore, they presented ways to get rid of these people who

were thought to corrupt their peace.
 THE RED SCARE 1919-21
Employees and
government authorities
● Most of the immigrants during the● A wave of strike action during made a firm response to
first two decades of the 1920’’s 1919 seemed to confirm these these events. The strikers
were from Southern and Eastern fears. Further evidence of a were faced with lockouts
and heavy handed
Europe. So, it was believed that supposed conspiracy was a
tactics.
the immigrants had been infected series of bomb blasts, during
with anarchist and communist which on hit the home of The bombings led to the
ideas following the Bolshevik Attorney General, Mitchell rounding up of suspected
Revolution of 1917. Palmer. anarchists and
communists which was
known as the Palmer
Raids, which led to
arrests and deportations.
 RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
● Fundamentalist Christians, ● This led to 6 states ● It became a showcase for the
concentrated in the rural areas including Tennessee, with arguments for and against for
of the South and Midwest, the fundamentalists and against evolution. While
believed in a literal succeeded in outlawing Scopes was fined $100, the
interpretation of the bible. the teaching of evolution. trial was widely regarded as a
Including the believe, that God The differences between triumph for the evolutionists
made the world in 5 days and the two sides became as Bryan(lead
rested on the 6th. coined as the Monkey fundamentalist)was ridiculed
Trial. A Tennessee biology when he tried to defend the
● However, more progressive urban teacher, John Scopes Bible’s version of the creation
Christians started to accept Darwin’s deliberately broke the of mankind.
laws by teaching about
theory of evolution that claimed humans
evolution. His trial took
had evolved from more primitive life place in July 1925.
 IMMIGRATION POLICY
The Emergency Quota Act
● In order to preserve white
passed in 1921 set an
and Northern Europeans a
annual limit for immigrants
series of immigration laws
of 357,000.
were passed during the
1920’s which restricted entry More controversially it also
into the U.S. set up a quota system
● This represented a form of whereby the annual no of
government sponsored immigrants from any one
discrimination against certain country was restricted to
national groups. 3% of the numbers from
that same country living in
the US in 1910
● This had the effect of
reducing the no of immigrant
from Southern and Eastern
by more than 75%.
● In the National Origins Act
passed in 1924 the total limit
was reduced to 150,000
while the quota was reduced
to 2% pf 1890 figures.
● Immigrants from China and Japan
were completely barred. Following
this Act about 85% of immigrants
came from Northern Europe. The
quotas reaminded in place till mid
1960’s.
THANKT
YOU!
