The 1920s saw a clash between traditional values and modern culture in America. Nativism and xenophobia led to strict immigration laws, while urban areas embraced new freedoms. The Ku Klux Klan resurged, targeting not just African Americans but also immigrants and religious minorities.

Rural and urban America diverged culturally. Cities celebrated jazz, flappers, and the Harlem Renaissance. Meanwhile, rural areas clung to conservative values and fundamentalist Christianity. This divide culminated in events like the Scopes Trial, highlighting tensions between science and religion.

Cultural Conflicts of the 1920s

Nativism in 1920s America

• Nativism: belief that native-born Americans and their cultural values were superior to immigrants and their cultures
  • Fueled by fears of rising immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, which was seen as a threat to traditional American culture and values
  • Xenophobia contributed to the growing anti-immigrant sentiment
• Immigration restrictions enacted through the Emergency Quota Act (1921) and National Origins Act (1924), which limited immigration based on national origins and favored immigrants from Western and Northern Europe over Southern and Eastern Europe
• Resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which targeted not only African Americans but also Catholics, Jews, and immigrants, reaching a peak membership of 4-5 million in the mid-1920s
• Rise of the eugenics movement, a pseudoscientific belief in the genetic superiority of certain races and ethnicities that influenced immigration policies and led to forced sterilization laws

Urban vs rural cultural values

• Urban culture in the Jazz Age characterized by newfound social freedoms and cultural experimentation
  • Rise of the "flapper" and changing gender roles for women
  • Harlem Renaissance: flourishing of African American art, literature, and music (Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington)
  • Prohibition and the rise of speakeasies and organized crime (Al Capone)
• Rural culture emphasized traditional values, religion, and social conservatism, viewing urban culture as a threat to moral order and the traditional way of life
  • Rise of fundamentalist Christianity in response to perceived moral decline (Billy Sunday)
• Clash of urban and rural values exemplified by the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial and the urban-rural divide in the 1928 presidential election between Al Smith and Herbert Hoover

Scopes trial's societal impact

• Background: John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was charged with violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which prohibited teaching evolution in public schools
  • Defended by Clarence Darrow; prosecution led by William Jennings Bryan
• Arguments centered on the freedom to teach science and evolution (Darrow) vs the belief that evolution contradicted the biblical account of creation and undermined religious faith (Bryan)
• Outcome: Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was later overturned on a technicality
• Significance: The trial symbolized the conflict between modernism and traditionalism, science and religion, highlighting the urban-rural divide and cultural tensions of the 1920s, and shaped public opinion on the teaching of evolution and the role of religion in education

Cultural Pluralism and Assimilation

• Cultural pluralism emerged as an alternative to the traditional "melting pot" theory of assimilation
• Debates arose over the extent to which immigrants should maintain their cultural identities or assimilate into mainstream American society
• Urbanization contributed to the development of ethnic enclaves in major cities, fostering both cultural preservation and gradual integration

Economic and Social Transformations

Analyze the causes and consequences of the Great Migration

• Causes:
  1. Opportunities for employment in Northern factories during World War I
  2. Escape from Southern racism, segregation, and limited economic prospects
  3. Boll weevil infestation in the South damaged cotton crops and displaced sharecroppers
• Consequences:
  • Demographic shift: over 1.5 million African Americans moved from the South to Northern cities between 1910-1930, leading to the emergence of African American urban communities and cultural movements (Harlem Renaissance)
  • Increased racial tensions and competition for jobs and housing in Northern cities
  • Laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement by concentrating African American political power in Northern cities (Chicago, New York)

Examine the impact of mass production and consumerism on American society

• Mass production techniques (assembly line) made consumer goods more affordable and accessible
  • Rise of the automobile industry and widespread car ownership (Model T)
  • Expansion of the middle class and the concept of the "American Dream"
• Advertising and the rise of consumer culture promoted new products (radios, appliances), fueled consumer demand, and encouraged individualism, materialism, and the pursuit of leisure
• Changing lifestyles and social norms: increased emphasis on convenience, leisure, and entertainment, challenging traditional gender roles and family structures
• Economic impact: stimulated economic growth and job creation in the 1920s, contributing to the economic boom and the "Roaring Twenties"