CH20.1

Sacco & Vanzetti Case

A controversial trial where two Italian immigrants accused of being anarchists were convicted of robbery and murder, raising debates about prejudice and fairness in the justice system.

Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Two Italian immigrants accused of shooting and killing two employees of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company.

Anarchists

People who oppose all forms of government and believe society should operate without formal authority.

Eugenics

A pseudoscience that claimed to improve human hereditary traits by controlling reproduction.

Ku Klux Klan

A white supremacist group that used threats and violence to intimidate African Americans and other minorities.

William J. Simmons

The founder of the revived Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta, Georgia who claimed the group was defending “Americanism.”

Emergency Quota Act (1921)

A law that created a temporary quota system limiting immigration to the United States.

Henry Curran

The commissioner of Ellis Island during the period of immigration restriction.

National Origins Act (1924)

A law that made immigration restrictions permanent and limited immigrants to 2% of each nationality living in the U.S. in 1890.

Newlands Reclamation Act

A law that provided federal funds for irrigation projects in the dry southwestern United States.

Bobbed

A short hairstyle worn by many women in the 1920s.

Flapper

A fashionable young woman in the 1920s who challenged traditional behavior and social norms.

Zelda Fitzgerald

Wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald and a symbol and promoter of the flapper lifestyle.

Florence Sabin

A medical researcher known for her work studying tuberculosis.

Edith Wharton

A writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence.

Margaret Sanger / American Birth Control League

An activist who promoted birth control to improve living standards and founded the organization that became Planned Parenthood.

Margaret Mead

An anthropologist who wrote Coming of Age in Samoa about life in a Pacific island culture.

Why did nativism and racism increase after World War I?

Many Americans feared immigrants, communists, and foreign influences after the war, increasing prejudice and discrimination.

How and where did the KKK spread in the 1920s?

William J. Simmons hired recruiters who earned money for each new member, causing the Klan to grow to about 4 million members and spread from the South to northern cities.

Why were Hispanics permitted to immigrate easily during the 1920s?

Employers needed workers for agriculture, mining, and railroad jobs.

Explain the New Morality of the 1920s.

Ideas of romance, pleasure, and companionship became more important in relationships and marriage.

Why did American youth love automobiles in the 1920s?

Cars gave young people independence and freedom from their parents’ supervision.

What contributions did women make to American society in the 1920s?

Women challenged traditional roles through fashion and social freedoms, entered the workforce for financial independence, and contributed to science, literature, medicine, and birth control activism.

Fundamentalism / Lyman Stewart

Belief that the Bible is literally true and without error; defended the Protestant faith against ideas that humans derived morals from society and nature instead of God.

Evolution

The idea that humans developed from lower forms of life over millions of years.

Creationism

The belief that God created the world as described in the Bible.

Billy Sunday

A famous evangelist who attracted huge crowds with rapid-fire sermons and dramatic preaching style.

Aimee Semple McPherson

A religious evangelist who held revivals and faith healings in Los Angeles with a theatrical and flamboyant style.

Butler Act

A law that outlawed teaching anything that denied the Biblical story of divine creation and instead taught that humans descended from animals.

Scopes Trial

A famous trial where teacher John T. Scopes was charged with teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

Organization that advertised for a teacher willing to be arrested for teaching evolution to challenge the Butler Act.

John T. Scopes

The teacher who volunteered to be the test case and was arrested for teaching evolution.

William Jennings Bryan

The prosecutor in the Scopes Trial who represented the creationist viewpoint.

Clarence Darrow

The defense attorney who defended John T. Scopes during the Scopes Trial.

Eighteenth Amendment

Gave federal and state governments the power to enforce Prohibition, greatly expanding federal police powers.

Volstead Act

The National Prohibition Act that enforced the 18th Amendment and banned the sale and production of alcohol.

Police Powers

The government's authority to control people and property to protect public safety, health, welfare, and morals.

Speakeasies

Secret bars where people illegally bought and drank alcohol during Prohibition.

Bootlegging

The illegal production and distribution of alcohol.

Al Capone

A powerful and violent gangster who controlled organized crime and bootlegging operations in Chicago.

Eliot Ness

The leader of a special Treasury Department team that helped bring Al Capone to justice.

Twenty-First Amendment

The amendment that repealed the 18th Amendment and ended Prohibition.

What were the major beliefs of the Fundamentalists?

They believed the Bible was literally true and defended religion against ideas that morality came from society or nature instead of God.

Why did the Scopes Trial discredit Fundamentalists?

It isolated them from mainstream Protestantism and reduced their political influence.

Why did many Americans support Prohibition?

They believed banning alcohol would reduce unemployment, domestic violence, and poverty.

What was the major negative impact of the 18th Amendment on the U.S.?

It led many people to ignore the law and caused increases in bootlegging and organized crime.

What did the 21st Amendment do?

It repealed the 18th Amendment and officially ended Prohibition.