1.3 Changes in Society

Question 1

Women- Politics

Answer 1

-Influencing women in politics (Harriet Taylor Upton, Emily Newell Blair, Eleanor Roosevelt)
Belle Moskowitz, political advertising expert, became Al Smith’s closest political advisor helping him to win the governorship of New York

-1919, women’s right to vote with 19th Amendment. Women now had influence over political decisions, meaning politicians would have to begin appealing to female voters

• Political parties found new places for women with interests in politics
  In 1920, both the Republican and Democratic organisations created new positions for women. They showcased women at their national conventions. They created new Women’s Divisions for the purpose of integrating new women voters into the party

-By 1928, 145 women had won seats in state legislatures and 2 had been elected to the position of State Governor

Question 2

Women- Economic

Answer 2

-The economic boom provided women with new opportunities for employment, i.e secretaries, telephone operators and typists.
This allowed tens of thousands to move to big towns and cities and live more independent lives

• Cosmetics was used in large numbers for the first time. Beauty salons opened up across the USA, as a result, the cosmetics industry increased in value from $17 million to $200 million by the end of the decade
• Electrification and mass production saw many women able to afford labour saving devices for the home for the first time. Housework for women became easier
• There was a 25% increase of women working in the 20s. By 1929, the number of employed women was 10.6 million

-Many women had entered the workplace during WW1 in order to fill jobs left by men who joined the army. This helped shift public perception of working women slightly

Question 3

Women- Social

Answer 3

-Divorce was made easier and the number doubled. Women were not content to just stay at home and put up with bad husbands

-The Sheppard-Towner Act 1921 gave federal aid to the states to develop infant and maternity health programmes. 3000 child and maternal health care centres were created, many in rural areas. This led to a decrease in infant and mother deaths as a result of childbirth

Question 4

Limitations to women during the boom

Answer 4

-Only 2 out of 435 delegates in congress were women
-Women in the US never voted in a block, women’s movements remained fragmented

-Only 150 female dentists and fewer than 100 female accountants
-700,000 women were domestic servants
-Few female industrialists or managing directors
-Male workers in manufacturing earned $34.41 a week, women only earn $8.34, black females only got $5.70 a week

-Women were still expected to concentrate on marriage and homemaking
-Higher education opportunities were limited (it fell by 5% during the period)
-Prestigious college, Vassar still offered courses in Wife, Motherhood and the Family

Question 5

1917 Immigration Act

Answer 5

-Introduced a literacy test to make sure that people entering the USA had a basic grasp of English
-This was to prevent illiterate people from migrating to America. They introduced it so everyone who came, could get a job and help boost America’s economy

Question 6

1921 Emergency Quota Act

Answer 6

-Limited immigration to 3% of the number of each nationality resident in the USA according to the 1910 census. The quota was 357,000 per year
-This further prevented immigrants entering the USA and favoured older immigrants, mostly protestants

Question 7

1924 Johnson-Read

Answer 7

-Modified the terms of the earlier legislation making the base figure 2% of the 1890 census. This reduced the quota to just 150,000 per year. It restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and halted Asian immigration entirely.

Question 8

Melting Pot

Answer 8

-Where immigrants would lost their ethnic identity and become “American’

Question 9

Mosaic Culture

Answer 9

Separate Cultures, i.e Little Italy, Chinatown,

Question 10

Main immigrants before WW1

Answer 10

Italian, Polish, Russian

Question 11

How many of the pre WW1 immigrants came?

Answer 11

2.3 million jews from Russia and Poland and 4 million Catholic Italians

Question 12

Where were Older migrants from?

Answer 12

Britain, Germany and Scandinavia

Question 13

Difference between older migrants and newer ones

Answer 13

Older ones were mainly protestant whereas the newer ones were Catholic

Question 14

Why was immigration seen as tolerable before 1917?

Answer 14

The expansion and buoyancy of the US economy encouraged immigration in order to provide new industries with workers

Question 15

Eugenics

Answer 15

the study that there was a hierarchy of races and so people saw immigrants as inferior

Question 16

Why did WW1 lead to a fear of immigration

Answer 16

people were worried that immigrants were coming over to sabotage Americans

Question 17

What event in 1917 helped create further fears of immigrants from Eastern Europe

Answer 17

The Russian Revolution

Question 18

Why were Americans particularly afraid of immigrants from Eastern Europe?

Answer 18

Because they believe in communism- people don’t want to distribute their wealth. Americans didn’t want their money, especially money earned in the boom to be spread across the population

Question 19

Industrial Unrest

Answer 19

-After WW1, there was high inflation, as a result many workers went on strike. (In 1919, 4 million workers went on strike)
-People believed that strikers were led by communists who sought revolution in the USA like in Russia
-J.D Rockefeller was the target of a failed bomb plot in 1914 by anarchists belonging to the Industrial Workers of the World organisation

Question 20

The Palmer Raids

Answer 20

-General Intelligence Division was created by Mitchell Palmer to investigate revolutionary activities
-In Jan 1920, he ordered the Palmer Raids. 6000 people were arrested with suspicions of revolutionary activity, however most were released after a few days due to a lack of evidence

Question 21

Sacco and Vanzetti

Answer 21

-Were two Italian immigrants, neither spoke English very well
-They were accused of carrying out an armed robbery in Boston in May 1920.
-Both claimed to be anarchists and were arrested carrying guns
-There was little concrete evidence to tie them to the case HOWEVER they were found guilty and sentenced to death
-There was some protest amongst people who lived in cities, however many rural Americans supported the verdict. Showing that people who lived in rural areas had more negative attitudes towards immigrants than people who lived in the cities.

Question 22

KKK

Answer 22

-During the 20s, they grew in importance and power, before rapidly dying away by the end of the decade
-They were set up in 1865, made up of disgruntled confederate soldiers. They wanted revenge for the defeat of the Civil War. They refused to accept slavery ended.

Question 23

What was segregation and Jim Crow?

Answer 23

Separation of black and white people in America. The Jim Crow laws disallowed black people to have basic civil rights such as voting. They had different facilities, black people would get worser conditioned facilities.

Question 24

What did the KKK do?

Answer 24

They burned homes, raped and murdered black people to let them know they were 2nd class citizens

Question 25

Reasons why the KKK were influential

Answer 25

By 1921, they had 100,000 members
BY 1925, they had 5 million members
Some senators and congressmen were members
Followers dominated state legislature in Indiana
Considerable support in Midwest and South
Elizabeth Tyler and Edgar Clark- well trained publicists and fundraisers- spread their message
David Curtis Stephenson had control of virtually all of Indiana
Both senators from Georgia were part of the KKK

Question 26

Reasons were the KKK were NOT influential

Answer 26

By 1930, membership had fallen to 200,000 due to David Stephenson’s conviction
1925- 40% of members were in only 3 states- Indiana, Ohio and Illinois
Pacific Coast and New England- little to no members
Rural and localised movement
Participation in violence was varied, some members saw it more as a social club

Question 27

Prohibition- Social Causes

Answer 27

-America was a very religious country. Many Christians linked alcohol consumption to sin, including gambling and prostitution
-Those who called for Prohibition cited violence by drunk husbands towards their wives and children
-WASPs, sometimes associated alcohol consumption with immigrant communities, and anti-alcohol campaigners played on the prejudice towards immigrants
-The Anti-Saloon League claimed that alcoholism led to ‘idleness’ and crime
-In 1873, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was founded and called for prohibition of alcohol
-After abolition of slavery, ‘demon drink’ was the next moral target

Question 28

Prohibition- Political Causes

Answer 28

-A lot of beer was imported from Germany
-Momentum of state campaigns (27 ‘dry’ stated by 1917)

Question 29

Prohibition- Economic Causes

Answer 29

-Support from business hoping for increased productivity i.e Ford, Heinz and Rockefeller
-Use of grain for food supplies under the Lever Act during WW1 (as opposed to whiskey)

Question 30

Prohibition

Answer 30

In 1920, the 18th Amendment came into effect, banning the sale, transportation and manufacture of ‘intoxicating liquor’ in the USA.
The Volstead Act of 1919 defined intoxicating liquor as a drink containing more than 0.5% of alcohol.

Question 31

Prohibition on Industrial Alcohol

Answer 31

-Was still possible to purchase alcohol for use in manufacturing, leading to people buying up this alcohol to produce moonshine
-There was no limits on the strength. 34 people in New York died from it
-The fact that industrial alcohol was still legal and easily available had an sig impact on prohibition’s failure. This was because it made it easier for criminals and bootleggers to continue to provide the American people with alcohol

Question 32

Prohibition on Crime and Gangsterism

Answer 32

-Caused massive increase in organised crime
-Gangsters like Al Capone made millions from the sale of alcohol
-Violence between rival gangs caused public perceptions to turn against Prohibition which was seen as directly fuelling this rise in violence

Question 33

Prohibition on Geographical Difficulties

Answer 33

-The USA’s borders were simply too big to effectively police
-There were 18,700 miles of coast and land borders.
-Smuggling across these borders was so successful that only an estimated 5% of all illegal goods was intercepted in 1925

Question 34

Prohibition on Bootleggers

Answer 34

Doctors could prescribe alcohol as medicine which was easily open to be exploited.
i.e George Remus- nicknamed The King of all Bootleggers
He made $5 million from producing medicinal alcohol that he paid gangsters to ‘hijack’ and sell as illegal alcohol

Question 35

Prohibition on Treasury Agents

Answer 35

-Only 3000 people hired to enforce Prohibition
-Only paid $2500 a year
-One agent made $7 million selling illegal licences and pardons to bootleggers
-10% of all treasury agents were fined for corruption during the 20s

Question 36

Prohibition on Speakeasies

Answer 36

-Was very easy to access alcohol especially in big cities
-In the 20s, many people continued drinking thanks to illegal bars run by bootleggers
-In some cities, it would take less than 20 minutes for a stranger to find a place to buy illegal alcohol

Question 37

Role of the government on the failure of Prohibition

Answer 37

-Some historians have argued that congress didn’t do more to enforce prohibition because they didn’t want to alienate wealthy voters.
-The Laissez-Faire approach of the Republican government made it unwilling to put a lot of money into enforcing the law

Question 38

Division amongst supports about Prohibition

Answer 38

-The ‘Dry’ lobby was ill equipped to campaign to maintain Prohibition. The Anti-Saloon League was split over what to do next, some argued for tighter enforcement and others for more education programmes
-Lots of supporters by the end of the 20s- President Coolidge served alcohol at White House functions undermining the message of prohibition