Tensions of the Early 1920s

Economy Suffered After WW1• Government had no plan for the

transition back to peace time• Government contracts for war

materials ended suddenly• Unemployment grew• 4 million soldiers were

demobilized (“demobbed”)• Inflation occurred because

Americans suddenly spent wartime savings when war ended

• Many farmers lost their farms; many businesses went bankrupt

Labor Struggles• During WW1, the National War

Labor Board had settled arguments between companies and workers to keep factories working

• Workers had received higher wages

• After war, wages fell; workers went on strike (1 in 10 workers struck sometime in 1919. Seattle was most famous.)

• Unions lost power – Middle-class Americans withdrew

support, – Court cases removed wage supports– Unions were not united (especially for

women and Blacks)

Radical Groups• Success of Russian Revolution

– Gave hope to radical American socialists and communists

– Frightened middle-class Americans

• 1919: 34 bombs discovered by post office, addressed to industrialists and politicians

• “Red Scare” led to “Palmer Raids” when Attorney General Palmer raided homes of radicals, looking for weapons

• Foreign suspects were deported without trial

• Americans seemed willing to give up civil rights during this time of fear

Immigration after WW1• Immigration resumed its pre-WW1

levels• “Nativists” feared the lost of

“American” culture due to immigration

• Unemployed feared competing for jobs with immigrants

• Government passed the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921 and another in 1924– Capped immigration– Set “Quotas” for each country– Banned all immigration from Asia

• Fear, dislike, hatred of immigrants rose to high level

• American Blacks, Asians, Jews, Catholics faced prejudice too

KKK Resurgence• D.W. Griffith produced movie The

Birth of a Nation which extolled the Ku Klux Klan

• National membership drive and fund raising increased membership and enriched founders

• Parades, attacks, even murders took place across country

• Provided sense of belonging to “nativist” Americans threatened by culture changing due to immigration and modernization

• Collapsed after publicity over leader David Stephenson whose secretary committed suicide after he raped her