Cultural Conflicts

1. Cultural Conflicts Chapter 13, Section 2

2. Prohibition • 18th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in January of 1920; it banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States • Main Goals of Prohibition: • 1. Eliminate drunkenness and the resulting abuse of family members • 2. Get rid of saloons where prostitution, gambling and other forms • of vice thrived • 3. Prevent absenteeism and on-the-job accidents stemming from • drunkenness • The Volstead Act was passed by Congress in 1919 to enforce the 18th Amendment (a report in 1924 showed that people in Kansas obeyed the law at a rate of 95% and people in New York obeyed the law at a rate of only 5%

3. BootLegging • Originally named for the practice of hiding your liquor in your flask and putting it in your boot • In the 1920’s it was used to describe suppliers of illegal alcohol; they operated stills and made the alcohol from corn, grain, potatoes, or other fruits and vegetables • Some bootleggers smuggled the alcohol in from Canada or the Caribbean; they would anchor their boats far from the coast and then others would come pick up the cargo in boats fast enough to outrun the Coast Guard cutters

4. SpeakEasies • Bars that operated illegally • During prohibition there were an estimated 700 speakeasies and 4,000 bootleggers in Washington, D.C. (before Prohibition there were only 300 saloons) • To get into a speakeasy you had to show membership or be recognized by a guard; many speakeasies were creatively hidden (the entrance to one was a phone booth and another was entered through the lid of a coffin)

5. Organized Crime • Organized crime realized that if many bootleggers joined forces, they could work with large volumes and make more money • Rival groups fought for control and that caused a lot of violence in cities • Machine guns, sawed off shotguns and gang wars were commonplace • Successful bootlegging organizations then moved on to gambling and prostitution as well • Racketeering was also profitable (bribing police or other officials to look away from their operation and also forcing business owners to pay for “protection”)

6. Al Capone (Scarface) • Operated in Chicago • He was the head of Chicago’s organized crime network by 1925; used murder and racketeering to get there • Called “Scarface” (he had a large scar) • He made $60 million a year from bootlegging alone and had more than enough money to buy anyone he wanted • The Bureau of Investigation (later renamed the FBI) headed by J. Edgar Hoover fought back against him and in 1931, he was convicted of income-tax evasion; lead by Elliot Ness and the Untouchables

7. Issues of Religion • Differences in values between urban and rural Americans were polarized during the 1920’s • The biggest debate was over teaching the theory of evolution in schools • Challenges to traditional beliefs were coming from several directions: • Science and technology were taking a larger role in everyday life • War and widespread problems were leading people to question God • Some scholars were saying that the Bible was a document written by humans and that it contained contradictions and errors

8. Issues of Religion (cont.) • In response to challenges on religion a group of religious traditionalist published a series of 12 pamphlets called The Fundamentals, they stated a set of beliefs that has come to be called fundamentalism • They support traditional ideas about Jesus and argue that God inspired the Bible, so it cannot contain contradictions or errors. They declared that the Bible is literally true and that every story took place as described • Billy Sunday (former pro baseball player) and Aimee Semple McPherson (Sister Aimee) were popular fundamentalist preachers who used traditional services and radio to reach thousands

9. Evolution and the Scopes Trial • What is the theory of evolution? Why would it disturb fundamentalists? • Fundamentalists worked to have the theory banned from schools across the country and 1925 Tennessee passed on a ban on teaching it • John Scopes agreed to challenge it as unconstitutional and taught it anyway; he was arrested and his case made national headlines because it was broadcast over the radio • Clarence Darrow defended Scopes and his good friend William Jennings Bryan represented the state

10. Scopes (cont.) • The case seemed simple, the law said you couldn’t teach evolution and Scopes did, so the judge fined him $100 and found him guilty • However, it was much more complex due the background argument between fundamentalists and people who supported evolution; Darrow called Bryan as a witness and asked him to explain passages from the Bible. Darrow ridiculed fundamentalist beliefs and made Bryan look silly • Bryan died just a few days after the trial ended and became a martyr for the fundamentalist cause

11. Racial Tensions • Many African Americans migrated north in the 1920’s (the Great Migration) for two reasons: escape increasing racial violence and job opportunities • People in the north were racist as well and problems began • The summer of 1919 was nicknamed “Red Summer” due to all the blood spilled during racial riots in more than 25 cities • The worst riot broke out when a black boy accidentally swam on the white side of the beach and white people began throwing stones at him, he was hit in the head and drowned; Riots broke out in Chicago for seven days, 23 African and 15 whites were dead and 537 people were injured

12. Revival of the Klan • The Klan was largely eliminated during President Grant’s term in office (1869-1877) • In 1915 it was revived in the north and by 1924 it had 4 million members; the greatest number of Klansmen were in Indiana • These new Klan members not just against blacks and vowed to protect their own white-Protestant culture against any group • They carried out crimes against African Americans, Catholics, Jews, immigrants and others; they beat, whipped and killed some people and terrorized others • The nation was forced into action against the Klan in 1927 when their leader assaulted a girl who later poisoned herself and police stepped up their efforts against them

13. Fighting Discrimination • The NAACP worked to pass Anti-Lynching Laws but could not get it done; in 1929 there were ten reported lynchings • The NAACP also worked to protect the African American’s right to vote, they did not have much success as the Federal government had little control over state elections; how did they prevent them from voting?

14. The Garvey Movement • Marcus Garvey came to NYC in 1916 from his native Jamaica to established a new headquarters for his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) • Members of the UNIA were encouraged to buy shares in Garvey’s Negro Factories Corporation (a set of small black-owned businesses) and he urged them to return to “Motherland Africa” and create a self-governing nation • Other leaders, like W.E.B. DuBois, disliked Garvey’s ideas but he attracted many followers who attended meetings dressed in military style uniforms • Garvey collected $10 million for a steamship company, Black Star Line, that would carry his followers to Africa but mismanagement and problems followed the shipping line and in 1925 Garvey was jailed on mail fraud charges and he was later deported to Jamaica