US society in the 1920s - OCR APrejudice and intolerance against immigrants and political radicals

Learn more about immigration including the Red Scare in this podcast.

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Hostility towards immigrants

The early 20th century had seen huge numbers of immigrants from Eastern Europe and Italy move to the USA to escape persecution and poverty in their own countries. As America was a melting pot of different groups, many were excited to start a new life there. However, many of these immigrants were bringing new radical political ideas, such as communism and anarchism, with them from Europe. The social changes brought by cars, the cinema, radio and city life were not welcomed by all. This was particularly the case for white Anglo-Saxon Protestants (often known as WASPS), who saw their traditional values threatened by different customs and cultures. They often blamed the changes on immigrants. Established immigrants, such as Irish and German Americans, were also afraid of the competition for jobs and services in the bigger cities from new immigrants.

Quotas

The government was anxious to restrict immigration and avoid revolution in the USA. Two laws were passed.

The 1921 Emergency Quota Act

The 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted the number of immigrants to 357,000 per year. It also set down a quota for overseas groups coming to the USA.

The 1924 National Origins Act

In 1924, immigration policy was changed with the National Origins Act. This had several effects

• It restricted immigration from Italy and Eastern Europe, lowering the number of immigrants entering the USA to 150,000 per year by 1929.
• It ensured that immigrants from Britain, Germany and Ireland could continue to enter the country.
• It allowed virtually no immigration from Asia at all.

The act was in line with President Calvin Coolidge’s view that “America must be kept American.”

The Red Scare and Palmer Raids

One of the biggest issues facing society in the early 1920s was the Red Scare. This was a fear of communism, whose followers had overthrown the royal family in Russia during the revolution in 1917. There was a fear that the idea would spread to the USA with immigrants coming from Russia and Eastern Europe. This fear was heightened after 1919, when a number of strikes broke out across the country. Violence followed, with race riots in several cities.

There were also several attacks on public officials. Bombs were posted to 36 US officials, including the US attorney-general, Mitchell Palmer. Palmer started rumours that communists had infiltrated Congress and were working on behalf of the US government to spread communism. As a result, around 10,000 people who were suspected to hold radical political beliefs were arrested in the Palmer Raids. These people were largely immigrants and often there was limited evidence against them. Eventually around 550 were deported. The raids stopped in 1920.

Sacco and Vanzetti trial

One case that demonstrated the fear and anxiety that the Red Scare created was that of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. In April 1920, while delivering wages to a factory in Massachusetts, a clerk and a guard were murdered by thieves, who also stole the money. Two Italian immigrants - Sacco and Vanzetti - were arrested and found guilty in 1921. However, the case sparked outrage as the evidence was flimsy and the judge in the case demonstrated hostility and racism towards the pair. They were eventually sentenced to death in 1927, despite the fact that Celestino Madeiros had confessed to the crime. There were protests across the world at their execution.