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Terms & Names

MAIN IDEA

•nativism

•isolationism

•communism

•anarchists

•Sacco and

Vanzetti

•quota system

•John L. Lewis

A desire for normality after

the war and a fear of

communism and “foreigners”

led to postwar isolationism.

Americans today continue to

debate political isolationism

and immigration policy.

WHY IT MATTERS NOW

One American's Story

Americans Struggle

with Postwar Issues

During the 1920s and 1930s, Irving Fajans, a department store sales

clerk in New York City, tried to persuade fellow workers to join the

Department Store Employees Union. He described some of the tech-

niques union organizers used.

A PERSONAL VOICE IRVING FAJANS

“ If you were caught distributing . . . union literature around the job

you were instantly fired. We thought up ways of passing leaflets with-

out the boss being able to pin anybody down. . . . We . . . swiped the

key to the toilet paper dispensers in the washroom, took out the

paper and substituted printed slips of just the right size! We got a lot

of new members that way—It appealed to their sense of humor.

”

—quoted in The Jewish Americans

During the war, workers’ rights had been suppressed. In 1919, workers began to

cry out for fair pay and better working conditions. Tensions arose between labor and

management, and a rash of labor strikes broke out across the country. The public,

however, was not supportive of striking workers. Many citizens longed to get back to

normal, peaceful living—they felt resentful of anyone who caused unrest.

Postwar Trends

World War I had left much of the American public exhausted. The debate over the

League of Nations had deeply divided America. Further, the Progressive Era had

caused numerous wrenching changes in American life. The economy, too, was in

a difficult state of adjustment. Returning soldiers faced unemployment or took

their old jobs away from women and minorities. Also, the cost of living had dou-

bled. Farmers and factory workers suffered as wartime orders diminished.

Many Americans responded to the stressful conditions by becoming fearful of

outsiders. A wave of nativism, or prejudice against foreign-born people, swept

the nation. So, too, did a belief in isolationism, a policy of pulling away from

involvement in world affairs.

▼

Irving Fajans

organized

department store

workers in their

efforts to gain

better pay and

working

conditions during

the 1920s.

618 C

HAPTER 20

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:00 AM Page 618

Page 1 of 7

Fear of Communism

One perceived threat to American life was the spread of

communism, an economic and political system based on

a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship. In order

to equalize wealth and power, Communists would put an

end to private property, substituting government owner-

ship of factories, railroads, and other businesses.

THE RED SCARE

The panic in the United States began in

1919, after revolutionaries in Russia overthrew the czarist

regime. Vladimir I. Lenin and his followers, or Bolsheviks

(“the majority”), established a new Communist state.

Waving their symbolic red flag, Communists, or “Reds,”

cried out for a worldwide revolution that would abolish

capitalism everywhere.

A Communist Party formed in the United States.

Seventy-thousand radicals joined, including some from the

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). When several

dozen bombs were mailed to government and business

leaders, the public grew fearful that the Communists were

taking over. U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer took

action to combat this “Red Scare.”

A PERSONAL

VOICE A. MITCHELL PALMER

“ The blaze of revolution was sweeping over every

American institution of law and order . . . . eating its way

into the homes of the American workman, its sharp

tongues of revolutionary heat . . . licking the altars of the

churches, leaping into the belfry of the school bell, crawl-

ing into the sacred corners of American homes, . . . burning

up the foundations of society.

”

—“The Case Against the Reds”

THE PALMER RAIDS

In August 1919, Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his

special assistant. Palmer, Hoover, and their agents hunted down suspected

Communists, socialists, and anarchists—people who opposed any form of gov-

ernment. They trampled people’s civil rights, invading private homes and offices

and jailing suspects without allowing them legal counsel. Hundreds of foreign-

born radicals were deported without trials.

But Palmer’s raids failed to turn up evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy—

or even explosives. Many thought Palmer was just looking for a campaign issue

to gain support for his presidential aspirations. Soon, the public decided that

Palmer didn’t know what he was talking about.

SACCO AND VANZETTI

Although short-lived, the Red Scare fed people’s suspi-

cions of foreigners and immigrants. This nativist attitude led to ruined reputa-

tions and wrecked lives. The two most famous victims of this attitude were Nicola

Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a shoemaker and a fish peddler. Both were Italian

immigrants and anarchists; both had evaded the draft during World War I.

In May 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and charged with the rob-

bery and murder of a factory paymaster and his guard in South Braintree,

Massachusetts. Witnesses had said the criminals appeared to be Italians. The

accused asserted their innocence and provided alibis; the evidence against them

was circumstantial; and the presiding judge made prejudicial remarks.

Nevertheless, the jury still found them guilty and sentenced them to death.

Politics of the Roaring Twenties 619

ROOTS OF COMMUNISM

The first Communist government

in Russia was based on the teach-

ings of Karl Marx and Friedrich

Engels. In 1848, these two had

published The Communist

Manifesto, which outlined a theo-

ry of class struggle. It said that a

class that had economic power

also had social and political

power.

It also said that two classes,

the “haves” and the “have-nots,”

have struggled for control

throughout history. During the

Industrial Revolution,

Communists believed, the strug-

gle was between the capitalists,

who owned capital—land, money,

and machinery— and workers,

who owned only their labor. Marx

and Engels urged workers to

seize political power and the

means of production. Ultimately,

they believed, laborers would

overthrow capitalism in all indus-

trialized nations.

A. Answer He

believed that a

Communist rev-

olution was

imminent in the

United States,

and he needed

an issue on

which to cam-

paign for the

1920 Democratic

presidential

nomination.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Motives

Why did

Attorney General

A. Mitchell Palmer

launch a series of

raids against

suspected

Communists?

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:00 AM Page 619

Page 2 of 7

Protests rang out in the United States, Europe, and Latin

America. Many people thought Sacco and Vanzetti were mis-

treated because of their radical beliefs; others asserted it was

because they were immigrants. The poet Edna St. Vincent

Millay donated proceeds from her poem “Justice Denied in

Massachusetts” to their defense. She personally appealed to

Governor Fuller of Massachusetts for their lives. However,

after reviewing the case and interviewing Vanzetti, the gov-

ernor decided to let the executions go forward. The two men

died in the electric chair on August 23, 1927. Before he was

executed, Vanzetti made a statement.

A PERSONAL VOICE BARTOLOMEO VANZETTI

“ In all my life I have never stole, never killed, never spilled blood. . . . We were

tried during a time . . . when there was hysteria of resentment and hate against

the people of our principles, against the foreigner. . . . I am suffering because I

am a radical and indeed I am a radical; I have suffered because I was an Italian

and indeed I am an Italian. . . . If you could execute me two times, and if I could

be reborn two other times, I would live again to do what I have done already.

”

—quoted in The National Experience

In 1961, new ballistics tests showed that the pistol found on Sacco was in fact

the one used to murder the guard. However, there was no proof that Sacco had

actually pulled the trigger.

Limiting Immigration

During the wave of nativist sentiment, “Keep America for Americans” became the

prevailing attitude. Anti-immigrant attitudes had been growing in the United

States ever since the 1880s, when new immigrants began arriving from southern

and eastern Europe. Many of these immigrants were willing to work for low wages

in industries such as coal mining, steel production, and textiles. But after World

War I, the need for unskilled labor in the United States decreased. Nativists

believed that because the United States now had fewer unskilled jobs available,

fewer immigrants should be let into the country. Nativist feelings were fueled by

620 C

HAPTER 20

B. Answer

Because he

was a political

radical and a

foreigner

History Through

Background

On August 23,

1977, exactly 50

years after the

executions,

Massachusetts

governor Michael

Dukakis declared

that Sacco and

Vanzetti had not

been given a fair

trial.

SACCO AND VANZETTI

(1932)

The painting by Ben Shahn

shows (right to left) Nicola Sacco,

Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a miniature

Governor Fuller, and a group of

Sacco and Vanzetti supporters.

Why do you think Shahn depicts

Sacco and Vanzetti as so much

larger than Governor Fuller?

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Events

According to

Vanzetti, what

were the reasons

for his imprison-

ment?

Image not available

for use on CD-ROM.

Please refer to the

image in the textbook.

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:00 AM Page 620

Page 3 of 7

the fact that some of the people involved in postwar labor disputes were immi-

grant anarchists and socialists, who many Americans believed were actually Com-

munists. Racist ideas like those expressed by Madison Grant, an anthropologist at

the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, fed people’s attitudes.

A PERSONAL VOICE MADISON GRANT

“ The result of unlimited immigration is showing plainly in the rapid decline in the

birth rate of native Americans . . . [who] will not bring children into the world to

compete in the labor market with the Slovak, the Italian, the Syrian and the Jew.

The native American is too proud to mix socially with them.

”

—quoted in United States History: Ideas in Conflict

THE KLAN RISES AGAIN

As a result

of the Red Scare and anti-immigrant

feelings, different groups of bigots

used anti-communism as an excuse to

harass any group unlike themselves.

One such group was the Ku Klux Klan

(KKK). The KKK was devoted to “100

percent Americanism.” By 1924, KKK

membership reached 4.5 million

“white male persons, native-born gen-

tile citizens.” The Klan also believed

in keeping blacks “in their place,”

destroying saloons, opposing unions,

and driving Roman Catholics, Jews,

and foreign-born people out of the

country. KKK members were paid to

recruit new members into their world

of secret rituals and racial violence.

Though the Klan dominated state pol-

itics in many states, by the end of the

decade its criminal activity led to a

decrease in power.

THE QUOTA SYSTEM

From 1919 to 1921, the number of immigrants had grown

almost 600 percent—from 141,000 to 805,000 people. Congress, in response to

nativist pressure, decided to limit immigration from certain countries, namely

those in southern and eastern Europe.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system. This system estab-

lished the maximum number of people who could enter the United States from

each foreign country. The goal of the quota system was to cut sharply European

immigration to the United States. As the charts on page 416 show, the system

achieved that goal.

As amended in 1924, the law limited immigration from each European

nation to 2 percent of the number of its nationals living in the United States in

1890. This provision discriminated against people from eastern and southern

Europe—mostly Roman Catholics and Jews—who had not started coming to the

United States in large numbers until after 1890. Later, the base year was shifted to

1920. However, the law also reduced the total number of persons to be admitted

in any one year to 150,000.

In addition, the law prohibited Japanese immigration, causing much ill will

between the two nations. Japan—which had faithfully kept the Gentlemen’s

Agreement to limit emigration to the United States, negotiated by Theodore

Roosevelt in 1907—expressed anger over the insult.

Politics of the Roaring Twenties 621

Vocabulary

bigot: a person

who is intolerant

of any creed, race,

religion, or political

belief that differs

from his own

▼

In 1925, nearly

60,000 Ku Klux

Klan members

marched along

Pennsylvania

Avenue in

Washington, D.C.

C. Possible

Answer To keep

America under

the control of

white, native-

born males; to

get rid of other

groups, includ-

ing Roman

Catholics, Jews,

and foreign-

born people,

and radicals; to

oppose union

organizers; to

help enforce

prohibition.

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing

Issues

What were the

main goals of the

Ku Klux Klan at

this time?

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Page 4 of 7

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

CANADA

EUROPE

UNITED STATES

MEXICO

622 CHAPTER 20

U.S. Patterns of Immigration, 1921–1929

SKILLBUILDER

Interpreting Graphs

Which geographical areas show the sharpest decline in immigration to the

U.S. between 1921 and 1929? What are the only areas to register an

increase in immigration to the U.S.?

How did the quota system affect where immigrants came from?

SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R28.

The map and graph below show the change in immigration

patterns resulting from the Emergency Quota Act, among

other factors. Hundreds of thousands of people were

affected. For example, while the number of immigrants

from Mexico rose from 30,758 in 1921 to 40,154 in

1929, the number of Italian immigrants dropped drastically

from 222,260 in 1921 to 18,008 in 1929.

Immigration to the United States, 1921 and 1929

Source: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957

Number of Immigrants

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

North America Europe

1921 1929 1921 1921 1921 1921 1921 1921 1921 1921 1921 192919291929192919291929192919291929

Canada

Mexico

Portugal, Spain, Greece

Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary,

Czechoslovakia

Italy

Poland

Germany

Great Britain

Ireland

Scandinavia

Ellis Island in Upper New York Bay was the port of entry for most

European immigrants.

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:01 AM Page 622

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Politics of the Roaring Twenties 623

The national origins quota system did not apply to

immigrants from the Western Hemisphere, however.

During the 1920s, about a million Canadians and almost

500,000 Mexicans crossed the nation’s borders.

A Time of Labor Unrest

Another severe postwar conflict formed between labor

and management. During the war, the government

wouldn’t allow workers to strike because nothing could

interfere with the war effort. The American Federation of

Labor (AFL) pledged to avoid strikes.

However, 1919 saw more than 3,000 strikes during

which some 4 million workers walked off the job.

Employers didn’t want to give raises, nor did they want

employees to join unions. Some employers, either out of

a sincere belief or because they saw a way to keep wages

down, attempted to show that union members were

planning a revolution. Employers labeled striking work-

ers as Communists. Newspapers screamed, “Plots to

Establish Communism.” Three strikes in particular grabbed public attention.

THE BOSTON POLICE STRIKE

The Boston police had not been given a raise

since the beginning of World War I. Among their many grievances was that they

had been denied the right to unionize. When representatives asked for a raise and

were fired, the remaining policemen decided to strike. Massachusetts governor

Calvin Coolidge called out the National Guard. He said, “There is no right to

strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” The strike

ended but members weren’t allowed to return to work; new policemen were hired

instead. People praised Coolidge for saving Boston, if not the nation, from com-

munism and anarchy. In the 1920 election he became Warren G. Harding’s vice-

presidential running mate.

THE STEEL MILL STRIKE

Workers in the steel mills wanted the right to

negotiate for shorter working hours and a living wage. They also wanted union

recognition and collective bargaining rights. In September 1919, the U.S. Steel

Corporation refused to meet with union representatives. In response, over

300,000 workers walked off their jobs. Steel companies hired strikebreakers—

employees who agreed to work during the strike—and used force. Striking work-

ers were beaten by police, federal troops, and state militias. Then the companies

instituted a propaganda campaign, linking the strikers to Communists. In

October 1919, negotiations between labor and management produced a deadlock.

President Woodrow Wilson made a written plea to the combative “negotiators.”

A PERSONAL VOICE WOODROW WILSON

“ At a time when the nations of the world are endeavoring to find a way of avoid-

ing international war, are we to confess that there is no method to be found for

carrying on industry except . . . the very method of war? . . . Are our industrial

leaders and our industrial workers to live together without faith in each other?

”

—quoted in Labor in Crisis

The steel strike ended in January 1920. In 1923, a report on the harsh work-

ing conditions in steel mills shocked the public. The steel companies agreed to an

eight-hour day, but the steelworkers remained without a union.

▼

Strikers included

working women

tailors who fought

for improved

working

conditions.

D. Answer

The number of

immigrants

increased

sharply, and

many

Americans did

not want people

from foreign

countries enter-

ing the nation,

since some of

them were anar-

chists and

socialists and

some were

believed to be

Communists.

E. Answer

Neither strike

was successful:

The police lost

their jobs, and

the steel work-

ers won nothing.

MAIN IDEA

Developing

Historical

Perspective

D Why did

Congress make

changes in

immigration laws

during the 1920s?

MAIN IDEA

Comparing

Compare the

results of the

Boston police

strike and the

steel strike.

Skillbuilder

Answers

1. Decline:

Southern and

central Europe;

Increase:

Mexico and

Germany.

2. Fewer immi-

grants came

from southern

and central

Europe, except

immigration

from Germany

increased.

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:01 AM Page 623

Page 6 of 7

624 C

HAPTER 20

THE COAL MINERS’ STRIKE

Unionism was more success-

ful in America’s coalfields. In 1919, the United Mine Workers

of America, organized since 1890, got a new leader—John L.

Lewis. In protest of low wages and long workdays, Lewis

called his union’s members out on strike on November 1,

1919. Attorney General Palmer obtained a court order send-

ing the miners back to work. Lewis then declared it over, but

he quietly gave the word for it to continue. In defiance of the

court order, the mines stayed closed another month. Then

President Wilson appointed an arbitrator, or judge, to put an

end to the dispute. The coal miners received a 27 percent

wage increase, and John L. Lewis became a national hero.

The miners, however, did not achieve a shorter workday and

a five-day workweek until the 1930s.

LABOR MOVEMENT LOSES APPEAL

In spite of limited

gains, the 1920s hurt the labor movement badly. Over the

decade, union membership dropped from more than 5 million

to around 3.5 million. Membership declined for several reasons:

• much of the work force consisted of immigrants will-

ing to work in poor conditions,

• since immigrants spoke a multitude of languages,

unions had difficulty organizing them,

• farmers who had migrated to cities to find factory jobs

were used to relying on themselves, and

• most unions excluded African Americans.

By 1929, about 82,000 African Americans—or less than

1 percent of their population—held union memberships. By

contrast, just over 3 percent of all whites were union mem-

bers. However, African Americans joined some unions like

the mine workers’, longshoremen’s, and railroad porters’

unions. In 1925, A. Philip Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car

Porters to help African Americans gain a fair wage.

While America’s attitude toward unions was changing, so, too, was its faith

in the presidency.

JOHN LLEWELLYN LEWIS

1880–1969

John L. Lewis was born in the lit-

tle mining town of Lucas, Iowa.

His family had traditionally been

concerned with labor rights and

benefits.

Lewis grew up with a fierce

determination to fight for what he

believed companies owed their

employees: decent working condi-

tions and a fair salary. As he said

years later,

“I have pleaded your case not in

the tones of a feeble mendicant

[beggar] asking alms but in the

thundering voice of the captain

of a mighty host, demanding

the rights to which free men

are entitled.”

•nativism

•isolationism

•communism

•anarchists

•Sacco and Vanzetti

•quota system

•John L. Lewis

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.

MAIN IDEA

2. TAKING NOTES

In a cause-and-effect chart like the

one shown, list examples of the

aftereffects of World War I.

What event do you think was the

most significant? Explain your choice.

CRITICAL THINKING

3. EVALUATING

Do you think Americans were

justified in their fear of radicals and

foreigners in the decade following

World War I? Explain your answer.

Think About:

• the goals of the leaders of the

Russian Revolution

• the challenges facing the United

States

4. ANALYZING ISSUES

In the various fights between

management and union members,

what did each side believe?

5. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

What do you think the Sacco and

Vanzetti case shows about America

in the 1920s?

Event Result

p0618-624aspe-0620s1 10/17/02 9:01 AM Page 624

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