History THE USA, A NATION OF CONTRASTS 1910-29

• Immigration


  coming to live permanently in a foreign country
• Emigration


  the act of leaving one's own country to settle permanently in another
• Push Factor


  A reason for someone wanting to leave their own country
• Pull Factor


  A reason for someone wanting to go to another country
• Open Door Policy


  More lenient on emigration to America from other countries
• Ellis Island


  Immigration centre for people travelling to America from other countries
• How long would most peoples' process at Ellis Island last for?

  under 24 hours
• How much money would you need to travel into America after the process at Ellis Island?


  $25
• Melting pot


  many different people from different cultures and countries coming into America and 'melting together'.
• Literacy Test 1917


  Immigrants had to pass a series of reading and writing tests to prove they could speak English.
• Emergency Quota Act 1921


  A law which restricted the number of immigrants to 357,000 per year, and also set down a quota - only 3 per cent of the total population of any overseas group already in the USA in 1910 could come in after 1921.
• Americanization


  The influence of America on people, cultures and countries
• American Dream


  Where the highest aspirations and goals can be achieved for all people in America
• National Origins Act 1924


  This law reduced the maximum number of immigrants to 150,000 per year and cut the quota to 2 per cent, based on the population of the USA in 1890. The act was aimed at restricting southern and eastern Europeans immigrants as well as from Asia
• Red Scare


  Concern from US people because of the spread of communist ideas leading to a revolution in Russia in 1917. People were scared of the same happening in America.
• Palmer Raids


  Attacks organised by A Mitchell Palmer against left-wing organisations in 1920
• Sacco and Vanzetti


  Italian immigrants who were arrested and accused of armed robbery even though 107 witnesses said they had been seen elsewhere after the crime. The Judge (Webster Thayer) was prejudiced against Sacco and Vanzetti
• Religious Fundamentalists


  Mainly from the Bible belt and only believed what the bible said exactly. They rejected the idea of evolution and Charles Darwin
• Monkey Trial July 1925

  John Scopes was fined 100 dollars and convicted of breaking the law by opposing the Butler Act and teaching children at his school in Tennessee about the theory of evolution.
• Butler Act


  Made it illegal for any public school to teach any theory denying the story of creation.
• Who were the lawyers in the Monkey Trial?

  Fundamentalists - William Jennings Bryan Evolutionists - Clarence Darrow
• Great Migration


  When many African-Americans migrated from the South of the USA to the North to get away from the segregation and racism in the South.
• Jim Crow Laws


  Introduced in many southern states to enforce segregation
• Segregation


  The seperation of black and white people in public places or in society. For example, transport, toilets and restaurants were segregated.
• Harlem Renaissance


  Where African-Americans started to settle in Harlem, New York. The centre became a sophisticated place for Art and Literature and was meant to help social and economic problems.
• NAACP (National association for the advancement of coloured people)


  Formed by William Du Bois in 1905 and was meant to help black people get equal rights and promote equality whilst trying to eradicate prejudice.
• Ku Klux Klan


  A white underground terrorist group who believed black people were not equal. They wore white robes to show superiority and used methods such as violence, bullying, lynching and setting fire to buildings. Had a major political influence in the South.
• At the peak of the KKK, what was the membership?

  6 million
• 1924, who were granted U.S citizenship?

  Native Americans - However this did not change living conditions and some still experienced Racial Intolerance
• Who formed the Tuskegee Institute?

  Booker T. Washington
• Who formed the NAACP?

  William Du Bois
• Who formed the UNIA?


  Marcus Garvey
• Prohibition


  A national ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol in place from 1920 to 1933.
• What legislation enforced prohibition?

  Volstead Act 1919
• What effects did prohibition have on society?

  -Never difficult to get hold of alcohol because of the amount of smuggling - Had a negative effect on the brewing industry - Increase in organised crime - Speakeasies became popular so people could get alcohol - More people started to drink than before - Death from alcoholism had fallen by 80% by 1921
• St Valentines Day Massacre


  14th February 1929 - Al Capone kills another gang because of loss of business and money, caused huge issues. Climax of gang wars in Chicago between Bugs Moran and Al Capone.
• Groups that pressured the government into enforcing prohibition

  Anti - Saloon League, Women's Christian Temperance Union
• Moonshiners

  Distilled alcohol in their own homes
• Rum - Runners


  Smuggled alcohol into USA from Mexico and Canada
• Tea Pot Dome Scandal


  Where President Harding's 'Ohio Gang' sold oil fields run and owned by the government to companies. Many were found guilty after Harding's death and were imprisoned.