Did America become more intolerant during the 1920's.

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History essay                10/05/07

Did America become more intolerant during the 1920’s

America is the most powerful country in the world and prides itself in being a ‘melting pot’ of different cultures but has that always been true of America. I would like to argue that during the 1920’s America became less tolerant of anything

Un-American. I would like to mention immigration policy, the Ku Klux Klan, political hysteria and Religious intolerance.

        Before 1917 America had an ‘open door’ policy toward immigration but thousands of immigrants were pouring in from eastern European, Asian, and African countries which the WASPS (White Anglo Saxon Protestants), who had power at the time, didn’t want in America. After 1917 a literacy test was introduced so all immigrants had to be able to read and write in English to be allowed in to the country which discriminated against non English speaking countries and poorer countries where people couldn’t afford to learn English, and so the ‘open door’ began to close.

        In 1921 the amount of immigrants was still a major problem to the WASPS and the immigration quota act was introduced that only allowed three hundred and fifty seven thousand immigrants into the USA each year. It also stated the amount of people emigrating from a particular country should not exceed three percent of the number of people from that country already living in America in 1910. This system also discriminated against countries undesirable to the WASPS since they had the smallest population already living in America in 1910.

The ‘open door’ closed further in 1924 when the amount of immigrants allowed into America was reduced to two percent of the population in 1890 and in 1929 when the total number of immigrants from any country was reduced to one hundred and fifty thousand people from any country to be allowed into America per year. The purpose of these laws was to protect the interests of the WASPS already in America who held power at the time but feared losing it to opposing groups such as Jews, Catholics, Blacks, Communists and anarchists.

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        Another way America was becoming more intolerant during the 1920’s was through the Ku Klux Klan, an organisation founded by a Texan dentist named Hiram Wesley Evans and its main aim was to protect white supremacy and the interests of the WASPS. During the 1920’s when racial and political intolerance was at a peak membership rocketed to 5 million. The Klan was strongest in the southern states, which had previously been the slave states, and hatred for the blacks was heightened as whites and blacks were now competing for jobs, houses and land.

        The clan put its views across ...

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