Discrimination in US Society (AQA GCSE History)

Why was the USA called a ‘Melting Pot’ in the 1920s? - Summary

In the 1920s, the USA was often called a 'melting pot' because it was home to people from many different ethnic backgrounds. This happened for several reasons. The USA had an open-door policy towards immigration. The USA marketed itself as the ‘Land of the Free’. People could travel to the USA and achieve a better life, or the ‘American Dream.’ There were economic and political reasons which pushed people to leave their homelands and move to the USA. Industries like factories and mines needed workers so they recruited people from different countries.  As a result, cities became diverse, with neighbourhoods filled with people from many cultures and backgrounds. 

By 1920, more than 40 million immigrants lived in the USA. Before 1900, many immigrants came from the UK or Germany. From 1900-1914, more immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe and Mediterranean countries.

Immigration caused problems in the USA during the 1920s. Many Americans feared that immigrants would take their jobs and lower wages. This led to tension and discrimination against immigrant communities. Additionally, cultural differences and language barriers sometimes created conflicts between different groups. The influx of immigrants also placed pressure on social services and housing in cities. Some areas were overcrowded and had poor standards of living. 

By the mid-1920s, many white Americans had a negative opinion of other races within the USA. Discrimination ranged from unequal legal treatment to violence and death.

Reactions to Immigration

• Before 1900, many people living in the USA were immigrants

  • The US government encouraged immigration with an open-door policy

  • Immigrants established successful businesses and communities within the USA

  • Most people welcomed immigration

• After 1920, some groups of Americans opposed the government’s immigration policies, including:

  • Second-generation immigrants

  • Wealthier white Americans called WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants)

• These groups had several problems with immigration:

• Due to the growing opposition to immigration, the US government began to restrict immigration through the following laws:

  • 1917 Immigration Law 

    • All immigrants had to prove that they could read English

    • No immigrants from Asia could enter the USA

    • Every immigrant had to pay an immigration fee of $8

  • 1921 Emergency Quota Act 

    • The number of immigrants from the eastern hemisphere could not be more than 3% over the number of migrants from this region already living in the USA by 1910

    • The maximum number of immigrants entering the USA each year was set to 357,000

  • 1924 Reed-Johnson Act 

    • The maximum number of immigrants entering the USA in any year was reduced to 154,000

    • The quota from the eastern hemisphere reduced to 2% of those already in America in 1890

The Red Scare

• US hysteria around Communism began after Russia experienced a Communist uprising in 1917

  • The USA prided itself on the ‘American Dream.’ This meant that if someone worked hard, they had the right to freedom and opportunities 

    • The USSR believed wealth should be distributed

    • They removed property and private businesses from individual ownership

  • US citizens associated communism with a lack of freedom

    • Millions of people disappeared in the USSR if they spoke out against the government

    • The USA was known as the ‘Land of the Free’

• The Red Scare of the 1920s was the belief that immigration meant that Communists were everywhere in the USA

• Events before the 1920s contributed to the growing concern for Communism

  • In 1919, 400,000 US workers went on strike, including the Boston police force

  • The existence of the American Socialist Party and the American Communist Party

  • Leaflets were distributed which encouraged the overthrowing of the government

  • In June 1919, anarchists set off bombs went in seven US cities

    • One bomb almost killed Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer

• The events in 1919 can also be explained as isolated events

  • Many workers were striking due to working conditions and unemployment

    • They had no association with communism

  • Mitchell Palmer ordered the deportation of 10,000 people

    • Many of these people had no association with communism or the bombings

    • This event is called the Palmer Raids and shows the unjust treatment of immigrants in the USA

• US citizens react poorly to the threat of communism

  • The police and armed mobs attacked left-wing events

  • Many workers did not join and were not protected by trade unions out of fear of being labelled as a communist

The Sacco & Vanzetti Case

• Sacco and Vanzetti were immigrants from Italy

  • They did not serve in the First World War

  • They identified as anarchists

  • They spoke very little English

• In 1920, they were accused of committing armed robbery and murder

What did Sacco and Vanzetti’s trial show about the USA in the 1920s?

•  Many US citizens feared and distrusted immigrants and anyone with radical beliefs

  • Unfortunately, Sacco and Vanzetti were both immigrants and anarchists

  • This led the public to assume that the men were guilty

• Many immigrants did not receive fair legal treatment

  • Judge Webster Thayer was extremely biased against the men

    • After the trial, he called the men ‘dagos’ (an offensive term for Italians)

  • There was no chance that Sacco and Vanzetti would receive a fair trial

The Jim Crow Laws

• The US government did not treat African-Americans fairly

  • This was despite the US Constitution stating that all citizens should be treated equally

  • African-Americans did not have civil rights

    • African-Americans had to pay poll tax and pass a literacy test to vote

• African-Americans in the southern states suffered more discrimination

  • By 1920, most African-Americans lived in the southern states of the USA

  • Black Americans had to abide by the Jim Crow Laws

• The Jim Crow Laws:

  • Forced African-Americanss to live separately or segregate themselves from white Americans

  • Segregation included different:

    • Schools

    • Hospitals

    • Churches

    • Toilets

    • Theatres and cinemas

    • Restaurants and cafes

    • Parks, swimming pools and other public spaces

    • Seating on public transport

  • There was a policy of ‘Separate But Equal’

    • African-Americans had to have access to the same type of facilities e.g. a workplace had to provide a toilet for white and black Americans

    • However, the facilities did not have to be of the same standard. Many facilities for African-Americans were of poor quality
      

Treatment of African-Americans in the USA

• The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a racist group formed after the American Civil War in the South

  • Only WASPs could join

  • They believed in white supremacy

  • By 1925, they had 5 million members

  • They wore white sheets and hoods and marched with burning crosses

  • They spoke with each other in a secret language, which they called 'Klonversations'

  • They attacked, tortured and killed black Americans

    • In the 1920s, they also attacked Roman Catholics, Jews, new immigrants and communists

  • Some KKK members held key government positions

    • David Bibb Graves was the governor of Alabama and a KKK leader

• Other US citizens also attacked African-Americans

  • Mobs of white Americans lynched African-Americansthat they suspected of a crime

    • In 1919, there were 70 lynchings

    • The police often did not prosecute members of the lynch mob

• About 2 million of African-Americans moved north in search of a better life

• Even in northern states, without the Jim Crow laws, African-Americans faced discrimination

  • African-Americanss had low-paying jobs due to discrimination and as a result of recieving a poorer quality education. These jobs included:

    • Janitors

    • Bootblacks

    • Cooks

    • Baggage handlers

    • Waiters

    • Doormen

    • Dishwashers

    • Washroom attendants

  • When unemployment increased, African-Americans were often the first to be fired

  • Many African-Americans lived in poor-quality houses in ghettos

  • They were often the victims of race riots

    • In 1919 in Chicago, white Americans attacked African-American neighbourhoods after a drowning African-American man floated into a white-only swimming area

    • Around 23 African-Americans were killed