AIM: Demonstrate knowledge on Isolationism in the 1920’s and its’ impact on America
A desire for normality after the war and a
fear of communism and “foreigners” lead
to postwar isolationism.
Return to “Normalcy”
The Effects of Peace on the Public
 War leaves Americans exhausted;
debate over League divides them
 Economy adjusting: cost of living
doubles; farm, factory orders down
 Soldiers
take jobs from women,
minorities
 Farmers, factory workers suffer
Return to “Normalcy”
What does this lead to?
 Nativism: prejudice against
foreign-born people—sweeps
nation
 Isolationism: pulling away from
world affairs—becomes popular
 Conservative Politics
Code Red : 1919-1920
Red Scare:
 Communism: economic, political system, singleparty government


ruled by dictator; no private property
1919 Lenin (Bolsheviks): Communist state in
Russia
 U.S. Communist Party forms: some Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) join
 Bombs mailed to government, businesses –
(JPM): people fear Red conspiracy
 Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer takes action
9/16/1920 – 23 Wall Street
Aftermath
23 Wall Street was constructed in
1913-1914, the Morgan name was so
well-known that it was considered
unnecessary to mark the building with
his name, and it continues to be
unmarked today… except for….
Code Red : 1919-1920
The Palmer Raids
 Palmer, J. Edgar Hoover hunt down
Communists, socialists, anarchists
 Anarchists oppose any form of
government
 Raids trample civil rights, fail to find
evidence of conspiracy
Code Red : 1919-1920
Sacco and Vanzetti - 1920
 Red Scare feeds fear of foreigners: ruins
reputations, wrecks lives
 Sacco and Vanzetti: Italian immigrants,
anarchists, arrested



charged with robbery, murder
trial does not prove guilt
Jury finds them guilty: widespread protests
in U.S., abroad

Sacco, Vanzetti executed 1927
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1921).
Sacco and Vanzetti
Targets of the Red Scare
 Italian born American Anarchists
 Accused of murder near Boston
 Little evidence against them / had a
reliable alibi
 Sentenced to death

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d
NKg54bvObQ
Quota Making – “Keep America for Americans”
Anti-Immigrant Attitudes
 Nativists: fewer unskilled jobs
available, fewer immigrants
needed
 Think immigrant anarchists and
socialists are Communist
Quota Making
Emergency Quota Act – 1921
 1919–1921, immigrant pop. grows almost
600%
 Quota system: sets max that can enter U.S.
from each country – Reduce Euro
Immigration
 Discriminates against southern, eastern
Europeans (Roman Catholics and Jews)
 Prohibits Japanese immigration: ill will
between U.S./ Japan
 Does not apply to Western Hemisphere:
many Canadians, Mexicans enter