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Conflict in 1920s. Ch 13, Sec 3. Prohibition. 18 th Amendment-prohibited manufacture, sale, transport of alcohol. Took effect Jan. 16, 1920. Volstead Act –Laid out crimes & punishments for violations. Goals-End drunkenness, family abuse; close saloons & other “dens of vice”.
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Conflict in 1920s Ch 13, Sec 3
Prohibition • 18th Amendment-prohibited manufacture, sale, transport of alcohol. • Took effect Jan. 16, 1920. • Volstead Act –Laid out crimes & punishments for violations. • Goals-End drunkenness, family abuse; close saloons & other “dens of vice”. • Widely ignored in cities, east coast. • Demand for alcohol led to bootlegging, organized crime.
Bootleggers-suppliers of illegal alcohol. • Ran stills, smuggled booze in from Canada, Caribbean. • People drank in speakeasies. • Illegal bars. • Had to have membership or know someone to get in. • Often hidden in/behind/under other businesses. • Prohibition led to increased alcohol consumption. • Pre-1920-Washington, D.C. had 300 saloons. • Prohibition-700 speakeasies, 4,000 bootleggers.
Organized crime grew to control alcohol & vice trades. • Local gangs ran bootlegging, then began to organize into large gangs. • Gangs competed for territory, led to gang wars. • Gangs branched out into gambling, prostitution, racketeering. • Force businesses to pay “protection” money. • Major cities became war zones over vice trade.
Biggest gang was in Chicago. • Run by Alphonse “Scarface” Capone. • Ran huge operation. • $60 million/year just in bootlegging. • Paid off cops, judges, city officials, basically ran Chicago. • FBI, headed by J. Edgar Hoover went after Capone. • Untouchables, led by Elliot Ness, worked to break up Capone’s business. • 1931-Capone busted on income-tax evasion. • Sent to Alcatraz, died there
Prohibition was a total failure, ended in 1933. • Alcohol consumption returned to pre-Prohibition levels.
Religion • Many felt that modern world was moving away from God and causing people to question if God existed. • Led to Fundamentalism movement. • Believed: • Traditional ideas about Jesus. • God inspired Bible, therefore no contradictions or errors. • Bible is literally true from cover to cover.
Surge of religious feeling led to revivals. • Travelling churches that preached and saved souls. • Billy Sunday-former pro baseball player. • Influential in passage of Prohibition. • Series of revivals heard by 100 million people. • Aimee Semple McPherson-very popular. • Used radio to broadcast revival meetings. • Built $1.5 million church in L.A.
Evolution was a hot-button issue. • All living things began as simpler life forms & changed. • Disagreed with biblical Creationism. • God created life as it is. • Some states banned teaching of evolution, including Tennessee. • TN science teacher John Scopes taught evolution, arrested. (did this by choice) • Led to Scopes Monkey Trial, or Scopes Trial.
Trial was big deal. • William Jennings Bryan, Populist, 3-time presidential candidate, fundamentalist, argued the prosecution. • Clarence Darrow, defender of Eugene Debs and labor movements, supporter of free speech, argued the defense. • Case lasted 10 days, first to be broadcast on radio. • Scopes guilty, fined $100.00, but big issue was religion in modern world. • Seen as setback for fundamentalism, victory for science & reason. • Bryan died few days after case.
Clarence Darrow William Jennings Bryan
Issues of Race • Increased racial tension in 1920s. • Summer 1919-”Red Summer”-due to many race riots. • Worst was in Chicago. • Rock throwing b/t black & white on Lake Michigan beach. • Black boy drifts into white only swimming area, hit with rock, drowned. • Led to riots, lasted several days, 23 black dead, 15 white dead, 537 people wounded. Thousands homeless. • National Guard brought in to stop riots.
1920s saw revival of Ku Klux Klan (KKK). • Ended during Reconstruction, revived in 1915 by Col. William Simmons. • By 1924-4 million members. • Vowed to defend white Protestant culture from any group that was un-American, not just black. • Attacked blacks, immigrants, Catholics, Jews, others with beatings, whippings, lynchings, cross-burnings, bombs. • Police, FBI began to go after KKK. • Began to decline by 1927.
Frustrated with race issues, Marcus Garvey began new movement. • Created Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). • Tried to build self-respect & economic power. • Built Negro Factories Corp,-black-owned businesses. • Started ship company-Black Star Line. • Created a “Back to Africa” movement to create a new black homeland. • Later jailed for fraud, deported back to Jamaica. • Garvey not popular with many black leaders, as he called for separation of races rather than integration.