The Twenties: a decade of friction and conflict between the values of rural and urban America
It is accurate that the Twenties was a decade of friction and conflict between the values of urban and rural America. Traditional, rural Americans were conservative, and as a result feared change advocated by the new urban Americans who brought forth new attitudes and ideas. Both clashed on the lines of immigration, politics, religion, and women's rights.
In an analysis of the 1920s, William, E. Leuchtenburg wrote the Perils of Prosperity and in it stated that there were different two Americas at that time, rural and urban America. Rural America wanting to preserve their old US began to attack urban America based on radicals, religion, and prohibition of alcohol.
During World War 1, Americans were asked by the federal government to do two things: despise Germans and to not go on strike. After the war ended, two things consequently followed. First, American emotions still persisted and more people were included now: blacks, Catholics, foreigners, to name a few. Second, by not striking, workers felt that they fell behind in wages, therefore, a record number of strikes (3,600) occurred in one year. Third, with the success of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Americans began to fear Communism, known as the Red Scare, and associated it with not only foreigners, but with the new union strikes and with a few acts of violence which involved 3 separate letter bombs, where in one case 38 people were killed in Wall Street. All of the American accusations proved to be ludacris. Nevertheless, these were the main causes of the intolerance toward urban America during this decade.
There were many efforts to cleanse America of the Bolsheviks, or radicals. A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general, launched a nationwide crusade to purge the country of the communists. On January 1st, 1920 6,000 suspected radicals were captured during simultaneously conducted raids. These raids proved to be in vain as 90% of the suspects were innocent Americans, but nonetheless 600 were deported
In an analysis of the 1920s, William, E. Leuchtenburg wrote the Perils of Prosperity and in it stated that there were different two Americas at that time, rural and urban America. Rural America wanting to preserve their old US began to attack urban America based on radicals, religion, and prohibition of alcohol.
During World War 1, Americans were asked by the federal government to do two things: despise Germans and to not go on strike. After the war ended, two things consequently followed. First, American emotions still persisted and more people were included now: blacks, Catholics, foreigners, to name a few. Second, by not striking, workers felt that they fell behind in wages, therefore, a record number of strikes (3,600) occurred in one year. Third, with the success of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Americans began to fear Communism, known as the Red Scare, and associated it with not only foreigners, but with the new union strikes and with a few acts of violence which involved 3 separate letter bombs, where in one case 38 people were killed in Wall Street. All of the American accusations proved to be ludacris. Nevertheless, these were the main causes of the intolerance toward urban America during this decade.
There were many efforts to cleanse America of the Bolsheviks, or radicals. A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general, launched a nationwide crusade to purge the country of the communists. On January 1st, 1920 6,000 suspected radicals were captured during simultaneously conducted raids. These raids proved to be in vain as 90% of the suspects were innocent Americans, but nonetheless 600 were deported