Nativism In The 1920's

America during the 1920’s is often described as a time of prosperity and change that allowed the United States to peak. However, what most people overlook is this era was conflict filled in which society was blinded by luxurious lifestyles, entertainment, and social change preventing any solutions to deal with the various issues. It was the people’s ignorance and the problem filled cities that slowly pushed America into the great depression within a decade. After World War I finally came to an end on June 28, 1999 through the Treaty of Versailles, the United States became the most powerful nation in the world since it was the least affected by the war compared to Europe. In fact, American industry and economy boomed, as newly elected President

America experienced a sudden disregard of Victorian values following World War I, causing the generation of the 1920s to dramatically contrast the previous. This severe degree of change produced three major manifestations of the contradictions in the twenties. There were massive conflicts to the Jazz Age, technological advancements, and Black Migration. The contradictions of the 1920s reflect America’s conflicted state between advancement and convention, as the cultural and technological developments of the era coincide with the inability of individuals to stray from traditional norms and racist attitudes.

Canada’s Major Politics of the 1920’s Many events have occurred in the 1920s examples include Manitoba’s general election, Arthur Meighan becoming Prime Minister,Federal election, the 1922 Chanak affair,the 1923 halibut treaty, 1923 chinese exclusion act, 1926 Balfour Report,1926 Byng Crisis etc. The Manitoba’s general election,was not just an election it was one of the first to introduce different political parties, other than the liberals and Conservatives. Sir Arthur Meighan was a lawyer,businessman & the Prime Minister of Canada.

Americans explored different avenues regarding large portions of new traditions and social customs. Throughout those nineteen twenties. It might have been a period loaded with new dances, new sorts of attire. Interestingly enough however, the nineteen twenties proved to be a time of conservatism.

Americans considered immigrants as outcasts,

The Progressive Era from the 1890s to 1920s was a period that experienced extensive social activism and political reforms across the United States. This movement was spurred by the heightened level of corruption and injustice of large corporations and in government at that time. The movement primarily comprised of “liberals who wanted to reform and regulate their capitalist society and not destroy it. " There were several pushes to make the political process more open and transparent. One of which was the adaptation of the direct primary elections and to grant the Presidents more powers to regulate new laws.

Although their religions may not have been directly prejudiced against, the immigrants’ values were often challenged by American ones. Many of these cultural values differed in an economic manner, as most immigrants were not prepared for the American mindset of getting ahead in business. Other distinctions between these cultures applied to the treatment of immigrants. Many nativist Americans regarded the immigrants with disdain and were not interested in giving them equal rights, whereas those who shared similar cultures often banded together in order to cope with these injustices.

Change in inevitable. Change often takes time, but it will happen. The Progressives of the 1890s through the 1920 were people in the United States of America that pushed change and reform to make life better. They wanted to bring change and reform to the United States by creating acts and fixing problems through the government. Progressives were successful in bringing reform at the federal level with the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the Keating-Owen act of 1916.

Nativism is the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants. The nativists were set in their own ideas of whiteness. They favor those who are white and grant those a better set of privileges over others. If you were not white the nativists did not like you.

The 1920s was a time of development for America as a whole; the Progressive Era was in full swing due to the rapid American Industrialization and the change in traditional thought processes. Progressive reformers at this point in history were working towards familiarizing the nation with new beliefs, contrary to those of traditional ways of life. The newfound concept of progressivism was perpetuated due to the increase of media throughout the country - it was stated that, “The 1920s was a decade of change, when many Americans owned cars, radios, and telephones for the first time,” (“1920s: A Decade of Change”). The sources of media were expanding, thus the reach of media and news was able to spread nationwide - people from all over the country

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the United States gained many new citizens – immigrants from other countries in search of the American Dream. However, the immigrants’ path to the American Dream was hindered by the prejudice they faced from native-born Americans. This prejudice, also known as nativism, depended on stereotypes that portrayed the immigrants as subservient and justified discriminatory actions. The “otherness” of the immigrants was further confirmed with Social Darwinism, a twisted extension of survival of the fittest that asserted failure as natural selection. Since many immigrants had a difficult time finding success due to cultural barriers and the already prevalent nativism, Social Darwinism allowed prejudice towards

While settlement houses did emerge to facilitate the assimilation of immigrants into the American culture, it was not able to occur immediately, miraculously, or for all people. The Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish religions were not welcome amongst the mainly Protestant Americans, and some Americans went so far as to form the American Protective Association, which advocated against the election of Catholics into Congress. There was also the issue that the New Immigrants came from different governmental backgrounds where democracy was a foreign or even unheard of concept. Immigrants did not only bring their baggage across the ocean, but also ideas of socialism and anarchy that greatly worried the

In the early 19th century, millions of immigrants from Europe had traveled to the United States to escape difficulties faced in their native lands such as poverty and religious persecution. Italian, German, Irish, and many other eastern European immigrants sought the prosperous and wealthy lifestyle advertised in the land of opportunity, the United States. However, after settling down they often faced the difficulties they had fled from as well as sentiments of prejudice and mistrust from the American people. Most immigrants were discriminated against due to their religious beliefs as well as their language barriers which fostered the beliefs that they were intellectually inferior to Americans.

The 1920s carried much change in society. Some of these changes were more rights for women, jazz music, and prohibition. The people of the 1920s were disillusioned by society lacking in idealism and vision, sense of personal alienation, and Americans were obsessed with materialism and outmoded moral values (The Roaring Twenties).Cultural changes were strongly influenced by the destruction of World War I ending 1918. America needed to recover and with it youth rebelled against the norms of the older generations.

Immigration and The American Dream Immigrants from the mid 19th century and early 20th century consisted of mainly Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Immigrants motivations, experiences, and impacts shaped what an immigrant had to go through being a different person from another country. Although Americans dislike foreigners who came to the United States, immigrants had a role in political, economic, cultural, and social aspects of immigrants because of their motivations, experiences, and impacts in America. New Immigrants did not have it easy and went through obstacles natives, political figures, bosses and others had thrown at them.