The book The 1910s is a summary of events that occured during this decade. It goes into detail about specific events and brings many different points of view. This is due to the fact that the book itself is not written by one author, but a coalition of pieces pertaining to one subject. An example would be the first chapter, “Reform and Reaction”; this chapter tackles all the issues of reform and the reactions to said actions during the 1910s. It is broken down into 5 chapters, and each part within each chapter has a different author. This form of literature can make it more difficult to understand the writing because every author’s style and language is diverse and unique. The book itself was put together by John F. Wukovits. He is a military expert, historian, as well as teacher. He had been teaching for near 40 years before he began writing his own articles and books. Wukovits has written a plethora of books, often circling around World War II. He was born in …show more content…
This lead to many changes in America, especially now that the war was over. Not only was there a “red scare”, focused on the attacks done by Anarchist, the Klu Klux Klan made a revival. William J. Simmons was born in 1880. Not only were his dreams stolen from him at a young age by the death of his father, but he grew up hearing stories of Klan members, as huge men who would frighten any African who saw them. This could bring up the question of Nature vs. Nurture, whether or not the KKK would have made a revival if Simmons had been raised differently. In 1915, Simmons began the process of reviving the Klan. It wasn’t long before he had gained a following, with some of these members going on to be members of Congress, such as Robert Ramspect. It was distressing to see how in the lack of some image to hate, such as Germans, Americans would turn to their neighbors, their brothers, and find some reason to hate
The decade of the 1890’s in the United States was one of innovation and strife. The innovations involved many facets of life in America: industry, politics, economy, and society as a whole. The decade saw the emergence of multi-millionaires like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan, the rise in power of organized labor, the Progressive movement, and the expansion westward. It was also a time of unrest in America, pitting unions against corporations and reformers against corrupt politicians. All of this and more is what H.W. Brands tries to make sense of in his book, The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890's.
On November 9, 1920, Byron de la Beckwith, an only child, was born to Byron De La Beckwith, Sr. and Susie Yerger in Sacramento, California. One of Beckwith’s early childhood memories was of the Ku Klux Klan marching through town, fully clad in their long white robes. During the twenties, there were over two million known members of the Klan and at least two were U.S. Senators. Needless to say, this left quite an impression on the young boy. Beckwith’s father died in 1926, his debts exceeding the value of his estate, leaving Susie and Byron Jr., whom they had nicknamed “Delay”, destitute. Susie left California, along with her son, for her native Greenwood, Mississippi. Beckwith’s mother passed away a few short years later, leaving Beckwith rearing to one of her cousins.
When Jane and a few others decided to leave the plantation patrollers spotted them and killed many of them. Jane says, “Them and the soldiers from the Secesh Army were the ones who made up the Ku Klux Klans later on” (Gaines 21). Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan terrorized black people in the South during the Reconstructi...
During WWI, the United States military armed African-American soldiers and sent them to fight on the front lines. Returning home at the end of the war, many white veterans resented the arming of these African-American soldiers. Conversely, the returning African-American soldiers greatly resented being sent home and back to a life as a second class citizen. Perhaps as an effort to seek some kind of revenge on the black soldiers, or possibly as an attempt to quell the slowly growing equality of African-Americans, the Klu Klux Klan experienced a drastic upswing in membership during the 1920s. Originally founded in 1865 the Klu Klux Klan experienced an upswing in membership during the 1920s after the war. The Klan opened its first base in Oregon after its revival in central California. Historians note that one reason why many influential white Americans may have supported the Klan was because the Klan was in favor of prohibition, the ...
Hooded Americanism: The First Century of the Ku Klux Klan: 1865 to the Present by David Chalmers records the history of the Ku Klux Klan quite bluntly, all the way from its creation following the civil war, to the early 1960’s. The author starts the book quite strongly by discussing in detail many acts of violence and displays of hatred throughout the United States. He makes a point to show that the Klan rode robustly throughout all of the country, not just in the southern states. The first several chapters of the book focus on the Klan’s creation in 1865. He goes on to discuss the attitude of many Americans following the United State’s Civil War and how the war shaped a new nation. The bulk of the book is used to go through many of the states, and express the Klan’s political influence on both the local and state governments. The author starts with Texas and Oklahoma, and goes through the history of the Klan geographically, finishing with New Jersey and Washington. The author stresses that the KKK did not just commit acts of violence towards minorities, but also carried political power. He continues to discuss the impact of the Klan on Civil Rights movements in the 1960’s, and various other important political controversies between the 1920’s and 1970’s. Towards the middle of the book, David M. Chalmers focuses on portraying the feelings of governments and state legislatures, as well as normal citizens towards the Klan. To do this more effectively, the author uses excerpts and quotes from editorials and newspapers, along with several dozen pictures. The conclusion of the book was used mainly as an overview of all of the major incidents and deaths involving the Klan, and how their persistence has allowed them to still exist today despite a lack of resources and support.
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
The human mind interprets thought in a manner unique to their species. Each thought is expressed as an emotion, whether it be jubilation, sadness, anger or hate. The latter of these emotions is what I believe to be the strongest feeling that the human being can experience. In the face of hatred each individual reacts in their own peerless fashion. Some run in fear, while many speak out against such injustice; yet others react in a much different way—they embrace the hate. A prime example of a group of individuals that thrived in such an environment would be the second movement of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan, reestablished in 1915, was not originally the potent force that they came to be in the middle part of the 1920’s. During the first five years of existence, the Klan only increased by four thousand; but during the next eight years nearly ten million men and women joined the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan. What events transpired that caused such a dramatic increase in Klan membership in such a limited time span? Leading Klan theorists of the 1920’s often pondered this question and it is my intention to examine their findings. Three prominent causes seemed to be found in these findings: the post-war feelings of many Americans, the natural aversion to anything foreign, and the various propaganda spread about and by the Klan.
Even though politicians and historians view political cartoons differently, historians can now look back and truly capture the minds of the American people during the 1920s. This political cartoon, “The Modern Devil Fish,” illustrated by Victor Hugo, was published in a 1925 issue of the Chicago Tribune. This specific cartoon was used as propaganda to promote the Prohibition Party and encourage the support of voters by addressing the usual arguments against the legal status of alcohol. It also was used as propaganda to show the far reaching effects of its use on American society, as demonstrated by the labels on each of the octopus’ tentacles, ranging from ‘partnership with thieves’ to ‘traffic in girls’ to ‘political corruption.’ The fight for prohibition had been an ongoing one, but it had become clear to those rallying to ban liquor that the power of the vote would be the only way to ‘slay’ the saloon monstrosity – pictured here as the knife labeled ‘votes,’ driven into the head of the creature by a hand bearing the name of the Prohibition Party. By destroying the center of the problem, saloons, the knife wielding political party is destroying all of the problems connected to it. In reality, the issues on each tentacle were far from solely the fault of alcohol consumption, but the Party was making an effort to get votes and inspire support, thus exaggerating the point of the prohibition issue. The hope of Hugo as he illustrated this cartoon was clear – that people who understood it would recognize the evils of a nation which does not prohibit saloons and the like subjects itself to by not utilizing the ‘knife’ of Prohibition Party votes. The cartoonist with his drawings could say more in one cartoon than could be said by a spee...
The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force. Women being giving the responsibility outside the home gave them a more independent mindset, including the change of women's wardrobe, mainly in the shortening of their skirts.
Despite the civil rights amendments being passed over 40 years ago, racism continues to thrive in America. A good example of this is the southern-based organization called the Ku Klux Klan. Immediately following the Civil War, this group came about during the Reconstruction Era. Because of the ratification of the 13th amendment, ending slavery in the south, the KKK emerged with a cause that has yet to be put to rest…the rise of white power.
William Joseph Simmons was the leader of the new Klan. William, son of an ex Klan member, heard his dad speck of Klan stories and wanted to “Frighten the Dark people” himself.
In the time of 1880-1920s it was the period of time where there was large population of immigrants. People were immigrating to the United States at that time. And not to offend anyone or anything but I mean immigrants are new to everything, they are kind of lost so it’s easier to bribe them to doing things since they don’t know what are the pros and cons of this doing. KKK members were recruiting and I guess their targets were the immigrants since they didn’t know much. By 1925, the KKK had an outstanding number of 4-5 million members in their Klan and it’s due to the incoming immigrants that was coming to the United States. With new immigrants coming, it meant that there would be an expanded variety of races that were going to be hated. The KKK expanded their groups of who they hated such as Jews, Asians, Catholics, and African Americans. The more they hated meant that the more killings they would do or anything harmful to those races which would give them jobs to do and not have them to just sit around. With the KKK members moving all over the place, getting known for committed crimes such as murders they have done, they would be more likely known, which means that their fame would expand. More people would know what’s the KKK and maybe more people would most likely join due to similarity of
The 1920’s is a period that defines the United States. Conflict and opposing values were increasingly prevalent in the American society. The country was torn between new political practices, views on the role of women, religion, social and artistic trends, science and more traditional beliefs. These were ideologies that were surfacing during the 1920’s. Much tension between the 'new America' and the 'old America' was caused by a number of wars and outbreaks (Lyndon).
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
I have learned that the Ku Klux Klan was in response to the Southern bitterness towards blacks having won freedom from slavery in the aftermath of the civil war. Congress had passed the Reconstruction Acts which divided the South into 5 military districts, each under a general. New elections were to be held in each state with freed, black, male slaves being allowed to vote; this infuriated Southerners. The first branch of the Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, around 1865, the name Ku Klux comes from the Greek word, Kuklose, meaning circle. The Klan was a secret organization founded by 6 ex-confederate veterans, they considered the Klan to be a secret social club, not knowing what a violent organization it would turn into. They decided to make their Klan costumes as odd as possible. Klan members would be dressed in white sheets and their faces would be covered with white masks. These ex-soldiers would ride through the town, make jokes and act silly, this made former black slaves to believe that the ghosts of the Confederate dead had risen to reclaim their land. Many Southerners began to join the Klan and harm former black slaves. Soon these night rides turned into violent night rides and lynching’s. Once the Klan began to make a name for itself, General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the famous cavalry leader, became the leader of this invisible empire. The Klan was effective in keeping blacks away from the voting polls. The Klan was coming under increased attack by Congress and the Reconstruction state governments. The leaders of the Klan realized that the Klan’s end was near as an organized force.