Unit 2C
THE USA
1919-41
Racism and intolerance
Although America called itself the land of the free, racism went deep. Segregation in
the South gave racism legal backing, and the courts also backed intolerance towards
immigrants.
Canada
USA
Mexico
Racism in the northern states
•Many southern black Americans moved
north for jobs.
•Here there was no segregation but
plenty of discrimination.
•Black people usually had low-paid jobs
or were unemployed.
•Black people lived in poor areas, and
white and black people didn’t really
mix.
1
The Sacco and Vanzetti
case of intolerance
Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants.
Police thought them guilty of murder and
robbery in April 1920, because they were
carrying guns when arrested. Vanzetti
had committed armed robbery in the past
and eyewitnesses said they did it. But
more eyewitnesses said they had been
somewhere else. However, the judge made
it clear he wanted them found guilty. There
was popular protest about intolerance, but
Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927.
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Racism in the southern states
•The ‘Jim Crow’ laws enforced segregation
– separate schools and facilities.
•There were worse facilities, worse jobs
and worse pay for black people.
•Black people could vote by law, but were
often stopped by force or tricks.
•The Ku Klux Klan wanted a white-only
America. It beat up black people and even
murdered some.
•Lynchings were common in many states,
including Mississippi and Alabama.
2
Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’
In 1925, the state of Tennessee banned
the teaching of evolution or anything but
the Bible’s account of creation. Biology
teacher John Scopes deliberately
taught evolution to test the law.
Evolution theory includes the idea of
humans being descended from monkeys.
There was a massive media interest in
the trial, and the judge decided the
state law had been broken, so Scopes
was found guilty and fined $100.
Explain
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Scopes ‘Monkey Trial’ shows that some people’s religious views caused intolerance.
Map
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