FREE ESSAY ON THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION OF THE 1920S

THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION OF THE 1920S

The 1920's were times of cultural revolution. The times were changing in many different
ways. Whenever the times change, there is a clash between the old and the new
generations. The 1920's were no exception.
In Dayton, Tennessee, 1925, a high school biology teacher was arrested. He was arrested
because he taught the theory of evolution. The teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of
having violated the Butler Act. This was a Tennessee law that forbade the teaching of the
theory of evolution in public schools. The Tennessee legislature felt that teaching
evolution was wrong because it contradicted the creation theory of the Bible. The Scopes
trial received worldwide publicity. The press nicknamed it the Monkey Trial because,
people believed that the theory of evolution meant that humans were descended from
monkeys.
Clarence Darrow was the defense lawyer. Former U.S. secretary of state William Jennings
Bryan was the prosecutor. The defense argued that the Butler Act was unconstitutional.
They did not deny that Scopes had broken the law. He was convicted and fined $100. 
Darrow was quoted as saying, Scopes isn't on trial, civilization is on trial. The world
was changing and scientific advances made it harder to fully accept the Bible's
interpretation of creation. The older generation seemed set in their ways. It would seem
that a science was on trial defending itself against traditional beliefs.
The Red Scare was the result of wartime tensions. There was a growing fear of communism
during the 1920's. The Red Scare became like a witch-hunt. Everyone was suspicious of
each other. U. S. Attorney-General Palmer planned a round up of communists. January 2,
1920, he ordered department raids on meeting halls and homes in thirty cities nationwide
to gather all suspected communists. Twenty seven hundred people were arrested without
being charged with a specific crime. In all, more than 6,000 people were arrested. The
raids ended after May 5th. This was due to a government ruling that mere membership in
the party is not in itself a crime. Most people that were arrested were released, few of
the people arrested were actually communists. The Red Scare continued when on April 1,
five legitimately elected members of the New York State legislature were expelled for
being members of the Socialist Party.
World War I ended in 1920 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Russia and the
United States were allies during the war. After the war, both became the world's new
superpowers. As the tension between the two nations grew, so did the fear of Communism.
The Ku Klux Klan was a racist organization founded in 1915 by William Simmons. The KKK's
popularity peaked in the 1920's when its membership exceeded 4 million nationally, with
strong organizations in the Midwest as well as in the South. The Klan began to persecute
Roman Catholics, Jews, foreigners, Communists, and organized labor. Stressing white
Protestant domination, the Klan enjoyed a spurt of growth in 1928 as a reaction to the
Democrats' nomination for president of Alfred E. Smith, a Roman Catholic. 
The KKK was made up of many prejudice people that couldn't keep up with the changing
times. They were comfortable with the old racist ways. They could not deal with the new,
more liberal beliefs. 
Women of the 1920's were fighting in their own revolution. Women were fighting to break
down the sex-based restrictions that were set before them. The old standards that were
set were slowly being changed. Many women of the 1920's were going out and getting jobs.
Over 10.6 million women were working at the end of the decade.
Women like Margaret Sanger fought to educate women on the pros of using birth control.
She saw many poor women that were burdened with many children. If they were educated
about family planning, they could control the size of their families and keep the cost of
living down. In 1921 she founded the American Birth Control League. Many people with
traditional values were against birth control methods. They believed that it was against
Gods will. This would cause another of the conflicts that arouse due to a changing
society. 
With the Scopes Trial, Red Scare, the rise and fall of the KKK, and Women's Rights, we
see how the times were changing in the 1920's. Religion, politics, and ignorance were all
obstacles to the progress that was being made in the 1920's. Change always brings about
conflict between the old and the new.