Ku Klux Klan In The 1920s Essay - 839 Words

The 1920s are remembered as lively time, sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age, Roaring Twenties, or the decade of prosperity. The 1920s, had many social trends that developed as a result of fear, one of the most shameful, the Ku Klux Klan. This trend did not emerge just once but twice, it was rebranded and improved because its members fed off fear and racism. Due to the Red Scare (reaching its peak in the early 1920s), Americans became obsessed with one hundred percent â€Å"Americanism†. This led to â€Å"a decade of citizenship education programs in public schools, legally sanctioned visits to immigrants’ homes to investigate their household arrangements, and vigorous efforts by employers to instill appreciation for American values † (Give Me†¦show more content†¦2, 2017, Foner, pg. 788). Women gaining equality became the center of some ad campaigns. What had been considered illegal in 1904, was okay in 1924. For instance, one example was cigarettes. Edward Benays marketed cigarettes directly towards women, claiming them as their torches of freedom. Another important social trend was the Scopes Trial. In 1925, John Scopes, a Tennessee public school teacher, went against the Tennessee law â€Å"that prohibited the teaching of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution† (Give Me Liberty: An American History Vol. 2, 2017, Foner, pg. 801). The Scopes Trial brought out an internal battle that the country had been fighting about since World War I. To the school teachers aid came the American Civil Liberties Union, who thought the case would be a â€Å"lesson in the dangers of religious intolerance and the merger of church and state† (Give Me Liberty: An American History Vol. 2, 2017, Foner, pg. 801). Scopes lawyer, Clarence Darrow, put William J. Bryan on the stand as an expert witness on the Bible and even though Bryan proved to be oblivious to modern science, the jury still found Scopes guilty. Later, a Tennessee Supr eme Court â€Å"overturned the decision on a technicality. Shortly after the trial ended, Bryan died and the movement for anti-evolution laws disintegrated† (Give Me Liberty: An American History Vol. 2, 2017, Foner, pg. 802). As important as the social trends were in the 1920s, theShow MoreRelatedThe Rise and Fall of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920 Essay1558 Words   |  7 Pagesof the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s The second Ku Klux Klan lasted between 1915 to 1944 but predominantly rose and fell during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was a white supremacist group with millions of members who brutally tortured and killed anyone who was not a white American. The Ku Klux Klan were known for their white robes, cone hats, and covered faces that disguised their identities. The second Ku Klux Klan’s most important part of it’s history was it’s dramatic rise and fall. 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