STATION ONE: Scopes Monkey Trial By 1925 most people in the United States had accepted the theory of evolution or the idea that man evolved over the years to their present state. This belief, however, challenged the idea of man created by God or a higher image. This argument led to what became known by the press as the “Trial of the Century”. . The state of Tennessee had a large population of Christian’s who believed in the theory of divine right. These Christians are often referred to as fundamentalist, or people who believe in a more literal version of the bible. Due to this influence, Tennessee had passed the Butler Act that said it was unlawful for any teacher in the public school system to teach the theory of evolution. Not everyone was happy about the law. A 24 year old math and science schoolteacher named John Scopes from Dayton, Tennessee was arrested for teaching his students that humans and other creatures evolved into their present form. He taught that humans came from a common ancestor over billions of years of evolution. Scopes was arrested for violating the Butler Act. The trial was held in a local court in Dayton, Tennessee. Scopes case was helped by the American Civil Liberties Union who felt that the law was wrong. His defense attorney was a well known trial lawyer named Clarence Darrow. Against him as prosecutor was William Jennings Bryan, three time Democratic nominee for president and former Populist leader. Darrow faced an uphill battle that became an evolutionist vs. bible issue across the country. The case drew press from around the country. The atmosphere became almost carnival like as people watched the battle through the eyes of the press. Prosecuting attorney Bryan was called to the stand at one point and he was asked questions involving the literal interpretation of the bible. These discussions included how true the bible was, including stories like Jonah being swallowed by the whale. Bryan and evolutionist looked silly and lost credibility during the trial. Eventually, however, the jury found Scopes guilty and Darrow lost the actual case. Most believed, however, that Darrow had a moral victory even though Scopes had to pay the $100 fine. A humiliated Bryan died within days of the verdict.

SCOPES TRIAL GRAPHICS

A. Cartoon: Scopes Trial

This cartoon describes the Scopes Trial in 1925.

1. What do you think the monkeys represent?

2. What opinion do you think the author’s opinion is of the trial?

B. Quotes: Scopes Trial

From July 10 to 25, 1925, a young science teacher and football coach named John Scopes stood on trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for reading from the following passage from page 194 of Hunter's Civic Biology (published in 1914) to his high school class:

The great English scientist, Charles Darwin, from this and other evidence, explained the theory of evolution. This is the belief that simple forms of life on the earth slowly and gradually gave rise to those more complex and that thus ultimately the most complex forms came into existence.

Scopes had broken the Butler Act, which stated:

An act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.

3. Why would Scopes be accused of breaking the Butler Act?

C. Cartoon: Scopes Trial 4. How does this cartoon reflect the verdict in the Scopes trial?

STATION TWO: IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION Immigration during industrialization In the decade before World War I, more than 10 million people flooded into the United States. Unlike the old immigrants, who had come from northern and western Europe in the early 1800’s, these new immigrants were primarily from eastern and southern Europe. They were not Anglo-Saxon and they were not Protestant. Immigration after World War I Immigrants to the United States often faced prejudice and difficulty when they came. The years after the First World War made this worse as many US citizens wanted to isolate themselves from foreign affairs. A tremendous fear also took over the country which became known as the Red Scare. This scare led Americans to fear people who were different, especially those foreigners suspected of communism or anarchy. Many Americans wanted to limit the number of immigrants. Some citizens believed that the newcomers did not have adequate job skills to be self-sufficient. Many worried that the immigrants would not be able to adapt to the American way of life. Labor unions feared that immigrant laborers would work for lower wages than their union workers. This would make it difficult for union members to find work at the higher wage they desired. Labor unions therefore headed the drive for more restrictive immigration laws. These laws would include quotas or limitations on the number of immigrants who could come to the US each year. In 1921 Congress passed the first Immigration Act to establish an effective quota system. This quota would limit the number of immigrants allowed into the country each year to three percent of the total of each nationality already in the country. For example, if there were already 15000 Italians, 3% additional would be allowed into the US. The maximum quota for all nationalities combined was to be 357,803 people per year. This proved to be a temporary measure. Continued US opposition to immigrants from eastern and southern Europe led to the passage of the National Origins Act of 1924. This was designed to prevent any major racial or ethnic changes in the population of the United States. By the terms of this new law, the quotas were set at 2 percent of each nationality. The maximum quota for all immigration was to be 164,667. Canadians and Latin Americans were not part of the quota system in this or future acts. This law also included specific restrictions on Immigrants from Japan. The Japanese were excluded from all future immigration. They were also told that they would not be allowed to become citizens of the United States. The law was a slap in the face to the Japanese. It marked the beginning of poor United States-Japanese relations. In 1929, a second National Origins Act was passed. The 1929 act established quotas of 2 percent of each nationality based on the census of 1920, but limited to a maximum quota of 153,714 of all nationalities. The years of unlimited immigration had ended long since.

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS GRAPHICS

D. Cartoon 5. What does the author of this cartoon mean by “the Gate”? 6. Who is the guy with the suitcase that says “undesirable”?

7. Does this author want to see immigration restriction or does he want unlimited immigration?

E. Cartoon 8. The strong guy is wearing a shirt that says “American Labor”. Why would Labor unions punch a foreigner?

9. Does this cartoon support or reject restricting immigration?

F. Cartoon 10. What does the statue of liberty represent?

11. Does this cartoon support or reject restricting immigration?

STATION THREE: SACCO AND VANZETTI On April 15, 1920, five armed men in a stolen car robbed the Slater and Morrill factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts. The thieves escaped with nearly $16,000 after killing the paymaster and one of the guards. Four months earlier, on December 24, 1919, a similar robbery had been attempted in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. After this robbery and again after the South Braintree holdup, the police questions two men, Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco. Both men were admitted anarchists who believed that the government of the United States should make dramatic changes away from democracy. In 1919-1920, the nations were in the grips of a great Red Scare. Sacco and Vanzetti seemed to represent everything that the American people had come to hate and fear. Both were poor, foreign born radicals; both were anti-war draft dodgers. In addition, both were classified as communists. Vanzetti, who had been in the United States about fifteen years, was believed to have masterminded the two robberies. A former strike leader who often handed out radical literature to people on the street, he was easily recognizable by his long, bushy mustache that looked like a large paintbrush. On May 5, 1920, after a telephone tip, police in Brockton, Massachusetts, arrested Sacco and Vanzetti. Both were carrying guns. Sacco was identified as one of the South Braintree robbers even though his factory timecard indicated he had been at work in Brockton when the robbery occurred. No one could identify Vanzetti with the crime. Nevertheless Vanzetti was charged with the Bridgewater robbery. After a short trial presided over by judge Webster Thayer, he was convicted on thin circumstantial evidence. Vanzetti was again put on trial in may of 1921, this time with Sacco. They were charged with the robbery and murders in South Braintree. Once again, Judge Thayer conducted the trial with questionable concern for justice. The gun Vanzetti had been carrying was identified as one of the weapons used in the murders. Thus the case seemed open and shut. Sacco and Vanzetti were found guilty and were sentenced to death. Six years of appeals, stays of execution, and reviews of the trial then followed. The Sacco and Vanzetti case grabbed headlines and became one of the great causes of the 1920’s. Sympathy demonstrations for the pair took place all over the world. However, in the end all efforts to save the two men failed, and they were electrocuted in Dedham, Massachusetts, on August 22, 1917. To this day, many people believe that the trial was unfair and that the two men were convicted because of their political beliefs.

SACCO AND VANZETTI GRAPHICS G. Cartoon

12. Who is the skull in the cartoon supposed to represent? 13. What does the cartoon say about the rights of Sacco and Vanzetti? 14. Do you think the cartoonist supported the death penalty for Sacco and Vanzetti?

H. Quotation: Sacco and Vanzetti Trial Closing arguments of the defense attorney in the Sacco and Vanzetti Case, 1921 (edited for this purpose)

“In the course of the arguments in (against) this case, attention will be directed, to the peculiar type of mind represented by the defendant, to the fact that the defendant has opinions and ideas foreign to the opinions and ideas of the vast majority of the American citizenship. I say to you, gentlemen, that if you want to kill and stamp out the form of thought that is represented by the defendants and by some of the defendants' friends,-I say to you if you want to stamp out and kill that viper in American life, then measure this evidence by every standard of integrity that you can possibly apply to it.

Render (decide) no verdict in this case except upon the evidence. There has been much of discussion in America during the last few years upon the problem of Americanization. There is no better way to Americanize the foreigner in our midst than to administer the law fairly, impartially, without fear or favor or prejudice, impartially -is between the native born and the foreign born.”

15. What does the attorney say the jury should use to make their verdict?

STATION FOUR: The Return of the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan was originally formed in the post Civil War Reconstruction time period as a group that supposedly supported the rights of white people. The violence against non-white people made the Klan a target of Congressional laws designed to end its reign of terror. Due to these timely government laws, the original KKK ‘s influence did not last. During the 1920’s, however, the Ku Klux Klan made a strong comeback. In theory, this group advocated the rights of white people but in practice they often committed acts of violence against those they felt endangered their livelihoods. The target of their violence was African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. In 1925, the Ku Klux Klan was at its peak. Klan members influenced – or were part of – state governments in Texas, Oregon, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Indiana. In August of that year, members turned out in force for a march down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. The basic goals of the new Klan were similar to the old. White, Protestant supremacy was encouraged. Terror was a basic tool for both Klans to get their own way. But this new Ku Klux Klan was different from the old one. Most importantly, the Klan was no longer isolated to southern whites. Klansmen were found all around the country. While the old Klan targeted African Americans, the new Klan focused on protecting the United States government from the “foreign element” many people worried about after World War I. Catholics and foreign-born Americans were a much more visible target. The new Klan fought to reestablish the isolationist policies and restriction of immigration to the United States. Even the reason for the decline of both groups differed. The old Klan lost influence due to the passage of government laws such as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that limited the activities of the Klan. The new Klan lost power due to charges of corruption and scandals that alienated potential supporters.

A booklet, “The Menace of Modern Immigration” by H.W. Evans, Imperial Wizard, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. It was an address delivered on the occasion of Klan Day at the state Fair of Texas at Dallas, October 24, 1923. It outlined the policies of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan regarding the restriction of immigration and its program in this respect

RETURN OF THE KU KLUX KLAN GRAPHICS

I. CARTOON KKK

16. How does this KKK cartoon describe their feelings on immigrants? J. PICTURE KKK 17. Why do you think the KKK relied on the white hoods and the cross burning as part of their plan?

K. QUOTATION KKK MEMBER

18. What groups does this KKK member target?

Quote by a KKK member Rev. Caleb Ridley, Atlanta, August 1921. “Some people seem to think that the Ku Klux Klan is a body of men who have banded together simply to oppose certain things they do not like-that they are anti-Jew, anti-Catholic, anti-Negro, anti-foreign, anti-everything. But real Klansmen have no fight to make with any of these. I can’t help being what I am racially. I am not a Jew nor a Negro nor a foreigner. I am an Anglo-Saxon white man, so ordained by the hand and the will of God. Now if somebody else is a Jew, I can’t help it anymore than he can. Or if he happens to be black, I can’t help that either. If he were born under some foreign flag, I couldn’t help it, and if he wants to go clear back to Italy for his religion and his politics, I cannot hinder him; but there is one thing I can do. I can object to his un-American propaganda being preached in my home or practiced in the solemn assembly of real Americans.”

STATION FIVE: PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING AND PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE During the early 1900’s, many Americans supported major changes in government under the three progressive presidents. Laws such as the 8-hour workday and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act were passed that helped the common working person gain a better life and helped control the power of big business. In addition to these domestic changes, the government grew in influence in foreign affairs as the US became involved many overseas conflicts including the Spanish American War and the acquisition of new territories. This attitude changed, however, in 1918 after the end of World War I when many Americans became disillusioned and no longer wanted this role. The 1920 landslide election of President Warren G. Harding and Vice President Calvin Coolidge represented a desire of many Americans to remove themselves from the pressures of world politics and the idealist goals of the Progressive reform movement. Many Americans wanted to return to the traditional foreign policy of isolationism and to a less hectic social and political life for our nation. Harding responded to this national mood when he said that “America’s present need..is normalcy.” THE HARDING ADMINISTRATION There were many problems facing Harding as president. The country was plagued by a downturn in the economy after the end of World War I. Unemployment was almost 12 percent in 1921 and production was down. Harding was an Ohio newspaper publisher, who had little experience or interest in politics. Personally, Harding was an honest man, but as president he appointed several dishonest politicians who took advantage of him. Harding’s administration was rocked by scandal and corruption. One of the more famous scandal’s that occurred while he was president was known as the Teapot Dome Scandal in which a close Harding advisor was accused of taking bribes when selling control of government oil fields. Under the stress of office, Harding died suddenly of a heart attack in 1923. Vice president Calvin Coolidge finished Harding’s term and also won the 1924 election. THE COOLIDGE ADMINISTRATION Coolidge was best known for his strong commitment to business interests. The economy had started to pick up by 1923 and unemployment was falling in most areas. Small farmers and industries such as coal mining, however, continued to struggle throughout the decade. The years between 1923 and 1929 were seen as a time of booming business. The production rates for the United States rose 40%. Income went up 30%. Big corporations and the wealthy especially benefited from the “Coolidge prosperity.” During this time, government passed new laws that reduced personal income tax rates for the rich and lowered corporate rates. High tariffs on imported goods were also passed to keep Americans buying American made products. Regulatory agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board and the Interstate Commerce Commission looked upon their role as a helper of big business, not a watchdog. The years of anti-trust organizations also seemed to drop off as more mergers were allowed. By 1929, about 1,300 corporations produced three-fourths of all American manufactured goods. Two hundred companies owned half the nation’s wealth.

L. Cartoon Calvin Coolidge

19. Coolidge was often accused of not supporting the farmers and the working man. Does this cartoon support this opinion?

M. Quote Calvin Coolidge

"I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can reestablish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty." Calvin Coolidge

20. According to the quote, what is Coolidge’s justification for not wanting to be involved in regulating big business?

21. What is this picture saying about the problems of the Harding administration?