THE INFLUENCE AND IMPACT OF CONSERVATISM
Social Conservatism:
By the end of World War I, industrialisation, large-scale immigration, African-American migration, urbanisation and mass consumerism had an enormous impact on society. The old rural society was being pushed aside to make way for a totally different era. Many European-Americans were disoriented by these changes and were convinced of the degeneration of society. This was the beginning of social conservatism.
The Rise of Protestant Fundamentalism:
This belief that society was declining morally was largely upheld by the Protestant churches. Protestants began to refer to themselves as fundamentalist, meaning that they saw themselves as being willing to fight to protect the religious fundamentals. Fundamentalists saw scientific theory as a threat and challenge to the Christian faith, in particular, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. By 1925 the proposal of legislation to ban the teaching of evolution had been produced in 15 states – three states actually passed this legislation.
The Scopes Monkey Trial 1925:
The ACLU was opposed to this ban proposed by the fundamentalists. They advertised for a teacher to volunteer to stand trial and test the law in court. John Scopes, local science teacher in Tennessee agreed to take the challenge.
The defence team, led by Clarence Darrow, aimed to show that a law banning the teaching of evolution was unconstitutional. Whereas the Prosecution team, led by fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan, wanted to prove that Scopes had broken the law.
The trial demonstrates how fundamentalists used the power of the state to promote their view of society. Darrow called expert scientific witnesses to vouch for the evolutionary theory and Bryan challenged the notion that human beings from monkeys.
Scopes was found guilty of breaking the law and teaching evolution. He was fined $100. Bryan had won the case but Darrow, through his cross-examination of religious fundamentalist beliefs, social conservatism and rejection of science, had made Bryan the laughing stock in the Northern states.
The outcome of the trial was a setback for fundamentalist.
Anticommunism (the Red Scare):
The Russian Revolution (Bolshevik) 1919 created social tensions and issues towards American nationalism. Many Americans were fearful of the radical foreigners and believed they would attempt to overthrow capitalism and democracy.
Strikes:
By 1919, after WWI, 4 million American soldiers were discharged from the army and war industries. The rise in unemployment in 1919 was a result of this and led to an economic downturn. Unionists throughout America attempted to negotiate better wages and working conditions and strikes were frequently had. During the summer of 1919, 4 million workers were on strike. The labour demands of southern and eastern European immigrants were seen as radical and the American police and enforcers reacted in a violent fashion.
Fears of Communism:
The strikes led business and political leaders to conclude that foreign ideals were encouraging the unionists and socialists to launch a communist revolution. In 1919 these fears were re-enforced when two communist parties were formed. Left-wing groups – socialists, pacifists and anarchists – were branded as foreign, un-American and undemocratic.
The General Intelligence Division:
Attorney-General A. Mitchell Palmer, after his house was bombed June 1919, ordered the arrest of leftist elements in the United States. He set up the General Intelligence Division in August 1919, appointing J. Edgar Hoover as its head. The mission was to “uncover Bolshevik conspiracies”. In raids in 1919 and 1920 up to 20,000 agitators were arrested, of those who were arrested, only 556 were deported.
The Department’s actions were a direct violation of civil liberties, but were enormously supported by the majority of American citizens.
The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti; 1921:
South Braintree, Massachusetts, a factory paymaster and his guard were murdered, April 1920. In May Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two anarchist Italians, were arrest on suspicion.
The trial began in 1921 presided over by Judge Thayer. Witnesses for and against had completely different sides to the story. The prosecutor – Katzmann also continuously questioned them about their political beliefs and actions. The Jury found them guilty of murder.
There was a worldwide reaction as communists, socialists, anarchists and trade unionists protested against the convictions. By 1926 the Supreme Court of Massachusetts had denied four separate appeals for a retrial.
By August 1927 Sacco and Vanzetti were executed by electric chair.
Many people saw Sacco and Vanzetti as victims of the growing conservatism of the US and believed that they were found guilty for their beliefs and not their actions.
Fear of the Melting Pot:
When America entered the war in 1917, open immigration ceased, leading to the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. By 1920, first generation Americans outnumbered traditional Americans in cities. This change was a direct threat to conservatives as the social structure was evidently endangered.
The introduction of the Emergency Quota Act introduced the assignment to each national group an annual entry quota of 3% of their nation’s numbers in America 1910.
The Johnson-Reed Act 1924 banned all Asians and reduced the group quota.
Growing conservatism was represented by the development between foreign and domestic policies.
Prohibition:
Growing conservatism is evident in America’s decision to pass the 18th Amendment and prohibit the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors within…the United States”. Prohibition was viewed by elements of society as a move to legalise morality, to others it became a business prospect or an infringement of civil rights.
Prohibition was equated with patriotism. By banning alcohol, Americans could save grain, food, and productive hours to help US service men participating in wars as well as the workers at home. Support for prohibition began long before the introduction of the 18th Amendment, by 1916 21 States were totally ‘dry’ and by 1920, 33 states were ‘dry’.
Women’s groups became prominent advocates of prohibition as they supported the family unit. The WCTU emerged in 1874 as s powerful influential movement. Protestant Churches founded the ASL in 1893 as Saloon was considered by fundamentalists to be dirty places frequented by corruption and crime gangs. Fundamentalists argued that alcohol was responsible for the declining social morals and standards in cities. Employers increasingly became supporters of prohibition hoping that it would bring an end to drunkenness in the workplace and possibly increase productivity.
January 1919 congress introduced the constitutional amendment prohibiting alcohol. The congress passed the Volstead Act to be enforced 16 January 1920. In 1920 the moral success of prohibitionists seemed complete: “drunks, immigrants and the evils of urbanisation and industrialisation had been defeated”. (Jason Briggs, Power Prosperity and Promise)
Anti-prohibition became a way of life. Speakeasies popped up everywhere as people began brewing and distilling their own alcohol and selling it in their homes. By 1927 there were over 100 000 speakeasies in New York City alone.
The introduction of the Volstead Act created such a force that the U.S government was unable to control it. Homicides and burglaries increased by 24% and assault and battery charges by 13%.
Prohibition opened the door for organised crime. Bootleggers smuggled huge amounts of alcohol from Canada, Mexico, France and the Bahamas. Canada supplied 66% of alcohol to America during the prohibition era and France increased its supply of champagne by 1000%. Bribery and corruption became the way to keep bootleggers and speakeasies out of reach from the law. For example; Al Capone (US most notorious gangster) offered owners of speakeasies, brothels and casinos, protection from police raids and rival gangs through bribery and corrupt police and politics. By 1929 Capone was worth US$30 000 000.
The 1930’s brought the economic downfall. President Herbert Hoover described the environment as a “depression”. Newspaper polls from 1927-1932 showed that 75-81% of population wanted a repeal to the 18th Amendment. Industrialists believed that prohibition was negatively affecting their profits, and speakeasies were closing their doors across the nation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) became president in 1932 and oversaw the end of the Prohibition Era and became the downfall of the conservative Americans.
Conservatism had an enormous impact on American society. Although in the long-term it appeared to fail conservatism had considerable influence on the politics and social morals of the times. Social conservatism, anti-communism and prohibition were the major events of the period between 1920 and 1941.