Question

1. What specific changes were made to U.S. immigration law during the 1920s? Who was allowed in? Who was kept out?

2. What were 4 new consumer technologies, products or marketing innovations that altered the lifestyle of ordinary Americans in the 1920s?

Answer 1

The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act) of 1924, limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 189 national census. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.

In 1917, the U.S Congress enacted the first widely restrictive immigration law. The uncertainity generated over national security during World War 1 made it possible for Congress to pass this legislation,and it included several important provisions that paved the way for the 1924 Act. The 1917 Act implemented a literacy test that required immigrants over 16 years old to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language. It also arrival and allowed immigration officials to excercise more discretion in making decisions over whom to exclude. Finally,the Act excluded from entry anyone born in a geographically defined "Asiatic Barred Zone" except for Japanese and Filipinos. In 1907, the Japanese Government had voluntarily limited Japanese immigration to the United States in the Gentlemen's Agreement.The Philippines was a U.S colony,so its citizens were U.S nationals and could travel freely to the United States. China was not included in the Barred Zone,but the Chinese already denied immigration visas under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Immigration Quotas

The literacy test alone was not enough to prevent most potential immigrants from entering, so members of Congress sought a new way to restrict immigration in the 1920s. Immigration expert and Republican Senator from Vermont William P. Dillingham introduced a measure to create immigration quotas,which he set at three percent of the total population of the foreign-born of each nationality in the United States as recorded in the 1910 census. This put the total number of visas available each year to new immigrants at 350,000.It did not, however,establish quotas of any kind for residents of the Western Hemsiphere. President Wilson opposed the restrictive act,preferring a more liberal immigration policy,so he used the pocket veto to prevent its passage. In early 1921, the newly inaugurated to Pressident Warren Harding called Congress back to a special session to pass the law. In 1922, the act was renewed for another two years.

When the congressional debate over immigration began in 1924,the quota system was so-well established that no one questioned whether to maintain it, but rather discussed how to adjust it. Though there were advocates for raising quotas and allowing more people to enter,the champions of restriction triumped. they created a plan that lowered the existing quota from three to two percent of the foreign-born population. They also pushed back the year on which quota calculations were based from 1910 to 1890.

The 1924 Immigration Act also included a provision excluding from entry any alien who by virtue of race or nationality was eligible for citizenship.Existing nationality laws dating from 1790 and 1870 excluded people of Asian lineage from naturalising. As a result, the 1924 Act meant that even Asians not previously prevented from immigrating-the Japanese in particular-would no longer be admitted to the United States. Many in Japan were very offended by the new law, which was a violation of the Gentlemen's Agreement. The Japanese Government protested,but the law remained,resulting in an increase in existing tensions between the two nations. Despite the increased tensions,it appeared that the U.S Congress had decided that preserving the racial composition of the country was more important than promising good ties with Japan.

The restrictive principles of the Act could have resultes in strained relations with some European countries as well,but these potential problems did not appear for several reasons.The global depression of the 1930s,World War II, and stricter enforcement of U.S immigration policy served to curail European emigration. When these crises had passed, emergency provisions for the resettlement of displaced persons in 1948 and 1950 helped the United States avoid conflict over its new immigration laws.

In all of its parts, the most basic purpose of the 1924 Immigration Act was to preserve the ideal of U.S homogenity. Congress revised the Act in1952.

By the end of the 1920s, Americans were overwhelmed by the rise of a modern consumer culture. In response, many of the bitter culture tensions that had divided Americans had begun to subside. The growth of exciting new opportunities to buy car, appliances, and stylish clothing made the country's culture conflict seem less significant. The collapse of the new economy at the decade's end would generate economic debates as intense as the culture conflicts of the early mid 1920s.

Americans in the 1920s were the first to wear ready-made,exact size clothing. They were the first to play electric phonographs to use electric vaccum cleaners, to listen to commercial radio broadcasts and to drink fresh orange juice year round in countless ways, large and small. American life was transformed during the 1920s, atleast in urban areas. Cigarettes,cosmetics and synthetic fabrics such as rayon became staples of American life. Newspaper gossip columns,illuminated billboards and commercial airplane fights were novelties during the 1920s. The United States became a consumer soceity.

Car were the symbol of the new consumer soceity that emerged in the 1920s. In 1919,there were just 6.7 million cars on American roads. By 1929, there were more than 27 million cars-or nearly one car for every household in the United states in that year, one American out of every five owned a car, compared to one out of 37 English and one out of every 40 French car owners. car manufacturers and banks encouraged the public to buy the car of their dreams on credit. Thus the American love affair with car began.

The automobile also transformed the American landscape, quickly obliterating all traces of the horse and buggy past. During the 1920s, the country doubled its system of roads and highways.The nation spent over $2 billion annually building and maintaining roads. The automobile industry provided an enormous stimulus for the national economy. By 1929, the industry produced 12.7 percent of all manufacturing output and employed one of every 12 workers. Automobile inturn stimulated the growth of steel,glass,and rubber industries, along with the gasoline stations,motor lodges,campgrounds and hot dogs stands that dotted the nation's roadways.

Alongside the automobile, the telephone and electricity also became emblems of the consumer economy. Ready to wear clothing was another important innovation in Americas expanding consumer economy. during World War I, the federal government defined standard clothing sizes to help the nation's garment industry meet the demand for miltitary uniforms. Standard sizes mean that it was now possible to mass produce ready-to-wear clothing. Since there was no copyright on clothing designs until the 1950s, garment manufacturers could pirate European fashions and reproduce them using less expensive fabrics.

Even the public eating habits underwent far-reaching shifts. Americans began to consume fewer starches (like bread and potatoes) and to consume more fruits and sugar. But the most striking development was shift processed foods instead of preparing food from scratch at home (plucking chickens,roasting nuts,or grinding coffee beans) an increasing number of Americans purchased foods that were ready-to-cook. Important innovations in food processing occurred during World War I as manufacturers learned how to produce canned and frozen foods. Processed foods saved home makers enormous amount of time in peeling,grinding and cutting.

A fundemental shift took place in the American economy during the 1920s.The nation's families spent a declining proportion of their income on necessities(food, clothingand utilities) and an increasing shre on appliances,recreation, and a host of new consumer products. As a result,older industries, such as textiles,railroads,and steel,declined while newer industries.such as appliances, automobiles, aviation, chemicals, entertainment amd proceesed foods surged ahead rapidly.