Key Terms

📖 Key Terms

WASP

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant — the dominant group in American society since the colonial period. WASPs feared losing political, cultural, and economic power as America's population became more diverse.

Red Scare (1919-20)

A period of intense fear of communism in America following the Russian Revolution. Attorney General Palmer ordered mass arrests (the "Palmer Raids") of suspected radicals, mostly immigrants. Over 6,000 were arrested; 556 deported.

KKK (Ku Klux Klan)

A white supremacist organisation that revived in the 1920s. Unlike the original post-Civil War KKK (focused on Black Americans), the 1920s KKK also targeted Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. At its peak it had 4-6 million members and political influence in several states.

National Origins Act (1924)

A law that severely restricted immigration by setting quotas based on the 1890 census — deliberately favouring Northern European immigrants and virtually eliminating Southern and Eastern European immigration. It also banned all Asian immigration.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Two Italian immigrant anarchists convicted of murder in 1921 on flimsy evidence and executed in 1927 despite worldwide protests. Their case is seen as a symbol of how prejudice against immigrants and radicals corrupted American justice. They were officially exonerated in 1977.

Scopes Trial (1925)

A Tennessee teacher, John Scopes, was prosecuted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution — which was illegal under state law. The trial became a symbol of the clash between modern science and traditional religious values in 1920s America.