This definitions covers Key Terms within Intolerance and Prejudice for GCSE History. Revise Intolerance and Prejudice in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 12 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 9 of 14 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
Topic position
Section 9 of 14
Practice
10 questions
Recall
12 flashcards
📖 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.