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Ku Klux Klan
The second wave of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) started in 1915, and after World War I, membership increased greatly. The KKK was for “100 percent Americanism,” and thus meant that it was against immigrants and Communists, socialists, Jews, and Roman Catholics. The KKK was also against African Americans. The KKK controlled state legislatures in many states including Colorado and Oregon, and even influenced presidential politics in 1924, helping pass the 1924 Immigration Act (A7). -
Decrease in Demand for Unskilled Labor
After World War One, demands for unskilled labor in the United States decreased because orders for war machines were no longer needed because America was no longer at war. -
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system in America, limiting immigration from foreign countries. The act restricted immigration and limited the maximum number of people that could enter from each country annually. The quota was set at 3 percent of the estimated population of foreign-born people from that country, with exceptions for government, tourists, temporary workers, and Western hemisphere immigrants (A5). -
Immigrant Restriction Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 amended the Emergency Quota Act. This limited immigration even further to 2 percent of the estimated population of foreign-born people using the 1890 census in the country annually. This limited Italian and Bulgarian immigration even further, and was a result of the Red-Scare. This also practically ended immigration from Asia, going against the “Gentlemen's Agreement” with Japan (A6). -
Ku Klux Klan Collapse
The KKK was a very hostile group, but even though members were occasionally arrested for major crimes, the juries were on their side and the convicted would generally not be found guilty. Evidence of corruption by Klan leaders and the conviction of David C. Stephenson, a Klan leader, for second-degree murder, membership in the KKK decreased dramatically and the KKK eventually collapsed (A8).
