USA, 1865–1975 – only) Crisis of identity, 1920–1945 (A-level only):…

The idea

The 1920s witnessed profound social, regional, and ethnic divisions in the USA. The cultural clash between the traditional, religious countryside and the modern, secular city was epitomised by the Scopes Trial and Prohibition. Regional disparities deepened: the industrial North and booming West contrasted sharply with the impoverished, agrarian South. Ethnic tensions escalated, particularly affecting African-Americans who faced systemic segregation and violence, prompting the Great Migration to Northern cities. This climate of nativism and racial prejudice fuelled the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, which expanded its hatred beyond African-Americans to target Catholics, Jews, and immigrants, claiming millions of members nationwide by the mid-1920s.

What earns the marks

• Explain the rural-urban divide, focusing on cultural conflicts like Prohibition and religious fundamentalism versus modern urban lifestyles.
• Analyse regional economic and social differences, contrasting the industrialised North and expanding West with the economically stagnant, agricultural South.
• Evaluate the experiences of African-Americans, including the push and pull factors of the Great Migration and the reality of de facto segregation in the North.
• Assess the reasons for the rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan, noting its broadened nativist agenda targeting immigrants, Catholics, and Jews alongside African-Americans.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Assuming the KKK only operated in the South.

  Put it right: Note that the Second KKK was a national organisation with significant political influence in Northern and Western states like Indiana and Oregon.

• Claiming the Great Migration completely resolved African-American hardships.

  Put it right: Explain that while escaping Southern Jim Crow laws, migrants faced severe de facto segregation, race riots, and economic discrimination in Northern cities.

• Treating the rural-urban divide as purely economic.

  Put it right: Emphasise that the countryside versus city division was also deeply ideological, involving clashes over religion, morality, and immigration.

Exam tips

• Use specific examples like the 1925 Scopes Trial to illustrate the ideological clash between traditional rural values and modern urban ideas.
• When discussing regional divisions, link economic disparities to social attitudes, such as how Southern agricultural depression fuelled racial scapegoating.
• Connect the rise of the KKK to broader national themes of nativism and the Red Scare to demonstrate a synoptic understanding of 1920s American society.