Question

Explain how the 1920s was a decade of contradictions. What does the relationship between mass immigration and the rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan tell us about American attitudes? How might we reconcile the decade as the period of both the flapper and prohibition?

Answer 1

Immigration and KKK--immigration began again after WWI, however the US though the country of immigrants, began a policy of immigration restriction and the rise of nativist ideology with the KKK. The country wanted to return to isolation and focus on America only.

The 1920s also was a time of liberal flappers and the introduction of an Equal Rights Amendment. This was contradicted by prohibition of alcohol and a return to fundamentalist religious beliefs.