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Drugs, Sex, & Hysteria
This period in American history is most commonly referred to as the Progressive Era. As this period begins, cities have come to be seen as places of depravity and chaos. Unprepared for the rapid growth of urbanization, they are, in fact, in serious trouble. Massive immigration is well underway, and newcomers are less and less welcome. There is a hierarchy even amongst whites, and "Anglo-Saxon" enters the vernacular so that those with the desired background may distinguish themselves from everyone else. Industry is undergoing a period of great consolidation. Once dozens of small competing companies kept prices low. Now J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and others buy up the little guys. The monopolies they form — which include General Electric and Standard Oil — set prices and control entire markets. Such circumstances contribute to widespread anxiety that produces a tremendous push toward regulation and reform. Changes include the income tax, compulsory school laws, public health agencies, the settlement house movement, civil service examinations, juvenile and family courts, and the concept of probation. Prison labor industrializes. Morality crusaders target sex, and the first substantive narcotics law goes into effect. The reformers touch on nearly everything but race relations. In 1915, Birth of a Nation appears in theaters. The film's glorification of the Ku Klux Klan proves to be an effective recruitment tool. By 1924 their ranks number 4.5 million. Not alone in their efforts, fear and hatred of "other" grows more extreme, and its expression reaches new depths. |