After WWI we began the Roaring Twenties, America began rebuilding, repopulating, mass producing consumer goods and spending essentially her income as quickly as she earned it. In this time of change and culture change, resistance was prevalent. Fundamentalists, also known as Traditionalists, believed that they were the indigenous people of America and strove to keep their country pure and free of too many immigrants. They embodied nativism, supported religion over science, and opposed modernization. As natives, they focused on the welfare and advancement of primarily English-speaking Americans and heavily discriminated against the influx of immigrants. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Word had spread that America was an open door, full of jobs, opportunity, freedom, and Hollywood fame. Conflicts arose between newly arrived immigrants and native-born Americans. This ultimately led to the very public and well-known Sacco-Vanzetti affair, which resulted in the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Both men were Italians who faced immigration discrimination. A security guard at a local American factory was killed and Sacco and Vanzetti were immediately accused, sent to trial and killed in the electric chair, even though there was little or no evidence that they had committed the crime. This was just one example of how fundamentalists tried to regulate and control their "ideal population." The Scope trial was another high-profile case due to fundamentalist outrage over evolutionary education in schools, particularly the theories of Charles Darwin. Traditionalists believed in religion rather than evolution and wanted schools to teach accordingly. John Scope was a professor who taught the theories of Charles Darwin and modern science. The fundamentalists' solution to this problem was to "build their own schools and colleges where education could be carried out as they saw fit." (Foner, p. 627-628) Meanwhile, the Great Depression was approaching. Labor was not distributed properly, wages fell while owners' profits increased and families' savings accounts were depleted. Many farm owners began to be unable to repay their loans and banks were forced to close them. This has caused many families and workers to leave rural agricultural industries and head to big cities in search of employment or better employment. A new era of woman was growing up in bustling cities, known as the flapper girl. Women have taken on a new role; they were more independent, contributed to family income, showed more skin, smoked cigarettes, expressed their sexuality and gained the right to vote. For traditionalists, it was a shocking time. Hollywood films provided a vision of a more provocative and independent woman who left a lasting impression on American culture. Cities also grew rapidly with prohibition. Alcohol was illegal but still consumed secretly behind closed doors. America was changing, growing, and learning from the new cultures and religions that were migrating to the United States. However, in 1924, a major restriction was put in place to limit the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States eachyear. European immigrants were the most affected by this new regulation. Nevertheless, Mexico remained an open door because we needed cheap agricultural labor since the majority of American farmers had fled to the cities to find better jobs. In the suburbs, employment was now limited and consumer goods were not in as much demand. Soon after immigration was restricted, in 1926, sales stagnated, homes were foreclosed, businesses failed, and banks failed. Finally, in 1929, the stock market collapsed and ultimately plunged the country into the Great Depression. Businesses could not afford to pay their employees and many people found themselves unemployed. Townspeople were forced out of urban areas, their only hope of surviving over the next two years was to start farming again. The country needed repairs and a plan. Franklin Delano Roosevelt focused on economic recovery and protection against poverty. He and his advisors sold a presidential campaign based on the New Deal that was a “big government solution.” (Video Lecture: Hard Times and the New Deal, Part 2) Hope for leadership and vision ultimately won him the presidential election of 1933. The first Hundred Days of FDR's presidency were rich in action. He passed fifteen bills imbued with patriotism and promising a better future, such as the Emergency Banking Act, the National Industrial Recovery Act, the Public Works Administration, the Labor Adjustment Act agriculture, as well as the Federal Housing Administration, to name a few. Around 1935, Roosevelt revealed that there would be a second New Deal that would include the Social Security Act, the Works Progress Administration, and welfare. This won him a second term and created a nice diversion from international relations which were beginning to spill over into Germany and Japan. America didn't know it, but it was about to force its way into World War II without warning. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese planes, killing 2,000 Americans and decimating the Western military base in Hawaii. This sneak attack would leave Americans with a hatred for the Japanese people, culture and ideas in general. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Meanwhile, Germany declared war on the United States, forcing America to engage in the largest war in history. The U.S. government shifted its focus to the war, protecting its civilians from future bombings and creating a strong alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union. In 1944, the Allies joined forces and managed to defeat Germany in the infamous D-Day battle that ultimately liberated Paris and moved the German army east. America was booming; finance, manufacture and invent devices for wartime needs. The West Coast of the United States was awash with workers, federal spending, and military training. In 1945, during his fourth term as president, Franklin D. Roosevelt continued to advance in the war until he suffered a stroke and left the nation reeling. A new era of death was approaching. Harry S. Truman accepted the role of president after Roosevelt's death and was quickly introduced to the atomic bomb. America would eventually use the atomic bomb on Japan twice in three days, horribly killing over 200,000 people (some of them Americans). Facing the attack.