The 1920's Jazz Age: Agricultural Depression and the KKK

Agricultural Depression

The agricultural Depression of the 1920's came on quick at the end of the Great War. Once the European countries supply increased, the United States supply decreased even more(Parrish, 83)

Farmers began to produce more goods because of all the technological advancements with machinery and pesticides, but consumers especially the people in the Middle-Class were not consuming very much grain. A considerable less amount of farmers were able to make a living during this depression, although the production of goods went up greatly, their price went down.

"Over the course of the twenties, both the net income and the real purchasing power of the farmers declined by 25 percent from the war years and the total value of farm products fell by one half."(Parrish, 83)

The people in production who were most effected by the agricultural depression were the wage laborers, tenants, and the sharecroppers.(Parrish, 83) These were the productionists who were already effected by dept, as well as by drought. On top of the already existing problems, insects such as the boll weevil, Mexican bean beetle, and European corn borer came about causing more devastation and decreased production even more.(Parrish, 84)

The government in the early 1920's urged farmers to produce more goods for the economy, but when things started going down-hill the government would not help the farmers with their dept. This pushed many groups to protest. The poorest farmers who participated in these protests did not survive economically.(Parrish, 85)

Racism and the Ku Klux Klan

"During the early 1920's, the Ku Klux Klan rose to a position of influence in many areas of the country. Appealing to Protestants' anti-Catholicism, emphasizing the need to enforce Prohibition, and capitalizing on the sour, ant foreign mood, the Klan became a lightning rod for many of the postwar fears and resentments."(Goldberg, 117)