During the 1920s the United States began to confine immigrants due to cultural and economical purposes. The immigrants faced several afflictions such as religious oppression. The largest proportion of these new immigrants was from Italy, Russia, and Ireland. There was a combined reaction to these immigrants. Even though they provided the industries with cheap labor, the Americans saw them as a threat towards their society. .
Italians tended to be Catholics while the Americans were Protestant. Americans were concerned that the Catholics would receive an increased voting power through the new immigrants. Italians and other immigrants were immediately accused and blamed for the country dilemmas. An example of such a dilemma is when the government launched a surprise attack on the immigrants housing due to the phobia of them being communists. In several cases these Italian immigrants were found guilty due to their beliefs instead of their actions.
During the 1920s, science advanced greatly. This helped the world in many ways, but still got some negative responses from the Fundamentalists. They were afraid that the teaching of Darwinian evolution was destroying faith in God and the Bible and contributing to the moral breakdown of the youth. They tried to pass laws to stop the teaching of evolution in public schools. William Jennings Bryan became the crusader Southerners needed. Bryan visited Atlanta in 1923 to deliver a fiery plea to the Georgia House of Representatives to restrict the teaching of Darwinism as a fact. Representative Hal Kimberly soon proclaimed his response: "Read the Bible. It teaches you how to act. Read the hymnbook. It contains the finest poetry ever written. Read the almanac. It shows you how to figure out what the weather will be. There isn't another book that is necessary for anyone to read." .
The evangelical attitude toward evolutionary theory in the schools in the 1920s was part of a broader redefinition of southern religious attitudes toward law and society.