Between Reconstruction and the First World War, newly-created, large-scale manufacturing and mass production industries materially transformed the United States and reconfigured the way Americans worked and lived. Industrial growth required huge supplies of labor, a need met in large part by the 20 million immigrants who, between 1870 and 1915, arrived in the United States in search of work and opportunity. This great wave of immigrants stimulated an anti-immigrant backlash. Nativism, a term used to denote anti-immigrant sentiment, became widespread during the early twentieth century. Many Americans blamed the problems caused by rapid modernization on the foreign-born. In addition, political, economic, and social changes led to the rise of the New Woman, the changing face of American's cities, and an increasing role for African Americans. The anxiety created by the threat to "traditional American values" peaked after World War One. In response, some Americans during the 1920's sought to restrict certain kinds of immigrants while others resurrected the Ku Klux Klan and similar "protective" organizations.

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