Transcript Normalcy and Isolationism

12-17-07
Obj.- To describe Harding’s
efforts to return the U.S. to
normalcy after the
progressives.
Focus: Outline activity on sec. 2
Normalcy and Isolationism
Chapter 20
Section 2
Working for Peace
President Harding vows to return
the United States to
“simpler days”
before the Progressive era reforms.
Washington Naval Conference
Major powers agreed to a 10 – year
holiday on building warships
5 naval powers agreed to scrap a
portion of their existing
battleships, cruisers and aircraft
carriers
Signed the Kellogg – Briand Pact
Kellogg – Briand Pact
Renounced war as an instrument of
national policy
Downfalls
Couldn’t be enforced
No provision for use of military
force against a nation that
violated the agreement
High Tariffs and Reparations
Although the United States wanted
an isolationist foreign policy, they
were not going to back down on
war debts
 France
owed the United States
$10 billion and were having
trouble paying it back
 Two solutions
1. Export more goods to the U. S.
2. Collect owed reparations
Fordney – McCumber Tariff
Purposes:
Raise tax on imports
Protect American businesses
from foreign competition
Fordney – McCumber Tariff
Problems:
Britain and France were unable
to sell their goods to the U.S.
Could not raise enough money
to pay their debts
Fordney - McCumber Tariff
Solution
 France demanded that Germany pay
their war debts
 The US became involved and created
the Dawes Plan
 Germany would borrow $2.5 billion
from the U.S. to pay reparations
 Britain and France would then pay
the U. S.
Fordney – McCumber Tariff
 Great
Britain and France were
repaying the United States with
money they borrowed from . . . the
United States
 Solution caused bad feelings all
around
 The United States didn’t have to pay
ANY reparations
Limiting Immigration
– immigrant feelings had
been growing since the 1880s
 The need for unskilled laborers
decreased after World War I.
 Many American felt immigration
should be limited as well
 Anti
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921
Goal:
Plan:
Cut European immigration
to the United States
Establish a maximum
number of people to enter
the U.S. from a foreign
country
Emergency Quota
Problems:
Did not apply to immigrants
from the Western Hemisphere
(Canada & Mexico)
Excluded Japanese immigrants
Discriminated against people
from Eastern and Southern
Europe
Scandal Hits
Harding’s Administration
Harding’s Position
 Opposed government’s role in business
 Disapproved of most social reforms
 Set up Bureau of Budget to run the
government efficiently
 Urged U.S. Steel to abandon the 12 hour
day
 Made excellent appointments to his
cabinet
Harding’s Administration
 Charles
Evans Hughes (thumbs up)
 Secretary
of State
 Later became chief justice of the
Supreme Court
 Herbert
Hoover (thumbs up)
 Secretary
of Commerce
 Handled food distribution and refugee
problems during World War I
The Ohio Gang
 Harry
Daugherty (thumbs down)
Attorney General
 Lobbyist for tobacco and meat packing
companies

 Albert
B. Fall (thumbs downs)
Interior Secretary
 Close friend of oil executives

Scandals Plague Harding
 Harding
admitted that he didn’t
understand many of the things he
had to deal with as president
 Harding’s friends (the Ohio Gang)
use their position to become
wealthy
 Charles
R. Forbes
Head of the Veterans Bureau
 Allowed Veterans hospitals to overcharge the
government by $250 million

 Colonel
Thomas W. Miller
Head of the Office of Alien Property
 Sold chemical patents that were seized from
the Germans

The Teapot Dome Scandal
Oil rich land that was set aside by
conservationists in Teapot Dome,
Wyoming and Elk Hills, California
for use by the U.S.
Navy
The Scandal Unfolds
 Secretary
Fall
 Had the land transferred to the
Interior Department
 Leased the land to private oil
companies
 Said the deal benefited the
government, however he received
$325,000 in cash and bonds,
several ranches and prize livestock
 Although
there was a lot of scandal in
Harding’s administration, Harding was
never a part of any scandal
 After returning from a goodwill tour to
Alaska, President Harding died from a
heart attack or a burst blood vessel in
his brain
 Calvin Coolidge became President