Transcript POLITICS OF THE ROARING 20`S

POLITICS OF THE
ROARING 20’S
Politics of the Roaring Twenties
The United States seeks postwar normality
and isolation. The standard of living soars
amid labor unrest, immigration quotas, and the
scandals of the Harding administration.
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Section 1
America Struggles with
Postwar Issues
A desire for normality after the war and a fear
of communism and “foreigners” lead to postwar
isolationism.
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SECTION 1: AMERICAN POSTWAR
ISSUES
I. Post War Trends
• The Effects of Peace on the Public
A. War leaves Americans exhausted;
debate over League divides them
B. An economic downturn meant many
faced unemployment
C. Economy: cost of living doubles; farm,
factory orders down
1. soldiers take jobs from women,
minorities
2. farmers, factory workers suffer
D. Nativism —prejudice against foreignborn people—sweeps nation
E. Many Americans adopted a belief in
Isolationism —pulling away from world
affairs—becomes popular
II. Red Scare: FEAR OF
COMMUNISM
A. One perceived threat
to American life was
the spread of
Communism
B. Communism is
1.economic, political
system, single-party
government
2. ruled by dictator
3. no private property
SOVIET UNION
COMMUNISM
C. 1919 Vladimir I. Lenin,
Bolsheviks, set up
Communist state in Russia
• He was a follower of the
Marxist doctrine of social
equality
D. U.S. Communist Party
forms; some Industrial
Workers of the World join
E. Bombs mailed to
government, businesses;
people fear Red conspiracy
F. Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer takes action
Lenin
The Palmer Raids
G. Palmer, J. Edgar Hoover hunt down
Communists, socialists, anarchists
H. Anarchists oppose any form of
government
I. Raids trample civil rights, fail to find
evidence of conspiracy
1. without possessing search or arrest
warrants; 500 were deported
ANARCHISTS
• People opposed to all forms of
government.
The Palmer Raids
• The Palmer Raids
were attempts by
the United States
Department of
Justice to arrest
and deport radical
leftists, especially
anarchists
• J. Edgar Hoover
helped create and
was the first
director of the
Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
SACCO & VANZETTI 1921
J. The Red Scare fed nativism
in America
K. 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti,
Italian immigrants, anarchists,
arrested
1. charged with robbery,
murder
• trial does not prove guilt
L. Jury finds them guilty;
widespread protests in U.S.,
abroad
1. Sacco, Vanzetti executed
1927
RED SCARE
III. Limiting Immigration
• Anti-Immigrant
Attitudes
• Nativists: fewer
unskilled jobs
available, fewer
immigrants needed
• Think immigrant
anarchists and
socialists are
Communist
THE KLAN RISES AGAIN
A. As the Red Scare and
anti-immigrant
attitudes reached a
peak the KKK was
more popular than
ever
• By 1924, the Klan had
4.5 million members
B. Klan controls many
states’ politics;
violence leads to less
power
CONGRESS LIMITS
IMMIGRATION
America changed its formally
permissive immigration policy
C. 1919–1921, number of immigrants
grows almost 600%
D. Quota system sets maximum number
can enter U.S. from each country
1. sharply reduces European immigration
E. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921
1. Set a limit on the numbers of immigrants
coming to the U.S.
F. 1924, European arrivals cut to 3% of
number of residents in 1890
• Discriminates against southern,
eastern Europeans
G Prohibits Japanese immigration; causes
ill will between U.S., Japan
H. Does not apply to Western
Hemisphere; many
Canadians, Mexicans
enter
EMERGENCY QUOTA
ACT (1921)
• Set a limit on the numbers of
immigrants coming to the U.S.
• 3% of the number of people in an
ethnic group
IV. A TIME OF LABOR UNREST
• Postwar Labor
Issues
A. Government
doesn’t allow
strikes in wartime;
1919 over 3,000
strikes
B. Employers against
raises, unions; label
strikers as
Communists
BOSTON POLICE
STRIKE
C. Boston police strike
over raises had not
received a raise in
years, right to
unionize
D. Calvin Coolidge ends
strike, replaces
strikers with new
policemen
The National Guard was
called
STEEL MILL STRIKE
E. 1919, steel workers strike;
companies use force, refused to
meet with union representatives,
later negotiate
• Scabs were hired while strikers
were beaten by police and
federal troops
F. Talks deadlock; Wilson appeals;
strike ends
1. 1923 report on conditions leads
to 8-hour day
COAL MINERS’ STRIKE
Lewis
G. 1919, John L. Lewis becomes head of United Mine Workers
of America
H. Leads strike November 1 ; defies court order to work; accepts
arbitration = arbitrator appointed by President Wilson
I. Miners receive 27% wage increase; Lewis becomes national
hero
1920s: TOUGH TIMES FOR
UNIONS
Labor Movement Loses
Appeal
J. In 1920s, union membership
drops from over 5 million to
3.5 million
• Why?
• African Americans were
excluded from
membership and
immigrants were willing to
work in poor conditions
K. Less than 1% of African
Americans, just over 3%
whites in unions
Ford Foundry workers in 1926;
only 1% of African American
workers were in Unions at the
time
SECTION 2: THE
HARDING PRESIDENCY
I. Harding Struggles for Peace
A. International Problems
B. President Warren G.
Harding voices public desire
for “normalcy”
C. Hosts Washington Naval
Conference; invites major
powers, not Russia
D. Sec. of State Charles Evans
Hughes proposes
disarmament, others agree
E. In 1928 Kellog-Briand Pact
nations renounce war as
national policy
Harding 1920-1924
Harding Struggles for Peace
High Tariffs and Reparations
F. Fordney-McCumber Tariff raises taxes on U.S.
imports to 60%
1. Britain, France cannot repay U.S.
G. Germany defaults; Dawes Plan —U.S. investors
lend reparations money
1. Britain, France repay; resentment on all sides
H. DAWES PLAN - Europe was in a financial mess after
World War I. Charles B. Dawes developed a plan to
loan money to Germany to help the make reparations
payments.
I. Did little to fix economic problems in Europe
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II. SCANDAL HITS
HARDING
Harding’s Cabinet
A. Harding favors limited government role in
business, social reform
B. Creates Bureau of the Budget to help run
government
C. Has capable men in cabinet — Hughes,
Herbert Hoover, Andrew Mellon
D. Also appoints Ohio gang —corrupt friends
who cause embarrassment
•Harding does not understand all issues
facing nation
E. Corrupt friends use their positions to
become wealthy through graft
1. caught illegally selling government
supplies to private companies
TEAPOT DOME
SCANDAL
F. The worst case of corruption was the
Teapot Dome Scandal
G. The government set aside oil-rich
public land in Teapot, WY
H. Teapot Dome scandal — naval oil
reserves used for personal gain
I. Secretary of Interior Albert Fall secretly
leased the land to two oil companies
• Fall received $400,000 from the oil
companies and a felony conviction
from the courts
J. Takes bribes; is first person convicted
of felony while in cabinet
K. August 1923, Harding dies suddenly
L. VP Calvin Coolidge assumes
presidency, restores faith in
government
TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL
III. DEMOCRATS AND PROGRESSIVES
A. During the elections of 1920 and
1924 Democrats were divided.
Warren G. Harding = Republican
wins 1920
B. After Progressivism and WWI,
Americans no longer wanted reform
and ties to Europe.
C. By the 1920s, the United States
was the dominant economic power
in the world.
SECTION 3: THE
BUSINESS OF AMERICA
I. Coolidge’s Economic Policy
A. Calvin Coolidge favors minimal
government interference in
business
• allow private enterprise to flourish
B. The new president, Calvin
Coolidge, fit the pro-business
spirit of the 1920s very well
•
President Calvin Coolidge
1924-1928
His famous quote: “The chief business of
the American people is business . . .the man
who builds a factory builds a temple – the
man who works there worships there”
AMERICAN BUSINESS
FLOURISHES
C. LAISSEZ-FAIRE means
“Hands-off.”
1. Belief that the economy
worked best when
government stayed out.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dominant economic belief of the
1920s.
Secretary of the Treasury for Harding,
Coolidge and Hoover.
Had three major goals.
Balance the federal budget.
Reduce government debt.
Cut taxes.
• Tariffs were high which
helped American
manufacturers
•
Wages were increasing
THE IMPACT OF THE
AUTO
The Ford Model T was the first car in
America. It came only in black and
sold for $290. Over 15 million were
sold by 1927.
D. The auto was the
backbone of the
American economy
from 1920 through
the 1970s
• It also profoundly
altered the American
landscape and
society
IMPACT OF THE
AUTO
E. Cars change life—paved roads,
gas stations, motels, shopping
centers
F. Give mobility to rural families,
women, young people
G. Workers live far from jobs, leads
to urban sprawl (spread of
cities)
H. Auto industry economic base
for some cities, boosts oil
industry
• By late 1920s, 1 car for every 5
Americans
Cities like Detroit, Flint, Akron grew
Rust Belt
Sun Belt
Wheat Belt
The Young Airplane
Industry
When commercial flights
began, all flight attendants
were female
I. Airplane industry starts
as mail service for U.S.
Post Office
J. Weather forecasting
begins; planes carry
radios, navigation tools
K. Lockheed Company
produces popular
transport plane of late
1920s
K. 1927, Pan American
Airways inaugurates
transatlantic flights
II. MASS
PRODUCTION
A. Large-scale manufacturing done by machines.
• Created more products and lowered prices.
B. ASSEMBLY LINE
• Each worker is given a specific task to complete.
• Made manufacturing more efficient.
1. Used first by Henry Ford in 1913.
2. FORD MODEL T =Ford’s first assembly-line
product.
• By the 1920s, Ford was selling them at $265.
• Made the automobile affordable for millions.
III. AMERICAN STANDARD
OF LIVING SOARS
A. The years 1920-1929
were prosperous ones
for the U.S.
Americans owned 40% of
the world’s wealth
B. The average annual
income rose 35% during
the 1920s ($522 to $705)
C. Discretionary income
increased
ELECTRICAL
CONVENIENCES
While gasoline powered much of the
economic boom of the 1920s, the use of
electricity also transformed the nation
D. Factories use electricity to run
machines
E. Development of alternating
current gives electricity to
suburbs
• By end of 1920s, more homes
begin to have electrical
appliances
F. Appliances make housework
easier, free women for other
activities
G. Appliances coincide with trend of
Electric refrigerators, stoves, irons, toasters,
women working outside home
vacuums, washing machines and sewing
machines were all new
MODERN ADVERTISING
EMERGES
H. Advertising agencies hire
psychologists to learn to
appeal to public
• “Say it with Flowers”
slogan actually doubled
sales between 1912-1924
• Make brand names familiar
nationwide; push luxuries
as necessities
• Businesspeople work with
service groups
• promote selves as benefactors of
society
IV. A SUPERFICIAL
PROSPERITY
Producing Great Quantities of Goods
A. Most Americans believe prosperity
will last forever
B. Productivity increasing, businesses
expanding
• equipment, utilities
• Chain stores develop; national
banks allowed to create branches
• Income gap between workers,
managers grows
C. Iron, railroad industries not
prosperous; farms suffer losses
D. Wages, production, GNP, and the
stock market all rose significantly
PROBLEMS ON THE HORIZON?
• Businesses expanded
recklessly
E. Farms nationwide suffered
losses due to overproduction
F. Too much was bought on
credit (installment plans)
including stocks
• Buying Goods on Credit
1. Installment plan —pay for
goods over extended period
with interest
• Banks provide money at low
interest rates
G. Some economists, business
owners think installment buying
excessive
• Think is sign of fundamental
weakness behind superficial
prosperity