1 Chapter 12 U.S. History Notes
Chapter 12 Notes
Politics of the Roaring Twenties
Section 1: America Struggles with Postwar Issues
Postwar Trends 1 – In 1919 workers cried out for fair pay and better working conditions… tension arose between labor and management and a rash of labor strikes broke out across the country. There were stressful conditions after the war… soldiers face unemployment, cost of living doubled, lack of work due to no wartime employment for farmers and factory workers.
Many responded to the stress by becoming fearful of outsiders… nativism or prejudice against foreign born people…and isolationism, a policy of pulling away from involvement in foreign affairs.
Fear of Communism 2- Threat to American life was communism… an economic and political system based on a single party government ruled by a dictatorship… they put an end to private property and substituted government ownership of factories, railroads and businesses.
The Red Scare: a panic in the U.S. began in 1919…after revolutionaries in Russia overthrew the czarist regime. Lenin and his followers or the Bolsheviks established a new communist government…. The RED’s cried out for a world revolution the would abolish capitalism everywhere. A Communist party formed in the U.S…. 70,000 people joined. When some bombs were mailed to government offices the government leaders grew fearful of the Communists taking over. Attorney General Mitchell A. Palmer… took action to combat the Red Scare.
Palmer Raids- Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover They hunted down suspect Communists…anarchists … people who opposed any form of government. They trampled civil rights, invaded homes...offices and jailed suspects. The raids failed to turn up any evidence of conspiracy.
Sacco and Vanzetti- a shoemaker an a peddler…were Italian immigrants and anarchists both evaded the draft during WWI… they were arrested and charged with robbery and murder of a factory paymaster in South Braintree Mass. Witnesses said the suspects were Italian…. They were arrested and accused… the evidence was circumstantial… the jury found them guilty and they were sentenced to death.
Limiting Immigration 3-
During the nativist sentiment…. The anti immigrant attitudes kept growing… even though new immigrants kept arriving. They were willing to work for low wages in industries such as coal mining, steel an textiles. After WWI the need for unskilled labor dropped. Nativists believed fewer immigrants should be let in the country. Nativists feeling were fueled by Americans believing that the Immigrants were communist and anarchist.
The Klan Rises Again- As a result of the Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings different groups of bigots used anti-communism as an excuse to harass any group unlike themselves.
KKK (Klu Klux Klan) was devoted to 100% Americanism by 1924 the KKK reached 4.5 million. It consisted of only white male person’s native born. They opposed blacks, unions, Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreign born people out of the country.
The Quota System-Congress decided to limit immigration from certain countries …. Especially those in southern and eastern Europe.
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921- this set up the quota system. The system established the maximum number of people who could enter the United States from each foreign country. The goal was to cut immigration from Europe.
As amended the law limited immigration from each European nation to 2% of the nationals living in the U.S. in 1890. The law also prohibited Japanese Immigration, causing ill will between the nations. The act did not apply to Western Hemisphere so Canadians and Mexican immigrants crossed the border.
A Time of Labor Unrest
Another conflict after the war was conflicts between labor and management. During the war governments did not allow strikes because it would have interfered with the war effort. The AFL pledged to avoid strikes. In 1919 the U.S. saw more than 3,000 strikes that affected 4 million workers. Employers did want to give raises and didn’t want workers to join the union.
· Boston police strike: Boston police had not been given a raise since the beginning of WWI… they had been denied the right to unionize. When representatives were asked for a raise they were fired. The remaining police decided to strike. MA Governor (Calvin Coolidge) called out the National Guard… the strike ended when members weren’t allowed to return to work. …. New policemen were hired instead. People praised the Governor.
· The Steel Mill Strike: Workers in steel mills wanted the right to negotiate for shorter working hours and living wage. They wanted union recognition an bargaining rights. In response, 300,000 workers walked off the job. Steel companies hired strike breakers…. And used force. Striking workers were beaten by the police… federal troops and the militia. The companies linked the strike to Communism.
· Coal Miners Strike: Unionism was more successful in the coal fields. John L. Lewis became the leader of the Unite Mine Workers. Unions went out on strike … Attorney General Palmer… obtained a court order sending the miners back to work. Lewis declared it over. In defiance the mines stayed closed for another month. Then President Wilson appointed an arbitrator… to put an end to the dispute. Coal miners ended up getting a 27% wage increase and a shortened work day.
Labor Movement Loses it Appeal:
The 1920’s hurt the labor movement… membership dropped from 5 million to 3.5 million
· Much of the work force consisted of immigrants willing to work in poor working conditions.
· Since immigrants spoke a multitude of languages unions had difficulty organizing.
· Farmers who migrated to cities to find factory jobs were used to rely on themselves
· Most unions excluded African Americans.
A. Philip Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters…. To help African Americans gain a fair wage.
Section 2 : The Harding Presidency
Warren G. Harding described as a good natured man … a silvered hair Ohio senator…. Described the return to “normalcy”. His words of peace and calm comforted the nation. His judgment turned out to be poor.
Harding struggles for Peace:
After WWI problems surfaced relating to arms control, war debts, and the reconstruction of war –torn countries. Harding invited several major powers to a war conference but Russia was left out because it was Communist. At the conference Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes… urged no warships be built for ten years. He suggested that many of the five major naval powers – United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy… scrap their battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The major powers agreed to disarm. Later they signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact… and renounced war as a national policy. It provided no means for enforcement so it didn’t work.
High Tariffs and Reparations:
Conflicts arose when Britain and France had to pay back the $10 million they had borrowed from America. They could do this in two ways:
· By selling goods to the United States
· Collecting reparations from Germany.
In 1922 America adopted the Fordney-McCumber Tariff which raised taxes on U.S. imports to 60% the highest level ever. The tax protected U.S. businessmen… especially in chemical metal industries from foreign competition but it made it possible for Britain and France to make enough goods in the U.S. to repay debts. These countries looked to Germany to repay the loans… it couldn’t do it. So to avoid another war American banker Charles G. Dawes was sent to negotiate the loans. Through what became known as the Dawes plan… American investors loaned Germany the money to pay back the loans…. Those countries then paid the United States. The United States arranged to be repaid with its own money.
Scandal Hits the Harding’s Administration:
Harding favored a limited role for government in business affairs and in social reforms.
Harding’s cabinet:
Harding appointed Charles Evan Hughes as Secretary of State. Hughes later went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The president made Herbert Hoover the secretary of commerce. Andrew Mellon became secretary of the treasury he set about reducing the taxes and the national debt. His cabinet also included the Ohio Gang… the poker playing cronies that ended up causing him a great deal of problems.
Scandal Plagues his Cabinet: Harding’s main problem was the he did not understand many of the issues. Harding’s administration began to unravel as his corrupt friends used their offices to become wealthy through graft.
Charles F. Forbes… the head of the Veterans Bureau… was caught illegally selling government and hospital supplies to private companies.
Colonel Thomas M. Miller… the head of the Office of Alien Property was caught taking a bribe.
The Teapot Dome Scandal:
The biggest example of corruption was the Teapot Dome Scandal… the government had set aside oil-rich lands at Teapot Dome Wyoming and Elk Hills California for the U.S. Navy… Secretary of the Interior… Albert B. Fall…. A close friend of various oil executives managed to get the oil reserves transferred from the Navy to the department of the interior. Then Fall leased the land to two private oil companies including Henry Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil Company at Teapot Dome. Fall claimed that the contracts were in the government’s best interest he later was found guilty of felony while holding the cabinet position.
Harding died of a stroke and heart attack… Harding never knew about the crimes. Vice-President Calvin Coolidge took over a member of the Republican Party. Then he ran for President and won.
Section 3: The Business of America
The Ford Model A became the backbone of American society until the 1970’s. It was one of the several factors of the business boom in the 1920’s.
American Industries Flourish:
Calvin Coolidge fit the pro-business spirit of the 1920’s. … Said the Chief Business of America is business… Both Coolidge and Herbert Hoover…. Favored government policies that would keep taxes down and business profits up and give businesses more available credit.
There goal was to keep government interference in business at a minimum and allow private enterprise to flourish. Coolidge continued to place high tariffs on foreign imports which helped manufactures.
The Impact of the Automobile:
The automobile literally changed the American landscape.
· Construction of paved roads… like Highway 66… from Chicago to California.
· Architectural changes houses now contained garages or carports and a driveway with a smaller lawn.
· Launched rapid construction of gasoline stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps, and shopping centers.
· The Holland tunnel was the first underwater tunnel designed for motorists… connecting New Jersey to New York City.
· The Woodbridge Cloverleaf was the first cloverleaf intersection… in New Jersey.
· It liberates the isolated rural families … now they could travel to the city to shop and go for entertainment. It allowed workers to live miles from jobs.
· It resulted in Urban Sprawl…Cities that spread in all directions.
The Young Airplane Industry:
The airplane began carrying mail service for the U.S. postal service. The airplane became a means of transportation during peaceful times. Henry Ford made a tri-motor plane in 1926… Transatlantic flight of Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart helped to promote cargo commercial airlines. The Lockheed Company produced a single-engine plane the Vega. Pan American Airways… inaugurated its first transatlantic flight.
America’s Standard of Living Soars:
America’s Standard of living soared.
Electrical conveniences:
Gasoline powered much of the economic boom… the use of electricity transformed the nation. American factories transformed the nation with the use of electricity. The development of an alternating electric current made it possible to distribute electric power efficiently. Now the power could be transmitted to the suburbs. Well to do families now used many electrical appliances. These appliances made the lives of the housewives easier and free them for community activities.
The Dawn of Modern Advertising:
With the new goods flooding the market place advertising agencies now longer just informed people about products and prices … Now they hired psychologists to study how to appeal to people’s desires. Brand names became familiar coast to coast.
A Superficial Prosperity:
Most Americans believed the posterity would go on forever… as productivity increased business expanded. There were numerous mergers. Chain stores sprouted… selling a variety of items. Congress passed a national law that allowed national banks to branch within cities of their main offices. But as the businesses grew… so did the income gap. The railroad industries weren’t very prosperous nor the farmers. In addition people were buying on credit… They would pay for things on an installment plan… so they could pay for goods over an extended time. Banks provided money at low interest. Some economists worried about the installment plans…