Period 7:1890 - 1945

Chapter 32 - The Politics of Boom and Bust (1920-1932)

Learning Objectives – After reading this chapter you should be able to:

  1. …analyze the domestic political conservatism & economic prosperity of the 1920s.
  2. …explain the Republican administrations’ policies of isolationism, disarmament & high tariff protectionism.
  3. …compare the easy going corruption of the Harding administration with the straight-laced uprightness of his successor Coolidge.
  4. …describe the international economic tangle of loans, war debts & reparations; and indicate how the U.S dealt with it.
  5. …discuss how Hoover went from being a symbol of twenties business success to a symbol of depression failure.
  6. …explain how the stock-market crash set off the deep & prolonged Great Depression.
  7. …indicate how Hoover’s response to the depression was a combination of old-time individualism and the new view of federal responsibility for the economy.

Identify the Historical Significance of the following –

  1. Warren G. Harding
  2. Charles Evans Hughes
  3. Andrew Mellon
  4. Herbert Hoover
  5. Albert B. Fall
  6. Harry Daugherty
  7. Charles M. Forbes
  8. Calvin Coolidge
  9. John W. Davis
  10. Robert LaFollette
  11. Alfred E. Smith

Describe the Historical Significance of the following –

  1. “Ohio Gang”
  2. trade associations
  3. American Legion
  4. Washington Conference
  5. Kellogg-Briand Pact
  6. Fordney-McCumber Tariff
  7. Teapot Dome Scandal
  8. Capper-Volstead
  9. McNary-Haugen Bill
  10. Dawes Plan
  11. Agricultural Marketing Act
  12. Hawley-Smoot Tariff
  13. Black Tuesday
  14. Muscle Shoals Bill
  15. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
  16. Bonus Army
  17. Hoover-Stimson doctrine

See page 2 for Glossary

To build your social science vocabulary, familiarize yourself with the following terms.

  1. nationalization - ownership of the major means of production by the national or federal government
  1. dreadnought - a heavily armored battleship with large batteries of twelve-inch guns
  1. accomplice - an associate or partner of a criminal who shares some degree of guilt
  1. reparations - compensation by a defeated nation for damage done to civilians and their property during a war
  1. pump-priming - in economics, the spending or lending of a small amount of funds in order to stimulate a larger flow of economic activity