Download Politics of the Roaring Twenties

Politics of the Roaring
Twenties
Americans Struggle with Post War
Issues
 Post War Trends:
 Nativism- prejudice against foreign-born
people
 Isolationism- policy of pulling away from
involvement in world affairs
Fear of Communism
 Communism- economic and political
system based on a single-party
government ruled by a dictatorship
Post War Trends
 The Palmer
Raids: August
1919 Attorney
General Alexander
Palmer and they
hunted down
suspected
Communist,
socialists, and
anarchists (people
who opposed any
form of
government).
Post War Trends
 Sacco and Vanzetti: Arrested and charged with
robbery and murder of factory pay master. The only
witness said he saw two Italians. The judge made
prejudicial remarks and the jury found them guilty
and sentenced them to death although they had alibis
and the evidence was circumstantial.
Limiting Immigration

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“Keep America for
Americans”
The Klan Rises Again: 100%
Americans and liked no one
else. 1924 the Klan had 4.5
Million members. Klan
dominated state Politics but
decreased in power by 1930
The Quota System- B/t 19191921 the number of
immigrants had grown 600%.

The Emergency Quota Act
of 1921: System
established a maximum
number of people who
could enter the US (max
number 150,000 per year)
A Time of Labor Unrest
 Labor and Management Conflict
 During war AFL (American Federation of
Labor) pledged to avoid strikes
 1919 more than 3,000 strikes (4 million
workers walked off)
The Boston Police Strike
 The Boston Police strike: No
raise since WWI, Not allowed
to Unionize, Asked for a raise
and were fired! Calvin
Coolidge Mass governor
called the National Guard
and many people thanked
him for saving Boston.
Coolidge then became VP to
Warren G Harding in the
1920 election.
 The Police were not allowed
to return to their jobs
The Steel Mill Strike
 Workers wanted shorter working hours,
better wages, the right to unionize, and
collective bargaining rights.
 September 29th 1919- Steel Corporation
refused to meet with Union reps and
300,000 workers walked off the job.
 Hired strike breakers but ended in a
deadlock and Wilson made a written plea to
negotiators.
 Strike ended 1920 and steel companies
agreed to an 8 hour work day but workers
remained without a union.
The Coal Miners Strike
 John L Lewis- leader of
United Mine Workers (UMW)
proposed higher wages and
shorter work days and went
on strike
 Wilson appointed an judge
to put an end to the dispute
and the coal miners received
a 27% increase in wages but
not a shorter workday.
 John L Lewis became a
national hero!
Labor Movement Loses Appeal
 1920’s hurt the labor movement badly
 Union membership declined by 1.5 million
members
 Immigrants willing to work in harsh conditions
 Language barriers with in Unions and
organization
 Farmers used to relying on themselves when
moved to work in the factory in the city
 Most Unions excluded African Americans
Section 2: The Harding Presidency
 Warren G Harding was
described as a goodnatured man who
“looked like a president
ought to look”. 1920-23
 Harding struggles for
Peace:
 Problems surfaced
relating to arms
control, war debts, and
the reconstruction of
war torn countries
Washington Naval Conference
 Charles Evans Hughes: Sectary of State
urged that no more warships be built for 10
years.
 Russia was left out of conference because
of Communist Government
 The five major Naval Powers (Italy, United
States, France, Great Britain, and Japan)
scrap many of their largest warships
 Kellogg Briand pact- pact renouncing war
as a national policy
 15 countries signed but it was futile and
provided no means of enforcement
High Tariffs and Reparations
 France and Britain owed US 10 Billion
dollars
 1922- Fordney-McCumber Tariffraised taxes on imports to 60%
(highest ever)
 France turned to Germany to give
them money and when that failed
Charles Dawes sent out negotiation
loans to avoid world conflicts
Scandal Hits Harding’s
Administration
 Hardings OHIO GANG (Poker-playing
buddies) were in the cabinet
 Harding did not understand many of the
issues and his administration and friends
were corrupt.
 Charles R Forbes (head of Veterans
Bureau was caught illegally selling
government and hospital supplies to
private companies
 Colonel Thomas W Miller (head of Office
of Alien Property) was caught taking a
bribe
THE TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL
“teapot dome” refers to an oil rich field with a
mound shaped like a teapot”
THE TEAPOT DOME
SCANDAL: Oil-rich
lands set aside for the
US Navy in Wyoming.
Albert B Fall (Secretary
of Interior) secretly
leased the land to
private oil companies
and received more that
400,000$.
Shortly after Harding died
of a Heart Attack or
stroke Aug 2nd 1923!
The Public lost respect for
the Republican Party
and the Presidency
Section 3: The Business of America
 American Industries
Flourish:
Calvin Coolidge (new
president) favored low
taxes and high
business profit in the
US
Coolidge often
placed high tariffs on
foreign imports to
keep to help American
Manufacturers.
The Automobile
 The automobile changed American
landscape through paved roads
(Route 66) and development of
tunnels
 Urban Sprawl- spreading of cities
 Automobile Industry- provided jobs
The Young Airplane Industry
 Airplanes were first used as a mail
carrying service
 Transatlantic flights by Charles
Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart helped
promote cargo and commercial
airlines
Standard of Living Increases
 Income rose 37% from 1920-29
 Electric households including light,
refrigerator, toasters, ranges,
vacuum, washer, sewing machine, etc
 Advertising boomed- used psychology
to study what appealed to people’s
desires
Superficial Prosperity
 THE GROWING ECONOMY
 Producing great quantities of goods which
drove prices down.
 BUYING ON CREDIT- installment planbuying goods over an extended period of
time while paying a low interest rate
 “You furnish the Girl, we’ll furnish the
home”
 DO YOU SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS???