Download U.S. 1919 - 1928

From War to Peace (Chapter 9)
U.S. 1919 - 1928
POSTWAR HAVOC
INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC: terrifying flu epidemic
– many died
FIRST RED SCARE:
Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, gained control in
Russia – new nation born, SOVIET UNION
Communism: no economic classes / property
American Reaction
Many Americans baffled and
frightened by communism
During the war, bad feelings toward “the Hun” –
now toward “the Reds”
“Red scare” – see political cartoon p. 272
LABOR STRIFE GROWS
1919 difficult time for American labor:
some 4 million workers involved in
more than 3,000 strikes nationwide
• workers’ raised expectations
• Wilson not paying attention to home events
• Lower demands for factory goods hurt many
industries
• Red Scare – Communist call to workers
Major Strikes of the Era
Seattle, Washington (1919): shipyards
Boston, MA: police strike – Gov. Calvin Coolidge
against public workers striking
Steel Industry
UMWA: mine strikes
Immigration Control
Limiting Immigration: jobs scarce;
created backlash against “foreigners”
Nativism: rising movement – pushed for
immigration restrictions
Federal government: passed laws limited
immigration quotas
Immigration (con’t)
RISE OF KU KLUX KLAN: 1920’s – now
targeting blacks, Jews, Catholics, immigrants
– moved out of South only into other areas
SACCO & VANZETTI: May 1920 these two men,
Italian immigrants, were arrested for armed
robbery and murder – proclaimed they were
“anarchists” – executed in 1927