Introducton to American History
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1104_AmericanHistoryComb_9e_23.pptxChapter 23: Prosperity and Depression
Introduction to American History Combined
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Learning Objectives
Describe the impact of World War I on American society.
Explain the origins and significance of the Red Scare, including the actions of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Did the Government reaction violate Constitutional rights?
Discuss the repression of African Americans in the decades following WWI, including the resurrection of the KKK, their goals and platform, organization, and targets. What type of individuals joined the KKK?
Introduction to American History Combined
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Learning Objectives (Continued)
Describe the impact of World War I on American society.
Explain the origins and significance of the Red Scare, including the actions of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Did the Government reaction violate Constitutional rights?
Discuss the repression of African Americans in the decades following WWI, including the resurrection of the KKK, their goals and platform, organization, and targets. What type of individuals joined the KKK?
Introduction to American History Combined
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23.1 Swing Toward Conservatism
Impact of World War I: Demobilization
Progressive movement largely disappeared.
The spread of Socialism and Communism was feared.
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23.1a Demobilization
There was no organized process for demobilization, and there was rapid inflation.
Wave of worker strikes followed the end of the war.
The Boston police strike was put down by Massachusetts’ governor Calvin Coolidge.
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23.1b The Red Scare
Strikes and labor unrest was often incorrectly linked to Communism.
The media “overblew” the small level of real communist activity.
A series of bombings, including one at the house of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, frightened the public.
Palmer Raids: 6,000 “radical” aliens were arrested without hearings in 33 cities; more than 500 were deported.
The civil rights of those in the Palmer raids were violated with beatings, nameless warrants, and denial of counsel.
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23.1b The Red Scare (Continued)
Palmer discredited himself with his prophecy of doom on May Day 1920, which passed without incident.
The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial resulted in convictions of murder in Massachusetts by a prejudiced jury and with the death sentence imposed by a biased judge.
Worldwide protest occurred.
They were executed August 23, 1927.
Ballistics later determined that Vanzetti’s gun was not the murder weapon.
General suppression of free speech occurred throughout the country.
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23.1c Repression of African Americans
African Americans hoped their service in the war would secure greater rights for them.
However, African Americans in the North and the South were subjected to a new round of racial oppression following the war.
Race riots erupted in the summer of 1919.
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23.1d The Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was “reborn” in 1915.
Part of the moral and nativist fervor that accompanied WWI included the KKK.
William J. Simmons, Elizabeth Tyler, and Edward Young Clark reorganized the KKK.
The Klan was partly modeled on religious organizations.
The KKK advocated racism and nativism in the guise of “100% Americanism,” and managed to take political control of several states.
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23.1d The Klan (Continued)
The Klan was based on white Protestantism and Americanism.
The Klan was built with a profitable pyramid scheme and had several million members by 1924.
Klan themes included not only white supremacy and Protestantism but also Americanism, a persecution syndrome, and a moral crusade.
A movement of “hicks and rubes” took over the South.
The KKK declined in late 1920’s as hyperpatriotism of WWI subsided.
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23.1e Immigration Quotas
A major change in political policy was the regulation of immigration on a quota basis.
A 1921 law reduced immigration by 1 million.
The National Origins Act of 1924 established a quota which allowed two percent of foreign-born residents in 1890.
“Orientals” were forbidden.
Japan protested.
Citizens of Western Hemisphere states were exempted.
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23.1f Triumph of the Conservatives
The Republican landslide was the greatest since the second election of James Monroe.
Harding, the Republican unknown to many, was supported by business, with Calvin Coolidge governor of Massachusetts for his vice president.
James Cox, governor of Ohio, and Franklin Roosevelt ran for the Democrats.
Eugene Debs ran as Socialist for the last time.
The League of Nations was a major issue.
Republicans called for higher tariffs and lower taxes.
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23.1g Warren G. Harding
Harding considered one of the worst US presidents
Harding was a man of average talent—but he was handsome, and women could vote.
Harding lacked vigor, ideas, and moral conviction.
Harding’s friends, “the Ohio Gang”, began taking and soliciting bribes.
Harding had illicit affairs and fathered children outside of wedlock while he was president.
He died of a stroke August 2, 1923.
The Teapot Dome Scandal and scandal in Veteran’s Bureau occurred.
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23.1h Harding and the Ohio Gang
The Ohio Gang were the top assistants to Harding who were involved in his scandals.
They partied and plundered the government, private business, and taxpayers in almost every possible way.
Charles Forbes pocketed millions of the Veterans Bureau’s money.
The Teapot Dome scandal involved navy oil reserves.
Harding also damaged by extramarital affairs and illegitimate children.
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23.1i Republican National Policy
Republicans tried to reduce controls on business.
Regulation almost ceased.
Congress overrode veto of a veteran’s bonus bill.
Income and corporate taxes were steadily reduced.
Farmers did not participate in prosperity as prices fell.
Political apathy kept conservatives in power, with only slightly more than half the voters voting.
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23.2a Federal, State, and Local Change
Costs of state and local government soared 40 percent by 1927.
Number of employees also grew.
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23.2b Security in the Pacific
Many Americans wanted to avoid foreign entanglements.
Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes led the 1921 Washington Disarmament Conference.
Thousands of tons of naval vessels were to be destroyed.
Japan and U.S. agreed not to fortify new bases or enlarge old ones in Pacific.
China’s independence was to be respected.
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23.2c High Tariffs
High tariffs continued to be Republican policy.
1922: Rise in tariffs was fairly moderate.
Farm bloc wanted high tariffs on Canadian and Argentine farm crops.
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23.2d War Debts
One of the weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles was the unrealistic structure of reparations and war debt.
Germany reparations were set at $33 billion, which it could not pay; it printed paper money and suffered a 26 billion percent inflation.
England and France each owed the US $4 billion, Coolidge refused to forgive the debt.
Germany was unable to pay; payments due were cut in 1924 and 1929.
In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawed war.
With the onset of the Great Depression, Hoover suspended foreign debt payments for a year (in 1931).
All but Finland defaulted by 1934.
Nine Power Treaty: U.S. and other powers agreed to the “Open Door.”
Geneva Convention of 1925 established rules for war and for POWs.
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23.2e Republican Leadership Reaffirmed
A. Coolidge swept the election.
Progressive Party ran Robert LaFollette in 1924.
Badly split Democrats (North versus South) chose John Davis (WV), who was a New York corporation lawyer, after 103 ballots.
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23.2f Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge was very different than Harding—quiet, shy, and ethical—and known as “Silent Cal.”
He presided over four prosperous years and could have been reelected.
Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover decided to run.
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23.2g High Hopes for a Prosperous Nation
Hoover said that the future was bright and clear.
Then the depression hit.
Most of Hoover’s other plans were put aside in an effort to restore prosperity.
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23.3a The Decline of Craft Unionism
American Plan of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) called for “open shop.”
The Supreme Court declared “dangerous strike activity” to be illegal and that workers did not need to join unions.
Company unions grew, and by 1930 less than seven percent of workers were in independent unions.
Another trend was that racketeers took over union leadership.
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23.3b Agricultural Depression
Many farmers were left out of the prosperity of the 1920s.
The losses were greatest in the South and West.
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23.3c A Slower Rate of Growth
Net capital formation was 14 percent less than in the prior decade.
Real wages did not rise.
Savings of rich were used for speculation.
By 1927, the rate of economic growth was declining.
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23.3d Technological Advances
New ideas were sought more vigorously than ever before.
Radio: Programming by networks included many variety shows with a few high priced stars and lucrative advertising.
The airplane: Post Office granted airmail contracts.
Lindbergh crossed Atlantic in 1927.
Passenger service began.
Automobiles became bigger and more luxurious.
Electrical energy production doubled ,and yet in 1930 only 10 percent of farms had electricity.
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23.4 The New Era in Business
The American public, in the 1920s, seemed to have given up much of its traditional hostility toward big business.
Business was bold in using its influence in Congress.
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23.4a Stock Market Boom and Bust
Businessmen of the 1920s generally lacked an understanding of the economy.
Five percent (the wealthiest class) received one-third of all income.
Big business had huge amounts of cash.
By 1929, construction was outrunning demand.
By summer big investors began selling stock.
Oct. 29 was the day of most extreme panic, and by Nov. stocks lost 40 percent of their value.
The Great Depression began gradually.
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