POLITICS OF THE ROARING TWENTIES

1. POLITICS OF THE ROARING TWENTIES Chapter 20

2. AMERICANS STRUGGLE WITH POSTWAR ISSUES Section 1

3. How did World War I affect America?

4. The end of WWI hurt the economy: • Returning soldiers took jobs away from women & minorities …OR… • Returning soldiers faced unemployment themselves.

5. NATIVISM & ISOLATIONISM Swept over America as people became suspicious of foreigners & wanted to pull away from world affairs

6. FEAR OF COMMUNISM Americans saw Communism as a threat to their way of life

7. Communists came to power in Russia through violent revolution: Communism is an economic & political system that supports government control over property.

8. WWI created economic & political problems in Russia… 1917, the Russian czar (NicholasII) stepped down & a group of revolutionaries called Bolsheviks took power.

9. Bolshevik Revolution 1917

10. New Leadership in Russia (Soviet Union)… Vladimir I. Lenin

11. This new government called for worldwide revolution.. Communist leaders wanted workers to seize political & economic power They wanted to overthrow capitalism.

12. The “RED SCARE” In the U.S., about 70,000 people joined the Communist Party. Still, the ideas of the communists, or “Reds”, frightened many people

13. “PALMER RAIDS”… • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer set up an agency in the Justice Dept. to arrest communists, socialists, & anarchists (later became FBI).

14. Palmer’s raids trampled on people’s rights…especially radicals. Many were sent out of the country w/out trial.

15. SACCO & VANZETTI Two Italian immigrants who were arrested for robbery & murder in Massachusetts. Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco (Dedham courthouse, 1923)

16. Sacco & Vanzetti were admitted anarchists but… Denied committing any crime. The case against them was weak & they were convicted anyway JUDGE WEBSTER THAYER

17. Many protested the conviction…They believed it was based on a fear of foreigners.

18. Sacco & Vanzetti executed in 1927 Sacco and Vanzetti death masks Funeral Procession Death Watch in Union Square, New York

19. LIMITING IMMIGRATION… How did Americans show their Nativist feelings? Immigrants at Ellis Island

20. Some Americans used the Red Scare as an excuse to act against people who were different. Example was the Ku Klux Klan.

21. QUOTA SYSTEM: • Congress passed the EmergencyQuota Act of 1921. • Set a limit on how many immigrants from each country could enter the U.S. each year. • In 1924, a new quota limited immigration from Eastern & SouthernEurope…mostly Jews & Roman Catholics.

22. 1924, Immigration from Japan banned.

23. 3 MAJOR STRIKES IN 1919 (Strikes were not allowed during World War I)

24. 1) Boston police officers strike for a living wage. The cost of living had doubled since their last raise. Mass. Governor Calvin Coolidge used force to put down the strike.

25. 2) Steelworker strike at U.S. Steel Corporation. Workers demanded right to join unions. 1923, report revealed harsh conditions in steel mills. Public opinion turned against steel companies & workers were given an 8 hour day….Still had no union.

26. 3) United Mine Workers Strike • Led by John L. Lewis, president of the UnitedMine Workers. • President Wilson tried to help settle the dispute b/w miners & mine owners. • Miners got higher wages, but didn’t get shorter hours. John L. Lewis

27. Overall, the 1920’s was a bad time for unions. Union membership declined from 5 million to 3.5 million. WHY?

28. Immigrants were willing to work in poor conditions • Language barriers made organizing people difficult • Farmers who had migrated to cities were used to relying on themselves • Most unions excluded African Americans.

29. THE HARDING PRESIDENCY Section 2 Personal:• First Lady: Florence "Flossie" Mabel Kling Harding, Wife• Number of Children: 1• Education Level: College• School Attended: Ohio Central College• Religion: Baptist• Profession: Teacher, Insurance Salesman, Reporter, Publisher

30. Washington Naval Conference1921 President Warren G. Harding invited several major world powers.

31. DISARMAMENT: • At the Conference, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes urged that no more warships be built for 10 years. • Hughes also urged that the 5 major naval powers (U.S., Great Britain, Japan, France & Italy) scrap many of their existing warships

32. Kellogg-Briand Pact1928 Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State 64 nations signed that they giving up war as national policy

33. U.S. still wanted France & Britain to repay $ borrowed during WWI

34. Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 Tariff protected American business from foreign competition. But the tariff made it impossible for Britain & France to sell their goods in the U.S.

35. The DAWES PLAN

36. Under the Dawes Plan…. • U.S. loaned $ to Germany to pay back Britain & France • Then Britain & France repaid U.S. So….the U.S. ended up getting paid w/its own $!

37. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration… ohio gang Some of his cabinet appointments caused problems…… They were part of the so-called “OHIOGANG”

38. TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL • Involved pieces of land called Teapot Dome & Elk Hills • Was owned by the government & held large reserves of oil.

39. Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall, secretly leased the land to 2 oil companies He received $ & property in return.

41. President Harding wasn’t charged w/corruption himself…. He suddenly died in 1923 & Calvin Coolidge became president.

42. THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA Section 3

43. The new president, Calvin Coolidge said… “The chief business of the American people is business”

44. The AUTOMOBILE changed the American landscape….

45. New roads were built. New businesses sprang up like gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps & shopping centers.

46. Cities in Ohio & Michigan grew as major centers of automobile manufacturing.

47. States that produced OIL such as California & Texas also prospered.

48. The automobile also became a status symbol.Everyone wanted to have one. By the late 1920’s, about 80% of all the cars in the world were in the U.S. 1920 ROLLS-ROYCE

49. URBAN SPRAWL(Cities spread out in all directions) Cars ended isolation of rural families & gave young people & women more independence. Cars also made it possible for people to live farther from their jobs.

50. The airline industry also grew. Planes carried the nation’s mail. Passenger service began.