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U.S. History 1

U.S. History 1. The Roaring Twenties Part 1: Postwar Economic Downturn, Red Scare and the Republican Decade. Postwar Economic Downturn. Post-War War-time jobs disappear Less jobs meant more competition Racial/ class tensions Who lost their jobs as soldiers came home?. Labor Unrest.

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U.S. History 1

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  1. U.S. History 1 The Roaring Twenties Part 1: Postwar Economic Downturn, Red Scare and the Republican Decade

  2. Postwar Economic Downturn • Post-War • War-time jobs disappear • Less jobs meant more competition • Racial/ class tensions • Who lost their jobs as soldiers came home?

  3. Labor Unrest • 1919: 4 million workers held 3,600 strikes (wage cuts, long hours, and no overtime pay). • State/ federal troops broke strikes • Americans sympathized w/ employers • Felt strikers were subversive Communists and radicals • Most Americans felt unions threatened U.S. stability

  4. Russian Revolution Causes Concern in the U.S. • Communist Russia, with Lenin in charge, becomes the Soviet Union • Soviet Union is openly hostile to American beliefs and values (capitalism, freedom of speech) • Lenin pledges to inspire worldwide revolution among the working class

  5. Red Scare • Red Scare = intense fear of communism and its potential spread throughout the U.S. • Americans felt Communists were behind labor strikes

  6. Palmer Raids • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s conducted Palmer Raids on the headquarters of suspected anarchists, communists, and socialists across America • Between 4,000-10,000 suspected radicals were jailed • No formal charges made • over 600 were deported. • Goal of raids was to “purify” and restore peace to the United States

  7. American Civil Liberties Union • ACLU, formed in 1920, protested the illegal methods and prejudices targeted at foreigners and radicals with the Palmer Raids • ACLU would represent the rights of both individuals and minorities whose rights were being violated • ACLU had no court victories by 1925

  8. Republican Decade • 1920’s • Republican Presidents • Warren G. Harding • Calvin Coolidge • Herbert Hoover • Friendly to big business • Laissiezz Faire (Hands off) policy

  9. Warren G. Harding (Rep. 1921-1923) • Campaign slogan = “a return to normalcy” • Isolationism = avoiding alliances with foreign nations • Pushed for stronger anti-immigration laws • Tea Pot Dome Scandal = corruption involving some of his Cabinet members’ in abuse of power and misuse of federal funds • Sec. of Interior illegally sold oil reserves

  10. Calvin Coolidge (Rep. 1923-1929) • “The business of the American people is business” • Government should interfere as little as possible with American businesses • Policy of isolationism continued

  11. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) • Most Americans expected the good times of the 1920s would continue • Stock Market reached an all-time high in 1929 • Value of wages had risen by more than 40% since 1914

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