“ Politics of the Roaring Twenties in America ”

“Politics of the Roaring Twentiesin America” Chapter 12

I.) Post World War I • New American foreign policy = Isolationism 1. Nativism rises again (prejudice against foreign-born people) • Returning soldiers face: - unemployment - take jobs away from women & minorities - cost of living doubled - farmers/factory workers suffer due to lack of wartime orders

II.) Fear of Communism Strikes • Communism seen as a threat to American way of life • The Red Scare- in 1919 American public becomes fearful of the spread of communism 1. Palmer Raids- U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer along with J. Edgar Hoover hunted down suspected communists 2. Sacco and Vanzetti- Italian immigrants who in May 1920 were arrested & charged with murder, found guilty under circumstantial evidence, and executed August 1927.

III.) Limits on Immigration • Nativists belief = “Keep America for Americans” 1. immigrants willing to work for lower jobs 2. post WWI need for unskilled labor decreased Result: less need for immigrants • The Quota System 1. Emergency Quota Act of 1921 established a maximum number of people allowed in from each foreign country (N/A to Western Hemisphere)

IV.) Problems with Labor • During WWI workers not allowed to “strike” • 1919 = more than 3,000 strikes take place 1. The Boston Police Strike- union reps. demand raise & were fired leading to strike, Gov. Calvin Coolidge calls in National Guard to end strike, seen as hero for saving Boston 2. The Steel Mill Strike- U.S. Steel Corp. refuses union reps. demands, workers strike & beaten, strikebreakers hired, Woodrow Wilson pleas for end, strike ends 1920 3. The Coal Miners Strike- United Mine Workers of America strike for demands, Palmer gets court order to force them back to work, secretly keeps going, President Wilson appoints judge to end dispute, John Lewis seen as hero but gained no demands until 1930

V.) The Harding Presidency • Warren G. Harding- Senator from Ohio who is elected president in 1921 and ran on a “return to normal” platform 1. 1921 Washington Naval Conference- five major naval powers agree to reduce number of warships Importance: first time in history powerful nations agree to disarm 2. 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact- renounced war as national policy 3. 1922 Fordney-McCumber Tariff- raised taxes on U.S. imports to highest level ever Result: - France & Britain face difficulty selling goods to pay back U.S. war loans; turn to German reparations - Dawes Plan: American investors loan Germany 2.5 billion

4. Favored limiting role of govt. in business affairs & social reform 5. Ohio Gang- members of Harding’s cabinet who were close friends and accepted bribes and grew rich from graft Ex: Teapot Dome Scandal- oil rich public-lands in WY transfer to Interior Dept. and Albert B. Fall leased land to two private oil companies and received “kickbacks” 6. Harding dies August 1923 7. Vice President Calvin Coolidge assumes the presidency

VI.) Business in America A. President Coolidge and President Hoover encouraged “free enterprise” (kept govt. out of business and helped keep taxes down and gave credit (loans) to expand) • New Industries: • 1. Automobile • Result: new business and urban sprawl • 2. Airplane • Result: passenger flights • Standard of Living Changes: • 1. Homework = Read p. 425-427 and complete this outline

“ Politics of the Roaring Twenties in America ”