Chapter 12: Politics of the Roaring Twenties

1. Chapter 12: Politics of the Roaring Twenties

2. Section 1: America Struggles with Postwar Issues

3. Reaction to the Perceived Threat of Communism • Communism • An economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship • No private property • Government owns factories, railroads, other businesses

4. Postwar Trends • Americans were tired and wanted normalcy • Returning soldiers have no jobs • Stressful time in America • Leads to nativism – prejudice against foreign-born people and isolationism – pulling away from involvement in world affairs

5. Reaction to the Perceived Threat of Communism • Red Scare • Successful Communist revolution in Russia (1919) • Communists = “Reds” • Communist Party forms in the U.S. • Palmer Raids • Attorney General Mitchell Palmer hunts down suspected political radicals (Communists, anarchists, socialists) • Sacco and Vanzetti • Foreigners and immigrants were easy targets • Italian immigrants and anarchists found guilty of robbery and murder

6. What were some the reactions in the U.S. to the perceived threat of communism? • What role did General A. Mitchell Palmer play? • How were Sacco and Vanzetti affected by the social climate (nativist attitude) • of the 1920s

7. Quota System • 1880s – new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe worked for low wages • After WWI there were fewer unskilled jobs • Immigrant participation in labor protests

8. Quota System • Ku Klux Klan (KKK) uses anti-communism as an excuse to harass “outsiders” • Blame national problems on foreigners • Members were paid to recruit new members

9. Quota System • Emergency Quota Act of 1921 is passed due to nativist pressure • Limits immigration from eastern and southern Europe • 2 percent of its pop. in the U.S. in 1890 • Prohibits Japanese immigration and violates Gentlemen’s Agreement • 500,000 Mexicans immigrants

10. Conflicts Between Labor and Management • During WWI the govt. did not allow strikes • After the war, wages were not increased • Employers said Union members were Communists to keep wages low • Major strikes • Boston Police • Steel Mill • Coal Miners

11. Conflicts Between Labor and Management • By then end of the 1920s union membership greatly declined • Immigrants worked for low wages • Immigrants spoke many languages -> unions had difficulty organizing them • Most unions did not allow blacks • Brotherhood of Sleeping Car unions • Mine workers’ unions

12. Assignment • 1. What were the Palmer raids? • 2. What did the Ku Klux Klan advocate? • 3. How did the quota system limit immigration? Which groups did it hurt the most? • 4. What prompted the steel strike of 1919? • 5. For what reasons did union membership decline during the 1920s? • 6. What unions were open to African Americans?

13. Section 2: The Harding Presidency

14. Journal • How do you feel after getting back from a vacation? Are you glad to get back to your normal routines?

15. Harding Struggles for Peace • Problems with arms control and war-torn countries • 1921 – Pres. Harding invites world leaders to Washington Naval Conference • Secretary of State – Charles Evans Hughes – urges U.S., G. Britain, Japan, Italy, and France to not build warships • 1928 – 15 countries sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact – renouncing (give up) war as a national policy

16. Harding Struggles for Peace • Britain and France have to pay back $10 billion to U.S. • Sell goods to the U.S. • Collect reparations from Germany • Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) • Raises taxes on U.S. imports to 60 percent! • French troops march into Germany to collect • American banker, Charles G. Dawes, negotiates loans • Dawes Plan – American investors loan Germany $2.5 billion who pay Britain and France who pay the U.S. • No one is pleased

17. Inflation in Germany

18. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration • Govt. stays out of business affairs and social reform • Harding appoints capable and incapable people to his cabinet • Ohio Gang = poker playing buddies who use their political power to make money (graft)

19. Teapot Dome Scandal • Oil-rich public lands at Teapot Dome, Wyoming were set aside for naval use • Albert Fall, member of Harding’s cabinet, leases the land to private oil companies and receives $400,000 • Convicted of bribery

20. Warren G. Harding dies suddenly in 1923 • One of the least successful presidents

21. Section 3: The Business of America Henry Ford’s Model T

22. The Impact of the Automobile and Consumer Goods on American Life • Pres. Calvin Coolidge and then Herbert Hoover are pro-business • Govt. stays out + taxes down + high tariffs on foreign imports • Invention of the automobile – 1927 Model T Ford • Paved roads • Garages • Gas stations • Shopping centers • Rural families could travel • Vacation • Young men and women could travel • Urban sprawl = cities spread because people can commute to work • Detroit + Akron = car factories • California + Texas = expansion due to oil

23. The Impact of the Automobile and Consumer Goods on American Life • “Parking” for teenagers • Status symbol • 80% of reg. cars were in the U.S. • Common people could afford the Model T

24. Journal • “It will take us a hundred years to tell whether you helped us or hurt us, but you certainly didn’t leave us where you found us.” • Has the automobile improved American lives? Why? Why not?

25. Henry Ford Primary Source Questions • 2. Assess Ford’s contribution to industry? • 3. Do you think Ford was a good employer? Why or why not?

26. Journal • What products do you use to make your life easier? Imagine life without basic electrical appliances (refrigerator, washing machine, communication devices).

27. American Industries Flourish • The Young Airplane Industry • First used in times of peace by U.S. Post Office • Transatlantic flights by Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart • 1927 Pan American Airways had the first transatlantic passenger flight

28. America’s Standard of Living Soars • 1920 – 1929 – Americans owned 40% of the world’s wealth • Annual income rose from $522 to $705 • What to do with the “extra” money

29. Electrical Conveniences • Gasoline = cars • Electricity = power for factories, cities, suburbs • Made life easier and more pleasant • Women had more free time

30. Modern Advertising

33. A Superficial Prosperity • Many Americans believed prosperity would go on forever • Factories were producing • Corporations were making fortunes • Drug, clothing, and drug stores were built

34. So What Happens? • A large income gap is created between workers and managers • Railroad industries were not successful • New farm machines -> more food -> cheaper prices • Installment plan (easy credit) – buy good over an extended time by paying a little up front -> banks provided the rest at low interest rates • Americans cared about the present