Politics of the Roaring Twenties

1. CHAPTER Politics of the Roaring Twenties 20 Overview Time Lines 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism SECTION 3 The Business of America SECTION Chapter Assessment Transparencies

2. THEMES IN CHAPTER 20 Economic Opportunity Science and Technology CHAPTER Politics of the Roaring Twenties 20 HOME “The business of America is business.” President Calvin Coolidge

3. What do you know? • What images come to mind when you think of the Roaring Twenties? • What people and events characterized the 1920s? • What names have been given to other decades? What might be a good nickname for the 1990s? CHAPTER Politics of the Roaring Twenties 20 HOME “The business of America is business.” President Calvin Coolidge

4. 1920 The 19th Amendment is ratified. 1921 Saco and Vanzetti are convicted. The Federal Highway Act funds a national highway system. 1922 Coal miners in Scranton, Pennsylvania go on strike. 1924The Teapot Dome scandal erupts. 1925A. Philip Randolph organizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 1928Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed. CHAPTER Time Line 20 HOME The United States

5. 1921Chinese Communist Party is founded in Shanghai. Vladimir Ilich Lenin adopts the New Economic Policy. 1922Benito Mussolini is appointed prime minister in Italy. 1923Adolf Hitler’s putsch in Germany fails. 1924Vladimir Illich Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union, dies. 1926Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan. 1928Joseph Stalin launches the first five-year plan in the USSR. 1929Institutional Revolutionary Party is organized in Mexico. CHAPTER Time Line 20 HOME The World

6. Learn About postwar conditions in America. To Understand how fear of communism affected civil liberties and the labor movement. SECTION 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues HOME

7. SECTION 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues HOME Key Idea The Russian Revolution brings a Communist government to power. Many Americans fear that a similar revolution will occur in the United States. Political radicals and labor activists meet with increasing resistance.

8. Section 1: Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues • Postwar Trends: • Nativism: prejudice against foreign-born people • Isolationism: policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs • Fear of Communism • Communism: an economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship • In order to equalize wealth and power Communists would put an end to private property, substituting government ownership of factories, railroads, and other businesses

9. Fear of Communism Cont… • The Red Scare: Occurred in 1919 • Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar and established a Communist state • A Communist Political Party formed in the U.S.A • 70,000 members (some from the IWW…Industrial Workers of the World) • The Palmer Raids • Palmer and Hoover hunted down Communists, socialists, and Anarchists: people who opposed any form of government • Invaded private homes and offices and jailed suspects without allowing them legal counsel…also deported foreign-born radicals • Many thought Palmer was just looking for a campaign issue to run on • Sacco and Vanzetti • Religious Radical Italians falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death even though there was not enough evidence against them…they were not given a fair trail • Showed the nativist attitude in 1920

15. Limiting Immigration • “Keep America for Americans” • Bigot: a person who is intolerant of any creed, race, religion, or political belief that differs from his own • After WWI Nativists believed that since there were fewer unskilled jobs in the US than fewer immigrants should be let into the country • The Klan Rises Again • By 1924 the KKK reached 4.5 million members • Main Goals of the KKK in the 20’s • Keep America under the control of white, native born males • To get rid o other groups, including Jews, Roman Catholics, foreign born people, and radicals • To oppose Union organizers • To help enforce prohibition

18. The Quota System • From 1919 to 1921 Immigration had grown 600% • Congress set up the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 • Quota System: established the maximum number of people who could enter the US from each foreign country • The goal was to drastically cut the European immigration to the US (chart on p. 622) • The law also prohibited Japanese immigration…caused resentment between the two countries • System did not apply to Western Hemisphere countries • Mexico and Canada immigration soared

20. A Time of Labor Unrest During the war the government would not allow strikes b/c nothing could stop the war effort • 1919 saw more than 3,000 strikes in which 4 million workers walked off the job • Three strikes grabbed the nations attention • The Boston Police Strike • Boston police had not been given a raise since before WWI • Representatives asked for a raise…they were fired…the rest of the police force went on strike • Governor Calvin Coolidge called out the National Guard and he was considered a hero for saving Boston and maybe even the country from anarchy and communism

24. A Time of Labor Unrest cont… • 2. The Steel Mill Strike • 300,000 Steel Workers went on strike b/c they were not allowed a shorter working day, better wages, or the right to unionize • Steel Corporations hired strike-breakers (employees who agreed to work during the strike) • Strike ended in 1923 after a report on the harsh working conditions of steel mills shocked the public • Workers were allowed an eight hour work day but remained without a union. • 3. The Coal Miners’ Strike: 1919 • John Lewis: United Mine Workers of America leader- organized a strike • Miners received a 27% increase in wages but did not receive a shorter workday or five-day work week until 1930’s

26. Labor Movement Loses Appeal • The 1920’s hurt the labor movement badly as Union memberships declined for 4 reasons • 1. Much of the work force consisted of immigrants willing to work in poor conditions • 2. Immigrants spoke different languages making it difficult to organize Unions • 3. Farmers who moved to the cities for factory jobs did not want to be apart of Unions b/c they were used to relying on themselves • 4. Most Unions excluded African Americans

27. 1919 Boston police strike begins. Steel strike begins under William Z. Foster. Coal strike begins under John L. Lewis. 1925 A. Philip Randolph organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 1917 1929 1920 Steel strike is broken. SECTION 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues HOME 1 Section Assessment SEQUENCING What were the major events involving labor unions between 1917 and 1929?

28. FORMING AN OPINION Do you think Americans were justified in their fear of radicals and foreigners in the decade following World War I? THINK ABOUT • the goals of the leaders of the Russian Revolution • the impact of radicals in the United States • the challenges facing the United States SECTION 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues HOME 1 Section Assessment

29. ANALYZING What factors led union organizers to call so many strikes in 1919? THINK ABOUT • economic factors • labor leaders’ determination to fight for worker rights SECTION 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues HOME 1 Section Assessment

30. Learn About the policies of the Harding administration. To Understand the development of postwar isolationism and the immigration quota system. SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism HOME

31. SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism HOME Key Idea The Republicans return to isolationism and the kind of policies that characterized the period before the Progressive Era and its reform movements.

32. Section 2: The Harding Presidency • Warren G. Harding: won the election of 1920 • 1921 Harding invited major powers to the Washington Naval Conference (Russia was left out b/c of Communist government) • Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes suggested that the five major naval powers (US, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy) scrap many of their battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers • For the first time in history powerful nations agreed to disarm • In 1928 15 countries signed the Kellog-Briand Pact: renounced war as a national policy • Pact did not mean anything as it provided no means of enforcement

33. High Tariffs and Reparations • France and Britain owed the US $10 Billion that they had borrowed from US for WWI • Had two options to pay back • 1. Selling goods to the US • 2. Collecting reparations from Germany • Fordney-McCumber Tariff: raised taxes on US imports to 60% • Protected American business • Britain and France looked to Germany to pay back reparations…Germany could not pay…almost led to another war • Dawes Act: proposed by American banker Charles Dawes • American investors loaned Germany $2.5 billion to pay back Britain and France

35. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration • Americans found Harding to be a good natured President, however he is widely considered to be one of the worst Presidents in US history • Ohio Gang: Presidents buddies who would cause embarrassment to the President • “I have no trouble with my enemies, but my friends, they’re the ones that keep me walking the floor nights!”

37. Scandal Plagues Harding • Charles Forbes was caught illegally selling government and hospital supplies to private companies • Teapot Dome Scandal: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall’s secret leasing of oil-rich land to private companies in return for money and land • President Harding died in August, 1923 from an apparent heart attack or stroke. • The crimes of Harding's administration were coming out just as Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was taking over • Coolidge helped restore faith in the administration and in the Republican Party and he was elected President in 1924

39. SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism HOME 2 Section Assessment SUMMARIZING Did the following events benefit, have a mixed impact, or harm the country? Election of Harding Naval disarmament agreement Kellogg-Briand Pact signed Fordney-McCumber Tariff passed Dawes Plan implemented Increase in immigration in 1921 Immigration quotas created Teapot Dome scandal uncovered

40. GENERALZING How do you think the Harding administration viewed the role of America in world events? THINK ABOUT • policies on trade and tariffs • efforts to enforce peace • attitudes toward immigrants SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism HOME 2 Section Assessment

41. EVALUATING How successful was Harding in fulfilling his campaign pledge of returning the country to “normalcy”? THINK ABOUT • events in foreign relations • changes in immigration laws • scandals during Harding’s administration SECTION 2 “Normalcy” and Isolationism HOME 2 Section Assessment

42. Learn About the impact of automobiles, electric power, advertising, and installment buying on the American consumer. To Understand how consumer goods became the foundation of the business boom of the 1920s. SECTION 3 The Business of America HOME

43. SECTION 3 The Business of America HOME Key Idea During the prosperous 1920s, the automobile industry and other industries flourished. America’s standard of living rises to new heights.

44. Section 3: The Business of America • American Industries Flourish • President Coolidge was pro-business • Favored policies that would keep taxes down, business profits up, and give business more available credit in order to expand • Goal was to keep government interference in business to a minimum and to allow private enterprise to flourish…survival of the fittest (opposite of Communism)

46. The Impact of the Automobile • Changed the landscape with the construction of paved roads…Route 66: Chicago to California • Gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps, and shopping centers • Family life • Isolated rural families could travel to town • Families could vacation • It allowed workers to live miles from their jobs • Car became a status symbol • By the end of the 1920’s 80% of automobiles were in the US…Model T and the Model A

47. Early 1920’s Model T Ford

48. 1929 Model A Ford

49. The Young Airplane Industry • Began as a mail carrying service for the US Post Office • Transatlantic flights by Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart helped to promote cargo and commercial airliners • Pan American Airways inaugurated the first transatlantic passenger flights in 1927