Postwar Trends and Fear of Communism

1. Chapter 20 Politics in the Roaring Twenties

2. Section 1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues

3. Postwar Trends • A wave of nativism (1) and isolationism (2) swept over America as people became (1)suspicious of foreigners and (2)wanted to pull away from world affairs.

4. Fear of Communism • Americans saw communismas a threat to their way of life. • Communism is an economic and political system that supports government control over property to create equality. • In 1917, the Russian czar, or emperor, stepped down. • Later, a group of revolutionaries called Bolsheviks took power. Their leader was Vladimir I. Lenin. • They established the world’s first communist state. • This new government called for worldwide revolution. They wanted to overthrow capitalism.

5. Continued • The ideas of the communists, or “Reds,” frightened many people. • A fear of communism, known as the “Red Scare” swept the nation. • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer set up an agency in the Justice Department to arrest communists, socialists, and anarchists-opposed all forms of government. (The agency later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) • Palmer’s agents trampled on people’s civil rights.

6. Continued • One case involved two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. • Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested for robbery and murder in Massachusetts. • They admitted they were anarchists, but they denied committing any crime. • The case against them was weak. But they were convicted anyway. • Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927.

7. Limiting Immigration • Some Americans used the Red Scare as an excuse to act against any people who were different. • For example, the Ku Klux Klan, which had threatened African Americans during Reconstruction, revived. • Now the Klan turned against blacks, Jews, Roman Catholics, immigrants, and union leaders. • They used violence to keep these groups “in their place.” • Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, it established a quota system-set a limit on how many immigrants from each country could enter the U.S. every year.

8. A Time of Labor Unrest • Strikes were not allowed during WWI because they might have hurt the war effort. But in 1919, three important strikes occurred: • 1. Boston police officers went on strike for a living wage. • 2. A strike by steelworkers began at U.S. Steel Corporation. • 3. A more successful strike was led by John L. Lewis, the president of the United Mine Workers.

9. Continued • Overall, the 1920s was a bad time for unions. • Union membership declined from 5 million to 3.5 million for the following reasons: • 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

11. Section 2 The Harding Presidency

12. Harding Struggles for Peace • 1921, Warren G. Harding (29th president) invited several major world powers to the Washington Naval Conference. SOL-first president elected when women could vote • Once there, Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes urged that no more warships should be built for ten years and that the five major naval powers-U.S., Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy- would scrap many of there existing warships. • For the first time, nations agreed to disarm and reduce their weapons.

13. Continued • Americans wanted to stay out of world affairs. • But the United States still wanted France and Britain to repay the money they had borrowed during WWI. • To make matters worse, Congress passed the Fordney-McCumber Tariff-protected American business from foreign competition, high tax on imports. • The tariff made it impossible for Britain and France to sell their goods in the United States.

14. Continued • To avoid another war, American banker Charles Dawes negotiated a settlement to end the loan crisis. • Under the Dawes Plan, as the solution was called, the U.S. loaned money to Germany to pay back Britain and France, which then repaid their American loan. • Thus, the U.S. ended up getting paid with its own money.

15. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration • Some of Harding’s cabinet appointments were excellent. But others caused problems. • Three honest members of his cabinet were Charles Evans Hughes, Herbert Hoover, and Andrew Mellon. • Hughes was Secretary of State. He later became chief justice of the Supreme Court. • The talented Herbert Hoover became secretary of commerce. • Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon reduced the national debt by about a third.

16. Continued • Other cabinet appointments caused problems. • Some were part of the so-called Ohio Gang-the president’s poker-playing buddies from back home. • They caused the president a great deal of embarrassment. • One of the worst cases of corruption was known as the Teapot Dome Scandal-involved pieces of land called Teapot Dome and Elk Hills. • This land was owned by the government and help large reserves of oil. • Albert B. Fall, Harding’s secretary of the interior, secretly leased the land to two oil companies. He received money and property in return.

17. Section 3 The Business of America

18. America’s Industries Flourish • The new president, Calvin Coolidge (30th president) said, “The chief business of the American people is business.” • Both Coolidge and his Republican successor, Herbert Hoover, favored government policies that promotes business and limited government interference. • The automobile changed the American landscape. • New roads were built, and new businesses sprang up such as gas stations, repair shops, public garages, motels, tourist camps and shopping centers. • Automobiles ended the isolation of rural families and gave young people and women more independence.

19. Continued • Cars also made it possible for people to live farther from their jobs. • This led to urban sprawl-outward expansion of cities, as cities spread out in all directions. • Cities in Ohio and Michigan grew as major centers of automobile manufacturing. • The automobile also became a status symbol. • The airline industry also grew. Planes carried the nation’s mail. Passenger services began.

20. America’s Standard of Living Soars • Another major change was the spread of electricity. • In the 1920s, electric power stretched beyond big cities to the suburbs. Farms lacked electricity. • Americans began to use all kinds of electrical appliances. • Radios, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners became popular. • Businesses used advertising to sell goods. • They tried to use people’s desire for youth, beauty, and popularity to sell products. • Some brand names became known nationwide.

21. A Superficial Prosperity • The stock market reached new heights, but this prosperity hid two big problems: • 1. First, business was not as healthy as it seemed. As businesses grew, business managers made much more money than workers did. Mining companies, railroads, and farms were not doing well. • 2. Second, consumer debt rose to high levels. Businesses encouraged customers to buy on the installment plan-a form of borrowing. Customers could make low payments over a period of time. That way people could afford to buy more. Banks also provided money at low interest rates.