“Politics of the Roaring Twentiesin America”

Chapter 12

I.) Post World War I

A. New American foreign policy = Isolationism1. Nativism rises again (prejudice against foreign-born people)

B. 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 StrikesA. Communism seen as a threat to American way of lifeB. The Red Scare- in 1919 American public becomes fearful of the

spread of communism1. Palmer Raids- U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer along

with J. Edgar Hoover hunted down suspected communists2. 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 ImmigrationA. Nativists belief = “Keep America for Americans”

1. immigrants willing to work for lower jobs2. post WWI need for unskilled labor decreased

Result: less need for immigrantsB. 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

A. During WWI workers not allowed to “strike”B. 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 PresidencyA. Warren G. Harding- Senator from Ohio who is elected president in 1921

and ran on a “return to normal” platform1. 1921 Washington Naval Conference- five major naval powers

agree to reduce number of warships Importance: first time in history powerful nations agree to disarm2. 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact- renounced war as national policy3. 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 graftEx: 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 AmericaA. President Coolidge and President Hoover encouraged “free

enterprise” (kept govt. out of business and helped keep taxes down and gave credit (loans) to expand)

B. New Industries:1. Automobile

Result: new business and urban sprawl2. Airplane

Result: passenger flights

C. Standard of Living Changes:1. Homework = Read p. 425-427 and complete this outline