Chapter 22 section 1

Adjusting to peace time

By: Hannah Bos

Return to normalcy

When Wilson returned from Paris he might of thought he would return as a popular hero but instead him and democrats were denied at the next election

By 1920 between the mishandling of the peace treaty at Versailles and a failing economy Wilson and the democrats were not liked very much

During the great war our domestic economy had expanded greatly to produce enough supplies that were needed by the military

Then the war ended and munitions factories shut down and many people lost their jobs

So when the soldiers returned it was very difficult to find a job

Labor unions had made a no-strike pledge as a patriotic gesture in wartime

But when the was ended labor disputes led to many people going on strike

Return to normalcy continued

By 1919 four million workers equivalent to one fifth of the labor force took a part in the strikes

The newspapers were filled with violence caused by the strikes

America also feared the communists would over throw the government like Russia did

Some were also afraid of radical violence

Americans hoped that change in leadership would bring peace and prosperity back

The Harding Administration

The election of 1920 Warren Harding of Ohio was the republican nominee

Harding promised the public “a return to normalcy” which is what we wanted

He won by a landslide

Harding was a strong supporter of business and he filled his administration with people of the same mind set

For secretary of treasury Harding choose one of the nations richest men Andrew Mellon

Mellon was a banker and a industrialist

Mellon got congress to lower taxes on businesses and the wealthy

He also helped “splash the federal buget”

The Harding Administration cont.

Some other people Harding appointed were personal friends

Some saw their government jobs to make personal fortunes whether they were made legally or illegally

Harding's presidency was marred by several major scandals involving these men

One case Charles Forbes the head of the veterans Bureau was convicted of taking bribes totaling about $200 million

The biggest scandal was the scandal at Teapot Dome ,Wyoming a government owned oil reserve when the secretary of the department of the interior, Albert B. Fall received a bribe of $400 million

Fall was the first cabinet member ever sent to prison

Harding was never linked to any of the crimes

Harding did not live to see if he would be linked to the crimes because in 1923 he died from a massive heart attack leaving vice president Calvin Coolidge to deal with all the scandal of Teapot Dome and many other crimes

The Coolidge Administration

Coolidge was very different from Harding

Coolidge was soft-spoken, serious guy from new England who was know for his integrity and honesty

Coolidge helped to restore trust in the white house

In the 1924 election Coolidge was elected president

As the 1920’s started to “roar” voters wanted to keep republicans in power

Foreign policy

World war one made the united states an international power

Many people did not want their nation to play a lead role world affairs this sentiment was known as isolation throughout the 1920’s the united states participated in national conferences intended to promote world peace and disarmament

The united states joined the Washington Naval Arms Conference of 1921

The conference resulted in a treaty limiting the navies of the united states, Britain ,France ,Italy ,and japan

In 1928 the untied states joined France in sponsoring the Kellogg-Braid Pact

This pact condemned military aggression and outlawed war

Foreign policy cont.

However it imposed no punishment on a country that acted aggressively on so it was ineffective at preventing war

President Coolidge believed that the government had a right to intervene in foreign matters that affected American business

In 1926 a revolution broke out in Nicaragua, Coolidge sent American troops to protect American business interests there

The following year Mexico announced plans to take over all foreign oil owned lands including those owned by the united states

Many people wanted to send troops but Coolidge managed to resolve it with a different method

Foreign policy cont. 2

In the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 communists had taken power in Russia

They created the Soviet Union which is the worlds first communist state

In an effort to weaken the Soviet government the United States refused to grant it diplopic recognition

In 1918 president Wilson sent troops to aid the opponents of communism

In 1921 a famine hit Russia

Wilson sent troops

The troops saved 10 million from starving to death

The red scare Alarm about communist affected not only the Foreign Policy but also things people did on

daily basis

The postwar strikes made some Americans fear that a revolution was about to start in the United states

The fears reached a fever pitch in the spring and summer of 1919 when a series of bombings occurred

The bombings were the work of anarchist or someone who opposes the government many of the bombers were foreign born and the bombing sled to an outcry against foreigners

During the red scare thousands of anarchists and communists or “Reds” were hunted down and arrested

Once they were caught they were deported from the country

Sacco and Vanzetti

In may 1920 at the height of the Red Scare two Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested

They were charged with robbing and murdering two payroll employees in Massachusetts

At the trial there was little evidence that they were guilty of the charges

But the judge didn’t care if they were guilty or not he only focused on that they were anarchists and immigrants

They were convicted in 1921 and executed in 1927

Limiting immigrants

Many Americans worried that the cultures of immigrants was overwhelming to American culture as well as the finding jobs with immigrants was hard

An emergency immigration law was passed in 1921that only limited how many immigrants could be in the united states

In 1924 and 1925 congressed made the number of immigrants even smaller

But that did not include Canada or Mexico because in the 1920’s 500,000 from Mexico and 950,000 from Canada