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During the war, workers’ rights were suppressed. Labor strikes broke out as a result. In 1919, the labor unions and workers demanded that the workers would get fair pay and better working conditions. During the war, labor unions faced problems; one of the reasons was that due to factionalism of so many different union groups, they could not cooperate together to stand up against the employers. Another problem was with Immigrants; they would not only work for lower wages, but they were also less likely to join the Labor unions. However, Labor unions gained fixed wages and government regulation of conditions because war production became essential.

Postwar Trends After WWI, Americans were exhausted, and faced problems when

the war ended. One of the many problems was that the United States was greatly divided due to debate over the League of Nations. Another major problem was the economy: soldiers faced unemployment, the cost of living doubled, farmers and factory workers suffered as wartime orders were relinquished, and Americans had a sense of nativism and isolation.

Figure 1: Workers at strike

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Fear of Communism Another thing Americans feared was Communism. Panic arose

when revolutionist Vladimir I. Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the czarist regime and established a new Communist state. This Panic about Communism was named The Red Scare. After the Red Scare, a Communist party formed in the United States. Approximately, 70,000 radicals joined as well as some industrial workers from WWI.

During this time August 1919, Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant. They were notorious for their Palmer Raids. Palmer, Hoover and their agents would arrest and deport suspected Communist, socialist and anarchist. As an aftermath, after changes in personnel at the Department of Labor, Palmer faced a new and very independent-minded Acting Secretary of Labor in Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland Post, who canceled more than 2,000 warrants as being illegal. It also turned out that his raids failed to show evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy or explosives. Many thought he was trying to gain support for his campaign issues.

During the war nativists “Keep America for Americans”. Since 1880s, immigrants

began arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe, they have to work in low wages in industries as coal mining, steel production and textiles but after the WWI, the number unskilled labor in US decreased. More immigrants have come to this land

Figure 2: Radicals awaiting deportation.

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Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings are different groups bigots used anti-communism for an excuse and harass another group. In 1924 the KKK’s member reach to 4.5 million , they also keeping black people in their place to destroying saloons, opposing unions and driving Roman Catholics , Jews and foreign born people out of the country . The KKK’s member who were paid to recruit new members into their world of secret rituals and racial violence

Figure 3: The KKK

Quota system:

In 1921, the number immigrants grown almost 600 percent from 141,000 to 805,000 people The Congress response to Nativist pressure and decide to limit the immigration in Europe .The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system . It is for limit the number of people who enter U.S and the point is to stop the immigration from Europe .Later the law limits the immigration from European nation to 2 percent of living in U.S and the provision discriminated eastern and southern Europe ; Catholics and Jews who were not arrive US yet but after 1890 they shifted to there, the law reduce huge number who admitted in one year to 150.000 .The law prohibited Japanese immigration causing much ill will between the 2 nations and it kept the Gentlemen’s Agreement to limit the US. The for the quota system didn’t apply Western Hemisphere .In 1920s about one million Canadians and 500,000 Mexicans crossed the nation’s border

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During the

World War I, the

government would not allow workers to strike. Therefore, after the war, a postwar

conflict between labor and management begin. In 1919, more than 3000 strikes and

employers did not want to give raise anymore or join into the union. Since the beginning

of the World War I, the Boston police had not been given raise. When representatives

asked for raise and fired, the police officers decided to strike. Massachusetts governor

Calvin Coolidge called out the National Guard. In fact, the strike ended but they did not

allow returning to work. Because of Calvin Coolidge called out the National Guard, they

were out of anarchy. In 1920, he became Warren G. Harding’s vice presidential running

mate.

Workers in steel mills want the right to negotiate for working in shorter hours and

living wage. However, in 1919, the U.S Steel Corporation refuses to meet. As a result,

300,000 workers walked off their jobs. However, police and federal troops beat all of

them. Moreover, the steel strike ended in January 1920. In 1919, John L. Lewis became

a new leader of the United Mine workers.

Because of low wages and long workdays, coal miners’ out of strike. President

Wilson require and judge to put an end for the dispute. In addition, the result was the

coal miners received a 27 percent wage increase. During this decade, the number of

union member dropped down from 5 million to 3.5 million. In 1929, about 8200 African

American held union memberships, but they joined into some unions like mine workers’,

longshoremen’s and railroad porters’ union.

Figure 4: Quota System

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Warren G. Harding was the 29th president of

the US. He was described as a natured-man who "looked like a president ought to look".

After World War I, the US needed to face the problem with arms control, war debts, and the reconstruction of war-torn countries. In 1921, Harding invited some major powers to the Washington Naval Conference. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes declared that no more war ships would be built for ten years. He suggested that the five strongest naval powers needed to scrap their warships and aircraft carriers. This was the first time in history that all the powerful nations agreed to disarm and stop fighting. In 1928, the nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact which renounced the war as national policy.

There was a new conflict rose when Britain and France needed to pay back $10 billion that they had borrowed from the US. They came up with two ways to solve the

problem: one is selling goods and profits to the US; the other one is collecting reparations from Germany. In 1922, the US adopted the Fordney - McCumber Tariff which raised 60% the taxes on some of the US imported products.

In Harding's cabinet, most of the

secretaries were his friends. Charles Evans Hughes was a chief justice of the Supreme Court. Herbert Hoover was the secretary of commerce. Andrew Mellon was appointed to be a secretary of the treasury.

The president faced the problem that his secretary who was in the cabinet, began to make wealth through graft. The Teapot Dome Scandal was the most spectacular examples of the corruption in his cabinet. Albert B. Fall, the US. Navy Secretary was a

close friend of various oil executives. He signed the contract to reserved oil transferred

Figure 5: President Warren G. Harding

Figure 6: Teapot Dome Scandal

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to the Interior Department. Then he secretly leased the land to two oil companies. He said that the contract could make profit to the government, but he suddenly received more than $400,000 in "loans, bonds, and cash". He was found guilty of bribery. In August 2, 1923, Harding died suddenly because of heart attack.

Figure 7: Charles Evans Hughes Figure 8: Albert B. Fall

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In the 1920s, automobile became the

backbone of the American economy. And one factor that helped with the booming of automobile and industry is President Calvin Coolidge. It was him who said "the chief business of the American people is business … The man who builds a factory builds a temple - the man who works there worships there." Contribute to the booming of the industry, Coolidge minimized the interference of the government in business and allowed private enterprise to flourish. He and his successor, Herbert Hoover, kept the taxes down in order to lift business profits up; and give the businesses more credit in order to expand. To help American manufacturers, Coolidge placed high tariffs on foreign import. With the encouragement from the government and the new technology, wages were rising.

Figure 10: Legendary Route 66

With the development of the automobile industry, the landscape of the United

States changed. The most visible change there was construction of paved roads and architecture styles. There was one famous road, the Legendary Route 66 from Chicago to California. Houses were built with garage, carport and driveway; there were gasoline station, repair shops, motels... There was underwater tunnel for designed for motor vehicles. That was The Holland Tunnel, which connects New York City and Jersey City. The isolated rural families were also affected by the automobile industry. We can say cars liberated them. Motor vehicles gave those families the chance to vacation in new and faraway places, make women and young people to be more independent with

Figure 9: Ford Model A 1929

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mobility. Also it allowed the workers to live far away from their factories, resulted in urban sprawl, as city spread in all direction.

With the increase in number of motor vehicles, the demand for oil was raised. The oil-producing industry drew many people to states such as California and Texas. The automobile became the status symbols for individual families and to the rest of the world.

Beside the growth of the automobile, the airplane industry also started. Began in 1918 as mail

carrying in the US Post Office, the airplane industry grew with an amazing speed; and 8 years after 1st flight, the 1st transatlantic passenger flight was made by Pan American Airways.

Figure 12: Pan American Airways

The use of electricity transformed the nation. The factories used the electricity to

run machines; families used electricity for refrigerators, ironers, and toasters, light …

During the 1920s, most factory worker was producing more than its start 50

percent. Therefore, the business expanded. Many companies like automobiles, steel,

and electrical equipment provided public utilities. Congress passed law that allow bank

to branch within cities of their main office.

Figure 11: Oil Rig in Texas

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In addition, with the power of modern advertising, industry provided a solution to

the problem of buying good produce. The installment plan enables people to buy good

over the extended period without paying much money at purchase time. Nevertheless,

the business owners and economists worried that plan will be getting out of hand.

“Have you an automobile yet?”

“No, I talked it over with John and he felt we could not afford one.”

“Mr. Budge who lives in your town has one and they are not as well off as

you are.”

“Yes, I know. Their second installment came due, and they had no money

to pay it.”

“What did they do? Lose the car?”

“No, they got the money and paid the installment.”

“How did they get the money?”

“They sold the cook-stove.”

“How could they get along with a cook-stove?”

“They didn’t. They bought another on the installment plan.”

- A business owner quoted in In The

Time of Silent Cal

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