2nd Period - Chapter 20
Table of Contents Section 1 - American Struggle with Postwar Issues Postwar Trends Fear of Communism The Palmer Raids Sacco & Vanzetti Limiting Immigration The Quota System The Boston Police Strike The Steel Mill Strike The Coal Miner's Strike
Section 2 - The Harding Presidency Harding Struggles for Peace The Harding administration Harding’s cabinet Ohio gang Teapot Dome Scandal
Section 3 - The Business of America American Industries Flourish Impact of the Automobile The Young Airplane Industry Electrical Conveniences Dawn of Modern Advertising Buying Goods on Credit
Section 1: American Struggle with Postwar Issues Postwar Trends: After WWI, American lives had changed drastically. Soldiers came back from war facing the problem that they had lost their jobs to women and the minorities. The cost of living had doubled. Farmers and factory workers suffered as wartime orders decreased. Nativism, which is prejudice against foreign-born people, swept the nation. Isolationism is a policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs.
Fear of Communism: Communism is an economic and political system based on a single-party ruled by a dictatorship. The Red Scare: The panic in the U.S.A began in 1919, after Russia overthrew the czarist regime. Vladimir I. Lenin and his followers established a new Communist country.The red flag represents Communism which was a great threat to capitalism. A Communist Party formed in the United States and 17,000 people joined, including some from the Industrial Workers of the World. The public grew fearful that the Communists were taking over because several dozen bombs were mailed to government and business leaders. U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer reacted to combat what was known as “Red Scare�.
The Palmer Raids: In August 1919, Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant. Palmer, Hoover and their agents hunted down suspected communists, socialists and anarchists. They arrested suspects without legal counsel. Hundreds of foreign-born radicals were deported without trials. Many thought Palmer was looking for a campaign issue to gain support for his president aspirations. Therefore, the public decided that he didn't know what he talking about.
Sacco and Vanzetti: The two most famous victims in the Palmer Raids were Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a shoemaker and a fish peddler. They were Italian immigrants and anarchists, both had evaded the draft during WWI. In May 1920, they were arrested for robbery and murdering a factory paymaster and his guard in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Witnesses had said the criminals appeared to be Italians. They were found guilty and sentenced to death. Therefore, protests rang out in the U.S.A., Europe, and Latin America. Many people thought that Sacco and Vanzetti were mistreated because their radical beliefs and some were arrested because they were immigrants. In 1962,new ballistics tests showed that the pistol found on Sacco was in fact the one used to murder the guard. However, there was no proof that Sacco had pulled the trigger.
Vanzetti and Sacco
Limiting Immigration Anti-immigrant attitudes had been growing in the U.S.A.. Many immigrants were willing to work for low wages in industries. After WWI, the need for unskilled labor in the U.S.A. decreased. Nativists believed fewer immigrants should be let into the country because there was fewer jobs available. The Klan Rises Again: By 1924, KKK membership reached 4.5 million "white male persons, native-born gentile citizens". The Klan also believed in keeping blacks "in their place", destroying saloons, opposing unions and driving Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreign-born people out of the country. The KKK members were paid to recruit new members into their world. The KKK dominated state politics in many states and by the end of the decade its criminal activity led to a decrease in power.
The Quota System
Immigrants From 1919 to 1921 the immigration population went up by almost 600 percent. Congress then responded with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system that limited the number of immigrants from each foreign country. The goal was to cut European immigration to the United States. By 1924, the law stated that two percent from the number of people that were living in the United States in 1890 (later changed to 1920) from each country would be the maximum number of immigrants from that country. This act discriminated against eastern and southern Europeans because they didn’t start to migrate to the U.S. until after 1890. Furthermore, this act prohibited Japanese immigrants even though they were keeping the Gentlemen's Agreement as negotiated. It insulted and angered the Japanese. In 1927, the total number of people who immigrated to the U.S. decreased to 150,000.
The Boston Police Strike
The Boston Police The Boston Police had not been given no wage raises since WWI and were not allowed to unionize. Because of that, representatives asked for a raise but then they were fired; that was the spark that led to the decision to strike. Not much later, Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge called the National Guard and the strike ended. The policemen then were replaced with new ones and Coolidge was praised for saving Boston. Quote of Calvin Coolidge when he called out the National Guard, “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time".
The Steel Mill Strike
The Steelworkers The workers wanted shorter working hours, a living wage, union recognition and collective bargaining rights. But when the U.S. Steel Company refused to meet with their representatives, 300,000 of them just walked out on their jobs. The response of this action was the hiring of strikebreakers, employees that worked during the strikes. Those workers were looked down on and beaten by police, federal troops, and state militias. After that, the steel companies started a propaganda campaign saying that the strikers were communists. When the strike ended, a report on the steel worker’s harsh working conditions was published and the workers gained eight-hour working days, but still no union recognition.
The Coal Miners’ strike The coal miners also wanted higher salaries and shorter working days. John L. Lewis was the leader of their union and sent them on a strike on November 1, 1919. Shortly after that, a court order was used to send them back to work. Lewis declared the strike to be over, but secretively told the strikers to keep on going. President Wilson then told a judge to put an end to this strike. After the strike, the coal miners gained a 27 percent salary increase and John L. Lewis became a national hero. Other improvements that the coal miners wanted to achieve through the strike were shorter workdays and a 5-day working week. However, that was not achieved until the 1930s.
1921-1923
Section 2 The Harding Presidency.
Republican Name: Warren G. Harding Born: 2 November 1865 Died: 2 August 1923 Birthplace: Corsica, Ohio Best known as: President of the United States, 1921-23
Warren G. Harding He was the 29th president of the United States. During his presidential campaign, in the aftermath of World War I, he promised a return to "normalcy". At the Washington Naval Conference, Charles Evans Hughes (Secretary of State) led the way to world naval disarmament at the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22. In 1922, America adopted the Fordney-McCumber Tariff, which raised taxes on some U.S imports to 60 percent. The impact of the Fordney-McCumber Act was considerable. Rising tariff barriers in the U.S. made it more difficult for European nations to conduct trade and, resultantly, to pay off their war debts. To avoid another war, American bankers was sent to negotiate loans. Eventually, the United States arranged to be repaid with its own money. The Harding administration appealed to America’s desire for calm and peace after the war, but resulted in scandal. He helped the government more efficiently, and appointed some well people as some important functions. The Harding’s cabinet also included the so-called Ohio gang- it carries
connotations of self-serving, corrupt men hailing from Harding's home state of Ohio, despite the fact that most Harding officials were neither Ohioans nor corrupt. Harding’s administration began to accept bribes: Charles R. Forbes, the head of the Veterans Bureau, was caught illegal selling government and hospital supplies to private companies. Colonel Thomas W. Miller, the head of the Office of Alien Property, was caught taking a bribe. The most spectacular example of corruption was the Teapot Dome Scandal. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall (a native of Kentucky, later of New Mexico) used his position to sell portions of the navy's strategic oil reserves and leases - leading him and Denby to be embroiled in the Teapot Dome Scandal. Fall was found guilty and became the first Presidential cabinet member to serve time in prison. None of the other parties involved in Teapot Dome were from Ohio.
Political cartoon of Teapot Dome Scandal On August 2, 1923, he died suddenly, probably from a heart attack or stroke. Warren G. Harding died in San Francisco, CA. He was 57 years old. He is buried in Marion, Ohio. President Harding's Vice President was Calvin Coolidge (1921-1923)- a respected man of integrity, helped to restore people’s faith in their government and in the Republican Party. The next year, Coolidge was elected president.
SECTION 3: THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA American Industries Flourish The new president, Calvin Coolidge, fit into the pro-business of the 1920s. He and his successor, Herbert Hoover, favored government policies that would keep taxes down, promote business’s profit, give businesses more available credit in order to expand. They continued to place high tariffs on foreign import. Reducing taxes so that people had more money in their pockets.
President Calvin Coolidge
Impact of the Automobile
The automobile changed the American landscape. Constructions of roads were suitable for driving in all weather. The legendary, famous Route 66, provided a route for people - from Chicago to California. Because of the changing of landscape, architecture also changed. New house were designed with a garage or carport and a drive way, and a small lawn.
House, with a garage and a lawn, popular architecture in California Automobile also launched a rapid construction of gasoline stations, repair shops, motel, and shopping centers. The first automatic traffic signals began to blink in Detroit in 1920s. The Holland Tunnel, the first underwater tunnel designed specifically for motor vehicles, opened in 1927 to connect New York and Jersey City, New Jersey
The Tunnel’s entrance in New York City
Inside of the tunnel
The Woodbridge Cloverleaf, the first cloverleaf intersection, was built in New Jersey, in 1929
Woodbridge Cloverleaf
Today’s clover intersection
The automobile liberated the isolated rural family, who could now travel to city for shopping and entertainment. It also provided more opportunities for several families to have a vacation in a faraway place. It also allowed workers to live miles away from where they worked. This created an urban sprawl, which are cities spread in all directions. The automobile even became a status symbol, for individual families to the rest of the world. In Middletown, the social scientist Robert and Helen Lynd noted that one woman’s comment: “I’ll go without food before I’ll see us give up the car” The auto industries marked the success of the free enterprise system and the Coolidge era. There was nowhere in the world where people had little money in their pocket and could still own an automobile. In 1920s, about 80% of the registered automobiles were in the United States.
The Young Airplane Industry Automobiles were not the only transportation that was successful. Airplanes began as the mail transportation for the U.S Post Office. Although the first flight of 1918 was a disaster, a number of successful flights were established. Airplanes became the means of transportation of the peaceful time, not only for mail. Airplanes also carried radio,and navigation instruments to serve the development of weather forecasting. In 1926, Henry Ford made a trimotor airplane.
A Trimotor Airplane by Henry Ford Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart flew over Atlantic to promote cargo and commercial airlines. In 1927, Lockheed Company presented a single-engine plane, known as Vega. It was one of the most popular types of airplanes.
The Vega
Founded in 1927, Pan American Airways began the first passenger flight.
ELECTRICAL CONVENIENCES Gasoline was the main source of electricity and powered much of the economic boom in the 1920s. Electricity was used to run machines in American factories and much more. Another development was alternating electrical current; alternating electrical current made long distance distribution of electricity possible, which meant that suburbs could have electricity,too. By the end of 1920s, more and more families used electrical utensils in the house and electrical bills rose drastically, even though farms still lacked electrical power. All of this made it easier on housewives and they were able to work outside of the house.
THE DAWN OF MODERN ADVERTISING As technology rose, so did products. Massive goods were available in the markets now and advertising agencies started to hire psychologists to study how to appeal to customer's desires. Slogans like "Say it with flowers" doubled the sales rate of products and become popular. Businessmen were very well liked during this period of time because they would sing songs and raise money to donate to charities.
BUYING GOODS ON CREDIT In order to lure more customers into buying more products, industries invented the easy credit or "a dollar down and a dollar forever." It was called the installment plan; it enabled customers to pay for their products over an extended period of time without having to pay a lot of money in cash. Banks even gave the money out at low interest rates.Not long after, economists and business owners grew concered and wondered if the installment plan was getting out of hand. Citizens were driven by it and would rather buy an automobile than having a cookstove. But since they can't live without a cook-stove, they would just buy it on another installment plan that they couldn't pay.
Conclusion/Summary During the 1920s and the 1930s, the lives of Americans changed drastically. Soldiers that were back from the war faced unemployment or were desperate enough to take away women and minorities jobs back. Economically, prices have risen and Americans started to react to these changes. They started to have
the feeling of nativism and isolationism, in addition to that, communism was spreading and so everything led to discrimination of every other race but the American. Because of the strong feelings they had to immigrants, the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was established and immigrants were treated unfairly. But that wasn't all, workers started to have conflicts with their management, too; employers didn't want to give wage raises or shorten work days, they tried to prevent their employees from joining unions and said that they were Communists trying to plan a revolution. Netherless, strikes still happened and many workers lost their jobs, though not all ended up empty handed. Warren G. Harding was the president at that time and he wanted peace, and so the most powerful nations got together and decided to disarm. For the first time all the nations agreed, but as we know, peace doesn't hold very long, so when it was time for Great Britain and France to pay back war debts, conflicts occurred. Resentment spread because Great Britain and France found the U.S. to be stingy for not paying some of the war debts. In addition to that, the U.S. benefited from the defeat of Germany, and thought of Great Britain and France as financially irresponsible. Harding also faced a lot of problems within, with his Ohio Gang. Scandals after scandals were sweeping around the U.S., the most famous one was the Teapot Dome Scandal that ended with the first man to be convicted of a felony and while working in the cabinet. Harding, not much later died from a stroke or a heart attack and Coolidge took over. With Coolidge’s help, private enterprises were able to expand, high tariffs were set on foreign imports, income taxes were reduced and wages were rising. With Coolidge came the automobile; it changed people's lives and made them better. Roads, gasoline stations, repair shops, public garages, motels and much more were built because of the automobile. Not only that, but architectural styles changed also and houses that had a garage or carport, a driveway, and a smaller lawn were created. Automatic traffic signals, the Holland Tunnel, the first underwater tunnel for motor vehicles, and the Woodbridge Cloverleaf were created during this time and were helping with traffic. The automobile also made it possible for isolated families to travel to cities to go shopping or go on vacation. It gave women and young adults independence through its mobility. It also benefited the workers and allowed them to take jobs that were further away from their houses. The auto industry symbolized Coolidge’s success of the free enterprise system and his own era. Automobiles were cheap and by the late 1920s about 80 percent of the registered vehicles were in the United States. A humorous quote by Henry Ford was, “It will take a hundred years to tell whether you helped us or hurt us, but you certainly didn’t leave us where you found us.” Furthermore, airplane industries were starting a mail carrying service for the U.S. post office. With this first step, more and more inventions and additional equipment regarding the airplanes formed. Even transatlantic flights were possible now, thanks to Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Not long after that, the first transatlantic passenger airline was established, the Pan American Airways. Because the United States had all these great inventions, they owned around 40 percent of the word’s wealth, and the annual income rose more than 35 percent. With all the extra money that they earned, they started to buy more things. Electricity was widely used by now and with the alternating electrical currents, the distribution of electrical power over long distances was possible. Therefore, the number of electrified households grew. Home electronics were bought, such as an electric iron, electric refrigerators, cooking ranges, and toasters. The electrical bills were jumping off the page; however, with all these helpers in the house, housewives had more time and were even able to work outside the home. In addition, with all these goods
coming into the markets, advertising agencies hired psychologist to study people’s desires and to make their products more appealing to them. Slogans were everywhere and helped double most of its products. More and more people wanted to buy things and so everything was expanding. And industries provided easy credits to help pay for the products. The installment plan gave people the ability to buy products without having to pay a large amount in cash, and banks also gave low interest rates, too. But everything has a downside to it, so not shortly economists and business owners were concerned about the wellbeing of the people. A conversation that was shown in the book tells how a family had an automobile and couldn’t pay its second installment plan. What they did was sell their cook-stove, which they couldn’t live without. Therefore, they bought a new cook-stove with another installment plan, just to keep the automobile. Even though, Coolidge’s era was standing for economical and frugal way of life, the citizens didn’t bother with it. They enjoyed their lives, but for how long can they enjoy it?
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