US Postwar Issues (12.1)
After WWI, many Americans feared that
Communists would take over the country.
1. How did the Justice Department under A.
Mitchell Palmer respond to this fear?
-Launched raids vs. suspected communists, socialists &
anarchists; arrested & jailed or deported suspected
radicals
2. Why did Palmer eventually lose his standing
with the American public?
-looked foolish when his raids failed to turn up evidence
of communist conspiracy
3. How did the KKK respond to this fear?
-used as an excuse to harass anyone unlike
themselves: African Americans, immigrants,
Catholics, Jews, labor unions
4. Why did the KKK eventually lose popularity
and membership?
-violence & criminal activities turned many
Americans against them
Public opinion turned against labor unions as many
Americans came to believe that unions encouraged
communism
5. Why was the strike by Boston police
unpopular with the public?
- threatened public safety: appeared to be an
act of communism or anarchism
6. Why did Massachusetts governor Calvin
Coolidge become so popular?
- called in National Guard to restore order,
leading to end of strike
7. Why was the strike at U.S. Steel unpopular?
- believed them to be communists
8. How did President Wilson respond to the
steel strike?
-written plea for peace between strikers and
steel companies
Sacco & Vanzetti: known anarchists wrongly
accused of robbery & murder, found guilty on
false evidence & lack of evidence, executed
John L. Lewis: union leader who accepted
arbitration of 27% wage increase
The Harding Presidency (12.2)
• 4 measures taken by the Harding
administration to maintain world peace
1. International conference: Washington Naval
Conference
2. 10 year halt to build warships
3. Disarmament agreement
4. Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war
The United States adopted the Fordney-McCumber
Tariff to protect businesses in the US from foreign
competition. This tariff made it difficult for Britain
and France to sell goods in the US and, therefore,
difficult to repay their war debts to US. To get money
to pay those debts, they demanded reparations from
Germany and troops from France invaded the Ruhr,
an industrial region of Germany. To avoid a new war,
US adopted the Dawes Plan. Under this program,
investors from US made loans to Germany. It used
the money to repay war debts to Britain and France.
Then they used the same money to repay war debts
to banks in US. In effect, US was repaid with its own
money. This arrangement caused bad feelings on
both sides of the Atlantic.
Business of America (12.3)
Invention or Trend
Effects of the Invention or Trend
Company or
Product
1. Automobiles
Changed life: paved roads, gas stations,
motels, shopping; urban sprawl, economic
boom, mobility to rural families, women &
young people
Ford
2. Airplane
industry
New means of transportation of people &
goods; gave greater freedom of travel
Lockheed Company
3. Alternating
electrical current
Ability to distribute electric power to
greater areas outside city: appliances;
housework easier, so can do other
activities & jobs outside home
Refrigerator
4. Modern
advertising
Greater demand for consumer goods
Turned luxury items into necessitites
Any advertised
product
5. Installment plan
False sense of prosperity
Buy on credit: buy goods now & pay off
over extended period of time with interest
Cars
Credit cards
Why should Americans in the 1920s
have shown greater concern for their
future?
• Growing income gap between workers &
managers
• Lack of true prosperity in iron & Railroad
industries
• Losses suffered by farmers & mining
companies
• Possibility that installment buying was out of
hand & represented superficial prosperity
Changing Ways of Life (13.1)
1. What were some pros and cons of life in the
nation’s cities?
PRO: People judged each other more by
accomplishments than by background &
tolerated different lifestyles
CON: life became impersonal & frighteningfast pace, not leisurely
2. For what reasons did some Americans
promote Prohibition?
too much drinking=social problems like crime,
wife & child abuse, and accidents
3. Why was the enforcement of Prohibition so
difficult?
many continued to drink illegally & not
enough force to stop smuggling & illegal
production
4. How did Prohibition help lead to the rise of
organized crime?
gangs that formed to sell alcohol illegally
began killing each other as they competed for
profits
5. Why did fundamentalists believe in a literal
interpretation of the Bible?
Bible inspired by God & stories & details were
true
6. What was the outcome of the Scopes trial?
found guilty & fined $100