.SECTION 12.1. Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues
I.
Postwar Trends
A.
– prejudice against foreign-born people
B.
– a policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs
C.
– an economic and political system based on a single-party
government ruled by a dictatorship
*pits the working class against capitalists
II.
Fear of Communism
A.
The Red Scare [1919-20]
1.
many Americans felt threatened by the spread of communism
(communists known as “reds”)
2.
1919 – the Communist Party USA was formed
B.
The Palmer Raids
1.
A. Mitchell Palmer – U.S. Attorney General from 1919-21
a.
appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant
b.
took action to combat the “Red Scare”
2.
targeted communists, socialists, and anarchists (people who oppose any
form of government)
3.
deported over 500 foreign-born citizens; eventually lost public support
C.
Sacco and Vanzetti
1.
Nicola Sacco (a shoemaker) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (a fish peddler)
a.
immigrated to the U.S. from Italy
b.
were anarchists
c.
evaded the draft during WWI
2.
1920 – were arrested and charged with robbery and murder; were
convicted and sentenced to death
3.
1927 – were electrocuted
III.
Limiting Immigration
A.
The Klan Rises Again
1.
the first wave of the Ku Klux Klan died out with passage of the Civil
Right Act of 1781
2.
in 1915, the second wave of the KKK began
a.
were anti:
— immigrant
— Catholic
— non-white
— semitic
b.
supported prohibition; opposed labor unions; sought to protect
“Americanism” and American families
3.
by 1924, membership in the KKK had reached 4.5 million
B.
The Quota System
1.
Emergency Quota Act [1921] – established a quota system (established
the maximum number of people who could enter the U.S. from each
foreign country)
*targeted European immigration to the U.S.
2.
IV.
Immigration Act [1924]
a.
limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted to the
U.S. from any country per year to 2% of the number of its nationals
who were already living in the United States in 1890
*discriminated against Catholics and Jews who had not started
*coming to the U.S. in large numbers until after 1890
b.
banned immigrants from Japan
c.
did not apply to countries in the Western Hemisphere
A Time of Labor Unrest
A.
The Boston Police Strike
1.
police in Boston had not been given a raise since the beginning of WWI
2.
had been denied the right to unionize
3.
September 1919 – went on strike
4.
the governor of Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge, called out the National
Guard
a.
the strike ended
b.
new policemen were hired to replace the ones on strike
c.
Coolidge was heralded as a hero; became Warren G. Harding’s VP
running mate in the election of 1920
B.
C.
The Steel Mill Strike
1.
September 1919 – steelworkers in Pennsylvania went on strike
2.
the United States Steel Corporation hired “strikebreakers,” and linked the
strikers to communists
3.
strike ended in January 1920; workers were not allowed to unionize, but
the company agreed to an 8-hour work day
The Coal Miners’ Strike
1.
1919 – John L. Lewis became president of the United Mine Workers; led
a coal miners’ strike
2.
Attorney General Palmer (and later President Wilson) ordered the miners
back to work
3.
Lewis encouraged the miners to defy the order; mines were closed for
nearly two months
4.
strike ended, and coal miners received a 27% wage increase; Lewis was
heralded as a national hero
.SECTION 12.2. The Harding Presidency
I.
Harding Struggles for Peace
A.
The Election of 1920
1.
THE CANDIDATES:
a.
DEMOCRATS
— James M. Cox (President)
— Franklin D. Roosevelt (Vice President)
b.
REPUBLICANS
— Warren G. Harding (President)
— Calvin Coolidge (Vice President)
c.
were several other minor candidates
2.
THE RESULT:
a.
Cox / Roosevelt – 127 electoral votes
b.
Harding / Coolidge – 404 electoral votes
B.
Washington Naval Conference
1.
lasted from Nov. 1921 to Feb. 1922
2.
attended by nine nations (communist Russia was not invited)
3.
American delegation was led by Harding’s Secretary of State, Charles
Evans Hughes
4.
for the first time in history, powerful nations agreed to disarm
C.
High Tariffs and Reparations
1.
the Treaty of Versailles [1919] required Germany to pay reparations to
allied powers
2.
Britain and France owed the U.S. $10 billion
3.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff [1922]
a.
raised tariffs on some U.S. imports to 60%
b.
made it nearly impossible for Britain and France to sell enough
goods to repay the U.S.
4.
Germany experienced mass inflation, and defaulted on its payments
5.
Occupation of the Ruhr [1923-25]
a.
French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr Valley
b.
alarmed world leaders (could start another war)
6.
The Dawes Plan
a.
American banker Charles G. Dawes was sent to negotiate loans
b.
STIPULATIONS:
— French and Belgium troops had to evacuate the Ruhr Valley
— Germany would resume payment of reparations at an annually
— increasing rate
— Germany’s central bank, the Reichsbank, would be placed under
— Allied supervision
— reparations would be funded, partially, by German taxes
— American investors loaned Germany $2.5 billion
c.
II.
Britain and France resented what they perceived as a U.S. scheme
to repay itself with its own money
Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration
A.
Harding’s Cabinet
1.
the “Ohio Gang”
a.
cronies of Warren G. Harding
b.
“MEMBERS”:
— Harry M. Daugherty (Attorney General)
— Edwin Denby (Secretary of the Navy)
— Albert B. Fall (Secretary of the Interior)
— Charles R. Forbes (Director of the Veterans Bureau)
— Thomas W. Miller (Alien Property Custodian)
— “Jess” Smith (Aide to the Attorney General)
2.
the Teapot Dome Scandal [1921-22]
a.
1915 – the Teapot Dome Oil Field (named after Teapot Rock) was
designated as a Naval Petroleum Reserve
b.
Interior Secretary Fall managed to get the oil reserves transferred
from the Navy to the Department of the Interior
c.
Fall secretly leased the land to two private oil companies; began
receiving kickbacks
— was found guilty of bribery
— became the first American to be convicted of a felony while
— holding a cabinet post
B.
President Coolidge
1.
August 2, 1923 – President Harding died of a cerebral hemorrhage
(possibly caused by a stroke)
2.
the next day, Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn-in as President of
the United States