Chapter 20
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A desire for normality after the war and a fear
of communism and “foreigners” led to
postwar isolationism.
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World War I had left much of the American
public exhausted.
◦ The economy was in a difficult state of adjustment.
◦ Soldiers faced unemployment or took jobs away
from women and minorities.
◦ Cost of living had doubled.
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Many Americans responded to the stressful
conditions by becoming fearful of outsiders.
Because of this, what are two ideas that
influenced the U.S.?
◦ Page 618
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A perceived threat to American life was the
spread of communism—an economic and
political system based on a single-party
government ruled by a dictatorship.
◦ The Red Scare: Panic in the U.S. began in 1919,
after revolutionaries in Russia overthrew the czarist
regime.

List the events that occurred in Russia which
led to the Red Scare (619).
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Palmer and his agents hunted down
suspected Communists, socialists, and
anarchists—people who opposed any form of
government.
They trampled people’s civil rights, invading
private homes and offices and jailing
suspects without allowing them legal counsel.
Hundreds of foreign-born radicals were
deported without trails.
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Eventually, Palmer’s raids failed to turn up
evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy.
Soon the public decided that Palmer didn’t
know what he was talking about.
Did Palmer and his agents abide by the U.S.
constitution?
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The two most famous victims of injustice
during the 20’s.
◦ Both were Italian immigrants and anarchists.
◦ Sacco was a shoemaker and Vanzetti was a fish
peddler.
◦ Both had evaded the draft during WWI.
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In May 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti were
arrested and charged with the robbery and
murder of a factory paymaster and his guard
in Massachusetts.
◦ Witnesses had said criminals appeared to be
Italians.
◦ The accused asserted their innocence and even
provided alibis.
◦ The evidence against them was circumstantial.
◦ The judge made prejudicial remarks.
◦ But, the jury still found them guilty and sentenced
them to death.
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Protests rang out in the U.S. Europe, and
Latin America.
Many people believed the Sacco and Vanzetti
were mistreated because of their radical
beliefs or because they were immigrants.
The two men died in the electric chair on
August 23rd, 1927.
Before he was executed, Vanzetti made a
statement: Page. 620
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In 1961 new ballistic tests showed that the
pistol found on Sacco was in fact the one
used to murder the guard.
But, there still was no proof that Sacco had
actually pulled the trigger.
What do you think? Do you think these two
actually committed the murder? Do you think
they were innocent or guilty? Why or why not.

“Keep American for Americans”
◦ Anti-immigrant attitudes had been growing in the
U.S. since the 1880’s.
◦ New immigrants began arriving from Southern and
Eastern Europe.
◦ Many of these immigrants were willing to work for
lower wages in industries such as coal mining, steel
production, and textiles.
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After WWI, the need for unskilled labor in the
U.S. decreased.
◦ Nativists believed that because the U.S. now had
fewer unskilled jobs available, fewer immigrants
should be let into the country.
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As a result of the Red Scare and antiimmigrant feelings, different groups used
anti-communism as an excuse to harass any
group unlike themselves.
◦ The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was devoted to “100
percent Americanisn”.
◦ By 1924,KKK membership reached 4.5 million
members.
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From 1919 to 1921, the number of
immigrants had grown almost 600%--from
141,000 to 805,000.
In response to nativist pressure, Congress
decided to limit immigration from certain
countries—mainly those in Southern and
Eastern Europe.
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The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a
quota system.
This system established the maximum
number of people who could enter the U.S.
from each foreign country.
◦ The goal of the quota system was to cut sharply at
European immigrants to the U.S.
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As amended in 1924, the law limited
immigration from each European nation to 2%
of the number of its nationals living in the
U.S.
◦ The provision discriminated against people for
Eastern and Southern Europe—mostly Roman
Catholics and Jews who had started immigrating to
the U.S. in large numbers.
◦ Also, the law prohibited Japanese immigration,
causing much ill will btw the two nations.
 Page 622
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Another postwar conflict formed between
labor and management.
◦ 1919 saw more that 3,000 strikes.
◦ 4 million workers walked off the job.
◦ Employers did not want to give raises, nor did they
want employees to join unions.
◦ What did employers label striking workers as?
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The Boston police had not been given a raise
since the beginning of WWI.
Because of this and some other issues, they
decided to unionize.
◦ When Reps asked for a raise, they were fired.
◦ The remaining police men decided to strike.
◦ Mayor Calvin Coolidge said: page 623
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The strike ended, but union members were
not allowed to return to work.
New police men were hired instead.
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These workers wanted the right to negotiate
for shorter working hours and a living wage.
They also wanted union recognition and
collective bargaining rights.
◦ In September 1919 U.S. Steel Corporation refused
to meet with union reps.
◦ In response over 300,000 workers quit.
◦ Steel companies hired “strikebreakers” and also
used force against those on strike.
 Striking workers were beaten by police, federal troops,
and state militias.
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The Steel Mill Strike ended in January 1920.
A report on the harsh working conditions in
steel mills shocked the public.
The steel companies agreed to an 8- hour
day, but the steelworkers remained without a
union.
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Membership declined from more than 5
million to 3.5 million. Membership declined
for several reasons:
◦ Much of the workforce consisted of immigrants
willing to work in poor conditions.
◦ Since immigrants spoke a multitude of languages,
unions had a difficult time organizing them.
◦ Farmers who had migrated to cities to find factory
jobs were used to relying on themselves.
◦ Most unions excluded African Americans.
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Main Idea: The Harding administration
appealed to America’s desire for calm and
peace after the war but resulted in scandal.
Why it matters now: We learned that the
government must guard against scandal and
corruption to merit public trust.
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After WWI, problems surfaced relating to
arms control, ward debt, and the
reconstruction of war torn countries.
In 1921 President Harding invited several
major powers to the Washington Naval
Conference.
◦ At the conference Secretary of State, Charles
Hughes suggested that the 5 major naval powers—
U.S. Britain, Japan, France, and Italy scrap many of
their battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers.
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This conference wanted powerful military
nations to agree to disarm.
In 1928, 15 countries agreed to sign the
Kellogg-Briand Pact which renounced war as
a national policy.
However the was futile because it provided no
means of enforcement.
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When it came time for Britain and France to
pay back the 10 million dollars they borrowed
from the U.S.—they could do this in 2 ways:
◦ 1. Selling goods to the U.S.
◦ 2. Collecting reparations from Germany.
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In 1922, America adopted the FordneyMcCumber Tariff, which raised taxes on U.S.
imports to 60%--the highest level ever.
The tax protected U.S. businesses—especially
in the chemical and metals industries—from
foreign competition.
But, it made it impossible for Britain and
France to sell enough goods in the U.S. to
repay debt.
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What plan did the U.S. devise in order to fix
the debt?
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Harding favored a limited role for government
is business affairs and in social reform.
He set up the Bureau of the Budget to help
run the government more efficiently.
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Charles Hughes appointed as Secretary of
State.
Herbert Hoover- Secretary of Commerce
Andrew Mellon- Secretary of the Treasury and
set about drastically cutting taxes and
reducing the national debt.
*Ohio Gang: Who are they?!
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Harding’s administration began to unravel as
his corrupt friends used their offices to
become wealthy through graft.
◦ Charles R. Forbes: Head of Veterans Bureau was
caught illegally selling government and hospital
supplies to private companies.
◦ Thomas A. Miller was caught doing what:
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Amidst rumors of corruption throughout his
administration, Harding died.
Calvin Coolidge became President.
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Main Idea:
◦ Consumer goods fueled the business boom of the
1920’s as America’s standards of living soared.
•
Why it Matters Now:
• Business, technological and social developments of
the 1920s launched the era of modern communism.
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Coolidge and Hoover favored to keep
government policies that would keep taxes
down and business profits up, and give
businesses more available credit to expand.
Their goal was to keep government
interference in business to a minimum and
allow private businesses to flourish.
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For most of the 1920’s, this approach
seemed to work.
High tariffs were placed on foreign imports
which helped American manufactures.
Reducing income taxes meant that people
had more money in their pockets.
Wages and productivity were also rising.
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By the late 1920’s about 80% of all motor
vehicles in the world were in the U.S.
The automobile changed:
◦ America’s landscape
 Paved roads *Route 66 Chicago to Cali
◦ Housing Styles
 Garages, People could live farther away, more
independence
 *Urban Sprawl
◦ Economic Growth
 Gas stations, repair shops, shopping centers
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The Auto industry symbolized the success of
the free enterprise system and the Coolidge
era.
Nowhere else in the world could people with
little money own their own automobile.
◦ 1 automobile to 5 people
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This industry grew and flourished as well.
Planes carried the nations mail, and
passenger service was introduced.
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The years from 1920 to 1929 were
prosperous ones for the United States.
◦ Americans owned around 40% of the world’s wealth
and that wealth changed the way in which most
Americans lived.
◦ The average annual income rose more than 35%
from $522-$705.
◦ People found it very easy to spend the extra income
and more!
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Previously electricity had been found in in
central cities. Now, it spread to suburbs.
(most farms still lacked electricity)
By the 1920’s most homes had electrical
appliances like—radios, washing machines,
and vacuum cleaners.
These appliances helped to change the face
of America.
◦ Housewives jobs were made easier, giving them
more free time.
◦ Women worked outside of the home.
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Advertising agencies no longer just informed
the public about products and goods. Now,
they hired psychologists to study how to
appeal to people’s desires for:
◦ Youthfulness, beauty, health, and wealth
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What are some examples? Page 631
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The prosperity that businesses were
generating seemed unstoppable!
National Income rose from $64 billion in
1921 to $87 billion in 1929.
This growth produced problems though!
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1st, the business scene was not completely
healthy.
◦ As workers produced more in the same number of
hours, businesses expanded, sometimes producing
more goods than they could even sell.
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Chain stores spread throughout the nation.
But, with this growth the difference in income
btw managers and workers grew.
◦ Also mining companies, railroads, and farms were
suffering.
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2nd, consumer debt rose to alarming levels.
Businesses helped promote consumer
spending by allowing customers to buy “on
credit”.
◦ By making payments low and spreading them over a
long period of time, businesses made it easy for
consumers to decide to purchase all the goods that
businesses were producing, but not always ready to
pay for it.
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During this era, most Americans focused their
attention on the present.
◦ They had very little concern for the future.
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The decade of the 1920s’ had brought about
many technological and economic changes.
Life “seemed” easier for most Americans.
◦ An emphasis was placed on “enjoying” life.