The Roaring 20s
An era of prosperity,
Republican power,
and conflict

1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or
the "Jazz Age"
– A period of great change in American Society - modern
America is born at this time
– For first time the census reflected an urban society - people
had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard of living
Republican Power
 President
Warren
G. Harding
 Elected 1920
 Legacy of
Scandals
– “Teapot Dome”
Scandal
 Died
in office
The 1920 Election: Meet the
Candidates

Warren G. Harding: Republican Party
– From Ohio
– Had originally made his mark as a newspaper editor and
parlayed his success there into a seat in the Senate

James Cox: Democratic Party
– President Wilson wanted a third term despite his poor health
and declining public appeal.
– Party regulars, however, refused to accede to the president's
wishes and succeeded in garnering the nomination for a
political nonentity

Eugene V. Debs: Socialist Party
– Was then serving a 10-year prison term for antiwar activities
in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917.
The 1920 Election

Woodrow Wilson originally tried to run for a 3rd term
– He lost the Democratic Party’s nomination
– Wilson supported Democratic Candidate James M.
Cox of Ohio
» If Cox won, Wilson was convinced it would prove that
Americans supported his vision of peace and the League
of Nations
– Election of Warren G. Harding served as the final
rejection of the League of Nation
» Harding ran on platform rejecting both Wilson’s idealism
& joining the League of Nations
» He campaigned on a “Return to Normalcy”
The 1920 Election Results


Harding proved to be a better judge of the electorate than
Wilson.
Staging a sedate campaign from his front porch in
Marion, Ohio, Harding stated,
– "America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums
but normalcy; not revolution but restoration...."

In November, the voters overwhelmingly indicated their
exhaustion with Wilson's idealism and a preference for
Harding's return to normality.
– Harding wins in a landslide

Republicans also won majority in Congress, which
proved Americans wanted to take a different path in
foreign affairs and isolate themselves from European
affairs/wars
The 1920 Election: A Return to Normalcy
Noteworthiness of the 1920 Election

THE RADIO CHANGES THE WAY
ELECTION RESULTS DELIVERED
– For the first time in American history, election results
were made available to the public by radio.
– KDKA in Pittsburgh received polling information by
telegraph and passed the information along to
listeners in the eastern part of the country.

WOMEN VOTE IN A FEDERAL
ELECTION
– This election also marked the first time that women
voted in a federal election, following the ratification
of the Nineteenth Amendment in August of that
year.
Scandal Rocks
the Harding
Administration
TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL. Cartoon by Rollin
Kirby from the New York World, January 30,
1924, on the Teapot Dome investigations.
Teapot Dome Scandal: Background


Refers to a bribery
scandal of the White
House administration of
President Warren G.
Harding.
Teapot Dome is an oil
field (picture bottom
right) on public land in
the U.S. state of
Wyoming, so named for
Teapot Rock (picture top
right), an outcrop
resembling a teapot
overlooking the field.
Teapot Dome Scandal




In 1921, by executive order of President Harding, control of
Naval oil reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and at Elk
Hills, California, was transferred from the Navy Department
to the Department of the Interior.
The oil reserves had been set aside for the Navy by
President Taft.
In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior,
leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome fields
to Harry F. Sinclair, an oil operator, and the field at Elk
Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheny.
These transactions became (1922–23) the subject of a
Senate investigation conducted by Sen. Thomas J. Walsh.
Teapot Dome Scandal Findings


It was found that in 1921, Doheny had lent Fall $100,000,
interest-free, and that upon Fall's retirement as Secretary of
the Interior, in March 1923, Sinclair also lent him a large
amount of money.
The investigation led to criminal prosecutions.
– Fall was indicted for conspiracy and for accepting bribes.
Convicted of the latter charge, he was sentenced to a year in prison
and fined $100,000. In another trial for bribery Doheny and
Sinclair were acquitted, although Sinclair was subsequently
sentenced to prison for contempt of the Senate and for employing
detectives to shadow members of the jury in his case.

The oil fields were restored to the U.S. government through
a Supreme Court decision in 1927.

TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL: 1924
"Bargain Day in Washington": American cartoon, 1924, by Ellison Hoover on the
political corruption of the Harding administration revealed by Teapot Dome.
TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL: 1924

American cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman, 1924, showing Washington officials
racing down an oil slicked road to the White House, trying desperately to outpace
the Teapot Dome scandal.
President Warren
G. Harding Dies


DEATH OF HARDING, 1923. Front page of
the Los Angeles Times, 3 August 1923,
announcing the death of Warren G.
Harding, 29th President of the United States.
Summer 1923 Harding was on
a speaking tour that went as
far as Alaska
He died on August 2, 1923 in
California on from pneumonia
& thrombosis on his way back
from a speaking tour
– Many say that he may have died
from a broken heart from
finding out his friends and some
cabinet members were disloyal
(Teapot Dome Scandal)
Coolidge Administration

Few political pros in 1923 believed that
Coolidge had any chance of being elected
in his own right in the following year.
– However, the president demonstrated great
political skill by distancing himself from the
Harding scandals and pursuing policies that
enjoyed widespread support.
– The thoroughly conservative Coolidge
believed that those who had been tested in the
business arena should be trusted with making
decisions for the nation, once opining that
"The business of America is business."
– Little significant legislation was enacted
during his administration because of his firmly
held belief that government should interfere as
little as possible in the lives of its citizens.
Coolidge Administration

Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office from his father, a justice of the
peace in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, on the day following Warren
Harding's death.
Election of 1924 Party Platforms
The Republican platform
endorsed the following:
– support for tax reductions and
the limitation on government's
role in American society;
– tariff protection for American
industry, as provided in the
recently enacted FordneyMcCumber Tariff;
– U.S. participation in
international arms reduction
programs and membership in
the World Court.
Calvin Coolidge
(Republican Party Candidate)
Election of 1924 Party Platforms
The Democratic platform
promoted:
– a graduated income tax;
– tough enforcement of antitrust
laws;
– public works projects to alleviate
unemployment;
– farm relief with more accessible
credit and crop price subsidies;
– a tariff reduction;
– Philippine Islands independence;
– a referendum on the League of
Nations.
John W. Davis
(Democratic Party Candidate)
Election of 1924 Party Platforms
The Progressive Party Platform:
Robert LaFollette
(Progressive Party Candidate)
– public management and conservation
of natural resources;
– government ownership of the railroads
and power-generating resources;
– acknowledgement of workers' right to
unionize and bargain collectively;
– elimination of child labor;
– dissolution of monopolies;
– curbs on the use of injunctions to break
strikes;
– opposition to the conservative policies
of Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon.
Election of 1924 Results
President Coolidge
“The business of America is business.”
 Fordney-McCumber
Tariff
 Smoot-Hawley Tariff
 No help for farmers
 Foreign Policy
Post-War Domestic Politics

War Industries Board
dissolved
– Progressive hopes of
continuation government
regulation evaporated

Esch-Cummins
Transportation Act (1920)

Merchant Marine Act
(1920)
– Authorized Shipping Board
to dispense most of the 1,500
vessels of war-time fleet at
bargain-basement prices
– Board operated the remainder
of vessels
– Government returned
railroads to private ownership  La Follette Seaman’s Act
(1915)
– Encouraged private
– American shipping couldn’t
consolidation of railroads
thrive in competition with
– ICC pledged profitability
foreigners
– New Philosophy: Save
» Provided wretched food &
railroads for the country
starvation wages to crews
Post-War Domestic Politics

Veterans Bureau (1921)

– Operated Veteran’s Hospitals
– Created to provide vocational
rehabilitation for the injured

American Legion
Veteran’s Demand Compensation
– Former servicemen, the “doughboys,”
wanted their “dough”—that is adjusted
compensation to make up for the money
they lost while they served in the war

Bonus Bill (1922)
– Founded in Paris (1919) by
– Passed in Congress, but Harding Vetoed
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt,
it.
Jr.
– Congress would try again in 1924.
– Members met regularly to “let
off steam” and renew old
 Adjusted Compensation Act (also
hardships
known as the Bonus Army Bill)
– Became distinguished for its
(1924)
militant-patriotism, rock-ribbed
– Congress passed law to give soldiers a
conservatism, and zealous
paid up insurance policy due in 20 years,
antiradicalism
adding $3.5 billion to cost of WWI
– Veterans aggressively lobbying
– Coolidge vetoed bill, Congress overrode
for Veteran’s Benefits
this veto
Emergency Tariff Act (1921)

Reversing the trend
toward downward
revision established
during the Wilson
administration,
Republican leaders in
Congress rushed
through a temporary
measure to ease the
plight of farmers until a
more thorough measure
could be crafted.


The Emergency Tariff
increased rates on wheat,
sugar, meat, wool and other
agricultural products brought
into the United States from
foreign nations, which
provided protection for
domestic producers of those
items.
This measure remained in
effect until the enactment of
the Fordney-McCumber
Tariff in the fall of 1922.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)

Republican leadership
marshaled over their
overwhelming majorities
in both the House and
Senate to return the
nation’s tariff policy to
protectionism.
– The Emergency Tariff Act
of 1921 was designed to be
only a temporary measure
until a more comprehensive
measure could be drafted.
TARIFF BILL, 1921. 'Cures All the Ills of Man or Beast.' Cartoon, 1921, by Rollin
Kirby commenting on the resurrection of the Fordney Emergency Tariff Bill, vetoed by
President Woodrow Wilson but signed, 1921, by President Warren G. Harding.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)

Major new tariff legislation
was guided through
Congress by Representative
Joseph W. Fordney of
Michigan and Senator
Porter J. McCumber of
North Dakota, and provided
for the following:
– (1) raising tariff rates to their
highest level to that time,
exceeding those provided by
an earlier Republican
Congress in the PayneAldrich Tariff (1909);
– (2) granting to the president
broad powers to raise or
lower rates by as much as
50 percent on items
recommended by the Tariff
Commission, a review
body created during the
Wilson administration;
– (3) introducing the use of
the “American selling
price”
» * as a means to increase the
protective nature of the tariff
without raising rates further.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)


'Scientific tariff':
this linked tariffs to
the wages in the
country of
export. If wages in,
say Italy, were very
low, then Italian
goods were given a
proportionately
higher tariff.
This negated the
effect of lower
wages in competitor
countries.


'American Selling Price': this
linked tariffs to the price of
American goods, not to the cost
of production.
A German company might be
able to produce, say, a certain
chemical for $60, but if the
selling price in America was
$80, and the U.S. tariff was
50%, the tariff would be $40.
– This meant that foreign imports
were ALWAYS more expensive
than American-produced goods,
however cheaply they had been
made.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)



An anti-tariff American cartoon of the time, linking the tariff to
isolationism. The French man is saying: 'But Monsieur, where
does it end'.
Act established the
highest tariffs in
history, with some
duties up to 400% and
an average of 40%.
In the long-run, the act
damaged the American
economy, because other
countries retaliated by
putting up their duties
and stopping American
exports.
However, for the
moment, America was
a huge new country,
and there was plenty of
demand at home.
Negative Effects of the Fordney-McCumber
Tariff (1922)
– As a matter of actual practice,
the Republican presidents of
the 1920s predictably ignored
recommendations to lower
tariff rates
» regularly offered protection to
American producers by raising
rates when given the opportunity.
– The impact of the FordneyMcCumber 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.
TARIFF CARTOON, 1927. 'But, Monsieur,
Where Does it Bend?' Cartoon commenting
on the Fordney Emergency Tariff Bill by
Rollin Kirby from he New York 'World,' 4
October 1927.
Negative Effects of the FordneyMcCumber Tariff (1922)


Further, the protective shield against foreign competition
enabled the growth of monopolies in many American
industries.
Predictably, other nations resented the American policy,
protested without result, and eventually resorted to raising
their own tariff rates against American-made goods, thus
creating a significant decline in international trade.
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930)


Sometimes known as the HawleySmoot Tariff Act) was an act signed
into law on June 17, 1930, that raised
U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported
goods to record levels.
In the United States 1,028 economists
signed a petition against this
legislation
– after it was passed, many countries
retaliated with their own increased tariffs
on U.S. goods
– American exports and imports plunged by
more than half. In the opinion of most
economists, the Smoot-Hawley Act was a
catalyst for the severe reduction in U.S.European trade from its high in 1929 to its
depressed levels of 1932 that accompanied
the start of the Great Depression.
HAWLEY AND SMOOT, 1929.
Representative Willis C. Hawley (left)
and Senator Reed Smoot, advocates of
the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act.
Photograph, 11 April 1929.
Demand to Slow Down Immigration


Demand was growing,
however, to slow down
immigration and there
followed a number of
laws to restrict
immigration:
Immigration Law
(1917)
– This required all
immigrants to prove they
could read English,
banned all immigration
from Asia, and charged
an immigration fee of $8.

Emergency Quota Act
(1921)
– This stated that the number of
immigrants from 'the eastern
hemisphere' could not be more
than 3% of the number already
in America in 1910.
– It set the maximum number of
immigrants in any year at
357,000.
Demand to Slow Down Immigration

Reed-Johnson Act
(1924)
– Maximum number of
immigrants in any year
at 154,000. Quota
from eastern
hemisphere reduced to
2% of those already in
America in 1890
– The South and the East
of Europe were thus
only allowed to send
20,000 immigrants per
year, and nonEuropeans only 4,000.
At the same time measures were taken
to 'Americanize' immigrants:
The Federal Bureau of Naturalization
organized naturalization proceedings, and
patriotic 'Americanization Day' rallies and
Fourth of July celebrations.
 The Federal Bureau of Education organized
courses on politics and democracy to prepare
immigrants for the 'citizenship exam'.
 The courts clamped down harshly on political
crimes by immigrants



In the postwar period,
Republicans regained
control of the White
House and Congress,
and pursued their goal
of reducing the cost of
government and
increasing its
efficiency.
Warren Harding called
a special session of
congress and urged,
among other things,
the passage of the
budget bill.
Budget &
Accounting Act
1921

The overall aim of this
legislation was to centralize the
budget process. In the past,
budget matters had been
assigned to a variety of
Congressional committees and
no central control existed.

The measure gained Budget & Accounting
approval in June,
Act 1921
retaining the
– Required that the Director of the Budget
provision opposed
examine all budget requests from
by Wilson, and
Congress, seek economies, and remove
provided:
duplicates.
– Created the Bureau
of the Budget
– Required the president to submit a
budget proposal and a statement of the
» Its director was to be
government’s financial condition to
a presidential
Congress annually.
appointee.
» The federal fiscal year was to run from July
» The bureau was
1 through June 30 of the following year.
originally part of the
Treasury Department, – Established the General Accounting
but in 1939 it was
Office under the control of the
transferred to the
Comptroller General.
Executive
» The GAO's function was to conduct audits of
Department.
government accounts.


The immense cost of U.S.
participation in World
War I had necessitated a
wide variety of new taxes
and increases in existing
ones.
When the conflict ended,
the nation faced two
choices:
– (1) Retain the high taxes
and pay down the large
debt accumulated during
the war, or
– (2) provide relief to
taxpayers by reducing or
eliminating taxes.
Revenue Act 1921

The Revenue Act of
1921 highlighted an
enduring problem —
attempting to balance the
responsible position of
discharging the nation’s
obligations with the everpopular demand for
lowering taxes.
Judges Bill (1925)


The U.S. Supreme Court labored under an increasingly heavy
workload in the early 1920s as prohibition enforcement issues and
residual matters from World War I demanded attention.
In 1921, 3 Associate Justices accommodated Congress by drafting a
measure tailored to limit the number of cases to be heard by the Court.
– The basic thrust of the proposed legislation was to direct most of the appeals
from the federal district courts to the federal courts of appeal, which had been
created by Congress, in 1891.

Chief Justice William Howard Taft left most of the overt lobbying to
the other justices, but worked to build a coalition of supporters for the
proposal.
– Backing in Congress grew slowly, but achieved a majority in early 1925.

The so-called “Judges’ Bill” helped to change the role of the Supreme
Court, making it largely an arbiter of questions of constitutional
principle, while the appeals courts became the final authority on most
appeals cases.
Revenue Act (1926)
Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon continued his
drive toward the reduction of the size of government
and the tax burdens it imposed on its citizens.
 Highlights of the 1926 law included:

– the reduction of inheritance and personal income taxes;
– the cancellation of many excise imposts (luxury or
nuisance taxes);
– the end of public access to federal income tax returns.

The continuation of Republican tax reduction efforts
would be evident again in the Revenue Act of 1928.
Jones-White Act (1928)


Often known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1928, this measure was
evidence of an attempt by Congress to stimulate private shipbuilding
in the United States and to assist in making the merchant marine
competitive in the global market.
Provisions of this law included the following:
– A federal loan fund was increased to $250 million and enabled private
shipbuilders to borrow up to 75 percent of their costs for new construction or
reconditioning of existing vessels.
– Authorization was given to allow the sale of surplus government vessels to
private firms at bargain prices.
– Long-term government contracts were authorized to hire private shippers to
transport U.S. mail; ships engaged in this trade were required to employ one
American-born male under 21 years of age for every 1,000 tons of gross weight
and train those individuals in seamanship.
Background: the Election of 1928

In August 1927, incumbent
President Calvin Coolidge
announced to the nation:
– "I do not choose to run for
president in 1928."

That blunt statement opened
the doors to a number of
Republican hopefuls, but none
approached the public esteem
enjoyed by Herbert Hoover,
the current secretary of
commerce and possessor of a
long record of humanitarian
service.
Herbert Hoover
Election of 1928: Herbert Hoover (R)
Republican Platform of 1928
 Claimed full credit for the
nation's prosperity and
pledged to:
– continue opposition to the
McNary-Haugen farm bill,
favoring instead the creation
of farmer-owned stabilization
corporations as a means to
increase farm prices;
– maintain a high protective tariff
– support the strict enforcement
for the benefit of American
of the 18th Amendment
farmers and manufacturers;
(prohibition);
– carry on Coolidge-era foreign
policy initiatives.
Election of 1928: Alfred E. Smith (D)
Democratic Platform of 1928

a farm policy that would give
American farmers government
support commensurate with that
provided to other industries,
– avoided an endorsement of the
contentious McNary-Haugen bill;

enforcement of prohibition laws,
but it was clear to all observers
that the Democratic nominee was
opposed to this position;
– this effort to take both sides of a
 opposition to the blanket use of
nettlesome issue would cost the party injunctions and support for
heavily in the Bible Belt;
collective bargaining rights for
American workers;
Election of 1928: Alfred E. Smith (D)
Democratic Platform of 1928


a change in the heavy-handed
Coolidge foreign policy and, in
particular, the granting of
immediate independence to the
Philippines;
a transformation in government to
escape the scandals of Republican
leadership; the Democrats deftly
avoided reference to the nation's
prosperity and instead tried to
dredge up memories of Harding's
corrupt cronies.

Smith Quick Info:
– He was a Catholic
– Product of Tammany Hall
Politics
Election of 1928 Results
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s

Harding displayed some of his
best instincts by his
appointment of the
distinguished Charles Evans
Hughes as secretary of state.
– Campaign equivocation was put
aside and the administration
boldly proclaimed its intention to
steer clear of membership in the
League of Nations — a clear step
toward isolationism.
– However, a meaningful step was
taken in the direction of
international cooperation and
arms reduction.
Charles Evans Hughes
America
Isolates itself
from the Rest
of the World
“I SYMPATHIZE DEEPLY
WITH YOU, MADAME, BUT
I CANNOT ASSOCIATE
WITH YOU”

CHARLES EVANS HUGHES (1862-1948). American jurist. Cartoon by Rollin Kirby
from the New York 'World,' 4 December 1923.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Reconciliation with Columbia

Background:
– The administration of
Theodore Roosevelt
blatantly interfered in
Colombian affairs in 1903 in
order to secure land for the
construction of a canal
across Central America.
– That event had soured
relations between the two
nations and made others in
Latin America suspicious
about U.S. activities.
– An effort was launched to
redress Colombian
grievances during the
Wilson administration.
– Thaddeus A. Thomson, an American
lawyer and diplomat from Texas,
negotiated a treaty in Bogotá:
» awarded the government $25 million for
the loss of Panama and included an
apology for the U.S. role in the affair.
– Senate friends of Roosevelt, who was
still alive and actively critical of
Wilson, refused to consider the
matter, regarding it as an unjust
condemnation of the former
president.
» Colombian resentment continued to
simmer beneath the surface.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Reconciliation with Columbia


By 1921, conditions had changed.
– The Thomson-Urrutia
Roosevelt had died two years
Treaty was a clear reversal of
earlier and his supporters in the
policy by the Republicans, as
Senate seemed less concerned about
the Democrats gleefully
his memory than responding to the
pointed out during the
call of American businessmen who
ratification hearings.
had learned about the discovery of
– In the end, the agreement was
vast oil reserves in Colombia.
easily ratified by the Senate
– The 7-year old reconciliation treaty
on April 20, 1921 and
was dusted off and an offending
passage removed — that which
accepted by Colombia later
expressed the United States’ “sincere
that year.
regret” for the Panamanian adventure.
– The cash payment, however, was
retained.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
The World Court


The idea of establishing a
world judicial body was not
originated in Paris in 1919, but
had been discussed on many
occasions, most recently at the
Second Hague Conference in
1907.
The Covenant of the League of
Nations called for the creation
of such a body with judges to
be selected by the league’s
council and assembly from a
list of nominees submitted by
the Hague Court of
Arbitration.


Despite not being a member of the
League, the United States sent the
distinguished diplomat Elihu Root
to assist in the drafting of the
court’s protocol or constitution.
The expectation was that the U.S.
would participate actively in the
court.
– A recommendation to that effect was
made by Secretary of State Charles
Evans Hughes, who urged President
Harding to act favorably on the matter.
» The League of Nations attempted to
smooth the way by making an exception to
its rules and allowing a non-member to
have a role in naming judges to the court.


Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
The World Court
Despite the efforts of the forces 
favoring American participation,
isolationists in the Senate
succeeded in blocking

ratification of the court’s
protocol.
Both political parties gave support
to those views in their platforms in
1924.
However, the Irreconcilables in the
Senate feared that cooperation with
the court might be used as a
– They feared that membership in the
backdoor entry into the league,
judicial body would be a first step
and, indeed, many supporters of
toward membership in the League
the court hoped that to be the case.
of Nations.
 On November 11, 1926, President
During the Coolidge
administration, American public Coolidge, recognizing that the
opinion continued to oppose any senate would not consider revising
its reservations at that point,
thought of membership in the
announced that the United States
League of Nations, but favored
"adherence" to the World Court. would not join the court.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Peace with the Central Powers


The fighting in World
War I was halted by the
signing of an armistice
on November 11, 1918.
The United States, in a
bitter struggle between
President Wilson and
determined Senate
leaders, refused to take
the next step and ratify
the Treaty of Versailles,
which was concluded in
June 1919.

An effort to force the
Senate’s hand by
making the Election of
1920 a referendum
on Wilson’s version of
the peace failed
miserably and passed
the question on to the
administration of
Republican Warren G.
Harding.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Peace with the Central Powers

Harding had waffled
shamelessly on the Treaty issue
during the campaign, but made
it clear upon entering office that
he would not seek membership
in the League.
– On July 2, 1921, Congress adopted
a joint resolution declaring the war
at an end.
– The United States proclaimed its
right to the privileges granted the
other Allied nations in the Treaty,
but assumed no corresponding
obligations.

In late August, separate treaties
were concluded with Germany,
Austria and Hungary.
– These agreements were promptly
ratified by the Senate, which
provided an official end to the
United States’ role in the conflict.
– No accommodation was sought
with Bulgaria and Turkey because
the U.S. had not declared war on
those nations.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s

WARREN G. HARDING, 1921. President Harding signing the Congressional
Resolution ending the state of war with Austria and Germany at the country
home of Senator Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, July 1921.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Washington Naval Conference (1921)



Known as the International Conference on Naval Limitation, this
disarmament effort was occasioned by the hugely expensive naval
construction rivalry that existed among Britain, Japan and the United
States.
Senator William E. Borah, Republican of Idaho, took the lead on this
matter and urged that the major Allied nations from the recent war
gather in an effort to slow the arms race.
The proposal was not met with initial enthusiasm by the Harding
administration, but it became a political imperative when it was
portrayed as a Republican alternative to League of Nations’ peace
efforts.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Washington Naval Conference (1921)

The Four-Power Pact, signed by the United States, Great
Britain, Japan, and France on Dec. 13, 1921
– stipulated that all the signatories would be consulted in the event of
a controversy between two of them over “any Pacific question.”
– An accompanying agreement stated they would respect one
another’s rights regarding the various Pacific islands and mandates
that they possessed.
– These agreements ensured that a consultative framework existed
between the United States, Great Britain, and Japan
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Washington Naval Conference (1921)

The Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty, which was signed by the
United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy on Feb. 6, 1922,
grew out of the opening proposal at the conference by U.S. Secretary
of State Charles Evans Hughes to scrap almost 1,900,000 tons of
warships belonging to the Great Powers.
– The treaty halted the post-World War I race in building warships and even
reversed the trend; it necessitated the scrapping of 26 American, 24 British, and
16 Japanese warships that were either already built or under construction.
– The contracting nations also agreed to abandon their existing capital-ship
building programs for a period of 10 years, subject to certain specified
exceptions. Under another article in the treaty, the United States, Great Britain,
and Japan agreed to maintain the status quo with regard to their fortifications
and naval bases in the eastern Pacific.
– The Naval Limitation Treaty remained in force until the mid-1930s.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Collection of War Debts


The desire of the United
States to secure
repayment for cash loans
and goods extended to
European Allies during
and after World War I
was a highly publicized
issue during the 1920s.
The stance did much to
destroy the loyalties and
goodwill that had
developed during the
conflict.


Even before peace had
formally been concluded,
various Allied nations began
to press the United States to
scale back or cancel entirely
these obligations.
Indeed, there was some
justification for reconsidering
the entire debt issue:
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Collection of War Debts
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
COLLECTION OF WAR
DEBT


– (1) Most of the borrowed money
had been spent in the United

States for supplies and war
matériel, and had provided a
tremendous stimulus for the
American economy, which was
then the envy of the world.
– Many Europeans believed that the
U.S. had already been repaid.
(2) Some of the debtor nations argued
that the war had been a common
cause and that one victorious power
should not profit at the expense of
others.
Further, the U.S., insulated by wide
oceans, had entered the war late
and allowed the European allies to
do most of the fighting and dying.
(3) It was unlikely that the
Europeans would be able to repay
their obligations in gold, as the
U.S. wanted, because that
commodity was needed to back up
their faltering currencies.
– The other payment alternative would
have been to send European goods to
America and build a trade surplus, but
U.S. protective trade policies made
this nearly impossible.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Collection of War Debts

The Harding

administration made it
clearly understood that
the United States had
no interest in
cancellation.
–
–
In February 1922, Congress established the
World War Foreign Debt Commission to
negotiate repayment plans with the debtor
nations.
– The Commission eventually concluded 15
agreements that contained terms based upon the
debtors’ abilities to pay.
– In aggregate, a final principal amount of $11.5
billion was accepted, to be paid off over 62
years with interest rates averaging slightly
above two percent.
– If paid in full, this would have yielded more
than $22 billion.
This position was
widely supported by the
public, which felt that
those who incur debts
should repay them.
This tight-fistedness
was not well received
in Europe, where the  Allied recipients of the reparations
image of Uncle Sam
payments were unable to pay the U.S. after
slowly gave way to
the German default on their payments.
“Uncle Shylock.”
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Central American Conference (1922)

The 1920s saw a continuation of endemic political instability in
Central America and many parts of the Caribbean.
– Despite the trappings of democracy, dictatorships prevailed in most of these
nations and a progression of corrupt regimes continued to oppress the working
masses.

In 1922, the U.S. invited Central American nations to a conference in
Washington for the specific purpose of trying to heal a bitter dispute
between Honduras and Nicaragua.
– U.S. delegates failed to ignite interest in the formation of a Central American
union, an idea that had been planned a number of times previously, but had
never succeeded. However, the conference was able to reach agreement on the
following:
» the establishment of a Central American Court of Justice
» the negotiation of a treaty of neutrality
» preliminary planning on an arms limitation agreement.
Foreign Affairs in the 1920s:
Central American Conference (1922)



Over the next few years, a number of Central American nations
ratified these agreements, but no effort was made to implement their
provisions.
The United States was unable to exert effective leadership because it
was viewed with suspicion, if not hatred, by many Latin nations.
The U.S. had a history of supporting dictatorships that were friendly
to American business interests and repeatedly intervened when it was
felt that conditions were spiraling out of control.
– This pattern continued in the 1920s, when Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba were
occupied by American forces to protect lives and investments.
Dawes Plan (1924)

In 1921, the international
Reparations Commission was
established to determine the scope of
damages caused by Germany during
World War I.
– An unrealistically high total of $33
billion was forced on the defeated
nation, but it managed to make an initial
installment payment in September 1921.

However, dire economic conditions
in Germany led to default and the
imposition of a moratorium by the
creditor nations, which hoped that a
temporary cessation of payments
would allow the German economy to
recover so that payments could be
resumed.


An international
committee was formed
with two representatives
each from Britain, France,
Italy, Belgium, and the
United States.
The American delegates
were financier Charles G.
Dawes, who headed the
effort, and financier Owen
D. Young.
Dawes Plan 1924

A report was issued in April 1924 that
called for the following:
– A series of financial reforms was to be
implemented in Germany, including the backing
of the mark with gold reserves as a means to
stabilize the currency;
– a variety of new taxes was to be introduced in
Germany;
– the reparation payment schedule was reworked
to require annual installments that would
increase from one billion gold marks due in
1924, to two and a half billion marks due four
years later;
– a massive series of loans was to be extended to
Germany, many of them from the U.S.;
– France agreed to evacuate its forces from the
Ruhr.
Charles G. Dawes
Geneva Conference (1927)




In February 1927, President Coolidge issued a call to the Big Five
Powers to meet in Geneva to confront the issue of naval rivalries.
Britain and Japan accepted the invitation, but France and Italy
declined, citing their current involvement in League of Nations
disarmament efforts.
Big navy advocates in the U.S. read the failure at Geneva to mean that
further arms limitation could be accomplished only by resuming the
naval construction race.
If Congress would fund a new building program and be willing to
outspend the others, then the rivals would be forced to seek an
agreement.
In early 1929, Congress provided funding for 15 new cruisers and an
additional aircraft carrier, which effectively put Britain on notice that
the United States was serious about reestablishing naval parity.
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

Relations between the United States and France had cooled
in the aftermath of World War I. A number of issues had
driven the former allies apart, including:
– residual tensions from hard bargaining and perceived doubledealing at Versailles;
– the continuing effort of the U.S. to collect the full amount of war
debts incurred by hard-pressed France;
– the embarrassment felt by France because of being assigned a
lesser naval role at the Washington Conference (1921);
– the recent failure, regretted by both nations, of the Geneva
Conference (1927).
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

The Kellogg-Briand Pact provided for outlawing war as an
“an instrument of national policy,” and was further notable
for the following:
– No enforcement mechanism was provided for changing the
behavior of warring signatories.
– The agreement was interpreted by most of the signatories to permit
“defensive” war.
– No expiration date was provided.
– No provision existed for amending the agreement was included.

Despite these shortcomings, the pact was signed in August
1928 by 15 nations. In the following months, more than 60
countries joined in this renunciation of war.
KelloggBriand Pact
(1929)
Caption:
'Having an
insurance policy
doesn't mean you
can do without fire
prevention':
American antipacifist cartoon,
1929, on the need
for an adequate U.S.
naval force to back
the Kellogg-Briand
Pact.
Clark Memorandum
(December 17, 1928)


During the late 1920s, a number of American foreign policy leaders
began to argue for a softer tone in U.S. relations with Latin American
nations, which had been chafing under decades of intervention by the
colossus to the north.
Undersecretary of State, and later Ambassador to Mexico, J. Reuben
Clark (1871-1961) held these conciliatory views and completed work
on the hefty Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine late in the
Coolidge administration. Clark argued the following:
– The Monroe Doctrine was not solely concerned with inter-American relations.
– The Doctrine states a case of the United States versus Europe, not of the United
States versus Latin America.
– The primary purpose of the Doctrine was to protect Latin American nations
from intervention by European powers.
– The Roosevelt Corollary was not part of the Monroe Doctrine.
Young Plan (1928)

German reparation payments stemming from World War I had been
modified by international agreement under the terms of the U.S.inspired Dawes Plan in 1924.
– By late in the decade, however, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the
defeated nation to meet its obligations.




The United States, which was not a direct recipient of reparations,
again dispatched an expert to help salvage the threatened payments
and avert an international crisis.
The Young Plan won approval shortly before the beginning of the
great world economic crisis of 1929, but Germany was able to make
payments into 1931 before defaulting.
President Hoover attempted to salvage the situation by arranging
another moratorium in 1931-32, but the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933
was quickly followed by his repudiation of the reparation obligation.
In all, more than $4.5 billion in reparations was collected by the Allies
from Germany.
Young Plan (1928)

Owen D. Young, an American financier, headed a committee that
tried to remove ambiguities from the existing system. The following
recommendations were made:
– The amount of the annual payment demanded from Germany was reduced
sharply to $473 million, a portion of which could be postponed with prior
approval;
– the total amount due was set at $26.36 billion or 121 billion Reichsmarks,
payable over a term of 58 and a half years;
– new tax programs were to be introduced in Germany as a means to generate
revenue;
– a bank for international settlements was to be established to collect and disburse
reparations payments;
– other forms of Allied control over the German economy were to be removed;
– further reduction of the German obligation was held out as a possibility if the
United States were to agree to the scaling back of war debts owed to it by its
former allies.
Age of Prosperity

Economic expansion
Mass Production
Assembly Line
Age of the Automobile

Ailing Agriculture…







An agricultural depression in
early 1920's contributed to this
urban migration
U.S. farmers lost agri. markets
in postwar Europe
at same time agri. efficiency
increased so more food
produced (more food = lower
prices) and fewer labourers
needed
Farming was no longer as
prosperous, and bankers called
in their loans
– Foreclosures on farms and farms
repossessed

American farmers enter the
Depression in advance of the
rest of society
Black Americans in
this period
continued to live in
poverty
 Sharecropping kept
them in de facto
slavery
 1915 - boll weevil
wiped out the cotton
crop
 White landowners
went bankrupt &
forced blacks off
their land




Blacks moved north to take
advantage of booming wartime
industry (Great Migration) - Black
ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem
Within these ghettoes a distinct
Black culture flourished
But both blacks and whites wanted
cultural interchange restricted

Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born
immigrant) established the
Universal Negro Improvement
Association
– believed in Black pride
– advocated racial segregation b/c
of Black superiority


Garvey believed Blacks should
return to Africa
He purchased a ship to start the
Black Star line
– Attracted many investments:
government charged him with
w/fraud
– He was found guilty and
eventually deported to Jamaica,
but his organization continued to
exist
Consumer Economy
Culture of the Roaring 20’s
Radio
KDKA Pittsburgh
GE, Westinghouse,& RCA
form NBC
Silent Movies
Charlie Chaplin
“Talkies”
The Jazz Singer
Starring Al Jolson
Mary Pickford
“America’s Sweetheart”
Celebrities
Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb
Charles Lindbergh
The Spirit of St. Louis
Jack Dempsey
The 20s is The Jazz Age
The Flappers
make up
cigarettes
short skirts
Writers
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Musicians
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
1920's also brought about
great changes for women...




1920 - 19th Amendment
gave them the federal vote
After 1920, social
circumstances changed too
as more women worked
outside the home
More women went to
college and clamoured to
join the professions
Women didn't want to
sacrifice wartime gains amounted to a social revolt
– Characterized by the
FLAPPER/ "new
woman"
» (bobbed hair, short dresses,
smoked in public...)
A Society in Conflict

Anti-immigrant
– National Origins Act
– Nativism
– Discrimination
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
– Italian immigrants
– Unfair trial


For immigrants – the point of origin
had shifted to South & Eastern
Europe and new religions appeared:
Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic
Northern European immigrants of
early 19th century feared this shift
and felt it would undermine
Protestant values
– This fear was known as NATIVISM


Many wanted Congress to restrict
immigration, leading to a quota
system that favoured northern areas
of Europe
Fear of immigrants (from SE Europe)
led to a sentiment known as the Red
Scare (fear of communism postBolshevik Revolution)
– Basic communism advocates a
international revolution by the proletariat
workers - fears that this ideology could
find its way into the U.S.

At this time,
President Wilson
was gravely ill
following a stroke
– His Attorney
General, A.
Mitchell Palmer,
wanted to take a
shot at the
presidency - he
used fears of both
immigrants and
communism to his
advantage

He had J. Edgar
Hoover round up
suspected
radicals, many of
which were
deported (Palmer
Raids)
The Ku Klux Klan
Great increase
In power
Anti-black
Anti-immigrant
Anti-Semitic
Anti-Catholic
Anti-women’s suffrage
Anti-bootleggers
Scopes “Monkey”
Evolution vs. Creationism
Famous Lawyers
Trial
Science vs. Religion
Dayton, Tennessee
John Scopes
High School Biology teacher
Prohibition Volstead Act
18th Amendment
Gangsters
Al Capone

PROHIBITION - on manufacture,
sale, & consumption of alcohol
– Adopted in 1919 - 18th AMENDMENT
– An outgrowth of the long time
temperance movement

In WWI, temperance became a
patriotic movement
– drunkenness caused low productivity &
inefficiency, and alcohol needed to treat
the wounded
– a difficult law to enforce... organized
crime, speakeasies, bootleggers were on
the rise


Al Capone virtually controlled
Chicago in this period - capitalism
at its zenith…
Prohibition finally ended in 1933 w/
the 21st Amendment
– forced organized crime to pursue other
interests…