Chapter 32
The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920–1932
CHAPTER THEMES
Theme: The Republican administrations of the prosperous 1920s pursued conservative, pro-business policies at home and
economic unilateralism abroad.
Theme: The great crash of 1929 led to a severe, prolonged depression that devastated the American economy and spirit,
and resisted Hoover’s limited efforts to correct it.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The Republican governments of the 1920s carried out active, pro-business policies while undermining much of the
progressive legacy by neglect. The Washington Naval Conference indicated America’s desire to withdraw from
international involvements. Sky-high tariffs protected America’s booming industry but caused severe economic troubles
elsewhere in the world.
As the Harding scandals broke, the puritanical Calvin Coolidge replaced his morally easygoing predecessor. Feuding
Democrats and La Follette progressives fell easy victims to Republican prosperity.
American demands for strict repayment of war debts created international economic difficulties. The Dawes plan provided
temporary relief, but the Hawley-Smoot Tariff proved devastating to international trade.
The stock-market crash of 1929 brought a sudden end to prosperity and plunged America into a horrible depression.
Herbert Hoover’s reputation collapsed as he failed to relieve national suffering, although he did make unprecedented but
limited efforts to revive the economy through federal assistance.
Extra Credit Opportunities: 1) Note Cards: Analyze the following terms; include historical context,
chronology, drawing conclusions, and cause/effect where appropriate. Each note card you complete is worth
one extra credit point; pick the terms you need the most help with to understand.
1.
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16.
Warren G. Harding
“Ohio Gang”
Charles Evans Hughes
Andrew Mellon
Herbert Hoover
Albert B. Fall
Harry M. Daugherty
Old Guard
Adkins v. Children’s
Hospital
The Aftermath of War
(755-756)
Esch-Cummins
Transportation Act of
1920
Merchant Marine Act of
1920
Railway Labor Board
Veterans Bureau
American Legion
1924 Adjustment
Compensation Act
17.
18.
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23.
24.
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28.
29.
30.
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35.
Isolation
Five Power Treaty of 1922
Four Power Treaty of 1922
Nine Power Treaty of
1922
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
Law
Charles Forbes
Teapot Dome
Calvin Collidge
Capper-Volstead Act
McNary-Haugen Bill
LaFollete for President
WWI Debt
Dawes Plan of 1924
Herbert Hoover
Al Smith
Rum, Romanism, & Ruin
self-help
Agricultural Marketing
Act
36. Hawley-Smoot Tariff of
1930
37. Black Tuesday
38. overproduction
39. overexpansion
40. anemia abroad
41. “Hoovervilles”
42. “rugged individualist”
43. trickle-down basis
44. Muscle Shoals Bill
45. Reconstruction Finance
Corporation
46. “pump priming”
47. Norris La Guardia AntiInjunction Act
48. “Bonus Expeditionary
Force”
49. General Douglas
MacArthur
50. Manchuria
51. Stimson doctrine
52. Good Neighbor Policy
Homework Directions: Read the chapter and complete the following:
1. Complete American Pageant Study Guide.
Chapter 32 Study Guide
The Republican "Old Guard" Returns
1.
What flaws did Warren Harding possess?
GOP Reaction at the Throttle
2.
What pro-business policies were taken by the government during the Harding administration.
The Aftermath of War
3.
What effects did the war have on the post-war economy?
America Seeks Benefits Without Burdens
4.
What is the meaning of this section's heading?
Ship-Scrapping at the Washington Conference
5.
How did the U.S. take the lead in disarmament in the 20's?
Hiking the Tariff Higher
6.
What effects were produced by high American tariffs?
The Stench of Scandal
7.
"Such was his [Harding's] weakness that he tolerated people and conditions that subjected the Republic to its worst
disgrace since the days of President Grant." Explain
“Silent Cal” Coolidge
8.
Do the nicknames, "Silent Cal" and "Cautious Cal" accurately describe the Coolidge presidency?
Frustrated Farmers
9.
What had changed for the farmer since 1890? What had remained the same?
A Three-Way Race for the White House in 1924
10.
Why did Calvin Coolidge easily win the 1924 election?
Foreign-Policy Flounderings
11.
What are the arguments for America canceling the WWI debt of European countries?
Unraveling the Debt Knot
12.
What were the world-wide repercussions of America’s insistence on debt repayment?
The Triumph of Herbert Hoover, 1928
13.
Why was Herbert Hoover so much more popular with voters than Al Smith?
President Hoover's First Moves
14.
Did Hoover’s attempts to help farmers produce positive results? Explain.
The Great Crash Ends the Golden Twenties
15.
What were the immediate effects of the stock market crash?
Hooked on the Horn of Plenty
16.
What causes contributed to the Great Depression?
Rugged Times for Rugged Individualists
17.
How did President Hoover’s beliefs affect the way he handled the Depression?
Hoover Battles the Great Depression
18.
Is Hoover’s reputation as ultra-conservative well deserved? Explain.
Routing the Bonus Army in Washington
19.
What happened to the Bonus Army? Why?
Japanese Militarists Attack China
20.
How did the Japanese attack on Manchuria demonstrate the weakness of the League of Nations?
Hoover Pioneers the Good Neighbor Policy
21.
What was President Hoover’s policy toward Latin America?
HISTORIC NOTES

Harding is incorruptible, but some friends and appointees lack his honesty and tarnish Harding’s administration.

Shocked by the enormous devastation that the war brought to Europe, the victorious world powers hold disarmament
talks (Washington Naval conference) and agree to reduce the size of their navies. As part of the government, Japan
is not permitted to have a higher tonnage amount than Britain and the US but is granted hegemonic power in the Far
East.

Congress raises the protective tariff to augment the already big profits businesses are amassing. European countries
retaliate with their own high tariffs, which stymie int4ernational trade and debilitate Germany, already financially
pressed by its obligation to pay for war reparations.

Determined to be repaid its war loans, the US create s the Dawes Plan, a complicated method of financial payments
that fails to get repayment but places considerable strain on European finances.

The stock-market collapse starts a deep depression from which the nation will not fully recover until WWII. The
rest of the world shares in this calamity.

Near the end of Hoover’s term in office the Japanese invade China. The US response is tepid and does little to deter
the Japanese from taking future aggressive action.

Farmers who purchase labor-saving technology such as mechanical harvesters and reapers dramatically increased
production but at a considerable cost: the price of their crops plummeted.

Aggravating the problem of underconsumption was the Mellon tax plan, which had lowered taxes on the rich,
thereby concentrating even more wealth in a small percentage of the population.

Hoover’s solution to the economic collapse reflected his faith in the resiliency of American capitalism. While he
adopted drastic measures inconsistent with his own monetary philosophy, he still relied on volunteerism, localgovernment assistance to the unemployed, and rugged individualism to see the nation through, methods that were
inadequate for the depression.

Hoover’s brutal response to the Bonus Marchers eroded even further his rapidly declining popularity, a trend that did
not bode well for the president’s reelection prospects.
Advanced Placement United States History Topic Outline
19. The New Era: 1920s
A. The business of America and the consumer economy
B. Republican politics: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover
C. The culture of Modernism: science, the arts, and entertainment
D. Responses to Modernism: religious fundamentalism, nativism, and Prohibition
E. The ongoing struggle for equality: African Americans and women
20. The Great Depression and the New Deal
A. Causes of the Great Depression
B. The Hoover administration's response
C. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal
D. Labor and union recognition
E. The New Deal coalition and its critics from the Right and the Left
F. Surviving hard times: American society during the Great Depression