Adjusting to Peace 1919-1921 ESSENTIAL question: What difficulties did Americans have in adjusting to peace after the war?

TEKS and Objectives We will… I will… (6A) analyze causes and effects of nativism and the Red Scare (16A) analyze Harding’s Return to Normalcy (19C) describe the effects of the Teapot Dome Scandal List the causes and effects of event and ideas that took place in the U.S. between 1919-1921 Research important information about the presidents of the 1920s

American Isolationism Americans disillusioned by the war Refused to be involved in other nations’ problems/disputes Temporary Economic Recession (decline) Government wartime spending stopped Soldiers returned looking for work Factories converted from military to civilian production Farmers lost markets in Europe

The Red Scare Spread of Communism Red Scare Russia experienced a Communist revolution Communists threatened to spread to other European countries (Germany and Hungary) Wave of strikes hit the U.S. in 1919 Red Scare Fear of Communists, anarchists, and immigrants Anyone suspected of communist/anarchist beliefs could be arrested

Palmer Raids (January 1919) Series of attacks on judges, politicians, and law enforcement Attacks in 8 cities including Cleveland and New York Attorney General Mitchell Palmer Bomb set off outside his home Ordered round-up of 4,000 suspects without warrants Assistant Attorney General J. Edgar Hoover directed raids Most released/600 deported

The Sacco and Vanzetti Case Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Italian immigrants Charged of robbery/murder to obtain funds for anarchist revolution Insufficient Evidence Pressure from the world for their release Americans feared looking weak Convicted and executed

Rise of Nativism and Racism Dislike of foreigners Belief white Protestant Americans superior to others Ku Klux Klan Revived in 1915; biggest in U.S. history Hostile towards immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and African Americans Chicago Race Riots Bloody summer 38 people killed; 1,000 African American families homeless after houses set on fire

Lynching Pictures

Presidents of the 1920s

Warren G. Harding Laissez-Faire Hawley Smoot Tariff “hands-off” Government should not intervene in business Hawley Smoot Tariff Highest tax rates in U.S. history “Return to Normalcy” Make America like it was before WWI Ohio Gang Group of Harding’s personal friends appointed to cabinet positions (patronage) Teapot Dome Scandal Secretary of the Interior sold illegal access to a government-owned oil field in exchange for bribes

The message below was delivered by President Harding as part of his Inaugural Address in 1921: “We must seek the readjustment with care and courage. [W]e must strive for normalcy to reach stability…The forward course of the business cycle is unmistakable. Peoples are turning from destruction to production. Industry has sensed the changed order and [is] turning to resume their normal, onward way. The call is for productive America to go on. I speak for administrative efficiency, for lightened tax burdens, for sound commercial practices, for adequate credit facilities, for sympathetic concern for all agricultural problems, for the omission of unnecessary interference of government with business, for an end to government’s experiment in business, and for more efficient business in government administration.” How did Harding intend to return Americans “to normalcy?”

Calvin Coolidge “Silent Cal” Economic Policy Harding’s Vice President Took over after Harding’s death Tried to restore faith in the government Economic Policy Huge supporter of Laissez-faire economics

Herbert Hoover Engineer and self-made millionaire Predicted end of poverty if elected “Rugged Individualism” Americans are tough; don’t like handouts Succeed through own merit Dawes Plan $2.5 billion to Germany Reconstruction Finance Corporation Lent $2 billion to large businesses and companies