1. Chapter 12: Politics of the Roaring Twenties

2. Section 1: America Struggles with Postwar Issues

3. Reaction to the Perceived Threat of Communism
An economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship
No private property
Government owns factories, railroads, other businesses

4. Postwar Trends Americans were tired and wanted normalcy
Returning soldiers have no jobs
Stressful time in America
Leads to nativism – prejudice against foreign- born people and isolationism – pulling away from involvement in world affairs

5. Reaction to the Perceived Threat of Communism
Red Scare
Successful Communist revolution in Russia (1919)
Communists = “Reds”
Communist Party forms in the U.S.
Palmer Raids
Attorney General Mitchell Palmer hunts down suspected political radicals (Communists, anarchists, socialists)
Sacco and Vanzetti
Foreigners and immigrants were easy targets
Italian immigrants and anarchists found guilty of robbery and murder

6. What were some the reactions in the U. S
What were some the reactions in the U.S. to the perceived threat of communism?
What role did General A. Mitchell Palmer play?
How were Sacco and Vanzetti affected by the social climate (nativist attitude)
of the 1920s

7. Quota System
1880s – new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe worked for low wages
After WWI there were fewer unskilled jobs
Immigrant participation in labor protests

8. Quota System
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) uses anti- communism as an excuse to harass “outsiders”
Blame national problems on foreigners
Members were paid to recruit new members

9. Quota System
Emergency Quota Act of 1921 is passed due to nativist pressure
Limits immigration from eastern and southern Europe
2 percent of its pop. in the U.S. in 1890
Prohibits Japanese immigration and violates Gentlemen’s Agreement
500,000 Mexicans immigrants

10. Conflicts Between Labor and Management
During WWI the govt. did not allow strikes
After the war, wages were not increased
Employers said Union members were Communists to keep wages low
Major strikes
Boston Police
Steel Mill
Coal Miners

11. Conflicts Between Labor and Management
By then end of the 1920s union membership greatly declined
Immigrants worked for low wages
Immigrants spoke many languages -> unions had difficulty organizing them
Most unions did not allow blacks
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car unions
Mine workers’ unions

12. Assignment 1. What were the Palmer raids?
2. What did the Ku Klux Klan advocate?
3. How did the quota system limit immigration? Which groups did it hurt the most?
4. What prompted the steel strike of 1919?
5. For what reasons did union membership decline during the 1920s?
6. What unions were open to African Americans?

13. Section 2: The Harding Presidency

14. Journal
How do you feel after getting back from a vacation? Are you glad to get back to your normal routines?

15. Harding Struggles for Peace
Problems with arms control and war-torn countries
1921 – Pres. Harding invites world leaders to Washington Naval Conference
Secretary of State – Charles Evans Hughes – urges U.S., G. Britain, Japan, Italy, and France to not build warships
1928 – 15 countries sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact – renouncing (give up) war as a national policy

16. Harding Struggles for Peace
Britain and France have to pay back $10 billion to U.S.
Sell goods to the U.S.
Collect reparations from Germany
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)
Raises taxes on U.S. imports to 60 percent!
French troops march into Germany to collect
American banker, Charles G. Dawes, negotiates loans
Dawes Plan – American investors loan Germany $2.5 billion who pay Britain and France who pay the U.S.
No one is pleased

17. Inflation in Germany

18. Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration
Govt. stays out of business affairs and social reform
Harding appoints capable and incapable people to his cabinet
Ohio Gang = poker playing buddies who use their political power to make money (graft)

19. Teapot Dome Scandal
Oil-rich public lands at Teapot Dome, Wyoming were set aside for naval use
Albert Fall, member of Harding’s cabinet, leases the land to private oil companies and receives $400,000
Convicted of bribery

20. Warren G. Harding dies suddenly in 1923
One of the least successful presidents

21. Section 3: The Business of America
Henry Ford’s
Model T

22. The Impact of the Automobile and Consumer Goods on American Life
Pres. Calvin Coolidge and then Herbert Hoover are pro-business
Govt. stays out + taxes down + high tariffs on foreign imports
Invention of the automobile – 1927 Model T Ford
Paved roads
Garages
Gas stations
Shopping centers
Rural families could travel
Vacation
Young men and women could travel
Urban sprawl = cities spread because people can commute to work
Detroit + Akron = car factories
California + Texas = expansion due to oil

23. The Impact of the Automobile and Consumer Goods on American Life
“Parking” for teenagers
Status symbol
80% of reg. cars were in the U.S.
Common people could afford the Model T

24. Journal
“It will take us a hundred years to tell whether you helped us or hurt us, but you certainly didn’t leave us where you found us.”
Has the automobile improved American lives? Why? Why not?

25. Henry Ford Primary Source Questions
2. Assess Ford’s contribution to industry?
3. Do you think Ford was a good employer? Why or why not?

26. Journal
What products do you use to make your life easier? Imagine life without basic electrical appliances (refrigerator, washing machine, communication devices).

27. American Industries Flourish
First used in times of peace by U.S. Post Office
Transatlantic flights by Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart
1927 Pan American Airways had the first transatlantic passenger flight
The Young Airplane Industry

28. America’s Standard of Living Soars
1920 – 1929 – Americans owned 40% of the world’s wealth
Annual income rose from $522 to $705
What to do with the “extra” money

29. Electrical Conveniences
Gasoline = cars
Electricity = power for factories, cities, suburbs
Made life easier and more pleasant
Women had more free time

30. Modern Advertising

33. A Superficial Prosperity
Many Americans believed prosperity would go on forever
Factories were producing
Corporations were making fortunes
Drug, clothing, and drug stores were built

34. So What Happens?
A large income gap is created between workers and managers
Railroad industries were not successful
New farm machines -> more food -> cheaper prices
Installment plan (easy credit) – buy good over an extended time by paying a little up front -> banks provided the rest at low interest rates
Americans cared about the present