2nd Period - Chapter 20

Table of ContentsSection 1 - American Struggle with Postwar

Issues

Postwar TrendsFear of Communism

The Palmer RaidsSacco & Vanzetti

Limiting ImmigrationThe Quota System

The Boston Police StrikeThe Steel Mill Strike

The Coal Miner's Strike

Section 2 - The Harding Presidency

Harding Struggles for PeaceThe Harding administration

Harding’s cabinetOhio gang

Teapot Dome Scandal

Section 3 - The Business of America

American Industries FlourishImpact of the Automobile

The Young Airplane IndustryElectrical Conveniences

Dawn of Modern AdvertisingBuying Goods on Credit

Section 1: American Struggle with PostwarIssues

Postwar Trends:After WWI, American lives had changed drastically. Soldiers came back fromwar facing the problem that they had lost their jobs to women and theminorities. The cost of living had doubled. Farmers and factory workerssuffered as wartime orders decreased.Nativism, which is prejudice against foreign-born people, swept the nation.Isolationism is a policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs.

Fear of Communism:Communism is an economic and political system based on a single-party ruledby a dictatorship.The Red Scare: The panic in the U.S.A began in 1919, after Russia overthrewthe czarist regime. Vladimir I. Lenin and his followers established a newCommunist country.The red flag represents Communism which was a great threatto capitalism. A Communist Party formed in the United States and 17,000people joined, including some from the Industrial Workers of the World. Thepublic grew fearful that the Communists were taking over because severaldozen bombs were mailed to government and business leaders. U.S. AttorneyGeneral Alexander Mitchell Palmer reacted to combat what was known as “RedScare”.

The Palmer Raids:

In August 1919, Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant.Palmer, Hoover and their agents hunted down suspected communists, socialistsand anarchists. They arrested suspects without legal counsel. Hundreds offoreign-born radicals were deported without trials. Many thought Palmer waslooking for a campaign issue to gain support for his president aspirations.Therefore, the public decided that he didn't know what he talking about.

Sacco and Vanzetti:The two most famous victims in the Palmer Raids were Nicola Sacco andBartolomeo Vanzetti, a shoemaker and a fish peddler. They were Italianimmigrants and anarchists, both had evaded the draft during WWI. In May 1920,they were arrested for robbery and murdering a factory paymaster and hisguard in South Braintree, Massachusetts. Witnesses had said the criminalsappeared to be Italians. They were found guilty and sentenced to death.Therefore, protests rang out in the U.S.A., Europe, and Latin America. Manypeople thought that Sacco and Vanzetti were mistreated because their radicalbeliefs and some were arrested because they were immigrants. In 1962,newballistics tests showed that the pistol found on Sacco was in fact the oneused to murder the guard. However, there was no proof that Sacco had pulledthe trigger.

Vanzetti andSacco

Limiting ImmigrationAnti-immigrant attitudes had been growing in the U.S.A.. Many immigrants werewilling to work for low wages in industries. After WWI, the need forunskilled labor in the U.S.A. decreased. Nativists believed fewer immigrantsshould be let into the country because there was fewer jobs available.The Klan Rises Again:By 1924, KKK membership reached 4.5 million "white male persons, native-borngentile citizens". The Klan also believed in keeping blacks "in their place",destroying saloons, opposing unions and driving Roman Catholics, Jews, andforeign-born people out of the country. The KKK members were paid to recruitnew members into their world. The KKK dominated state politics in many statesand by the end of the decade its criminal activity led to a decrease inpower.

The Quota System

Immigrants

From 1919 to 1921 the immigration population went up by almost 600 percent.Congress then responded with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. The EmergencyQuota Act of 1921 set up a quota system that limited the number of immigrantsfrom each foreign country. The goal was to cut European immigration to theUnited States. By 1924, the law stated that two percent from the number ofpeople that were living in the United States in 1890 (later changed to 1920)from each country would be the maximum number of immigrants from thatcountry. This act discriminated against eastern and southern Europeansbecause they didn’t start to migrate to the U.S. until after 1890.Furthermore, this act prohibited Japanese immigrants even though they werekeeping the Gentlemen's Agreement as negotiated. It insulted and angered theJapanese. In 1927, the total number of people who immigrated to the U.S.decreased to 150,000.

The Boston Police Strike

The Boston Police

The Boston Police had not been given no wage raises since WWI and were notallowed to unionize. Because of that, representatives asked for a raise butthen they were fired; that was the spark that led to the decision to strike.Not much later, Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge called the NationalGuard and the strike ended. The policemen then were replaced with new ones andCoolidge was praised for saving Boston.

Quote of Calvin Coolidge when he called out the National Guard, “There is noright to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time".

The Steel Mill Strike

TheSteelworkers

The workers wanted shorter working hours, a living wage, union recognitionand collective bargaining rights. But when the U.S. Steel Company refused tomeet with their representatives, 300,000 of them just walked out on theirjobs. The response of this action was the hiring of strikebreakers, employeesthat worked during the strikes. Those workers were looked down on and beatenby police, federal troops, and state militias. After that, the steelcompanies started a propaganda campaign saying that the strikers werecommunists. When the strike ended, a report on the steel worker’s harshworking conditions was published and the workers gained eight-hour workingdays, but still no union recognition.

The Coal Miners’ strikeThe coal miners also wanted higher salaries and shorter working days. John L.Lewis was the leader of their union and sent them on a strike on November 1,1919. Shortly after that, a court order was used to send them back to work.Lewis declared the strike to be over, but secretively told the strikers to keepon going. President Wilson then told a judge to put an end to this strike.After the strike, the coal miners gained a 27 percent salary increase and JohnL. Lewis became a national hero.

Other improvements that the coal miners wanted to achieve through the strikewere shorter workdays and a 5-day working week. However, that was notachieved until the 1930s.

Section 2The Harding Presidency.

1921-1923Republican

Name: Warren G. HardingBorn: 2 November 1865Died: 2 August 1923Birthplace: Corsica, OhioBest known as: President of the United States, 1921-23

Warren G. Harding

He was the 29th president of the United States. During his presidentialcampaign, in the aftermath of World War I, he promised a return to"normalcy". At the Washington Naval Conference, Charles Evans Hughes(Secretary of State) led the way to world naval disarmament at the WashingtonNaval Conference of 1921–22. In 1922, America adopted the Fordney-McCumberTariff, which raised taxes on some U.S imports to 60 percent. The impact ofthe Fordney-McCumber 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. To avoid another war, Americanbankers was sent to negotiate loans. Eventually, the United States arrangedto be repaid with its own money. The Harding administration appealed toAmerica’s desire for calm and peace after the war, but resulted in scandal.He helped the government more efficiently, and appointed some well people assome important functions. The Harding’s cabinet also included the so-calledOhio gang- it carries connotations of self-serving, corrupt men hailing fromHarding's home state of Ohio, despite the fact that most Harding officials

were neither Ohioans nor corrupt. Harding’s administration began to acceptbribes: Charles R. Forbes, the head of the Veterans Bureau, was caughtillegal selling government and hospital supplies to private companies.Colonel Thomas W. Miller, the head of the Office of Alien Property, wascaught taking a bribe. The most spectacular example of corruption was theTeapot Dome Scandal. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall (a native ofKentucky, later of New Mexico) used his position to sell portions of thenavy's strategic oil reserves and leases - leading him and Denby to beembroiled in the Teapot Dome Scandal. Fall was found guilty and became thefirst Presidential cabinet member to serve time in prison. None of the otherparties involved in Teapot Dome were from Ohio.

Political cartoon of Teapot Dome ScandalOn August 2, 1923, he died suddenly, probably from a heart attack or stroke.

Warren G. Harding died in San Francisco, CA. He was 57 years old. He isburied in Marion, Ohio.President Harding's Vice President was Calvin Coolidge (1921-1923)- arespected man of integrity, helped to restore people’s faith in theirgovernment and in the Republican Party. The next year, Coolidge was electedpresident.

SECTION 3: THE BUSINESS OF AMERICAAmerican Industries FlourishAmerican Industries FlourishThe new president, Calvin Coolidge, fit into the pro-business of the 1920s.He and his successor, Herbert Hoover, favored government policies that wouldkeep taxes down, promote business’s profit, give businesses more availablecredit in order to expand. They continued to place high tariffs on foreignimport. Reducing taxes so that people had more money in their pockets.

PresidentCalvin Coolidge

Impact of the AutomobileImpact of the AutomobileThe automobile changed the American landscape. Constructions of roads weresuitable for driving in all weather. The legendary, famous Route 66,provided a route for people - from Chicago to California.Because of the changing of landscape, architecture also changed. New house

were designed with a garage or carport and a drive way, and a small lawn.

House, with a garage and a lawn, popular architecture in California

Automobile also launched a rapid construction of gasoline stations,repair shops, motel, and shopping centers. The first automatic trafficsignals began to blink in Detroit in 1920s.The Holland Tunnel, the first underwater tunnel designed specificallyfor motor vehicles, opened in 1927 to connect New York and Jersey City,New Jersey

The Tunnel’s entrance in New York City Inside of the tunnel

The Woodbridge Cloverleaf, the first cloverleaf intersection, was builtin New Jersey, in 1929

Woodbridge Cloverleaf Today’s clover intersection

The automobile liberated the isolated rural family, who could nowtravel to city for shopping and entertainment. It also provided moreopportunities for several families to have a vacation in a farawayplace. It also allowed workers to live miles away from where theyworked. This created an urban sprawl, which are cities spread in alldirections.The automobile even became a status symbol, for individual families tothe rest of the world. In Middletown, the social scientist Robert andHelen Lynd noted that one woman’s comment: “I’ll go without food beforeI’ll see us give up the car”The auto industries marked the success of the free enterprise systemand the Coolidge era. There was nowhere in the world where people hadlittle money in their pocket and could still own an automobile. In1920s, about 80% of the registered automobiles were in the UnitedStates.

The Young Airplane IndustryAutomobiles were not the only transportation that was successful.Airplanes began as the mail transportation for the U.S Post Office.Although the first flight of 1918 was a disaster, a number ofsuccessful flights were established. Airplanes became the means oftransportation of the peaceful time, not only for mail. Airplanes alsocarried radio,and navigation instruments to serve the development ofweather forecasting.In 1926, Henry Ford made a trimotor airplane.

A Trimotor Airplane by Henry Ford

Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart flew over Atlantic to promotecargo and commercial airlines. In 1927, Lockheed Company presented asingle-engine plane, known as Vega. It was one of the most populartypes of airplanes.

The Vega

Founded in 1927, Pan American Airways began the first passenger flight.

ELECTRICAL CONVENIENCESELECTRICAL CONVENIENCESGasoline was the main source of electricity and powered much of the economicboom in the 1920s. Electricity was used to run machines in American factoriesand much more. Another development was alternating electrical current;alternating electrical current made long distance distribution of electricitypossible, which meant that suburbs could have electricity,too. By the end of1920s, more and more families used electrical utensils in the house andelectrical bills rose drastically, even though farms still lacked electricalpower. All of this made it easier on housewives and they were able to workoutside of the house.

THE DAWN OF MODERN ADVERTISINGAs technology rose, so did products. Massive goods were available in themarkets now and advertising agencies started to hire psychologists to studyhow to appeal to customer's desires. Slogans like "Say it with flowers"doubled the sales rate of products and become popular. Businessmen were very

well liked during this period of time because they would sing songs and raisemoney to donate to charities.

BUYING GOODS ON CREDITBUYING GOODS ON CREDITIn order to lure more customers into buying more products,industries invented the easy credit or "a dollar down and adollar forever." It was called the installment plan; it enabledcustomers to pay for their products over an extended period oftime without having to pay a lot of money in cash. Banks evengave the money out at low interest rates.Not long after,economists and business owners grew concered and wondered if theinstallment plan was getting out of hand. Citizens were drivenby it and would rather buy an automobile than having a cook-stove. But since they can't live without a cook-stove, theywould just buy it on another installment plan that they couldn'tpay.

ConclusionDuring the 1920s and the 1930s, the lives of Americans changed drastically.Soldiers that were back from the war faced unemployment or were desperateenough to take away women and minorities jobs back. Economically, prices haverisen and Americans started to react to these changes. They started to havethe feeling of nativism and isolationism, in addition to that, communism wasspreading and so everything led to discrimination of every other race but theAmerican. Because of the strong feelings they had to immigrants, the EmergencyQuota Act of 1921 was established and immigrants were treated unfairly. Butthat wasn't all, workers started to have conflicts with their management,too; employers didn't want to give wage raises or shorten work days, theytried to prevent their employees from joining unions and said that they wereCommunists trying to plan a revolution. Netherless, strikes still happened andmany workers lost their jobs, though not all ended up empty handed. Warren G.Harding was the president at that time and he wanted peace, and so the mostpowerful nations got together and decided to disarm. For the first time allthe nations agreed, but as we know, peace doesn't hold very long, so whenit was time for Great Britain and France to pay back war debts, conflictsoccurred. Resentment spread because Great Britain and France found the U.S. tobe stingy for not paying some of the war debts. In addition to that, the U.S.benefited from the defeat of Germany, and thought of Great Britain and Franceas financially irresponsible. Harding also faced a lot of problems within,with his Ohio Gang. Scandals after scandals were sweeping around the U.S.,the most famous one was the Teapot Dome Scandal that ended with the firstman to be convicted of a felony and while working in the cabinet. Harding,not much later died from a stroke or a heart attack and Coolidge took over.With Coolidge’s help, private enterprises were able to expand, high tariffswere set on foreign imports, income taxes were reduced and wages were rising.With Coolidge came the automobile; it changed people's lives and made them

better. Roads, gasoline stations, repair shops, public garages, motels and muchmore were built because of the automobile. Not only that, but architecturalstyles changed also and houses that had a garage or carport, a driveway, and asmaller lawn were created. Automatic traffic signals, the Holland Tunnel, thefirst underwater tunnel for motor vehicles, and the Woodbridge Cloverleaf werecreated during this time and were helping with traffic. The automobile alsomade it possible for isolated families to travel to cities to go shopping or goon vacation. It gave women and young adults independence through its mobility.It also benefited the workers and allowed them to take jobs that were furtheraway from their houses. The auto industry symbolized Coolidge’s success of thefree enterprise system and his own era. Automobiles were cheap and by the late1920s about 80 percent of the registered vehicles were in the United States. Ahumorous quote by Henry Ford was, “It will take a hundred years to tell whetheryou helped us or hurt us, but you certainly didn’t leave us where you foundus.” Furthermore, airplane industries were starting a mail carrying servicefor the U.S. post office. With this first step, more and more inventions andadditional equipment regarding the airplanes formed. Even transatlantic flightswere possible now, thanks to Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Not longafter that, the first transatlantic passenger airline was established, the PanAmerican Airways. Because the United States had all these great inventions,they owned around 40 percent of the word’s wealth, and the annual incomerose more than 35 percent. With all the extra money that they earned, theystarted to buy more things. Electricity was widely used by now and with thealternating electrical currents, the distribution of electrical power over longdistances was possible. Therefore, the number of electrified households grew.Home electronics were bought, such as an electric iron, electric refrigerators,cooking ranges, and toasters. The electrical bills were jumping off the page;however, with all these helpers in the house, housewives had more time andwere even able to work outside the home. In addition, with all these goodscoming into the markets, advertising agencies hired psychologist to studypeople’s desires and to make their products more appealing to them. Sloganswere everywhere and helped double most of its products. More and more peoplewanted to buy things and so everything was expanding. And industries providedeasy credits to help pay for the products. The installment plan gave people theability to buy products without having to pay a large amount in cash, and banksalso gave low interest rates, too. But everything has a downside to it, so notshortly economists and business owners were concerned about the well-being ofthe people. A conversation that was shown in the book tells how a family had anautomobile and couldn’t pay its second installment plan. What they did was selltheir cook-stove, which they couldn’t live without. Therefore, they bought anew cook-stove with another installment plan, just to keep the automobile. Eventhough, Coolidge’s era was standing for economical and frugal way of life, thecitizens didn’t bother with it. They enjoyed their lives, but for how long canthey enjoy it?

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