Chapter 14: Section 1

1
Chapter 14 Section 1

• The Republican Decade

2
Setting the Scene

• After WWI ended most people wanted to forget
  about the rest of the world and its problems.
• 1920 elected Warren G. Harding
• Promised a return to normalcy

3
Warren G. Harding

• Speeches called an army of pompous phrases
  moving across the landscape in search of an
  idea.
• But he looked and sounded good to voters!

4
The Red Scare

• 1917 Russia
• The Czar abdicated and was later murdered with
  his family.
• Czar absolute dictator
• Nicholas had been a bad czar but not for the
  reasons you might think.

5
Czar Nicholas lifestyle
6
The Red Scare

• March November 1917 brief try at democracy.
• It didnt work
• Democracy needs
• Time to talk about things
• Educated people to be informed
• Russia didnt have either

7
The Red Scare

• November 1917 - Revolution
• Vladimir Lenin leader of the Communists.
• Government owned all land and property.
• A single political party controlled everything in
  the government.
• The needs of the country took priority over the
  needs of the individuals

8
Result of Communism in Russia

• 1917 1953
• Concentration Camps (Gulags)
• Secret Police spying on people.
• Disappeared people
• Maybe 10-million dead?

9
The Red Scare

• Americans feared that what happened in Russia
  could happen over here.
• Europeans would bring these problems to this
  country.
• Many Americans blamed Europe for WWI
• Thought this was another reason to mistrust
  Europe and keep Europe away.

10
The Red Scare

• Comrade Lenin believed Communism should be all
  over the world not just in Russia.
• Russian backed Communists attempted to take over
  Germany.
• Succeeded in taking over Hungarys government.

11
The Red Scare comes to America

• 1919
• Seattle shipyard workers go on strike for higher
  wages. The mayor called them revolutionists.
• Several mail bombs delivered to government
  officials across the country.
• Only one went off.

12
The Red Scare comes to America

• Newspaper accounts whipped up the publics
  anxiety about Communists.
• Red Scare intense fear of communists.
• Calls for Communists to be jailed or driven from
  the country.

13
Red Scare comes to America

• Schenck v. U.S.
• Mr. Schenck sent letters to draftees urging them
  not to report for duty.
• Supreme Court ruled that free speech can be
  limited IF there is a clear and present danger.
• IF the speech causes a dangerous panic.

14
Red Scare in America

• Gitlow v. New York
• Mr. Gitlow urged people to overthrow the
  government of the United States.
• Convicted of criminal anarchy.
• Supreme Court said his rights of free speech were
  not violated.

15
Red Scare in America

• Bombing of the US Attorney Generals home A.
  Mitchell Palmer
• Convinced him radicals were going to try to
  overthrow the government of the US.

16
Red Scare in America

• Using the Justice Department, set up raids to
  arrest SUBVERSIVES.
• People trying to subvert, overthrow the
  government.

17
Red Scare in America

• The Palmer Raids
• Federal Agents in January 1920 in 33 cities
  arrested thousands of radicals.
• No real evidence against most of the arrestees.
• Most were foreign born.
• 500 were later deported.
• Emma Goldman

18
Red Scare in America

• April 1920 New York State Assembly voted to
  expel five legally elected members.
• They were SOCIALISTS
• Socialists believe in some Communist ideals, but
  dont support the violence and favor democracy.

19
Red Scare in America People begin to think

• Should the government be able to violate the
  publics right to choose their representatives?
• Predictions of violence for May 1, 1920 never
  happened.
• Palmer was never quite trusted by people again.

20
The Red Scare

• Sacco and Vanzetti
• Accused of bank robberies in Massachussetts in
  1920.
• Many thought arrested because they were
  immigrants with radical beliefs, not bank robbers.

21
The Red Scare Sacco and Vanzetti

• UNFAIR trial found guilty.
• Sentenced to death.
• Years of appeals.
• Were electrocuted in 1927.

22
1920s Red Scare and Labor Strikes

• Communist slogan
• Workers of the World UNITE!
• People thought Communists used agitators to
  influence Americans to strike.
• Strikes would lead to revolution.

23
1920s Red Scare and Labor Strikes

• Most strikes were really for
• Higher wages
• Better hours and working conditions
• Most Americans believed the propaganda more than
  the strikers.

24
1920s Labor Strikes

• Boston Police (1919)
• No raises since 1914
• City fired 19 officers they thought were union
  organizers
• Police force walked off duty
• Riots broke out

25
1920s Labor Strikes Boston Police

• No Strike Laws for public employees
• There is no right to strike against the public
  safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.
• Calvin Coolidge

26
1920s Labor Strikes US Steel

• AFL (American Federation of Labor) organized a
  union of steel workers in Gary, Indiana.
• Were working 12 hour shifts, 65 hour weeks.
• Wanted 8 hour shifts and 48 hour week

27
US Steel Strike

• Corporation hired private police to put down the
  strike.
• 18 strikers died
• Hundreds beat up
• Propaganda campaign to convince the public that
  the strike was the work of Communists.

28
US Steel Strike

• Used SCABS to break the strike.
• Brought in African Americans from the South to
  work.
• US government supported the corporation sent in
  troops to protect the scabs.

29
US Steel Strike

• AFL saw they couldnt win and called off the
  strike.
• AFL went out of their way to try to show
  Americans they were against violence and
  Communism.
• Wanted higher wages, shorter hours, and right to
  organize unions.

30
Union Membership

• Most Americans opposed strikes.
• Feared radical influences like communism.
• Union membership went down in the 1920s.
• Also the 1920s were a BOOM.
• Wages went up because of the economy.
• Workers didnt feel a need for unions.

31
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP (p. 485)

• Republicans dominated all three branches of the
  government in the 1920s.
• Seen as more stable than the Democrats by voters.

32
Republican leadership favored

• Business
• Social stability
• Thought businessmen believed that social
  stability promoted economic growth

33
The Harding Presidency

• Showed poor judgment in many of his political
  appointments.
• Friends without experience in govt.
• Cronies who had given a lot of money to his
  campaign but no competence and a bit of
  corruption.

34
Harding Foreign Policy

• Favored ISOLATIONISM
• Keep other countries away well trade with them
  but we dont get involved.
• US did not join League of Nations.
• Favored DISARMAMENT
• Nations of the world voluntarily give up their
  weapons.

35
Harding Foreign Policy

• Favored trade with other countries.
• But Congress passed the FORDNEY McCUMBER
  Tariff.
• IMPORT tax. Made goods from Europe and China cost
  150 more.

36
Tariffs

• GOOD Encourage Americans to buy American goods.
• American goods cheaper than European
• BAD Creates bad foreign relations.
• Europe was needing trade to rebuild after WWI.
• Debts to pay for the war.

37
Harding Domestic Issues

• Rise of NATIVISM
• Favor native born Americans over immigrants.

38
Harding Nativism affect on American words

• Patriotism
• Many Americans believed that foreigners could
  never be fully loyal to the US.

39
Harding Nativism affect on American words

• Religion
• Most nativists were Protestants
• Thought you couldnt trust Catholics, Eastern
  Orthodox Catholics, or Jews.

40
Harding Nativism affect on American words

• Urban Conditions
• Problems of the cities, such as slums and
  corruption, were the fault of immigrants.

41
Harding Nativism affect on American words

• Jobs
• Workers feared that immigrants would take their
  jobs away from them.

42
1922 QUOTAS on immigration

• After WWI many wanted to escape Europe and
  start over in the US.
• QUOTA numerical limit on who can come into the
  country.
• Limits by nationality
• Completely outlawed Japanese and later Chinese
  entry into the country.

43
Harding

• Believed that limiting immigration promoted
  social stability.
• Also believed in the need to restrict civil
  rights for social stability.
• But did support an anti-lynching law.
• Not enough to make it pass Congress.

44
Teapot Dome Scandal

• 1923 Scandals involving Hardings staff and
  cabinet began to surface.
• Stealing government funds for personal use.
• Taking bribes to promote or kill legislation or
  give contracts.

45
Teapot Dome Scandal

• Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall secretly gave
  oil drilling rights on government lands
  including Teapot Dome, Wyoming.
• Received gifts of 300,000 from the oil
  companies.

46
Harding Dies

• Heart attack?
• August 2, 1923

47
Calvin Coolidge

• 1872-1933
• Silent Cal
• Became President in 1923
• First job Restore respect for the Presidency
• 1924 Election Keep Cool with Coolidge.
• Second Term Isolationist, pro-business.
• Laissez-faire government leaves business alone

48
Calvin Coolidge

• He could be silent in five languages.
• Lassez-faire govt.
• Would not regulate the buying of stocks on easy
  credit.
• When the Mississippi flood victims needed aid
  he said the government had no duty to protect
  citizens against the hazards of the elements.

49
Calvin Coolidge

• BUT kept taxes low.
• Kellogg Briand Pact
• 15 nations promised not to use the threat of war
  against each other.
• 60 eventually signed.
• USELESS no means for enforcing.
• 1941 most nations in the Pact were at war.

50
Election of 1928

• Coolidge said I do not choose to run for
  President in 1928.
• Shortly before he died in 1933 he said I do not
  fit in these times.
• Picture of Grace Coolidge public loved her
  interest in people and work with the deaf.
• Fun loving and gracious
• Lost one of their sons while in White House.
• Heart problem died at 16.

51
Election of 1928

• Who do you think won?
• Republican Herbert Hoover
• Protestant
• Pro-Prohibition
• Democrat Alfred Smith
• Catholic
• Anti-Prohibition

52
REVIEW QUESTIONS

• What events fueled the Red Scare of the early
  1920s?
• What conflicts led to the major labor strikes of
  1919?
• How did Republican leadership during the Harding
  and Coolidge presidencies shape the 1920s?
• What issues influenced the presidential election
  of 1928?

53
Section 3 The Economy in the Late 1920s

• People expected the Coolidge prosperity to
  continue in Hoovers presidency.

54
1928 Statistics

• Life expectancy
• Men 59
• Women 63

55
Economy Appears Healthy

• Stock Market is a weathervane for the economy.
• Since 1914 Wages were up 40
• Unemployment VERY low 4
• Food, shelter and clothing for all.

56
Everybody Ought to be Rich

• High confidence in business.
• Many people were investing in businesses even
  things that were risky.
• Labor Stability welfare capitalism
• Better wages
• Paid benefits vacation

57
Economic Danger Signs

• Uneven Prosperity
• Personal Debt
• Playing the Stock Market
• Too many goods, too little demand
• Trouble for farmers and workers

58
Economic Danger Signs Uneven Prosperity

• Stock Market success meant mostly the rich got
  richer.
• 1929 200 businesses controlled 49 of the wealth
  of the nation.

59
Economic Danger Signs Uneven Prosperity

• 1929 24,000 families only .1 of the of the
  population had incomes of over 100,000.
• They held 34 of the countrys TOTAL savings.

60
Economic Danger Signs Uneven Prosperity

• 71 of the people in the US earned LESS than
  2,500.
• 80 had NO savings
• Most families needed EVERYONE including
  children to work to support the family.

61
Economic Danger Signs Uneven Prosperity

• Government tax policy made it worse.
• Taxed the poor more and gave big breaks to the
  rich.
• Thought taxing the rich interfered with business
  expansion.

62
Economic Danger Signs Personal Debt

• Most Americans were living on credit.
• Believed that future income would cover their
  debts.
• Bought radios, vacuum cleaners, cars,
  refrigerators

63
Economic Danger Signs Playing the Stock Market

• Get-rich-quick attitude in 1920s.
• SPECULATION Practice of making high-risk
  investments in hope of getting a huge return.

64
Economic Danger Signs Playing the Stock Market

• Investors could purchase stock (a share of
  ownership in a company)
• BUYING ON MARGIN
• Purchase stock for a fraction of the price.
• 10 down borrow the rest.
• If stock went UP in price you could pay off the
  loan for the stock and the interest.

65
Economic Danger Signs Too Many Goods, Too Little
Demand

• Overproduction causes prices to go DOWN.
• Ripple Effect
• 1925 Ford had to cut making cars, because too
  many were not being sold.
• Affected steel, rubber and glass.
• Jobs got cut

66
Economic Danger Signs Too Many Goods, Too Little
Demand

• Between 1928 1929 housing construction fell by
  25.
• People werent feeling quite so secure about
  their futures.

67
Economic Danger Signs Trouble for Farmers and
Workers

• Farmers had gone into debt to buy more land and
  machinery to grow more ag goods.
• 1920s Farmers unable to pay their loans because
  of bad farm prices.

68
Economic Danger Signs Trouble for Farmers and
Workers

• Many farmers lost their farms.
• Enough farmers not paying their loans made the
  banks that had loaned the money fail.
• 6,000 rural banks failed in 1920s

69
Economic Danger Signs Trouble for Farmers and
Workers

• 1927 and 1928 Congress tried to pass laws to help
  farmers.
• Coolidge vetoed them
• It wasnt the governments job to provide
  assistance to farmers.
• Laissez - Faire

70
Economic Danger Signs Trouble for Farmers and
Workers

• Many laborers did not have higher wages and
  benefits.
• Rayon mills in Tennessee Women worked 56-hour
  weeks earning 16-18 cents an hour.
• 10 a week!!!!

71
Economic Danger Signs

• Growing unemployment, business depression, or
  some false step would trigger a reaction against
  Republican policies.
• Belle Moskowitz Al Smiths campaign manager 1928

72
REVIEW QUESTIONS

• Why did the economy in the late 1920s appear
  healthy to most Americans?
• What danger signs were present in the economy in
  the late 1920s?