Post-War America: Problems and Isolationism

Normalcy and Shortsightedness

• Post-war, "normalcy" aimed to distance people from wartime pressures, replacing moral crusades and war with frivolous pursuits.

Postwar Problems

• Over 2 million soldiers returned to a dismal job market, resulting in 11.9% unemployment.
• Farming became unprofitable due to decreased wartime demand and food surpluses, leading to farmer debt.
• The Red Scare was triggered by the Bolshevik revolution, creating widespread fear of communists and anarchists, marked by bombings.
• The Spanish Flu pandemic killed 50-100 million worldwide, including 670,000 in the U.S., with immigrants and foreigners unjustly blamed.
• Racial tensions escalated, and hopes for equality were crushed, leading to 26 race riots in 1919 alone.

World Relations

• Isolationism defined American foreign policy in the 1920s, despite the U.S. becoming a dominant world power.
• The U.S. focused on maintaining world peace and stabilizing the global economy.

Pursuit of Peace

• America pursued peace independently of the League of Nations.
• The Washington Naval Conference aimed to limit naval power, particularly battleship construction.
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact sought to outlaw war but lacked enforcement mechanisms.
• The U.S. modified its relationship with Latin American countries, maintaining forceful economic and military protection.

Economic Entrapment

• The Fordney-McCumber Tariff created a high barrier to trade for Europeans.
• A post-war debt cycle emerged: Germany owed reparations to the Allies, who in turn owed war debts to the U.S., creating a reliance on U.S. loans for Germany's recovery.
• The Dawes Plan reduced Germany's reparation payments and lowered interest rates on Allied debts.
• The absence of trade and continuous cycle of debt continued.

Presidents

• The 1920s were politically conservative.
• Government regulation and activism were minimal, and laissez-faire capitalism thrived.

Harding

• Warren G. Harding's presidency was marred by scandals, including the Teapot Dome Scandal and defrauding of the Veterans’ Bureau.
• He appointed friends to high offices, like the Ohio Gang which resulting in imprudent favours.

Coolidge

• Calvin Coolidge became president in 1923 after Harding's death.
• Coolidge prosecuted corrupt officials and was credited with the nation's prosperity.

Hoover

• Herbert Hoover won the 1928 election but faced the stock market crash and severe economic depression within a year.
• Hoover's government interventions in the market include Farm Subsidies, going off the Gold Standard and expanding credit the week of the crash.
• Hoover also pushed for increased taxes, higher wages and higher tariffs.

Hoover — Interventionism

• The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was the largest tariff in American history.
• The Smoot-Hawley Tariff disabled almost all trade.

Culture Wars

• Darwinism and Marxism found increased interest in acceptance in the 1920's.
• Darwin’s theory contradicted the scriptural account of Creation, and Marx’s economic philosophy denied the depravity of man.

Theory of Relativity

• Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity stated that space, time, and matter are relative to the observer.
• Some applied this to scripture and moral standing (no longer absolute truths).

Freud

• Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis gained popularity, arguing self-restraint led to emotional disorders.

Literature and Art

• T.S. Eliot’s poetry spoke of despair and disillusionment and criticized the emptiness of modern society.
• Painting was abstract and depicted inner feelings rather than real images.

Prohibition

• The 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol manufacture and sale, leading to increased illegal activity.
• The Volstead Act enforced Prohibition, defining intoxicating liquors as anything with more than 1% alcohol.

The Roaring Twenties

• There was breakdown in morality weakened the family.
• The 1920s witnessed incredible popularity of the frivolous and the sensational.

Heroes and Villains

• Movies reflected the changing values of American culture and newspaper helped followed gangsters stories.
• Charles A. Lindbergh was praised as a hero for crossing the Atlantic.

American Idols

• Organized sports became major entertainment in the twenties.
• "Talkies" replaced silent films in 1927.

Pride and Prejudice

• The National Origins Act restricted immigration through quotas.
• Fear of immigrants and African Americans increased with the Red Scare.
• During the Harlem Renaissance, black intellectuals and writers achieved prominence.

100% Americanism

• The Ku Klux Klan revived, using racist, patriotic, and Christian symbols to attack middle-class protestants.

Rise of Fundamentalism

• Fundamentalists defended key doctrines and removed modernists from their denominations.
• The origin of the term is the belief that fundamental doctrines must be accepted to be considered a Christian.
• Essays called The Fundamentals defended key doctrines.

The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy

• J. Gresham Machen wrote Christianity and Liberalism.
• Fundamentalist began to leave the major denominations and form their own associations.

Antievolution Crusade

• Fundamentalists opposed Darwinism, leading to laws forbidding the teaching of evolution.
• John T. Scopes challenged a Tennessee law forbidding the teaching of evolution, leading to a media-covered trial.

Fundamentalist Successes

• Fundamentalists fought the increasingly irreligious mood in America and grew their denominations through schools and radio.

We’ve got the goods

• Automobiles changed society.
• Radio became influential for news, music, and sports.

On a Spending Spree

• Americans acquired more material possessions through installment plans.
• Speculation increased, particularly in Florida land and the stock market.
• Easy credit fueled stock speculation, creating tremendous activity on Wall Street.

Boom Goes Bust

• "Black Thursday" saw panic selling in the stock market.
• The stock market crashed on "Black Tuesday".

What Really Caused the Great Depression?

• The Great Depression was caused by consequences of WWI and economic problems in Europe, reckless monetary policies by the Federal Reserve, and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930.

Hoover’s Efforts

• Hoover's response to the Depression was often blamed for its severity.
• Cardboard shacks sheltering homeless people were called “Hoovervilles”.

Voluntary Cooperation

• Voluntary cooperation failed.
• Hoover asked business executives to voluntarily keep their workers and maintain satisfactory wage levels.
• Hoover believed that it was the duty of private individuals, not the government, to help the needy

Government Involvement

• Hoover approved the Emergency Relief and Construction Act which established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
• The RFC was critisized for helping the wealthy rather than the needy.
• Federal government involvement in America's economic affairs greatly increased.

The Bonus Army

• WWI veterans protested for early payment of their bonuses.
• Hoover sent troops under General Douglass McArthur to remove the veterans from the capital city.

Election of 1932

• Republicans nominated Hoover.
• Democrats nominated FDR.

Final Desperate Days

• Roosevelt refused to cooperate with Hoover.
• Banks began to fail.

FDR Presidency

Fighting Fear

• FDR called Congress into special session and declared a "bank holiday".

The First 100 Days

• Congress passed FDR’s New Deal programs in an emergency session from March 9 to June 16.
• Congress approved the Emergency Banking Act on the first day in order to deal with the currency shortage.
• Keynesian Economics.
• New Deal legislation took the nation off the Gold Standard.
• FDR used his radio "Fireside chats" to keep the nation informed, inspired, and ensure public support.

Alphabet Agencies

• The goal of Roosevelt's New Deal involved the "3 R's"- Relief, Recovery, Reform.
• The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) put young, unmarried men to work planting trees, under the supervision of the army.
• The Public Works Administration (PWA) Built schools, courthouses, hospitals, bridges, and other public facilities.
• Works Progress Administration (WPA) 1935 - employed almost anyone in any kind of job.
• The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) established a new method of subsidizing farm products and aided debt-ridden farmers.
• The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) attempted to organize guidelines for industries to increase employment, maintain wages, and reduce unwanted competition.
• “Four Horsemen of Reaction” was the 4 conservative justices slowed FDR’s progress.
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured.
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built dams that would control navigation, improve flood control, and provide electricity for the residents.
• Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Offered funds to extend electricity to the many rural areas
• Social Security Act, instituting old-age pensions and unemployment insurance

Roadblocks and Pitfalls

• Some criticized that the New Deal was not bringing recovery.

Opposition from the right:

• Main Criticisms:
• People criticized the great expense of the New Deal.
• Several presidents have introduced New Deal initiatives, some conservatives argue these New Deal initiatives are still impacting the country .

Opposition from the left:

• Senator Huey Long Created a “Share Our Wealth” scheme that would heavily tax the rich and redistribute wealth to the poor.
• Dr. Francis Townsend proposed a pension of $200 a month to each citizen over 60. - Dr. Francis Townsend
• The New Deal initiatives have been introduced by several other presidents, some conservatives argue these New Deal initiatives are still impacting the country - The New Deal initiatives have been introduced by several other presidents, some conservatives argue these New Deal initiatives are still impacting the country - The New Deal initiatives have been introduced by several other presidents, some conservatives argue these New Deal initiatives are still impacting the country
• The Court-packing scheme failed.

1936 Election

• Republicans nominated Alfred Landon.
• Democrats nominate FDR.
• Roosevelt won by a landslide.

FDR President #2

• There was a sharp economic decline in 1937.
• Labor unions were gaining strength and using strikes.
• Sit-down strikes some would end in violence against the workers, and some workers would destroy/ burn plants.

The Family

• 25% or more of Americans experienced hunger and poverty.

Homelessness

• About 2 million people were uprooted from their homes in 1930s.

The Dust Bowl

• A devastating drought began in 1932.
• The most brutal effects of the Dust bowl were felt in Oklahoma

Minority Groups

• The most noticeable effect of Roosevelt’s policies was the wining of African American voters to the Democratic Party.
• Half of all African Americans workers were unemployed

Jesse Owens

• In the 193 Olympics of Berlin, Germany, Jesse Owens won four gold medals in track events.

Entertainment

• Americans turned to the news, music, and sports,.

Crime

• The Lindbergh Kidnapping case was so famous, it has sometimes been called "the crime of the [20th] century.
• Bank-robbing gangs gained attention.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded.

Flight

• Amelia Earhart: became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.
• Explosion of the Hindenburg: the most dramatic of the 1930s air tragedies.

The post-war period in America was marked by a pursuit of normalcy and isolationism. However, it also brought significant challenges. These included a dismal job market, agricultural struggles, the Red Scare, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and escalating racial tensions.