USA in World War I Aftermath

The USA in World War I Aftermath

• The U.S. was initially involved financially by selling war materials to both sides from the start and then militarily involved from 1917
• Woodrow Wilson was integral in Versailles treaty negotiations and created the League of Nations
• The U.S. did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles and thus did not join the League of Nations
• By 1919, many Americans became disenchanted, calling for a "return to normalcy" and rejecting European entanglements.
• World War I shifted the U.S. economy from a debtor to a creditor nation
• Most industries shifted production to consumer goods, but the agricultural sector suffered due to overproduction and under-consumption
• There was a postwar increase in nativism and xenophobia, leading to a "Red Scare" that viewed communism and unionism as one

Post-War Presidents

• Woodrow Wilson segregated federal buildings in Washington.
• Wilson used his presidential veto against the Volstead Act in October 1919 to introduce prohibition, but was overridden
• Alcohol sales fueled the economy and the federal budget.
• Alcohol sales stopped in America from January 1920
• Wilson reduced tariffs
• He sought a global economy for Americans to sell goods overseas
• Wilson initially pursued neutrality in World War I but then asked Congress to declare war following Germany's submarine warfare declaration in 1917
• Advocated internationalism by forming the League of Nations
• Lost support for his internationalist approach, resulting in the U.S. decision not to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations
• Warren G. Harding introduced federal income tax
• He came into power promising "Return to Normalcy" after World War I
• Harding was the first to ride to his inauguration in a motorcar and address the public via radio
• Harding restricted immigration through the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and raised tariffs via the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922, declining intervention in agriculture
• Immigration restrictions increased, and xenophobia grew
• He left issues with American farmers unaddressed, such as oversupply of grain
• A policy of isolationism was present during Harding's presidency, yet he hosted the Washington Naval Conference in 1921-22, resulting in the signing of a number of treaty agreements
• Multiple corruption scandals plagued Harding's presidency
• Appointment of friends to key positions
• The Teapot Dome scandal was made public, administration members exploited positions for economic gain, attorney general Harry Daugherty had corrupt dealings with bootleggers during Prohibition
• Calvin Coolidge signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact with 14 countries in 1928, renouncing war
• Coolidge continued minimal government intervention in the economy, rejecting Wall St's concerns regarding unchecked stock market speculation, and declined intervention for the struggling agricultural sector
• Herbert Hoover embodied rugged individualism and the American Dream
• Hoover supported "progressive individualism," a belief that the prosperous had a moral duty to aid those less fortunate, and was a proponent of personal charity
• Supported prohibition, calling it a "noble experiment"
• Hoover intervened more in the economy than previous Republican Presidents by addressing the agricultural depression before the stock market crash and stimulating the economy with programs .
• His failure not to veto the Hawley-Smoot Tariff contributed to an international depression, and was seen as a major failing.

Republican Economic Policies

• Republicans favored a laissez-faire approach marked by minimal government intervention in the economy
• There were few restrictions on the Banking sector or stock market
• Law enforcement of anti-trust legislation was observed
• There was a refusal to intervene to help the struggling agricultural sector
• Republicans intervened in key economic areas like protectionism, introducing import tariffs to boost American goods and anti-unionism, supporting 'yellow dog contracts'
• 'Yellow dog contracts' mean factory workers signing and promising to never become a member of a union otherwise they'd lose their jobs
• Those policies such as tax cuts, favored the wealthy and contributed to the unequal distribution of wealth
• No government protection of money in banks

Long-Term Causes of the Great Depression

• The booming 1920s US economy is often compared to a "House of Cards," resting on unstable foundations
• Republican economic policies underpinned the notion of 'rugged individualism', and they advocated for little intervention
• Only one-third of U.S. banks were under the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve Board
• Most banks were small, and the lack of regulation allowed them to give easy credit and enabled the consumer boom and speculative bubble, leading to bank failures
• Republican economic policies caused a widening gap in wealth, 5% owned 33% of the nations wealth
• Mass production and consumption turned to over-production and under-consumption
• Republican protectionist policies shrunk international market for U.S. consumer products
• Depressed sectors of the economy included agriculture: overproduction and technological unemployment
• Falling crop prices and mounting debts contributed to agricultural struggles
• President Hoover attributed the Great Depression to international problems from world war one
• There was also agricultural competition from overseas markets like Canada and Argentina
• Speculation was a major factor of the Florida land bubble in the mid-1920s, which then led to huge debt
• Republican economic policies such as non-regulation of the stock market, tax cuts, low interest rates, and 'on the margin' share purchases sharply raised people speculating

Reactions to the Great Crash of 1929

• Initial government intervention was not carried out
• Voluntarism was used
• There was reassurance that the basic principles of the economy were sound
• Part of the cycle of capitalism
• It was believed the market would correct itself
• There was credit freeze, bank collapses, factory closures, underemployment, and unemployment
• There was an end to confidence
• Belief of that the crash as the great depression
• Loss of faith in institutions

Implications of Industrialisation

• Boom mostly benefitted businessmen and share owners; life was grim for those at the bottom
• Two million NYC residents lived in tenements condemned as fire traps
• Lax safety regulations caused accidents, killing 25,000 workers each year and permanently disabling 100,000 more
• "Rugged individualism" meant little welfare support and a laissez-faire approach to safety issues, workers made 18 cents for a 56-hour week
• Government generally backed employers against workers and the Supreme Court ruled against laws banning child labor
• Poverty in farming increased significantly and by 1921 total farm income was down
• Farmers couldn't pay off loans
• Technological progress and Fordism changed car manufacturing as a fast, cheap mass production
• Assembly lines meant unskilled and semiskilled workers could learn and produce quickly
• Focused on one type of car, Model T
• Lowered cars production time
• Introduced $5 a day for workers who didn't join trade unions
• Rapid production of model T, petroleum industry expanded
• United States had a large domestic market
• Republican policies involved low taxes, high tariff to boost the US market
• Germany lost 2.5 million people
• Allies also had to pay the U.S, boosted american industry
• 'Yankee ingenuity’ brought light bulb, sewing machine
• Advertising and the banking sector also assisted the industry
• Immigration gave cheaper labor and migration from rural areas was apparent
• Easy credit and new hire purchase

Implications of Growing Urbanisation

• In 1906, Frederic Howe wrote that 'the city has become the central feature of modern civilization'
• This was stimulated by immigrants, and urban population tripled
• Urbanization affected family structure, educational opportunities, and more, and it spurred industrialization, drawing people away from rural settings
• L.A. and Detroit became attractive destinations for their job oppurtunities
• Immigrants came looking for jobs and the America dream
• People wanted new progressive thinking
• People's dreams changed and they wanted to make those dreams come true
• There was improved sanitation and medicine
• Shift in marriage views and new woman
• Diversity was created and there was higher standards in safety and health
• Higher density and less sewage was a problem
• There was difficulties in job seeking
• The new negro rose during the Harlem Renaissance
• Low health ratings
• More opportunities yet high rate of death
• A lack of worker right were created
• Poor working conditions were apparent

Consumerism & Entertainment

• Industrialisation allowed people's income to spread
• Advertisement, products and entertainment increased
• The car, radio and cinema became products of mass consumption
• Car was a new revolution
• Model T ford had new changes to allow more consumers to purchase
• There were other jobs created from the business such as roadside diners and more
• Electricity powered industry and products became electronic
• The radio had the opportunity for advertisers to push messages
• Cinema and its stars was influential
• Sport made the culture more lively and people could watch
• The working class became closer
• There was household appliances and they appeared to be modern
• Beauty products started to be heard
• The products provided job
• All of it increased income

Influence

• Agriculture, textiles, and coal
• Real capita increased
• National product grew by billions
• More car registration
• People lived better than ever before
• Production, price
• New roads
• Automobile
• Towns grew
• Vacationing
• Less power for trade workers and more
• Less for rural and live of children
• More high shcool
• More courses and curriculm changes

Social Tensions

• Urban vs rural

• Economy into industry and urban -Famer then capitalist

• Puritan vs consumerism

• Restraint then relaxed morals

• Prohibitions vs tempernace

• Alcohol then productive alcohol

• Change then women

• Women working

• Woman were then flappers

• Power was found

• Ethnic conflict

• Rise of racism and immigrant population

• Religious tension

• Fundementialism

Religious Fundementalism

• Rose in a reaction against social change with modernity
• Believed in the interperations were a sign of a bad relationship with God
• Solutions began to get over powered and hard to find in rural communities
• Crime rose
• WWI resulted in deaths from technology and people needed faith
• The Bible was and should be understood as a world
• Evolution was undermining their view
• Butler made it illegal to teach in schools
• Scope monkey trials had many tenisons

Reactions Against

• Scopes Lost, darrow exposed ignoranced against religious fundementalism
• Urbanization had people oppose materialism
• Prohinitio was then supported as a means to reduce effects

Anti-Saloon Against

• Rural to help take away liquor

Comapign For Laws

• Anti saloon led members being drawn away
• A lot of people gave more to the cause

Passed to stop actions

• 18 amendemnt gave power against power
• Gradually the laws

Enforced to distribute

• Illegalr to produce only was okay to distribute

To medical and religious

• 800,000 gallon used

Poor actions led to hire actions

• Made the industyr harder

Increase Crimes

• The imagination to go around being found
• Prohibition then injunction

Soft and boosted drinks

• Significant to boost

Illegal Liquor

• There not support rights were not able

Organized Crime

• To those who organized
• Wealth and money
• Actions were recognized

To cope and no prisons

• Did not agree

Restriction to vote actions

• In the 19 vote

War and Immi

• Restrictions were present
• Some were looked down on
• New immigrates and ideas were new
• Fear and suspiscion was over powered

Illlegal

• In NYD, police got and jailed

• In power at this time

• Sacco and ventzzi

• Charged one

• Against violence

Aflredlgy to be Italian and poltiital activist

• Made and said

Unfounded Belief

• Led the amerioan and polticians with the effects and immi were all controlled