Politics of a Thin Prosperity-1920-1929

1. Politics of a Thin Prosperity-1920-1929 Chapter 25

2. Postwar Controversy • Boston Police Strike of 1919 • had not had a raise since before the war and cost of living had doubled • 4 went to meet and were fired, rest went on strike • no police protection • looting, open gambling • mayor calls on Governor Calvin Coolidge for National guard-peace restored and police call off the strike • police commissioner refused to let them return to the job and gave the new police force everything the old one wanted • Samuel Gompers appealed for the fired men: Coolidge response- “There is no right to strike against the public safety by anyone, anywhere, anytime.” • made him famous • <A mass frenzy while the strike took place

3. Communism • Economic and social system that seemed to threaten our way of life • one political party, state over individual, all property owned by state • 1919-attempts to overthrow the government in Germany, Hungary, successful in Russia • Russian Communists encouraged worldwide overthrow of capitalism • abolition of free enterprise and private property • <Lenin-leader of Russian Communism

4. The Red Scare • Red is symbolic color of Communism • many US radicals are Communist, more are not • public couldn’t distinguish between the two • radical support of unions was attack on the American way of life-fed by strikes • 1919-3000 strikes, 4 million walk off job • employers-unions are planning overthrow • <Political Cartoon from the Boston Police Strike

5. The Red Scare • April of 191-Bombs appear in the US mail • addressed to various government and business leaders • along with violence in some cities-caused panic • fall-two strikes closed down steel and coal mills(winter coming) • United States Attorney General- <A. Mitchell Palmer raids the offices of anarchists, communist, socialist

6. The Red Scare • Many members are recent immigrants • foreign sounding names meant-un-American and undesirable • Palmer squashed people’s rights • searches w/o warrants, locked up for long periods w/o seeing a lawyer, many arrested because they were friends of suspicious • 249 deported • people lose interest after the riots Palmer predicts do not happen

7. The Ku Klux Klan • Grew swiftly during the 1920’s • reached peak in 1924 with 4.5 million • white males, native-born, gentile citizens • hoods and burning crosses • keeping blacks in their place, drive Catholics, Jews, and any other “foreigners” from the land • Grand Wizard Hiram Evans • people who felt threatened by the changes in American society • some frustration through racial violence, influence national and state politics • <Klan March on Washington in the 1920’s

8. Sacco and Vanzetti Trial • Italian immigrants and anarchists • “a good shoemaker and a poor fish peddler” • May 5, 1920-arrested for a payroll robbery-South Braintree, Massachusetts • paymaster and guard shot and killed • evidence-circumstantial- • found guilty and sentenced to death • protests in US, Latin America, Europe • executed August 23, 1927 • 1961-ballistic evidence points to Sacco but others would say it is inconclusive • <Sacco and Vanzetti on trial • Sacco and Vanzetti web link

9. Return to Normalcy • The Election of 1920 • Republicans chose-<Warren G. Harding • handsome, good-natured, “looked like a President ought to look”, not respectable • Calvin Coolidge-VP • Democrats-James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt • Harding: return to the time before the Progressives and stay out of European affairs • won by a landslide

10. Arms control and Peace • Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State-calls for a Naval Holiday-10 years without building a ship • ratio of 5:5:3(500,000 tons for Britain and US; 300,000 tons for Japan) • Five Power Treaty(France and Italy-175,000) • Washington Naval Conference-sign both the Four Power Treaty (US, Britain, Japan, France)and Nine power Treaty(added to above-China, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal) • head off problems in Asia and a costly arms race

11. United States wants reparations • Britain and France borrowed $10 billion from American bankers • both expected to have some of the debt written off • US wants payment in full • only two ways to raise funds-raise through reparations from Germany or exports • Fordney-McCumber Tariff-aimed at keeping foreign goods out of American markets • The Dawes Plan-<Charles Gates Dawes-American Banker and Owen Youn-President of General Electric loans, through investors, Germany $2.5b, Germany pays Britain and France $2bwho paid US $2.6b

12. Nativists • Nativist sentiment began to grow in 1880 with the growth of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe • Emergency Quota Act of 1921-quota system-based on national origins • Immigration Act of 1924-2% of nationals living in the US in 1890-discriminated against Southern and Eastern European • Japanese are not eligible for citizenship-wipe out gentleman’s agreement with Japan and Teddy Roosevelt • National Origins Act of 1929-base year shifted to 1920-not applied to North Americans • <Ellis Island

13. Scandals of the Harding Presidency • Scandal caused by graft among the President’s friends • spring of 1923-Jesse Smith exposed as a “bagman”(carries bribes person to person-assistant to Attorney General <Harry Daugherty • banished from DC-Smith committed suicide in May-Charles Cramer--legal advisor to the Veterans Bureau did the same • Charles Forbes-head of the Veteran’s Bureau-swindled the Us of $250m-kickbacks on Veteran’s hospitals-sentenced to prison for fraud in 1925 • Colonel Thomas Miller-Office of Alien Property-taken valuable German Chemical patents that were seized by America and sold them to private firms

14. Teapot Dome Scandal • Most daring-concerned Naval Reserves • oil-rich public lands of Teapot Dome, Wyoming and Elk Hill, California set aside as a result of Progressivism and use by US Navy • Secretary of the Interior-<Albert Fall-got some of the land transferred from control of the Navy to the Interior • secretly leased the land to two private oil companies • got equal to $325,000 in bonds and the like • Fall convicted on fraud-1 year and $100,000

15. Coolidge Takes Over • Scandals begin to break Harding- “I have no trouble with my enemies….But my damned friends,…they’re the ones that keep me walking the floors nights!” • betrayed by his friends-broken man-takes trip to Alaska from San Francisco-on return-tired and distracted-becomes critical ill and dies on August 2, 1923 • <Calvin Coolidge is the person the Republicans need to restore integrity • Speculation about Harding’s death at this link

16. Silent Cal • “The chief business of the American people is business.” • The man who builds a factory, builds a temple.” • Election of 1924-Republicans put Coolidge-Democrats are divided-Prohibition the issue-John Davis-wealthy lawyer • no chance-16m to 8m • <Election of 1924

17. Americans are prosperous • 1. Household electricity-alternating electrical current made it possible to carry current over long distances • 2. Competition-Ford-Model T had not changed since 1908-General Motor’s Chevrolet-Ford answers with <Model A-not a hit • 3. retailers-A & P, United Drug, Thom McCann, J.C. Penney, United Cigar all adopted Woolworth’s method of quantity

18. Retailing and Advertising • Sears Roebuck and company go away from catalogs • <Piggly Wiggly introduced-forerunners to the supermarkets • pay on installment plan- “a dollar down and a dollar forever” • planned obsolescence-goods only last months or years before they are replaced • advertisers create the desire-hired psychologists for color and appeal and how to make you buy

19. Not Everyone is Prosperous • 1. Railroads-Esch-Cummins Act of 1920-government control rates and service but privately owned-Government would not let Companies abandon lines that were losing money • 2. Textiles-shifted south-less of Labor unions, cheaper labor, closer to source-foreign competition, radical change in women’s dress, eliminated yards of fabric • <Matchbook Ads of the 1920’s

20. Not Everyone is Prosperous • 3. Coal Mining-expanded to meet demands of WWI-other sources are now available • 4. Farmers-overproduction-expanded during the war-cultivated lands that don’t get enough rainfall-replaced humans with machines-paid with borrowed money-1920-prices tumble 50%-clothing went from cotton to rayon- • Farm Bloc-improvement of their constituents-<McNary-Haugen bills-federal government buy surplus wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco at a reasonable price-set a floor for price-price supports-introduced in 1924 and 1928-passed by Congress, vetoed by Coolidge

21. Rich Get Richer, Poor get Poorer • 3/5ths of nation’s wealth was owned by 2% of population • 27,500 wealthiest families had as much as 12 million poorest • miners-$10/week-<Andrew Mellon’s income tax was $2m and Henry Ford was $2.6 m • nearly half the nation’s poor made less than $1500/year-minimum amount to leave decently • Rich couldn’t spend money fast enough so bought into stocks • those trying to get rich quick bought on margin-paid only a percentage for the stock • more speculators made the prices rise above their real value

22. Election of 1928 • In 1927, Calvin Coolidge decides not to run again • Herbert Hoover is chosen for the Republicans • Democrats chose New York Governor <Alfred Smith • Ku Klux Klan attacks Smith for being Catholic, call for repeal of Prohibition cast votes, rasping voice, New York accent, Republicans were at peak of prosperity

23. The Economy goes sour • The Great Depression not brought about solely by Stock Market Crash • signs there-shrewd stock market speculators began to unload stocks • October 29, 1929-Black Tuesday-bottom falls out-$30B had blown away by mid-November, the same amount spent in WWI • Great Depression had begun