US Between the Wars

US Between the Wars

I. The Roaring Twenties

A. Reasons for Prosperity

1. wages rose

2. job opportunities increased

3. Modern Advances

a. Automobile production increased

b. Assembly lines ideas increased production

c. Spread of electricity

d. New products (vacuum, refrigerators, toasters)

e. New industries ( radio, motion picture, commercial air travel)

4. government’s laissez-faire attitude

a. government does not interfere in business

II. Republican Presidents

A. Warren Harding
1. 1921-1923

2. return to normalcy after WWI

3. limits on immigration

4. Teapot Dome Scandal

a. Government officials bribed by businessmen

B. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

1. Harding dies of heart attack, VP Coolidge takes over

2. Business of America is business

3. US prospers

C.Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

1. predicted poverty in US would end

2. government should not interfere in business

3. rugged individualism is key to US

a. given free education and individual opportunity = succeed

III. Social Issues

A. Women

1. worked during WWI

2. wanted right to vote (Amendment 19 passed )

3. new appliances reduced housework

4. more women go to college and work

5. some wore shorter dresses and cut hair (flappers)

B. Harlem Renaissance

1. African Americans migrating north

2. new pride in culture

3. Movement in arts

a. Writing (Langston Hughes)

b. Jazz music

c. Art (painting)

C. Prohibition

1. 1919 18^th Amendment passes

a. bans the manufacture or sale of alcoholic drinks

b. due to belief that alcohol was cause of poverty, crime and breakdown of family

2. By 1933 seen as failure

a. Unpopular law

b. Population refused to accept law

3. Repealed with passage of 21^st Amendment

D. Nativism and Racism

1. distrust and dislike of foreigners

2. fear of communists would take over US (Red Scare)

3. restrictions on immigration

4. Sacco and Vanzetti 1927

a. Italian immigrants accused of murder

b. Little to no evidence

c. Executed

5. Distrust of those who look different

6. Ku Klux Klan became more active in 1920’s

a. Expands hatred from African Americans

b. Now declared Catholics, Jew and immigrants were inferior

IV. Great Depression

A. Causes

1. Gambling on Stocks

a. Get rich quick hopes

b. Bought stocks on credit

c. When asked to pay remainder of price could not pay

2. Overproduction

a. Increased production of cars, radios, refrigerators

b. Produced more than people could afford to buy

3. Uneven Distribution of Income

a. Half the population lived at or below poverty

b. Farmers income declined

c. Unemployment

d. Low-paying jobs

4. Shrinking International Trade

a. American tariffs protected US market but

b. American business abroad difficult

5. Shaky Banking and Credit

a. Banking system unregulated

b. Unsafe investments

c. Consumers bought on easy credit and could not afford debts

B. Hoover’s reaction

1. believed economy would fix itself

2. felt voluntary and private organizations would provide help to those who needed it.

3. asked business leaders not to lay off workers

4. cut taxes and increased spending

5. established Reconstruction Finance Corporation

a. emergency loans to banks and businesses

b. too little too late

C. FDR

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt wins election of 1932

a. Promises no one would starve

b. New programs would put people back to work

c. Believes government responsible for economy

2. New Deal Legislation

a. Relief, Recovery, Reform

b. Brought ideas to public in radio addresses “fireside chats”

3. popular with people because doing something

4. unpopular with business because of control over them

5. fights with Supreme Court over New Deal Legislation

a. AAA and NRA declared unconstitutional

b. Tries to pack the court

c. Thought if more justices loyal to him get approval

d. Congress defeats his plan

6. helps country recover from the Great Depression

7. leads US into WWII

V. The New Deal

A. Relief

1. short term steps to help people until recovery of economy

2. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 1933

a. Gave young jobs

b. Planting trees, cleaning forests, draining swamps

3. Public Works Administration (1935)

a. Jobs building public works

b. Built schools, courthouses, roads, post offices, bridges

B. Recovery

1. stimulate production

2. Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933

a. Paid farmers to limit their crops

b. Kept price of farm products stable

3. National Recovery Act (NRA) 1933

a. Codes of business with set prices

b. Limits of production

c. Reduced work week

d. Minimum wage

e. Declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court

C. Reform

1. correct defects in economy

2. never have a depression again

3. protected people from risks they couldn’t handle on their own

4. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 1933

a. Insure back deposits

b. People not lose savings if bank failed

5. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 1933

a. Built government owned dams along Tennessee River

b. Prevent flooding

c. Generate electricity

6. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 1934

a. Prevent fraud in stock market

b. Guard against another stock market crash

7. National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) 1935

a. Right to form unions

b. Right to collective bargaining

8. Social Security Act 1935

a. Insured Americans against unemployment

b. Provided them with limited retirement benefits