Question of the Day:
in your NB, answer and reason Place the following events from the American Revolution in the
correct chronological order?
I. British troops and Minutemen exchange fire at Lexington and ConcordII. 2nd Continental Congress approves Declaration of IndependenceIII. British General Burgoyne surrenders 5800 men at Saratoga in northern New YorkIV. British capture New York City, forcing Washington's troops to escape to New JerseyV. British troops capture 5000 American troops at Charleston, South Carolina
A) I, II, III, IV, VB) I, II, IV, III, VC) I, III, II, V, IVD) II, I, III, IV, VE) II, I, IV, III, V
Election of 1920
Republicans: Warren Harding (VP: Calvin Coolidge) Return America to “normalcy”
America was ready to return to isolationism
Democrats: James Cox (VP FDR) Supported League of Nations
RESULT: Harding defeated Cox 1st time full-suffrage for women in
national election
Aftermath of WWI
Industries once under the gov control went back to being private
1921 the US finally signed a peace treaty with G and A-H
Senate still refused membership to the League of Nations
Harding sought to the Middle East b/c of “black gold”
Aftermath of WWI, Part Two
Favored disarmament of the nations
Kellogg-Briand Pact—outlawed war but couldn’t be enforced
Raised the tariff in hopes to protect US trading interests
Harding’s Administration
Scandal
Ohio Gang (aka Poker Cabinet)
Harding appointed friends to office
Forbes, Veteran’s Bureau Chief, looted about $200 million from the vets’ hospitals
Teapot Dome Scandal
Sec. of Interior, Albert Fall, transferred naval oil reserves in Teapot Dome, WY & Elk Hills, CA to Interior Dept in 1921 Harding secretly signed the order
Fall then leased the lands to oilmen and received $400K
Scandal became public in 1923 Fall jailed for one year
Oilmen were acquitted of the bribe
RESULT: Americans’ lost faith in the courts and public officials.
Death of a President
Harding died in San Francisco in Aug of 1923
Stress from the scandals may have prompted his death
Vice President Coolidge assumed the presidency
Harding’s Talented Cabinet
Sec. of State: Charles Hughes; led important international peace conferences
Sec. of Treasury: Andrew Mellon; lowered the national debt and taxes for the wealthy
Sec. of Commerce: Herbert Hoover; only progressive cabinet member; sought reforms
Harding’s Conservation
Economic Agenda
Conservatives believed role of gov was to make business more profitable
Tax cuts for corporations and wealthy created “trickle down” economics
Higher tariffs (Fordney-McCumber) to protect American goods from cheaper European goods
Gov’s role should be laissez faire
Harding’s Conservation
Economic Agenda, Part II
Often antitrust laws ignored
Businessmen should run the gov
Rejected fed gov programs to help ordinary citizens
Appointed conservatives to the Supreme Court
Reducing national debt by making gov smaller
Questions to ponder
Warren Harding's administration brought the virtual burial of early 20c Progressivism. Evaluate the validity of this statement.
Compare and contrast the conservative policies of the 1920s presidents with the progressive policies prior to 1920.
Coolidge as President
Continued the pro-business mantra
Farmers struggled in the boom to bust era of the 1920s
overproduction lowered prices
gas ran tractors
Congress tried to pass special tax on farmers
Congress still did not allow US to join the League of Nations
Election of 1924
Republicans: Coolidge
Democrats: John Davis
Progressive Party: Sen. Robert LaFollette
RESULT: Coolidge won
HALT!
Memory Aid for Conservative
Politics in the 1920s: “HALT”
H igher tariffs
A nti-Union
L aissez faire
T rickle-down tax policies
Foreign Policy under Harding/Coolidge
Return to Isolationism
Washington Disarmament Conference
Threats to peace (US, GB & Japan)
5-Power Treaty
5-5-3 battleship ration
Gave Japan naval supremacy in Pacific
4 Power Treaty
Preserve status quo, concession to Japan’s favor
9 Power Treaty
Open Door in China preserved
Need to know
US and Caribbean & Latin America
Dawes Plan & WWI reparations
Kellogg-Briand Pact
2 main cause for the failure of peace:
Great Depression
“War psychosis”
Election of 1928
Republican: Hoover
Democrats: Al Smith (Catholic & son of Irish immigrants)
Campaign: Radio used significantly
Religious bigotry displayed over Smith
“A vote for Al Smith is a
Vote for the Pope.”
Hoover as President
Successful businessman
Supported some progressive ideas
Claimed in 1928: “Everybody ought to be rich” & “Poverty will be banished from the nation”
The Great Crash of 1929
Bull Market
On-margin buying of stocks
Overspeculation
OCTOBER 29, 1929 (Black Tuesday)
Traditionally considered the “trigger” of the Great Depression, but not a true major depression until Dec. 1930
Quick Clip…
America in the 20th Century: The Great Depression. United Learning. 2003.Discovery Education. 3 March 2009 <http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>
Long-term Causes of Great Depression
Weak industries
Overproduction of goods
Uneven distribution of income
Unstable banking system
Weak international economy
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
Well, Doctor, it all started with…
By 1932 22% of banks failed
Thousands of businesses failed
Unemployment reached 25%
As high as 33%; Chicago 50%
Total wages dropped about 41%
25% of farmers lost their farms
People experienced loss of self-worth
Depression longest and most devastating in US history (GNP fell almost 50%)
Hoover’s response or lack of
Hoover’s philosophy
Hoover took long to initiate domestic measures to help
Farming whoas
Attempts to help:
Called for volunteerism
Public works (i.e., Boulder/Hoover Dam)
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Bonus Army