APUSH Period 7 (1914-1929)

Reasons for US Involvement in WWI

The U.S. entered World War I in 1917 due to unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany, which led to the sinking of ships like the Lusitania, and the Zimmerman Telegram, in which Germany attempted to ally with Mexico against the U.S. Economic ties with the Allies and the ideological goal of making the world "safe for democracy" also influenced the decision to join the war.

Effects of US Involvement in WWI

The U.S. tipped the balance in favor of the Allies, providing troops, supplies, and financial aid, leading to Germany’s surrender in 1918. Domestically, the war accelerated industrial production, expanded government powers through agencies like the War Industries Board, and led to restrictions on civil liberties, such as the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

Hoover's Political/Economic Policy/Philosophy

Herbert Hoover promoted rugged individualism, believing that voluntary cooperation and limited government intervention were the keys to economic success. As head of the Food Administration during WWI, he encouraged conservation efforts, and as president, he upheld pro-business policies while resisting direct relief efforts during the Great Depression.

Meaning of "Return to Normalcy"

Coined by Warren G. Harding in the 1920 presidential campaign, this phrase promised a return to pre-war stability and a rejection of progressive reforms and international involvement. It reflected widespread disillusionment with World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, and economic instability.

Immigration Issues Post WWI (Including Legislation)

Fears of radicalism and job competition led to increased nativism, resulting in restrictive immigration laws. The Emergency Quota Act (1921) and the National Origins Act (1924) set strict quotas favoring Northern and Western Europeans while limiting Southern and Eastern Europeans and banning Asian immigration.

Emergency Quota Act (1921)

The first major immigration restriction law in the U.S., passed in response to rising nativist sentiment after World War I. It limited immigration to 3% of a nationality’s population in the U.S. as of the 1910 Census, significantly reducing the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, who were seen as undesirable by many Americans. The law was intended to curb the influx of Catholics, Jews, and other "new immigrants" while maintaining the dominance of Northern and Western European groups.

National Origins Act (1924)

Also known as the Immigration Act of 1924, this law made immigration restrictions even stricter, reducing quotas to 2% based on the 1890 Census. This further discriminated against Southern and Eastern Europeans, as fewer people from those regions had lived in the U.S. before 1890. It also completely banned immigration from Asia, reinforcing racial and ethnic biases in U.S. immigration policy. The act reflected widespread xenophobia and was influenced by eugenics-based ideas about maintaining America's "racial purity."

Dawes Plan (1924)

An economic strategy designed to help Germany pay its World War I reparations while stabilizing the global economy. It was initiated by the U.S. and involved reducing Germany’s annual reparations payments, restructuring its debt, and providing American loans to help Germany rebuild its economy. This plan temporarily eased tensions in Europe and helped Germany recover economically, but it relied heavily on U.S. financial support.

Young Plan (1929)

A follow-up to the Dawes Plan, further reducing Germany’s total reparations and extending the payment period until 1988. It was meant to make Germany’s payments more manageable, but the Great Depression soon undermined it, as economic instability made it impossible for Germany to continue payments. The plan ultimately failed, contributing to Germany’s financial crisis and the rise of extremist political movements, including the Nazi Party.

Women Post WWI

Women gained the right to vote with the 19th Amendment (1920), but many lost wartime jobs as men returned. The 1920s saw increased independence, with flappers challenging traditional gender roles and more women entering the workforce, though still confined to lower-paying jobs.

Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)

Was a protectionist measure passed by Congress to raise tariffs on imported goods in an effort to protect American businesses and farmers. It increased tariff rates to historically high levels, making it difficult for European nations to sell goods in the U.S., which in turn made it harder for them to pay back World War I debts. The tariff contributed to global economic tensions and trade imbalances. Gave the president the power to reduce or increase tariffs by 50% based on advice from the Tariff Commission.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)

Was another highly protectionist measure, raising tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. It was intended to protect American farmers and industries during the early years of the Great Depression but backfired as foreign countries retaliated by raising their own tariffs on American goods. This led to a dramatic decline in international trade, worsening the global economic downturn.

Fundamentalism/Agrarian Values

During the 1920s, a major cultural divide emerged between traditional, rural Americans and urban, progressive thinkers. Fundamentalists supported a strict interpretation of the Bible and often lived in rural areas, emphasizing religious faith, creationism, traditional values, and opposition to modern scientific theories (such as evolution/darwinism). Agrarian values reflected a preference for farming life and conservative social norms.

Science/Modernity

Supported by urban intellectuals, embracing technological advances, new cultural trends, and scientific theories like evolution. This divide was most famously seen in the Scopes Trial (1925), where teacher John Scopes was tried for teaching evolution in Tennessee, highlighting the clash between religious fundamentalism and scientific progress. The trial symbolized a broader societal struggle over education, morality, and the direction of American culture in the 20th century.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in the 1920s centered in Harlem, New York, where Black artists, writers, and musicians celebrated African American heritage and identity. Figures like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Duke Ellington helped shape literature, art, and jazz music.

14 Points

A comprehensive plan, proposed by President Woodrow Wilson in January 1918, to negotiate an end to World War I. It called for freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, national self-determination, an end to colonial rule and secret diplomacy, and the creation of a League of Nations. While idealistic, most of his proposals were rejected in the Treaty of Versailles negotiations.

Issues Surrounding the Treaty of Versailles

The treaty was heavily punitive toward Germany, forcing reparations, military reductions, and territorial losses, which fostered resentment and instability. In the U.S., opposition to the League of Nations led to the treaty’s rejection by the Senate.

Groups Involved in Treaty of Versailles

The Big Four—the U.S. (Wilson), Britain (Lloyd George), France (Clemenceau), and Italy (Orlando)—dominated negotiations, with France and Britain prioritizing harsh penalties for Germany, while Wilson sought a more idealistic peace. The U.S. Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, opposed the treaty.

Literature After WWI

Disillusionment with war and modern society led to the rise of the Lost Generation, a group of writers including Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises), F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby), and T.S. Eliot (The Waste Land), who criticized materialism and traditional values.

Groups that prospered in the 1920s

The wealthy, business owners, and stock market investors thrived during the economic boom, as did industries like automobiles and consumer goods.

Groups that DID NOT prosper in the 1920s

Farmers, factory workers, and minorities faced economic struggles due to falling crop prices, wage stagnation, and discrimination.

Largest Industries in the US

The automobile industry (led by Ford’s Model T), consumer goods (radios, appliances), and construction drove economic expansion. The rise of advertising, finance, and entertainment (Hollywood, jazz clubs) also reshaped the economy.

American Foreign Policy Post WWI

The U.S. embraced isolationism, avoiding entanglements in European conflicts while still engaging in economic and military interventions in Latin America. The Washington Naval Conference (1921-22) and Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) reflected a preference for diplomacy over war.

Problems Faced by the Democratic Party in the 1920s

The Democrats struggled with internal divisions between rural, conservative factions (favoring Prohibition and traditional values) and urban progressives. The 1924 Democratic National Convention exposed deep tensions over issues like Prohibition and immigration, while Republican dominance in the decade further weakened the party.

Allied Powers

The military alliance during World War I, chiefly consisting of Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, that opposed the Central Powers, chiefly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey.

Central Powers

Germany and its World War I allies—Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

Espionage Act

A law passed in 1917 that criminalized actions that obstructed military recruitment, supported enemy nations, or attempted to incite rebellion within the armed forces. The law was used to suppress dissent, particularly against socialists, pacifists, and labor activists, and led to the arrests of figures like Eugene V. Debs for opposing the war.

League of Nations

A worldwide assembly of nations that was created after World War I as part of President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points. Its goal was to maintain world peace and prevent future conflicts through diplomacy. However, the U.S. never joined, as the Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, opposed the League, fearing it would entangle the U.S. in foreign wars. Without U.S. support, the League struggled to be effective and ultimately failed to prevent World War II.

Red Scare

A period of intense fear of communism and radical leftist movements in the U.S., driven by the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) in Russia and labor strikes at home. Americans, especially the government, feared that communists ("Reds") were plotting to overthrow capitalism. The scare led to Palmer Raids, mass deportations, and laws restricting free speech. It also fueled xenophobia, leading to immigration restrictions.

Sedition Act

An extension of the Espionage Act that made it illegal to speak or write against the U.S. government, Constitution, or military. It was used to suppress opposition to the war and target socialists, anarchists, and labor leaders. Many, including Eugene V. Debs, were imprisoned under this act. It was later repealed, but it set a precedent for limiting civil liberties during wartime.

War Industries Board (WIB)

A federal agency that was created during World War I to coordinate the production of war materials. It was led by Bernard Baruch, regulated industries, prioritized military contracts, controlled raw materials, and set production quotas to support the war effort. While it increased efficiency, it also expanded government control over the economy, a trend that would reemerge during the Great Depression and World War II.

Zimmermann Telegram

A secret communication from the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador in Mexico, issued on January 16, 1917, authorizing the ambassador to offer Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to the Mexicans in return for going to war against the United States.

Good Neighbor policy

President Herbert Hoover’s policy to promote better relations between the United States and nations in the Western Hemisphere; it declared America’s intention to disclaim the right to intervention pronounced in the Platt Amendment and the Roosevelt Corollary.

Ku Klux Klan

Founded as a social club in 1866 by a handful of former Confederate soldiers in Tennessee, it became a vigilante group that used violence and intimidation to drive African Americans out of politics. The movement declined in the late 1870s but resurfaced in the 1920s as a political organization that opposed all groups—immigrant, religious, and racial—that challenged Protestant white hegemony.

Scopes trial

Also called the Monkey trial, it was a celebrated 1924 contest that pitted Darwinian evolutionists against fundamentalist “creationists.” John T. Scopes, a teacher charged with defying Tennessee law by teaching evolution, was found guilty and fined $100.

Teapot Dome scandal

A scandal during the administration of Warren Harding in which Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall accepted bribes from oil companies that then leased the Teapot Dome federal oil reserve in Wyoming.

Henry Cabot Lodge

A Republican senator from Massachusetts who was a key opponent of Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations. He led the fight against the Treaty of Versailles, arguing that the League would entangle the U.S. in unnecessary foreign conflicts and limit Congress’s power over war declarations. His opposition helped prevent U.S. membership in the League, signaling a shift toward isolationism in the 1920s.

Eugene V. Debs

A socialist labor leader and five-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. He was arrested under the Espionage Act (1917) for criticizing U.S. involvement in World War I and encouraging workers to resist the draft. Despite being imprisoned, he ran for president from jail in 1920, receiving nearly a million votes. His case symbolized the government’s crackdown on free speech and labor activism during the Red Scare.

Woodrow Wilson

The 28th President of the United States (1913-1921), leading the nation during World War I. He initially kept the U.S. neutral but later advocated for intervention in 1917. His Fourteen Points outlined a vision for postwar peace, including the creation of the League of Nations, but his failure to compromise with the Senate led to its rejection. After a stroke in 1919, he became physically incapacitated, weakening his influence.

Warren G. Harding

The 29th U.S. president (1921-1923) who ran on a platform of "Return to Normalcy", advocating a retreat from Wilsonian internationalism and Progressive-era reforms. His presidency was marked by pro-business policies, isolationism, and scandals, most notably the Teapot Dome Scandal. He died suddenly in 1923, leaving Vice President Calvin Coolidge to take over.

Calvin Coolidge

The 30th President of the United States (1923-1929), who took office after the sudden death of Warren G. Harding. Known for his pro-business, limited-government policies, he believed in "laissez-faire" economics and reducing government intervention in the economy. His presidency oversaw a period of economic growth, but also increased income inequality and speculation that contributed to the Great Depression. He famously said, "The business of America is business," reflecting his commitment to low taxes, deregulation, and pro-industry policies. He avoided foreign entanglements and his administration was largely free of scandal, contrasting with Harding’s, but his policies did little to address underlying economic weaknesses. He believed in leading through inactivity.

Herbert Hoover

A Republican president (1929-1933) and former head of the Food Administration during World War I who promoted prohibition, rugged individualism, voluntary rationing, and food conservation ("Hooverizing"). As Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s, he encouraged business efficiency and economic expansion. However, as president during the Great Depression, his laissez-faire economic approach and limited government intervention were widely criticized.

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer & the Palmer Raids

Palmer was a key figure in the Red Scare, leading the Palmer Raids, a series of government crackdowns on suspected communists, anarchists, and radicals. In response to bombings and labor strikes, he authorized mass arrests and deportations of immigrants, often without proper legal procedures. Though initially popular, his raids were later criticized for violating civil liberties and failing to uncover a significant revolutionary plot.

Sussex Pledge (1916)

A promise made by Germany to the United States after the sinking of the French passenger ferry Sussex. Germany agreed to warn non-military ships before attacking, in an effort to avoid provoking U.S. entry into WWI. This was later revoked in early 1917 with the return of unrestricted submarine warfare.

Selective Service Act (1917)

A law that required all men aged 18-45 to register for the military draft during WWI. Unlike the Civil War, exemptions were limited, and there was no option to pay for a substitute.

Conspicuous Consumption

A term coined by economist Thorstein Veblen to describe the spending of money on luxury goods and services to publicly display wealth rather than for necessity. This was prevalent in the 1920s due to increased disposable income.

The Lost Generation

A term used to describe a group of American writers disillusioned by World War I and critical of consumerism and modern society. Many of these authors, including Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, moved to Paris and other parts of Europe.

Scientific Management

A system developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor that aimed to increase industrial efficiency by standardizing production processes and breaking down tasks into smaller, specialized functions.

Black Wall Street (Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921)

A prosperous African American district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was destroyed by white mobs in one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history. Hundreds of Black residents were killed, and many businesses and homes were burned.

Andrew Mellon

Secretary of the Treasury under Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. A strong advocate of trickle-down economics, he pushed for tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation of businesses, believing it would stimulate economic growth. His policies contributed to economic inequality and helped shape the economic conditions leading up to the Great Depression.

Albert B. Fall

Secretary of the Interior under Harding, he was at the center of the Teapot Dome Scandal, where he secretly leased naval oil reserves to private companies in exchange for bribes. He became the first U.S. cabinet official to be imprisoned for corruption.

Trickle-Down Economics

Economic theory promoted by Mellon, suggesting that tax cuts and benefits for businesses and the wealthy would "trickle down" to the lower classes through job creation and economic growth.

Washington Naval Conference

A meeting of major world powers (including the U.S., Japan, Britain, and France) was organized by President Harding to limit the naval use of arms, reduce the need for military intervention, and prevent a future arms race. The resulting treaties sought to prevent war but lacked enforcement mechanisms.

• Five Power Treaty naval limitations on military – again shows strong desire to stay away from foreign affairs, esp. military

• Four Power Treaty – all nations would respect one another’s interests in the islands of the Pacific

• Nine Power Treaty – respected Chinese independence

Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris)

A 15-nation pact that held that all conflicts should be settld by peaceful means and that war was to be renounced. The US Congress demanded a right of self-defense and that America should not have to act against countries that broke the treaty. The pact lacked effectiveness as it failed to provide enforcement measures.