The changing political environment, 1917-33 - Set One

How and why did US politics change between 1917 and 1933? Set one of flashcards - Before Harding's presidency

Who was president between 1913-1921 and was he Democrat or Republican?

• Woodrow Wilson (1913-21), Democrat

Who was the president between 1921-1923 and was he Democrat or Republican?

• Warren G. Harding (1921-23), Republican

Who was the president between 1923-1929 and was he Democrat or Republican?

• Calvin Coolidge (1923-29), Republican

Who was the president between 1929-1933 and was he Democrat or Republican?

• Herbert Hoover (1929-33), Republican

What was the ‘American Dream’?

• Belief that the nature of US society enables an individual to fulfil his or her potential, especially through wealth
• Harding, Coolidge and Hoover seemed to confirm the American Dream was reality

What is rugged individualism?

• Emphasised less government intervention and rather focused on self-reliance
• Hoover is the best embodiment of ‘rugged individualism’

What was the ‘laissez-faire’ ideology

• Influential ideology in nineteenth-century America, characterised by opposition to government intervention in the economy and society

Where did Republicans and Democrats usually pick up their votes?

• Small-town America usually voted Republican
• While Democrats picked up more votes in cities + from Southern whites

Who were progressives?

• American reformers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who sought government action to deal with political corruption + economic + social problems.
• There were both Democratic + Republican progressives

What impact did WWI have on domestic policies?

• Led to increasingly unpopular federal government intervention in the economy + society
• Contributed to the rise of Harding, Coolidge + Hoover
• Generated popular demand for a return to ‘normalcy’
• Ensured the introduction of prohibition
• Contributed to the Red Scare

When did America enter WW1?

• Spring 1917

What did Wilson want America to join, and was its purpose?

• League of nations
• Established in 1919, to help ensure world peace through collective security and disarmament

What did campaigners argue that drunkenness led to?

• Urban crime, insanity, poor health, Communism and poverty

How many states had banned alcohol by 1917?

• 27 States

When was the 18th Amendment to the Constitution made and what was it?

• The 18th Amendment was made in 1919
• Made it illegal to sell, make or transport alcohol in the United States

What did the Russian Revolution of 1917 pave the way for?

• The establishment of the world’s first Communist country, the USSR or Soviet Union
• Encouraged Communist uprisings in Germany and Hungary

Why did many Americans fear Communism?

• Communists believed in equal distribution of wealth → went against the idea of the American Dream
• Communists argued only the Communist Party was needed as it was the party of the people → America had a multi-party system
• 1919 American Communist Party formed → aroused fears of a revolution
• In 1919 there were 3600 strikes and race riots were attributed to Communist influence

What were the Palmer Raids and when did they take place?

• Took place from November 1919 to February 1920
• Anarchist bomb destroyed Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s house → Led to 6000 supposed Communists and anarchists being arrested in 36 American cities
• However, only 556 individuals deserved deportation and only a minority of the 556 were actually communists

What examples are there of federal government intervention in the Progressive Era + the war?

• Hundreds of government agencies were created to manage the war effort
• Many Americans paid federal taxes for the first time
• Legislation such as the Sedition Act (1918) gave the federal government extra powers to silence opponents of the war
• In 1917, 5 million men were drafted in a war not all of them believed in

What were Americans faced with after the war?

• Strikes
• Economic problems
• The Red Scare
• Race riots
• Flu pandemic
• Absent president due to the fact Wilson had to travel to Paris for the post war settlement

What did Harding’s election campaign and victory demonstrate?

• Many Americans had had enough and longed a return to ‘normalcy’
• The impact of the First World War on domestic politics in that it reflected how voters were tired of activism of the Democratic Woodrow Wilson + US involvement in world affairs

What other factors led to Harding’s victory apart from ‘normalcy’?

• He was personable, photogenic and looked presidential
• Great deal of press support, partly because most newspapers were Republican owned, but also because he got on well with reporters?
• Harding won over new women voters because he supported their enfranchisement