APUSH Unit 7 1920s, Great Depression, WWII

Scientific management

• created by Frederick Taylor'

• timed workers while they performed tasks to make factories more efficient

• increased productivity —> economic prosperity

energy technologies in early 1900s

• increased use of oil and elecctricity

• another caused of economic growth

consumer appliances

• laundry machines, vacuums

• enabled by electricity in homes

• advertising used to increase consumer demand

• everything could be bought on credit

Impact of the automobile

• Americans owned millions of cars

• replaced the railroad industry as the key promoter of economic growth (lots of industries are tied to the car industry

What issues were farmers facing in the early 1900s?

• did not share in the prosperity

• farm prosperity ended as the war ended

• farmers had borrowed money to expand but were now in debt

• increased productivity—> crop surpluses—> prices down

welfare capitalism

• employers offered their employees improved benefits in order to reduce their interest in joining a Union

Why were labor unions struggling?

• welfare capitalism

• this political era strongly favored business which caused strikes to fail

• laws protecting workers nullified

mass media

• main form was the radio

• provided national exposure to regional cultures

Charles Lindbergh

• enabled by improved technology of airplanes

• a pilot who flew nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean

How did urbanization impact religion and other social issues?

• more and more people were moving to cities

• this created tensions in society between traditional values of rural areas vs. modern values of cities

modernism

• protestants redefining their faith

• believed they could accept the theory of evolution along with Christianity

fundamentalism

• thought every word in the Bible was true literally

• did not accept the theory of evolution

revivalists

• preached a fundamentalist message through the radio/other tools of mass communication

Who were some revivalists?

• Billy Sunday

• Aimee Semple McPherson

John Scopes

• a teacher in Tennessee

• taught the theory of evolution which was illegal

• he was arrested

Scopes trial

• showed the tension between science and religion

• tis topic still remains controversial today

21st amendment

• repealed Prohibition (18th amendment)

• in 1933

Quota laws

• severely limited immigration by setting quotas based on nationality

• designed to reduce the amount of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe

• reaction to an influx of immigrants

Sacco and Vanzetti

• Italian immigrants (also anarchists)

• convicted of a murder and robbery (innocent) and were executed

• reflects nativist sentiment

What happened to the KKK in the 1920s?

• grew in the 20s

• as more and more immigrants settled, nativist groups grew

What characterized the revolution in morals in the 1920s?

• revolt against sexual taboos

• influenced by Sigmund Freud

• Margaret Sanger

• flapper girls —> shorter hair and dresses

• changes in divorce laws (positive) and universal high school education

Harlem Renaissance

• sparked by the Great Migration—> like minded people settling in one place together

• black artists, musicians, actors, etc.

Examples of artists in the Harlem Renaissance

• Langston Hughes

• Louis Armstrong

• Bessie Smith

• Duke Ellington

Marcus Garvey

• founder of Unite Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

• advocated racial pride for African Americans

• black nationalism

Back - to Africa Movement

• established by Garvey

• encouraged African Americans to go back to Africa and have their own society

The Republican arty in the 1920s

• slow return of old conservative Republicans

• accepted the idea of limited gov regulation as an aid to business (because of Great Depression)

• more sympatheticto business than the public

Warren Harding

• republican

• was a bad president

• released Eugene Debs from prison

Fordney-McCumber Tariff

• increase in tariff rates

• Harding

Bureau of the Budget

• also under Harding

• procedures for all government espennditures to be placed in a single budget for Congress to review

How was the end of Harding’s presidency?

• marked by scandal and corruption

• hired dishonest cabinet men (his gambling buddies)

• teapot dome scandal- one of his cabinet members accepted bribes for granting oil leases

Herbert Hoover

• Republican

• wanted to end poverty but led the US into the Great Depression

Great Depression

• characterized by unemployment, bank/business failures

• global (not just US)

Black Tuesday and Black Thursday

• worst days of the stock market crash in 1929

• not really a cause of the depression more like a symptom

• stock prices plunged

How did uneven distribution of income contribute to the Great Depression?

• economic success was not shared

• once businesses failed because of lowered demand they let go of their workers which led to less demand (people can’t buy things)

buying on margin

• people could borrow stock instead of fully paying for it

• investors depended on the cost of stock increasing so they could repay the loan

• when prices dropped they couldn’t repay their loan and lost everything they had borrowed and invested

How did excessive use of credit lead to the Great Depression?

• people thought the economic boom was permanent

• people continued to borrow and pay for things they didn’t have enough money for (credit)

• people began to default on loans —> bank failures

Overproduction of consumer goods

• produced so many goods that workers with stagnant wages could not buy

How did government policies lead to the Great Depression?

• gov did not regulate business

• passed high tariffs which discouraged trade

• tried to preserve the gold standard even when banks were failing

What global economic problems were occurring as a result of the war?

• countries were more interdependent due to international banking and trade

• Europe was still recovering from the war

• US high tariffs and insistence on loan repayment further weakened Europe and contributed to the Depression

What were the social effects of the Depression?

• poverty and homelessness

• depression, suicide

• lived in shanty towns or hoovervilles

What was Herbert Hoover’s view on the Great Depression/ the economy?

• thought that prosperity would return shortly

• hesistated to ask for government assistance in order to matintain self reliance

• thought that relief should come from state govs not federal

Hawley- Smoot Tariff

• passed under Hoover

• one of the highest tariff rates in history

• further decline international trade

debt moratorium

• Hoover called for a suspension on the payment of international debts

Federal Farm Board

• under Hoover

• helped farmers stabilize prices by holding surpluses of crops in storage to avoid prices going down

• wasn’t super effective

Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)

• under Hoover

• gov tried to become more active in financial markets

• tried to stabilize businesses to avoid failures

Hoover’s trickle down theory?

• thought that by giving money to businesses the wealth would trickle down to workers \

• didn’t really work

Bonus march/day

• WW veterans had gotten bonuses that were going to be paid at a later date

• they stormed DC to demand earlier payment

• ended in violence and deaths

• contributed even more to Hoover’s unpopularity —> democrats (FDR) would easily win in 1932

20th amendment

• shortended the time between presidential election and inauguration

• lame duck amendment

FDR as president

• expanded the powers of the federal gov

• greatly enlarged presidential powers

• nominated for 4 terms

• pledged a new deal for the American people

Eleanor Roosevelt

• FDR’s wife

• civil rights leader/supporter

The New Deal

• advocated for relief, reform and recovery for the American people

Brain Trust

• a group of university professors that FDR hired to advise him

The first hundred days

• a goal marker for FDR

• entered a bunch of legislation

Bank Holiday

• tons of banks were failing

• FDR ordered the banks to close for a full day

• done to restore the Public’s confidence in banks

21st amendment

• repealed the 18th amendment (Prohibition)

Fireside chats

• FDR would go on the radio and explain concepts and his laws to the American people

• encouraged people to invest in banks again

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

• gave federal grants to state govs to operate soup kitchens and other forms of relief

Public Works Administration (PWA)

• gave money to govs for building roads, dams, etc. in order to provide jobs

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

• employed only men for projects on federal land

• paid for their families small monthly sums

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

• hired thousands of people

• built dams, control flooding, operate electrical plants, and manufacture fertilizer

• allowed for more people in rural areas to have electricity by selling it for less

Emergency Banking Relief Act

• allows the gov to examine the finances of banks

• only reopen the ones that seem sound and stable

Glass-Steagalll Act

• increased regulation of banks

• limited how banks could invest customer’s money

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

• guaranteed individual bank deposits

• people wouldn’t lose anything if their bank failed

Homeowners Loan Corporation

• provided refinancing of small homes to prevent foreclosures

National recovery Administration (NRA)

• helped industries set codes for wages, hours of work, levels of production, and prices of finished goods

• gave workers the right to organize and collective bargain

• was declared unconstitutional in Schneck vs. US

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

• encouraged farmers to reduce production by offering to pay money for every acre they plowed under

• declared unconstitutional

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

• hired people for temporary construction projects

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

• created to regulate the stock market

• placed restrictions on stock market speculation

• protects against insider trading

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

• gave the building industry and homeowners a boost

• used redlining against African Americans

second new deal

• focused on relief and reform instead of economic recovery

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

• employed millions of men and women

• artists were also paid to perform plays and paint murals

National youth Administration (NYA)

• provided part time jobs to help young people stay in school until they could get a more permanent job

Resettlement Administration (RA

• gave loans to sharecroppers, tenants, and small farmers

• established camps where migrant workers could live

Roosevelt’s priming the pump theory

• like trickle down but starting from the bottom up

• industrial workers and farmers needed to receive more gov help than businesses

National Labor Relation Act/ Wagner Act

• guaranteed a workers right to join a union and bargain

• protect workers rights

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

• supplied power to rural areas

Social Security Act

• created the social security trust fund for retirees

• disable, old people and more also receive benefits

Modern American liberalism

• the new deal/ FDR’s presidency became the basis for this concept

• view that the government is supposed to intervene to provide relief, recovery , and reform when necessary

Who became the supporters of the democrats as a result of FDR/ the New Deal?

solid south, white ethnic groups in cities, farmers, labor unions, liberals, African Americans

Critics of the New Deal from the left

• claimed that it didn't do enough for the poor and didn’t do enough to address minorities

Critics from the right

• claimed it gave the federal gov too much power and bordered on too close to socialism and communism

• alarmed by the New Deals pro-union stance and increased regulations

Father Charles E. Coughlin

• catholic priest

• wanted to nationalize all banks

• brutally attacked the New deal

• thought that there was too much gov intervention and undermined individual freedoms

Dr. Francis E. Townsend

• kind of came up with the social security act which was called the Townsend Plan

Huey Long

• proposed a share our wealth program that proposed a minimum annual income for everyone to be paid for by taxing the wealthy

Court Reorganization Plan

• the supreme court was getting in the way of FDR’s New Deal

• would allow the president to appoint new justices when other justices get too old

• called the court packing plan

• didn’t pass

Committee of Industrial Organization (CIO)

• was more inclusive than the AFL

• included women, minorities and unskilled workers

General Motors strike

• hosted a sit-down strike so they couldn’t be replaced by strike breakers

Fair Labor Standards Act

• established a minimum wage, a standard work week, and child labor restrictions

Keynesian Economics

• claimed that deficit spending was helpful in difficult times

• deficit spending primed the pump

Why did the New Deal weaken?

• economy improved but there were no booms

• reduced democratic majority in Congress —> blocked new deal legislation

• Nazis diverted concern from domestic to foreign

Dust Bowl

• happened during the Depression

• caused by a drought and poor farming techniques

Women during the Great Depression

• struggled to feed and clothe their children

• women sought more work

• people criticized women for stealing jobs from men

African Americans in the Great Depression

• last to get hired and were often excluded from relief programs

• hard times increased racial tension

Mary McLeod Bethune

• appointed to a position in the federal departments by FDR

• leader for more educational and economic opportunities for women

• established the Federal council on Negro Affairs to involve more African Americans in the New Deal

Indian Reorganization Act/Wheeler Howard Act

• changed federal policies towards Native Americans

• encouraged tribal organization and supported preservation of their culture

Mexican Americans in the Great Depression

• jobs as farmers were replaced by white workers

• forced thousands to move back to Mexico

Washington Conference

• set limits on the amount of warships each country should have, agreed to respect territory in the Pacific, some nations agreed to respect the open door policy

Kellogg-Briand Pact

• renounced the use of aggressive force to achieve national ends

• called upon people to settle disputes by peaceful means

What issue was the US having in terms of war debt?

• European countries were slow to pay back the money they loaned during the war

• high tariffs also made it harder for countries to pay us back

Dawes Plan

• US would loan Germany money so they could pay back reparations to Britain and France so Britain and France could pay us back

• didn’t work