APUSH Unit 7: Period 7: 1890-1945

Populists and Progressives, 1890-1919

The Rise and Fall of the Populist Party

A. Understanding Causation: Causes of the Populist Revolt

• The laws of supply and demand worked against American farmers. The more crops they produced would lead to lower prices.

• Farmers blamed railroads for many of their problems. Most farmers depended on railroads for transportation and believed the railroad monopoly charged them unfair rates.

• Farmers had to borrow money for upgrades, but following the Civil War was a period of deflation where prices and money supply fell. As a result, the farmers had to pay back loans that doubled in value.

• Farmers with debt believed that America’s commitment to gold standard reduced the supply of money. This policy benefitted banks while punishing those in debt. It was kind of impossible, and very slow to get out of debt.

  • Farmers wanted to switch to a silver standard because it was more abundant, combat inflation, and easier to payback debts.

B. The Birth of the Populist Party

• Farmers began to become more aggressive/militant and believed that these causes justified the reason to organize a third political party. They were praised as the backbone of American democracy, but now they saw themselves as victims of low crop prices and unfair railroad rates while the rich got richer.

• This wave of agrarian discontent led to the People’s or Populist Party. Although led by farmers, it included labor leaders, women’s rights activists, and socialists.

• Over 1,300 delegates formed a platform to nominate a candidate in the 1892 presidential election that would represent their interests.

• They wanted the government to:

  • control the railroads and switch to silver.

  • eight-hour workdays, and the direct election of senators by voters instead of state legislators.

  • and a graduated income tax where people pay more taxes based on how much they make.

• Nominated congressman and Union general James Weaver, who received more of the popular vote that any previous third-party candidate.

  • They also a bit of influence in Congress, senators, and state legislatures, and they looked forward to the 1896 election where they might make a bigger splash.

C. The Election of 1896

• Republicans: William McKinley; supported both the gold standard and tariffs

• Democrats: William Bryan; supported silver standard to devalue money and help debtors.

  • Because of the Democrat’s decision to have a candidate that supported silver standard, it divided the Populist party unsure whether to nominate their candidate or endorse Bryan. They chose Bryan, but came with a cost of giving up their identity as a separate party.

• Bryan was. the first presidential candidate to go on campaign trails and speak. to the people directly, but it didn’t work as McKinley won the electoral college and popular vote, most likely due to conflicting interests of the monopolies manipulating people’s votes.

D. Understanding Causation: Consequences of the Election of 1896

• Due to Bryan’s loss and the silver issue diminishing due to gold strikes that increased money supply, the Populist Party collapsed.

• Farmers were able to sell crops that matched their output due to crop failures in Europe.

• Industrialization and urbanization were shaping American life, and Bryan didn’t represent any industrial states or cities.

• This election led to a generation of Republican dominance until FDR.

• The end of Populist led to the rise of Progressive; people still wanted reform.

The Progressive Spirit

A. From Populism to Progressivism

• After the end of the Populists, reform shifted to the middle-class where they focused on the problems caused by industry and urbanization.

• Progressivism was used to describe the movement to build a more democratic and just society, and is dated from 1900 to 1917, around start of WW1.

B. Key Elements of the Progressive Spirit

• Both populists and progressives wanted government to play an active role in public life, and not let businesses be unregulated.

• They were idealists who did not believe in Social Darwinism and that competition will not improve society.

• They instead believed that citizens who were informed would create a society with less poverty, regulated corporations, and a protected environment through elected leaders who were honest.

C. The Muckrakers

• In the 1900s, writers were hired to expose corrupt practices in business and politics. They were known as muckrakers who expressed the spirit of Progressive reform by uncovering social wrongs.

• Ida Tarbell: an expose that ended ruthless, corrupt practices of Rockefeller and Standard Oil.

• Muckraking articles allowed public opinion to mobilize demand and support needed for reforms.

Turning Points in American History: Women and Progressive Reform

A. The “New Woman”

• During Progressive era, a generation of middle class “New Women” extended their roles as guardians of the home to include becoming activists who fought to improve their communities.

• Basically made it so protecting, and challenging the status quo was part of their “domestic roles”, such as the Hull House.

B. Clubs and Settlement Houses

• 1910: 1 million women belonged to clubs that pressed local governments to improve society like enforcing stricter fire codes, build libraries, and more.

• They embraced a new ideal called maternalism: desire to improve their communities.

• Jane Addams made the Hull House that started the settlement house movement that helped immigrants, developed women’s leadership skills, and built careers to serve others

C. The Temperance Movement

• Women played a big role, like the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, one of the largest organizations of women int ehw world. They convinced many women they had the moral duty to eliminate alcohol abuse and strengthen Amerian family stability.

• The crusade gathered momentum, and states began outlawing saloons. Congress passed the 18th Amendment that outlawed alcohol commerce.

D. Women’s Suffrage

• Progressive movement created a new generation of suffragists, and sharpened the nation’s social conscience. Their campaign was irresistible, and Congress passed the 19th Amendment.

E. Continuity and Change

• When the Progressive Era ended, women still didn’t have political influence and were largely absent from work fields. African American women lives remained the same.

• During the 1920s, social activism trends began to die down, but when the Great Depression occurred, the women from the Progressive Era became role models for the feminist movement in the 60s and ‘70s.

Roosevelt and the Square Deal

A. A Dyamic New President

• After McKinley’s assassination, Theodore Roosevelt became a major voice for the Progressive movement. He believed that the government should be used to solve the nation’s pressing problems.

• This personality changed the presidency and established himself as a focal point in American life.

B. The Anthracite Coal Strike, 1902

• United Mine Workers struck coal mines across Pennsylvania and West Virginia. TR invited both management and labor to the White House. When the owners refused to negotiate, TR threatened to order the army to seize and operate the mines. Owners had to accept federal arbitration.

• Was the first time a President successfully intervened in a labor dispute as an impartial arbiter. Made TR a fearless champion of the working class, and he said it was for every man to have a square, fair deal.

C. TR and the Trusts

• Trusts: large business combination formed by merging several smaller companies under the control of single governing board.

• Giant Trusts dominated the American economy in the 1900s, and Progressives said that trusts restrained trade, fixed prices, and posed a threat to free markets.

• Sherman Antitrust Act: forbade unreasonable combinations in trade and commerce

• TR used his powers to order the attorney general to breakup Northern Securities Company, a giant trust. The Supreme Court upheld the antitrust suit and dissolved the company.

  • This victory established TR’s reputation as a “trust buster.”

D. Consumer Protection

• Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle dealt with conditions in the Chicago meatpacking industry. His descriptions led to federal inspectors to investigate and confirm Sinclair’s charges, and an indignant public demanded action.

• Congress promptly passed the Meat Inspection and the Pure Food and Drug Act. These laws set strict new Federal standards for food and drugs.

Roosevelt and the Environment

A. Context

• Westward expansion of settlers, railroads, and lumber companies led to the exhaustion of natural resources such as trees, minerals, and animals.

• The rapidly depleting environment sparked a wildlife conservationist public advocacy movement. Congress took the first steps to create Yellowstone and Yosemite, and Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, and McKinley.

B. Roosevelt and the Conservationists

• The wilderness exploitation outraged Roosevelt, and became a leader in the conservationist movement.

• Gifford Pinchot led TR’s National Forest Service to triple the number of acres in forest preserves.

C. Roosevelt and the Preservationists

• TR also sided with the preservationists. In contrast to the conservationists’ “hands-on” approach to protecting nature, they believed that people should just admire nature, not intervene with it.

• John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, was America’s foremost advocate of the preservationist viewpoint. He camped with TR for four days to help inspire Roosevelt to fulfill many preservationist goals:

  • Adding 5 national parks, 4 national game preserves, 51 federal bird preserves, 18 national monuments.

D. The Hetch Hetchy Controversey

• A river valley in Yosemite where the:

  • Pinchot and conservationists viewed it as an ideal spot for a dam to supply water to San Francisco.

  • Muir and the preservationists viewed it should not be touched.

• TR had divided loyalties, and after some time he approved the dam of Pinchot and the conservationists. After completion, San Francisco receives 80 percent of water from the water structures.

E. Making Connections: Land Use Policy

• Pinchot’s conservationist viewpoint served as a precedent for future land use policies like the Hoover Dam, an example of a managed land use project.

• Muir’s preservationist viewpoint also impacted the land use policy by planting and imprinting an American value of preserving America’s natural and historic heritage through national monuments, historic sites, and national parks.

Wilson and Progressive Reform

A. Context

• TR believed his hand-picked successor President Taft would continue his progressive reforms, but in reality, Taft was not a great fit in the President role who alienated Roosevelt’s supporters.

• When the Republic convention renominated Taft, Roosevelt formed the new Progressive or Bull Moose Party.

• The Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson, and Wilson won the election.

B. “The Triple Wall of Privilege”

• Wilson launched the “triple wall of privilege” which was a legislative offensive against the tariff, banks, and trusts.

• Roosevelt failed to address the issue of tariff reform, only focusing on dismantling trusts and lowing the power of Big Business. Wilson was able to persuade Congress to lower tariff rates by 8 percent.

• Wilson then signs the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 which created a system of 12 district banks with a President-appointed Federal Reserve Board.

• This system was able to raise and lower interest rates and issue paper currency which allowed them to control the credit and supply of money.

• For the trusts, he strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act with the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 which prohibited price discrimination and forbidden interlocking board members between large companies.

• It also exempted labor unions from antitrust prosecution.

C. Racial Discrimination

• Wilson did not include racial discrimination and white supremacy in the wall of privileges. Progressives ignored the racial discrimination in the South, even though they had concern for social justice.

Becoming a World Power, 1890-1919

The Roots of American Imperalism

A. Context

• In 1890, the United States played a minor role in foreign affairs. With the exception of the French alliance in the Revolutionary War, America followed Washington’s advice of not entangling the country in foreign alliances.

• For most of the 19th century, America was focused on being a continental republic focused on settling the western frontier and building democratic institutions.

• In less than a decade, America became an imperial republic with influences in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific.

B. The Quest for New Markets and Raw Materials

• American business leaders worried that they were producing more product than Americans could buy. So, they wanted to tap into new markets in these spheres of influence and gain a new source of raw materials.

• During the deep depression in the 1890s, the political leaders feared the renewed labor unrest, and linked economic growth and social stability with the quest for these new markets and materials.

C. Alfred Mahan and the New Strategic Thinking

• In his book, Captain Mahan argued that the control of the sea shaped the destinities of history’s greatest empires. He forcefully urged the United States must:

  • Build the most powerful navy

  • Construct and control a canal that would better link the East Coast to the Pacific, instead of having to go around the tip of South America.

  • Acquire STRATEGIC located colonies that would provide coaling stations for ships and repair facilities for the US military and commercial fleets.

• His ideas influenced a generation of policy makers like TR, and as a result his views of sea power dominance would be the cornerstone of American strategic thinking.

D. The Ideology of Expansion: Social Darwinism and the White Man’s Burden

• Social Darwinists believed that Darwin’s survival of the fittest could be applied not only to society but also to the rise and fall of nations. During the late 19th century, strong Euro powers scrambled to dominate the weak nations in Africa and Asia.

• They feared that that if the United States did not play a more aggressive role in world affairs, it would fall behind its rivals in the global imperialism race.

• Americans believed their political and economic systems as superior. During the 19th century, they fulfilled the Manifest Destiny, and now believed they had the responsibility to “take up the White Man’s Burden” and embark on a mission to “civilize non-Europeans.”

Making Comparisons: Manifest Destiny and Imperalism

A. Continuities

• Manifest Destiny and American imperialism both led to territorial expansion and the gain of natural resources and markets

• Both led to military conflicts. The Mexican War gained California, New Mexico Territory. The Spanish-American War gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

B. Changes

• The United States did not justify its expansion across the continent as a mission to civilize Native Americans. In contrast, American expansions and missionaries embraced the notion of a white man’s burden to justify imperialist actions. That way it makes the cause more moral in a way.

• During the 1840s and ‘50s, America expanded into a sparsely populated territory that was being settled by waves of immigrants from other states. During the age of imperialism, the United States took possession of already densely populated lands inhabited by populations with different cultures.

Test Tip: Be prepared for a short-answer question that will compared and contrast Manifest Destiny and Imperialism. It is important to remember that both tried to justify American territorial expansion.

The Spanish-American War

A. The March to War

• Cuban rebels waged a guerilla war against Spain, and the Spanish commander was herding Cubans into detention centers in a brutal attempt to end the rebellion.

• Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s (Hearst Castle) New York Journal were furiously competing to get the war story to readers. Both papers published daily stories of atrocities committed by “Butcher” Weyler, leading to the term of yellow journalism.

  • YJ: sensational stories that spark widespread public indication, in this context against Spain.

• The U.S.S. Maine was the navy’s newest battleship, and it arrived in a Cuban port called Havana harbor, which America described as a “friendly courtesy.” Three weeks later an explosion sank the ship, and while the cause was never determined, America blamed the Spanish.

B. Making Connections: War and Peace

• In 1799 America and France were on the brink of war. As a wave of war hysteria washed the nation, President Adams’ popularity soared. Militant Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton urged Adams to ask Congress for a declaration of war, but Adams resisted pressure from his party and the public.

• Instead of asking for war, he ordered American envoys in Paris to make a final effort to reach an agreement with the French government, and America avoided war.

  • This was honestly the right call as Adams knew that America was still an infant, and would have lost the newly formed nation.

• In 1898, America and SPain were on the brink of war. As a wave of war hysteria washed the nation, President McKinley’s popularity soared. Militant Republicans led by Theodore Roosevelt urged McKinley to ask Congress for a declaration of war.

• Even though Spain yielded to almost every American demand, McKinley gave in as he decided the political risk of ignoring an aroused public was too high. He sent a war message to Congress, and America was now in war.

  • McKinely would have followed Adam’s steps and not be part of the war, but with new media technology that could ruin a reputation, and America having industrial might, it was an understandable call to go into war.

C. “A Splendid Little War”

• The war lasted in under 114 days, and Secretary of State John Hay coined this term.

• US suffered minimal casualties, and defeated the Spanish forces quickly in the Philippines and Cuba.

• TR and his “Rough Riders” led a dramatic charge up San Juan Hill. By gaining a war hero status, TR was elected governor of New York.

D. Understanding Causation: Consequences of the Spanish-American War

• War ended the Spain’s once vast New World empire

• War started the world power status of America.

• Treaty of Paris ceded:

  • Puerto Rico and Guam to US

  • Spain ceded Philippines for 20 million

• Marked the first time US acquired overseas territory.

• Allowed McKinley a justification to annex Hawaii, as America then already had overseas territories.

• Teller Amendment was passed:

  • Guaranteed US to respect Cuba’s sovereignty as an independent nation.

• Would only withdraw U.S troops if Cuba accepted the Platt Amendment alongside the Teller Amendment.

  • Platt Amendment prohibited Cuba from making any foreign treaties that might “impair” its independence or involve it in a public debt it could not pay.

  • Also gave US the right to maintain a naval station at Guantanamo Bay on the southeast corner of Cuba.

  • Incorporated into the Cuban constitution, the Platt Amendment provided legal grounds for repeated American interventions on the island.

American Involvement in the Philippines

A. The Debate Over the Philippines

• The Treaty of Paris provision that ceded the Philippines to the US led to the Anti-Imperalist League trying to block the ratification of the treaty.

• The league pointed out the inconsistency of liberating Cuba and annexing the Philippines. They believed that this would violate America’s longstanding commitment to human freedom and rule but the “consent. of the governed.” They also pointed out that while America did need new markets, they did can acquire them without having to get colonies.

• Expansionists countered by saying it would provide a strategic base where US could trade with China, and have a sphere of influence in Asia. President MK also stressed the “importance” of educating, civilizing, and Christing them. While he ignored the fact that many Filipinos were already Christians, he still upheld his views.

• Senate passed the treaty with one vote to spare.

B. The Philippine Insurrection

• Despite strong evidence that the Filipinos wanted independence, the Pres. MK thought they weren’t civilized and ready enough for self-government.

• Led by Emilio Aguinaldo, the Filipinos resisted American control fo their country.

• Called the War For Independence:

  • Philippine Insurrection foreshadowed the guerilla warfare in the 20th cent.

  • Three years of fighting finally crushed the insurrection.

• In 1916, Congress passed the Jones Act which formally committed America to eventually grant the Philippines independence. They gained it on July 4, 1946.

America’s Emerging Influence and Power

A. The Open Door in China

• American business leaders looked to the unlimited markets in China that would spur American economic growth.

• Strategic coaling stations in Guam and the Philippines allowed American commercial ships to reach the Chinese markets.

• During the 1880s and 90s, world powers like Britain, Germ, Frn, Russ, and Jp all scrambled for the weakened China. Each power had spheres of influence that controlled the trade, tariffs, harbor duties, and railroad rates in their region of China.

• Secretary of State John Hay became worried that Euro powers and Jp would restrict American trading opportunities in China. He issued a series of diplomatic notes that asked the governments to respect the rights of other nations within their spheres of influence.

• Hay’s Open Door policy protected American commercial interests in China. While Euro and Jp lowk ignored the notes as they didn't accept or deny them, and the policy had no legal standing as it needed to be passed in Congress, Hay boldy announced that all the powers agreed and therefore their consent was “final and definitive”

B. The Panama Canal

• TR and expansionists placed high priority on a canal through Cent. Amer. It would cut down the East to West coast ship voyage to only 4000 mi.

• The Panama Canal was approved by Congress, but it seemed the plan wouldn’t work as the Colombian Senate rejected America’s offer to pay $10 million to just dig a canal through their isthmus.

• At the time, Panama was a province in Colombia, and TR supported the Panama revolt against Colombia to be an independent nation. TR promptly recognized Panama and signed a treaty with them guaranteeing its independence while also getting the rights to build a ten-mile wide canal zone.

• Construction was completed in just 10 years, and opened in 1914. This gave US a commanding position in the West Hemisphere.

C. The Roosevelt Corollary

• The PCanal made it a priority for America to protect its interests in the Caribbean.

• The Dominican government stopped payments on its debts to the Euro powers, and TR feared the Euro powers would come as creditors to intervene in America’s sphere of influence and collect their debts there. He worried after collecting the debts, they would remain as occupying powers, and violate the Monroe Doctrine

• TR urged Lat Amer nations to stabilize their economies, and if they don’t, the US would take over and do it for them.

• This is the Roosevelt Corollary, and it extended the Monore Doctrine and the US powers stating it had the right to intervene any time to be an international police power and remedy the “chronic wrongdoing", as described by TR.

D. Making Connections: Relations with Lat. America

• The RCorollary changed the Monroe Doctrine to a justification of the unrestricted right to regulate Caribbean affairs. America led by TR, Taft, and Wilson sent troops in Lat. Amer., which protected American interests but antagonized the local populations.

• FDR got rid of the RCorollary, and implemented the Good Neighbor Policy which withdrew troops from Lat. Amer. and ended the Platt Amendment.

• But, again, the American need to protect West Hemisphere arose, and the policy ended at the onset of the Cold War and Soviet influence.

The Road to WW1

A. “Neutral In Fact As Well As Name”

• Euro powers had an extended period of prosperity and progress after the defeat of Napoleon. But the arms race between Germany and Great Britain, the Scramble for Africa, and the formation of rival alliances created tension in Europe.

• The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand set in motion the chain of events that lead to World War 1 six weeks later.

• Wilson was stunned with the rapid escalation in the Europe conflict, and he was forced to shift his focus on the domestic Progressive agenda to the US’s response to the war.

B. Freedom of the Seas

• As a neutral nation, the US could legally trade with all the nations during the war. America’s neutral rights proved to be difficult to enforce, as a German submarine sank the Lusitania, where Americans died.

• The sinking led to Germans pledging not to launch further attacks on merchant vessels without warning. Wilson sternly warned Germany that the violation would risk war with the US.

• However, they resumed their unrestricted submarine warfare as they gambled that they could defeat France and Great Britain before America could mobilize, train, and transport a large army to help the Western Front.

C. “The World Must be Made Safe for Democracy”

• Events continued to push the US to the brink of war:

  • Wilson broke diplomatic ties with Germany

  • Britain intercepted a telegram from the German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German minister in Mexico.

    • Tried to rekindle Mexican resentment over the territory loss of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, and offered to regain it back.

• Both the telegram and the continued sinking of American ships led Wilson to ask Congress to declare war on Germany.

• He stated that America has “no selfish ends to serve” by entering the war, but “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

The Homefront

A. The Committee on Public Information

• President Wilson knew that he had to gain the public’s support against an enemy that did not represent a direct threat to the homeland.

• Wilson created a Committee on Public Information which used films, posters, and an army of speakers to convince the public that America was fighting a righteous war for freedom and democracy.

B. Civil Liberties

• The CoPI propaganda campaign promoted a national mood of suspicion and district. Upon the president’s request, Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts outlawing criticism of government leaders and war policies.

• Designed to curtail constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and press, the acts constituted the greatest attacks on civil liberties since the Sedition Act.

C. Schenck v. United States

• Charles T. Schenck, a member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia, oversaw the printing and distribution of leaflets that urged young men to resist the draft.

• The government charged him for violating the Espionage Act, but he said his actions were protected by he First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

• Supreme Court upheld Schenck’s conviction unanimously, and the Justice declared that the government could only limit speech if it provokes a clear and present danger of substantive evils.

D. The Great MIgreation

• WW1 created a labor shortage of men from the nation’s farms and factories.

• The demand for industrial workers encouraged over 400,000 southern Blacks to migrate to Northern cities, known as the Great Migration.

• The mass movement led to new opportunities for African Americans but also created racial tensions as Whites had to compete with Blacks for employment.

Test Tip: APUSH test writers are going to prioritize home developments over battles and generals. Be familiar with the background and legal principles of the Schenck case and the causes and consequences of the Great Migration.

Triumph and Disillusionment

A. Triumph on the Battlefield

• US raised and trained an army of 4 million men, and troopships called 100,000 American soldiers a month alongside food and munitions into Europe.

• These forces arrived just in time to help the last great German offensive. With the seemingly endless supply of American men, and the Allies overwhelming strength, Germany surrendered at 11:00 am on November 11, 1918.

B. Disillusionment at Versailles

• The peace conference in Versailles, Paris was on January 18, 1919, where Wilson led the American delegation.

• Wilson was prepared to implement his vision of just and lasting peace with his Fourteen Points, where his most famous point was the call of the League of Nations that would mediate disputes, supervise arms reduction, and curb aggressor nations together as a collective military action.

• However, both Britain and France wanted Germany to pay for the terrible suffering of their people during the war. So, while the LoN was created, it also put all the blame on Germany where they had to pay reparation at $33 billion.

C. Defeat in the Senate

• Wilson faced a difficult fight to win Senate approval of the Treaty of Versailles, as critics objected to the LoN’s collective security provision as limiting American sovereignty, isolation, neutrality, and undermine the power of Congress in foreign affairs.

• Wilson left Washington to take his case to the American people where he travedl the country and made 37 speeches in 29 cities, and pleaded that “unless America takes part in this treaty, the World is going to lose heart…America is the Nation upon which the whole world depends on to hold the scales of justice even”

• The grueling trip made Wilson collapse from exhaustion, and he suffered a severe stroke that paralyzed his left side.

• Senate never approved the Treaty of Versailles, the US never joined the LoN, and Wilson left office beaten.

The New Era, 1919-1929

The Red Scare

A. Context

• November 1917: Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks become the communist dictators in Russia, which alarmed many Americans that many communist sympathizers and other radicals were trying to do the same.

• A sudden postwar recession unsettled Americans as prices rose more than 15%, 100,000 businesses declared bankruptcy, and 5 million workers lost their jobs.

B. Strikes and Bombs

• The recession triggered an unprecedented wave of 3,600 strikes as over 4 million workers walked off their jobs.

  • Unions in Seattle co-operated in a general strike

  • Boston police staged a walkout, leaving the city temporarily unprotected and the public unerved.

• Anarchist violence was also present, as postal workers had to defuse over 30 mail bombs addressed for leading businessmen and politicians.

• One major bomb scare in 1919 occurred when eight bombs exploded in eight cities, leading many to believe a nationwide conspiracy against America.

  • One of the bombs damaged Attorney General Palmer’s house in Washington.

C. The Palmer Raids or the Red Scare

• This era was a nationwide fear of radicals, led by the Attorney General Palmer, to begin a massive roundup of aliens and alleged communists.

• However, no more than 1/10th of 1% of adult Americans belonged to the domestic communist movement.

• On January 2, 1920, agents of the Department of Justice arrested some 5,000 suspects in a dozen cities across America. The Palmer Raids violated civil liberties as government agents broke into private spaces without arrest warrants. While the DoJ released many who were arrested, about 500 had no hearings or trials, and were deported.

D. Back to “Normalcy”

• The Palmer Raids marked the end of the Red Scare. Towards the end, there was major opposition from defenders of American civil liberties.

  • Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and prominent members of the Supreme Court strongly supported on upholding the American tradition of tolerance and freedom of expression.

• 1920 Presidential election: Many different views on America’s future

  • Democratic Candidates: Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, and some other guy, promised to promote Progressive ideals.

  • Republican Candidates: Ohio Senator Warren Harding and Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, promised a return to “normalcy”

• The Republican ticket won a landslide victory winning every state outside of the South. The majority mood from the Americans at the time was called the New Era as many looked for peace and prosperity.

Test Tip: The Red Scare topic has many questions on the APUSH exam. Be prepared for SAQs that might ask you to interpret political cartons and contrasting primary source passages on the Palmer Raids. Test writers would also expect you to compare and contrast the Red Scare in 1919-1920 with the Second Red Scare from 1947 to 1954.

The Importance of the Automobile

A. Impact of Mass Production

• When automobiles first appeared, it was only used by the rich. However, Henry Ford made it accessible for everyone. He did this by using the assembly line production for automobiles.

  • When the first automobile factories began, they built the vehicle from the group up.

  • With an upgraded assembly line, he had overhead coveyer belts and huge turning tables that carried movies parts past stationary workers.

• This line allowed Ford to reduce the time it took to build a car by 11 hours. He was also able to make it affordable due to improved production techniques.

• His new assembly line precision and efficiency created a new economy based upon mass production. Now, everything was affordable from fridges, washing machines, and electronics all across America.

• The disadvantage of this was that assembly lines created monotonous jobs that eliminated skilled worker jobs, and turned workers into human robots.

B. Impact on Daily Life

• In the 1920s, much of daily life was starting to become more autonomous. The automobile was a symbol of this new American life:

  • Surging car sales stimulated the growth of the economy and companies that produced steel, rubber tires, glass, and gasoline.

  • The Federal Highway Act of 1916 was passed to create a growing network of paved roads crisscrossing the country.

    • Transformed America from a land of isolated small towns into a nation of interconnected cities and suburbs.

    • Gas stations, road signs, traffic lights, roadside dinners, traffic jams, all became common in American life.

C. Making Connections: Technology and Workers

• During the 1920s, humans interacted with machines on assembly lines based on the principles of “scientific management” developed by Frederick W. Taylor.

  • This study called Taylorism used time-and-motion studies to reduce wasted motion and eliminate unnecessary workers.

• During the 1980s, automobile companies began to use robots to automate their assembly lines. They found that robots were efficient, cost-effective, and safe.

  • Some were skeptical that this would eliminate millions of jobs, but these robots were rapidly becoming the norm in factories across America.

The Roaring Twenties

A. Radio

• On November 2, 1920, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh announced the presidential election of Warren Harding to the entire nation. By the end of the decade, 1/3 of American households owned a radio.

• Radio mania swept the country as listeners enjoyed news bulletins, weather reports, sports games, and comedy shows.

• Families listened to the same programs, laughed at the same jokes, and heard the same advertisements, creating a national shared culture.

  • The advertising industry paid radio stations $1 billion to air commercials.

B. Movie Stars

• In late 1903, American audiences were captivated by that early film The Great Train Robbery, and this popularity helped launch a new American industry.

• In the 1920s, moviegoers bought over 80 million tickets a week as Hollywood became the center of America’s fifth-largest industry.

• Actors in silent films, like Charlie Chaplin, earned six-figure salaries and unreal fame.

C. Flappers

• During the 1920s, a rebellious generation of young adults challenged traditional values. Their new independent spirit expressed itself in the change postwar women were making in their lives.

• A growing number of young, well-educated women began choosing ad different lifestyle than the traditional paths that most women were choosing with marriage and family. They were influenced by feminists, and wanted more freedom in their lives:

  • They sought new careers in medicine, law, and science.

  • Flappers challenged conventional norms of feminine appearance by wearing short skirts, heavy makeup, and close-cut bobbed hair.

  • They smoked cigarettes, sipped bootleg liquor, and danced the Charleston.

D. Lost Generation Writers

• A group of novelists found much to criticize America’s new mass culture, and remember Harding promised “normalcy”, and many wanted normal. They expressed disillusionment with American culture, and many moved to Paris.

• F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis were two notable Lost Generation novelists.

The Harlem Renaissance

A. The New Negro

• During the 1920s, Harlem began a vibrant center of African American culture, as many Black writers and artists were creating literary and artistic works known as the Harlem Renaissance.

• Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, James Weldon Johnson, and Zora Neale Hurston formed a core group of Harlem Renaissance writers. They expressed a new spirit of Black hope and pride.

  • Alain LeRoy Locke argued that Harlem was a creative incubator for a “New Negro” who was seizing the opportunity for an assertion of both individual and collective identity.

B. Marcus Garvey

• He was a 30yo Black Jamaican who discovered that Afr. Americans could not escape racism simply by moving to northern cities. He organized a chapter of an organization he called the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Though hardly noticed at the time, Garvey’s new organization marked a milestone in the growth of Black nationalism.

• Influenced by Woodrow Wilson’s concept of self-determination, Garvey preached a message of racial pride and self-help. he exhorted his followers to glorify their African heritage and rejoice in their black skin.

• He captured the imagination of Black people, and by the mid-1920s, the UNIA had many branches in 38 states, and Garvey became of the most famous Black spokespersons in the world.

• His fame was short-lived, as he was charged with mail fraud, sentenced to jail, and then deported. However his legacy helped influence Maclom X’s concept of Black nationalism, and Dr. King priased him as the “first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny.”

Intolerance and Nativism

A. Understanding Causation: What Caused Intolerance and Nativism in the 1920s?

• Flappers, satiric writer, immigrants, and radicals were all aspects of the new urban culture taking root during the 1920s.

• Historian Robert Divine View:

  • Many rural Americans resented these assaults on their traditional values, as they saw the city as an evil in their contemporary life.

  • This led the countryside to strike back at new dominant urban areas trying to restore the primacy of the Anglo-Saxon and predominantly Protestant culture they revered.

• Historian Burl L. Noggle View:

  • Did not view the intolerance and nativism during the 1920s as a strictly rural counterattack. Noggle argued that the rapid industrialization and urbanization left many Americans in a state of disequilibrium, and felt they needed to take action to calm their anxieties.

  • He used the Red Scare as an example of the first postwar manifestation of this national insecurity.

  • He believed that with this perspective, the Red Scare never really ended, as intolerance and nativism were both rooted as enduring characteristics of American society during the 1920s.

B. The Sacco and Vanzetti Case

• The most famous criminal trial of the 1920s involved two Italian-born anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The two men were arrested for a payroll robbery and murder.

• A lack of conclusive evidence convinced many that Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of prejudice against radicals and recent immigrants. However, the seven years of litigation led to them being executed.

C. The Scopes Trial

• In January 1925, Tennessee passed the Butler Act which forbid the teaching of evolution in public schools. The act expressed the alarm felt by many fundamentalist Christians who opposed Darwin’s theory of evolution because it challenged the Bible.

• John T. Scopes, a Tennessee high school science teacher, accepted the American Civil Liberties Union offer to test the constitutionality of the Butler Act.

  • Clarence Darrow, a well-known champion of civil liberties, agreed to defend Scopes. William Jennigs Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential candidate back then with the big time industrialists like Carnegie, and a well-known religious fundamentalist, represented the state.

• In the end, the court found Scopes guilty and fined him $100.00. The Tennessee Supreme Court overruled the fine on a technicality while upholding the Butler Act.

D. Immigration Restriction

• The Sacco and Vanzetti case symbolized the public’s fear of recent immigrants. A new postwar wave of arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe sparked a nationwide movement to limit immigrants from these regions.

• Congress responded to the nativist push for restrictive measures by passing the National Origins Act of 1924. The law limited annual immigration to 2 percent of a country’s population in the United States, sharply cutting the flow of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.

E. The Rise and Fall of the KKK

• The original KKK terrorized newly freed Blacks in the post-Civil War South before dying out in the 1870s. The post-World War 1 mood of distrust and intolerance fueled a revival of the KKK. The new Klan directed its hostility towards immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and African Americans. It favored immigration restriction and white supremacy.

• By the mid-1920s, membership in the Klan swelled to as many as 4 million people. However, passage of the National Origins Act removed the Klan’s most popular issue, and divided by recurring leadership quarrels, the Klan became a marginal group in American society.

The Republican Ascendancy

A. Harding and the “Return to Normalcy”

• The American public was glad that Wilson’s idealistic crusades had ended, and wanted to endorse Harding’s promise of a “return to normalcy.” Harding’s economic policies reconfirmed the traditional partnership between business and government. His Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, reduced tax rates for the wealthy, raised tariffs, and ignored antitrust regulations.

• Although Harding was personally honest, his relaxed leadership enabled venal appointees to profit from their corrupt activities. Visbly troubled by the scandals rocking his administration, Harding suffered a sudden heart attack and died on August 2, 1923.

B. “Silent Cal”

• The Harding administration scandals left VP Coolidge untouched. He rarely spoke, which is why he earned the nickname, “Silent Cal”

• Coolidge governed during American prosperity, and he could have easily won reelection in 1928, but he chose not to.

C. Herbert Hoover

• The Republicans turned to Secretary of Commerce Hebert Hoover to be their party’s standard bearer in the 1928 presidential election. The public respected Hoover as a generous humanitarian and a skilled administrator.

• Hoover’s landslide victory over Al Smith of New York seemed to confirm the public’s support for Republican policies.

The Great Depression and The New Deal, 1929-1939

Understanding Causation: Causes of the Great Depression

A. The Stock Market

• There was economic prosperity in 1929, but when the speculative bubble burst on Thursday, October 24, 1929, known as the “Black Thursday”, waves of panic overwhelmed the NY Stock Exchange.

• At first, the Wall Street crash appeared to only hurt the stock investors, and not the industries. This blow to the investors and banks revealed serious underlying economic weakness.

B. Overproduction and Underconsumption

• In 1929, American factories produced half of the world’s industrial goods, and the US economy was getting rich off of it. However, the wealth separation between classes was significant as:

  • 5% of the population earned 1/3 of all personal income

  • 60% earned less than $2,000 a year, making it extremely hard for them to buy necessities.

  • 80% had no savings at all.

• Due to the lack of spending money, the US economy was having too much supply with little demand. This lead to piled up inventories, stores cutting orders, and factories cutting production and workers, leading to a vicious, downward spiral.

C. The Plight of the Farmer

• Farmers never had much wealth to begin with in the 1920s, but new technology combined with trucks and tractors allowed them to increase their yield.

• They were also facing new, fierce competition from grain growers in other parts of the world, like Australia and Argentina.

• The global surpluses of agri. products drove prices and farm incomes down, as there was too much supply, but little amount of money to buy it for a profit. Between 1929-33, their incomes plunged 60%. Without money, they couldn’t pay mortgages, and the banks closed their farms.

Hard Times

A. The Dust Bowl

• In 1930, a severe drought hit the Great Plains. The lack of rain combined with the hot summers created great clouds of dust in what was once fertile soil. Large areas of Kansas, the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, and eastern Colorado became known as the Dust Bowl.

• Agriculture ceased in the hardest hit parts of the Dust Bowl. Over 350,000 people fled Oklahoma, and they were called Oakies, and they headed west along Route 66 to California.

Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression

A. Hoover’s Philosophy of Government

• Hoover believed that the economy was good, and he denied the signs of rising unemployment and falling industrial production.

• He claimed that a federal relief program would violate the Constitution, and undermine his fundamental values of individualism and local voluntarism.

B. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation

• While he rejected federal programs to help aid the poor, he listened when bank executives pleaded for federal aid.

• Congress created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make emergency loans to banks and businesses to help limit bankruptcies.

• Critics accused Hoover of insisting rugged individualism for the people when they were standing in breadlines, but giving a “billion-dollar soup kitchen”, or aid, to bankers.

C. The Bonus Army

• In 1932, WW1 veterans went to D.C. to pressure Congress to pay their promised bonuses for their service.

• While Hoover supported this, Senate rejected the bill, most likely due to the economy, and many veterans stayed encamped in Washington as a protest.

• Hoover was embarrassed by the many unemployed men at the steps of the capital, and he ordered the army to forcibly relocate them.

• His callous treatment of the veterans accelerated public dislike of Hoover.

D. The Election of 1932

• The depression and his inability to act and help the people made it impossible for Hoover to be reelected, and FDR won.

The Hundred Days

A. The Banking Crisis

• FDR began his term by signing the Emergency Banking Relief Act, which provided reopening of the nation’s largest and strongest banks, and the weaker banks receiving loans and then being opened under strict Treasury Department supervision to make sure they thrive.

• On March 12, FDR addressed the nation by radio with his first fireside chat. He explained the steps Congress had taken, and reassured them to trust the banks now.

• By instilling public confidence, deposits were able to exceed withdrawals, helping the banking crisis.

• A few months later Congress passed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), insuring bank deposits up to $2,500. This legislation showed the government’s commitment to protect deposits and prevent another panic.

• This showed FDR’s economic plan trend, where he opposed drastic changes, and focused on reforming and reviving America’s economic institutions instead of nationalizing them.

B. Relief Measures

• The baking crisis marked the beginning of a history-making period known as the Hundred Days, where from March 9 to June 16, Congress approved fifteen major legislation by a group of presidential advisors called the “brain trust”

• Unlike Hoover, Roosevelt understood that America needed direct federal relief. He introduced the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which created a jobs program for unemployed, young working-class men.

• These men worked on various conservation projects, earning $30 a month.

• The Public Works Administration (PWA) helped the New Deal’s relief program by financing construction projects with federal aid. Between 1933-39, the PWA workforce built 35% of new health facilities and 70% of education buildings.

• The New Deal relief programs did not end employment, but helped restore a sense of national purpose and energy. In other words, “at least he’s trying to help us.”

C. Recovery Measures

• FDR asked Congress to take unprecedented action for the farming crisis by passing the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), which wanted to increase farm income by paying farmers to leave acres unplanted.

  • This sounds a little confusing, but by removing crop production, it would increase product prices, allowing the farmers to bring down the supply, and allowing prices to rise as there was less supply, but they would still be covered.

• The National Recovery Act (NRA), part of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), motivated nation’s businesses to draw up codes defining minimum prices, wages, and workers’ hours. These codes were supposed to end excess competition and restore profits.

  • While it was met with initial praise, the NRA began to receive major backlash as critics began to call it as “creeping socialism”

• The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) authorized the construction of dams and hydroelectric plants to provide inexpensive electricity and flood control for residents of the Tennesse Valley. This helped stimulate growth in an area of America’s most underdeveloped regions.

D. Making Comparisons: Progressive Reform and the New Deal

• Both reformers in each era supported government action to remedy social and economic problems. However, neither directly addressed segregation and racial discrimination towards African Americans.

• The Progressive Reformers favored legislative actions by state and local governments. They did not endorse direct federal relief for the unemployed or the poor, but it was different for the New Dealers.

The New Deal Under Attack

A. Context

• FDR’s New Deal helped pull America from the Great Depression, and industrial production was slowly rising, and unemployment was starting to decrease.

• However, these gains were going slow, and many Americans were getting impatient, being too tired from their living conditions, critics began to attack the New Deal and proposed radical, quick plans to revive the economy.

• This was viewed favorably with the public, as they no longer wanted to suffer anymore.

B. Three Radical Critics

• Father Charles Coughlin

  • A Catholic priest from Detroit, known as the “Radio Priest”, delivered weekly radio sermons to over 30 million Americans. Like the 19th century Populists, he supported nationalizing the banks and coining more silver dollars.

• Francis E. Townsend

  • A retired physician who proposed giving everyone the age of 60 a monthly government check for $200.00. The recipient had to promise to spend all that money each month.

  • Townsend Clubs quickly spread across the county as millions of people signed petitions endorsing the plan.

• Huey Long

  • A governor and US senator from Louisiana, known as “Kingfish”, developed his own “Share our Wealth” program promising to tax the rich and guarantee all Americans a $5,000 home and annual income of $2,500.

  • When a national poll indicated that Long might win strong support on a third-party ticket, he announced his Presidential campaign in 1936.

  • He was then shot in 1935, and died two days later.

The Second New Deal

A. Context

• After these radicalists, FDR knew he had to make additional reforms. With a Democratic majority in Congress, they were ready to enact works programs, social security, wages and hours, collectively known as the Second New Deal.

B. The Works Projects Administration

• Works Project Administration (WPA) 1935

  • Constructed highways, bridges, and created public parks and recreational facilities.

  • Hired construction workers, funded projects to utilize skills of artists, actors, and writers.

    • Federal Art Project under the WPA employed artists to paint murals for post offices, libraries, and other public buildings across America.

C. The Social Security Act

• FDR signed this act in response to the Townsend Plan, one of the radicals. This act established a pension for retired people over the age of 65.

• This was funded by a small payroll tax paid by both employers and workers.

• This Act led to the government following up with a rang of social welfare activities, like including federal grants-in-aid for old age assistance and aid for dependent children.

• The Act had important limitations:

  • Excluded farm laborers, domestic servants, and the self-employed.

  • Took money out of workers’ paychecks at a time when low consumer demand remained one of the main causes of the depression.

D. The National Labor Relations Act

• The 2nd New Deal gave the labor movement a victory with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), or the Wagner Act, because of its sponsor, NY Senator Robert Wagner:

  • NLRA protected the right of workers to join unions and bargain collectively with management.

  • Created a National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and investigate unfair labor practices by employers.

E. Making Connections: Labor Unions

• The NLRA revitalized the union movement in America. When the Great Depression began, the trade unions’ representations of workers began to rise.

• The largest and most prominent unions today are public sector employees like government workers, teachers, and police.

Test Tip: APUSH test writers want us to compare FDR’s New Deal with LBJ’s Great Society.

The Supreme Court Versus The New Deal

A. The Supreme Court Strikes Down the NIRA and the AAA

• In 1935, the Supreme Court began to overturn key New Deal programs.

• Schecter v. United States

  • Court struck the NIRA because it gave the federal government powers of economic regulation that could not be justified under the interstate commerce clause.

• Later, they invalidated the AAA.

• These decisions scared FDR, and if the new programs like the Social Security Act, could be overturned.

B. The Court-Packing Scheme

• In order to prevent this, he asked the authority to appoint a new Supreme Court justice for every member older than 70. This would allow Roosevelt to appoint six new justices more receptive to the New Deal.

• Both the public and Congress opposed Roosevelt’s “court-packing” bill as a violation of judicial independence and the separation of powers. Although the Democrats had majorities, they refused to approve the Bill.

• This rejection marked FDR’s first major legislative defeat, but he in the end he did achieve his goal as the Supreme Court was more receptive to the New Deal:

  • The yu pheled the Wganre Act and the Social Security Act

  • Several justices finally retired, and FDR was able to appoint new members anyways.

Understanding Causation: Consequences of the New Deal

A. The New Deal and African Americans

• The New Deal did not directly confront racial injustice. CCC camps still segregated workers by race.

• FDR did not want to risk losing support by southern Democrats by endorsing legislation banning the poll tax and making lynching a crime.

• While it did not mark a turning point in American race relations, it began the important first steps.

  • FDR appointed a number of Black officials to his administration, known as. the “Black Cabinet”

B. The New Deal and American Politics

• Hoover’s election in 1928 continued the era of Republican dominance that began with the election of McKinley in 1896. However, the Democratic Party led by FDR brought an end to this. The voting blocs and interest groups that supported FDR is known as the New Deal coalition.

• This coalition included urban families, labor unions, Catholics, Jews, white Southerners, and African Americans. These voters formed an electoral majority that enabled the Democratic Party to win the White House in seven of the nine presidential elections between 1932 and 1968. It also allowed FDR to win four consecutive presidential terms.

C. Making Connections: African Americans and the Democratic Party

• The New Deal did not help with segregation, it did switch Black voter allegiance to FDR and the Democratic Party.

• The New Deal coalition eroded quickly when the Democratic Party began to endorse civil rights legislation in the 60s, and many white Southerners switched to the Republican Party.

D. The New Deal and Women

• The PWA and other New Deal agencies almost exclusively hired men. The CCC excluded women entirely, prompting critics to ask, “Where is the she-she-she?”

• Although the New Deal did not directly challenge gender inequality, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt did play an important role in promoting equal treatment for women and African Americans.

  • One time, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution to protest the organization’s decision to ban Marian Anderson, an African American singer, from performing at D.C.

  • With her support, Anderson was able to perform at the Lincoln Memorial.

E. The New Deal and the National Economy

• Unemployment started to go back to normal levels, and with other promising signs of economic recovery, he reduced funding for New Deal programs.

• This cut triggered a sudden downturn known as the “Roosevelt Recession” of 1937-38.

• Historians believe that the conservative Democrats prevented FDR in fully implementing a program of deficit spending, which called the government to stimulate the economy by spending more money than it received in taxes.

  • In other words, investing into the economy with federal funds.

• Therefore, the New Deal did not bring the full economic recovery, until the nation was prepping for WW2, and it was only then that America recovered due to ramped up military spending.

F. The New Deal and the Role of the Federal Government

• The New Deal sped the process of expanding the role of the federal government begun during the Progressive Era. Under the New Deal, the federal government assumed the responsibility for ensuring the health of the nation’s economy and the welfare of its citizens.

• New Deal programs provided tangible examples of the importance of the federal government.

  • Ex: The New Deal provided legal protection for labor unions, price stability for farmers, electricity for rural Americans, and old age pension for the elderly.

• As the federal government’s role expanded, so did the power of the presidency. Under FDR, the presidency became the center of power in the federal government.

Test Tip: APUSH test questions often ask students to evaluate the legacy of the New Deal. Be prepared for a long-essay or DBQ question asking you how the New Deal changed the role of the federal government.