Post-War Tensions and Transformations in the US

Post-War Tensions and Turmoil (1919-1920s)

Labor Conflicts

• The conclusion of World War I led to a rollback of labor advances made during the war.

• The National War Labor Board, which had granted unions the eight-hour day and collective bargaining rights, was disbanded in May 1919.

• As business leaders attempted to cut wages and increase hours, a wave of strikes ensued across the United States in 1919.

• Seattle General Strike (1919):

  • Workers in virtually every industry walked off the job.

  • Business leaders and politicians portrayed the striking workers as radical revolutionaries, associating them with communism.

• Boston Police Strike (1919):

  • Police officers went on strike after attempting to form a union.

  • Calvin Coolidge, the governor of Massachusetts, intervened and portrayed the striking police officers as radical communist revolutionaries.

  • The striking officers were fired and not rehired.

• Steel Industry Strike (1919):

  • 350,000 workers went on strike to maintain the eight-hour day.

  • Management and politicians violently cracked down on the strike, resulting in confrontations like the one in Geary, Indiana, where 18 strikers were killed.

  • The strike was portrayed as a Bolshevik revolution.

  • A Philadelphia newspaper described the steel strike as "penetrated with the Bolshevik idea, steeped in the doctrines of the class struggle and social overthrow."

• These labor conflicts contributed to concerns about a potential communist revolution in the United States, leading to the first Red Scare.

  • The term "red" refers to communists, originating from the red flag carried by Bolshevik revolutionaries.

  • Political cartoons depicted strikes as steps toward chaos and associated them with the "red menace."

The First Red Scare (1919-1920)

• Americans feared a potential Bolshevik revolution.

• Business leaders and politicians used this fear to roll back labor advances by portraying striking workers as dangerous radical revolutionaries.

• Bombings in the spring and summer of 1919 heightened these concerns:

  • Bombs were sent through the mail to important figures, including business leaders like John D. Rockefeller and Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

  • Most bombs did not detonate, and casualties were minimal.

  • These events were linked to radical activity and immigration.

• The Palmer Raids (1920):

  • Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer capitalized on the public's fear and launched raids to round up suspected radicals.

  • Federal agents targeted radicals in 33 cities, arresting 6,000 people.

  • Raids were conducted without warrants, and many individuals were held without formal charges.

  • Some were beaten and denied access to relatives or lawyers.

  • Around 600 immigrants, primarily from Eastern Europe and Russia, were deported.

• The Red Scare eventually fizzled out due to the lack of a legitimate threat of a Bolshevik revolution.

  • Socialist groups and radical organizations like the IWW had already been crushed during World War I.

  • Socialists and communists made up less than 1% of the U.S. population.

• The Palmer Raids were seen as an overreach, damaging A. Mitchell Palmer's political career.

• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was formed in response to the Palmer Raids to protect civil liberties and prevent abuses.

Racial Tensions and the Red Summer (1919)

• The Great Migration during World War I led to millions of African Americans relocating to northern cities.

• This shift transformed the race issue from a primarily Southern problem to a national issue.

• Despite Du Bois' call for African Americans to demonstrate loyalty during the war, a vicious racist backlash occurred in 1919.

• Red Summer (1919): A wave of race riots and racial violence swept across the country.

  • Violence was concentrated in the South, where white southerners sought to maintain Jim Crow laws.

    • There were 76 lynchings, including 10 soldiers, some still in uniform.

  • Race riots also occurred in northern cities, including Washington D.C., Chicago, Omaha, and San Francisco.

    • These riots were related to competition for jobs and housing between returning soldiers and the expanding black population.

  • Chicago Race Riot (1919):

    • Triggered by the stoning of a black boy who swam into a whites-only swimming area.

    • Resulted in 23 African Americans and 15 whites killed, 500 people injured, and millions of dollars in property damage.

• The race issue became a national problem, and advancements made during the war were met with resistance.

The Harlem Renaissance

• Harlem, New York, became a major destination for African Americans during the Great Migration.

• The absence of rigid Jim Crow restrictions led to a vibrant literary and cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

• Themes of the Harlem Renaissance:

  • Pride in African history and black culture.

  • Protest against discrimination and a determination to maintain wartime advances.

• The Harlem Renaissance was expressed through art, music, and literature, particularly poetry.

• Langston Hughes:

  • A prominent black poet who captured the theme of pride (e.g., "The Negro Speaks of Rivers").

  • "I've known rivers. I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood and human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

• Claude McKay:

  • A black poet from Jamaica who emphasized protest (e.g., "If We Must Die").

  • "If we must die, let it not be like hogs hunted and pinned in an inglorious spot…"

• The jazz movement, featuring artists like Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, became popular in Harlem and among white audiences.

Increased Militancy and Black Nationalism

• The lack of expected change after the war led to increased militancy and new leaders in the black community.

• Marcus Garvey:

  • An immigrant from Jamaica who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914.

  • Championed black nationalism and separatism.

  • Believed that racism was too entrenched in the United States for African Americans to achieve equality.

  • Advocated for creating separate black institutions and businesses.

  • Established black-owned businesses, a newspaper (Negro World), and a shipping line (Black Star Line).

  • Launched a "Back to Africa" campaign, establishing a colony in Liberia.

• Garvey's ideas were controversial:

  • The Ku Klux Klan supported the "Back to Africa" campaign.

  • Du Bois led a "Garvey must go" campaign in response to Garvey's meeting with the KKK.

• Garvey was arrested in 1923 on mail fraud charges and deported to Jamaica, leading to the end of the UNIA.

• Despite its decline, the UNIA was a significant movement in the black community during the 1920s.

• Garvey's ideas of black nationalism influenced later leaders like Malcolm X.

The Impact on Women

• Women's wartime advances largely vanished as men returned from service and reclaimed their jobs.

• By 1920, there were fewer women in the workforce than in 1910.

• The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote but did not lead to significant political changes immediately.

• Alice Paul:

  • Wrote the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1923, aiming to establish complete gender equality.

  • The ERA was not passed by Congress until 1979 and has never been ratified by the states.

  • "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by The United States or any state on account of sex."

• The push for women's rights diminished after suffrage was achieved and would not resurface until the 1950s and 1960s.