BP1-Changing political environment. Flashcards
Which president took the USA into WW1?
Woodrow Wilson
How did americans feel about ww1 after it ended?
Americans felt like their involvement in the war had been a mistake
What was President Wilson criticised for?
Involving the USA in international affairs
What did president Harding promise?
-A return to normalcy
-isolationism
What did Harding define normalcy as?
A stable, steady way of life.
What happened between the end of ww1 and 1921?
A short, sharp economic depression.
What did harding believe in?
Less government in business and less business in government- laissez-faire.
Define isolationism and some things involved with it.
The USA should be supportive of other nations but not become entangled within them.
-Not joining the league of nations.
-Not setting up colonies
-Cutting back on immigration
-introduction of trade tariffs favouring US business.
-Neutrality acts to restrict the help to other countries if they went to war.
Define laissez-faire.
French for ‘leave well alone’ which meant minimal government interference.
Not the job of the government to control the economy or to manage social problems but rather keep its own spending under control.
Who was president after Harding?
Coolidge
What was coolidge’s presidential approach?
Combined dignity and morality with laissez-faire. Let congress go its own way.
What occured during coolidge’s presidency?
The USA entered a period of prosperity and recovery so people felt republicanism was working.
When was the first red scare?
1919-1920
Background to the first red scare.
1905 to 1917 Russia experienced revolutions and the monarchy was replaced by a communist government.
Revolutions sent shockwaves around the world and made capitalist countries such as the USA very disturbed especially when workers went on strike in large numbers.
How many strikes were there in 1919?
more than 3,600.
First red scare.
People began to accuse each other of communism.
Some businesses sacked employees they suspected of left-wing views.
People began to suspect their neighbours and they worried about being suspected themselves so did not feel free to express their opinions.
Considerable violence in some parts if the country especially from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan which targeted all ‘Un-American’ groups.
Herbert hoovers approach to the presidency.
Adapted laissez-faire and believed everyone should take responsibility for themselves. He developed a theory of rugged individualism.
Outline rugged individualism.
people who could look after themselves would make their way in the world and prosper.
The poor and homeless were weakened by government support because it ‘sapped their self-reliance’.
The government should not interfere to help those with jobs and homes.
The government should not regulate working hours, pay or working conditions.
The USA should isolate itself from other countries.
The USA should restrict immigration. When they needed workers, immigrants had been encouraged however after the war when unemployment rose, immigration was limited.
When was the Wall street crash?
October 1929.
What caused the wall street crash?
Out of control share trading and the underlying problems of the economic boom.
Affects of the wall street crash.
The great depression.
Unemployment soared, and people lost their homes, banks and businesses failed.
What were peoples initial attitudes to the great depression?
There had been smaller depressions before, people felt that the USA would jusy recover and hoover agreed with this.
Who was president at the time of the wall street crash?
Herbert hoover.
What was the federal farm board?
Hoover persuaded Congress to set up the Federal Farm Board to help farmers who found it hard to sell goods abroad because of isolationist tariffs.
He came to realise Laissez-faire was not working however he believed the answer was private charities to help on a local and personal level and he felt this was the most the government should offer.
What was the presidents emergency committee?
A temporary organisation to find work projects for the unemployed and to persuade businesses to create more jobs on a local, voluntary basis.
It was overwhelmed.
Encouraged businessmen to invest in the economy by setting up similar organisations.
Realised that federal intervention was needed.
-He moved from encouraging private help to giving federal help to the states by advising them on projects and then giving them money to fund some of the help.
This fell short of what was needed, and he reluctantly asked congress to pass laws giving direct help.
Why was hoover blamed for the depression?
He had an initial laissez-faire approach to the presidency and so refrained from passing legislation. The legislation that he did manage to pass created debt.
What were hoovervilles?
Shanty towns for homeless people named after president hoover.
Statistic of herbert hoovers debt.
In the last year of his presidency, the government received $2,000 million and spent $5,000 million.
Reconstruction finance corporatiom- hoover.
Set up with $330 million to lend to states for relief projects.
Comittee for unemployment relief- herbert hoover.
To co-ordinate and advise on state efforts for the unemployed.
What was the bonus army?
the US government gave those who fought in the war a bonus payment calculated on their years of service. They paid veterans who were owed just $50 at once and the rest of the money went into a fund to pay out in 1945.
Problems for hoover relating to bonus army.
As the depression hit, many veterans asked for their money early but the government refused. Many veterans who wanted their bonuses were unemployed, some homeless.
June 1932 they marched to Washington to make their demands clear. Estimates of the numbers were between 150,000- 200,000. They camped on various sites around the city including in sight of The White House. There were fears of riots.
The police tried to break up the camps with little success and some violence was used.
28th July, troops sent in with tear gas, bayonets, cavalry and even tanks and machine guns.
The camps dispersed and a report was produced later to weaken the blame on the government that the rioters were communist.
Hoover lost a significant amount of popularity due to how they were treated.
Why after the depression did people move away from republicanism?
They failed to cure the depression so people wanted a change.
Who won against hoover in 1932?
FDR.
What did FDR promise that appealed to people.
A new deal that would save the country from the depression. He insisted that the government was responsible for the welfare of the people and needed to help people get back on their feet.
He stressed the importance of rapid national action by congress.
What was the NRA?
National recovery administration- set up enforced codes of practice for businesses including work hours and a minimum wage. Businesses could opt in or out.
NRA symbol.
Blue eagle displayed in shop windows.
What was the AAA?
Agricultural adjustment agency.
Regulated major crops such as wheat, cotton and milk. It brought up surplus crops and subsidised farmers to grow less of crops that were being overproduced.
What was the CCC?
Civilian Conservation Corps.
Gave young men useful work which increased employment and simply gave people something to do. Four million jobs made over winter of 1933-34.
What was the PWA?
Public Works Administration.
Financed federal state and local projects and created employment. $7 billion spent employing skilled men to build dams, bridges, sewage systems an houses. PWA built 70 percent of Americas schools and 35 of its hospitals.
What was the TVA?
Tennessee Valley Authority
Set to develop the Tennessee valley which was poverty stricken with soil erosion and flooding. Built 33 dams to control the river and a new 650 mile water way linking major river systems. Power stations were built to provide cheap electricity and the PWA became the biggest producer of energy.
Personality of roosevelt.
Confident, persuasive and charming. Great communicator and understood how to manipulate congress- passed a large amount of legislation in first hundred days.
What did FDR do when congress was not helpful?
Used executive orders (designed for emergencies) to pass laws through.
Republicans view of FDR.
They disliked his enlargement of powers and he was compared to Mussolini, stalin, hitler etc
What were roosevelts fireside chats?
Series of radio broadcasts in which he explained policies to people as if he was chatting to them in their front rooms. He received sacks full of letters from ordinary people.
He understood the media an he held off the record press meetings twice a week. Everyone felt very involved.
How was it clear that FDR was a popular president?
Only president to be elected four times.
