Chapters 31 and 32 Flashcards
Teapot Dome Scandal
Harding was surrounded by his loyal but corrupt “Ohio gang”. In the teapot dome Scandal, Sec of the Interior Albert Fall leased oil-rich public lands in Wyoming to private investors w/o competitive bidding. He received a bribe of 100k
Fall was found guilty and spent a year in jail. Harding was dead by the time this become a scandal
Republican laissez-faire economics
Lack of gov regulation, led to corporations expanding and antitrust laws being ignored.
attack on Progressive legislation
The Supreme court (with 4 harding appointees) reversed previous rulings on progressive legislation.
Adkins v Children’s Hospital (1923) invalidated a minimum-wage law for women. Taft wrote the dissenting opinion
isolationism
a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries.
Washington Naval Conference (Five-power, Four-power, and Nine-power treaties)
The Five Power limited the amount of ship tonnage available to the US, GB, France, Italy, and Japan; this was done to limit naval capacity.(only battleships and aircraft carriers were targeted- no restrictions placed on the construction of small ships)
The Four Power treaty bound the US,GB, Japan, and France to respect the status quo in the pacific.
The Nine Power Treaty aimed at keeping the open door commitment in China
Kellogg-Briand Pact
THE KELLOGG-BRIAND PACT, AKA PACT OF PARIS (1928)
62 nations agreed not to start wars (but they could defend themselves)
The naval treaties and this pact lulled the US into a false sense of security. Other nations continued to militarize, leaving the US behind
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
Fear of cheap European goods and the sharp recession of 1920-21 caused congress to pass the Fordney-McCumber tariff in 1922
Tariffs rose as high as 38.5%
Harding and Coolidge later supported other tariff increases.
European nations, struggling to pay off their war debt to the US, piled up high tariff walls.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff
The Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930) turned into the highest tariff in the nation’s peacetime history: 60 percent!
McNary-Haugen Bill
The McNary-Haugen Bill aimed to keep agricultural prices high by allowing the gov to buy up surplus goods and sell them abroad. Coolidge vetoed this bill twice
Dawes Plan
The US wanted to repay 10 billion dollars in war loans to the Allies. The Allies protested that the demand for repayment and our high tariffs were unfair
The french and brits demanded that the germans pay them, but the germans were broke
The US refused to hear pleas to scale down or cancel debts.
Coolidge thought, “they hired the money, didn’t they?”
In 1924, the Dawes Plan rescheduled German reparations payments by allowing US bankers to loan money to Germans, who would then pay reparation to Brit and France, who would then pay their debt to the US. A monetary merry-go-round!
Named for Charles Dawes, Coolidge’s VP
This plan worked until 1929 (at that point all international finance suffered) and was replaced by the Young Plan, which reduced German reparations
Most of the WW1 debt owed by the Allies was never repaid to the US
“rugged individualism”
Hoover called for “rugged individualism,”, the belief that anyone could be successful. He was a self-made millionaire (mining). He had served as head of the Food Administration and as Sec of Commerce under Harding and Coolidge
Oct. 29, 1929
The stock market crashed on Oct 29, 1929 and it was called “black tuesday”
It was partially triggered by the British, who raised their interest rates in an effort to bring back investors who had invested in American businesses. Investors panicked and sold stocks (16.4 million of Black Tuesday alone)
Hoovervilles
the homeless built settlements of cardboard and tar paper shacks, called “hoovervilles” in sardonic refs to pres hoover
causes of the Depression
Overproduction by farm and factory
Unequal wealth distribution
Overexpansion of consumer credit
Buying stocks “on the margin”
Finical problems in the US and Europe (stemming from ww1)
the Dust Bowl
The Great Depression hit farmers especially hard. Many had gone into debt to buy machinery and land, and could not make their payments. Low crop prices wiped out potential profits.
The Dust Bowl (caused by drought in the MIssissippi Valley) made things worse
The worst dust storms occurred 1933-35
April 14, 1935: black sunday- worst storm
Reconstruction Finance Corp.
The Reconstruction Finance Corp (RFC) provided loans to insurance companies, banks, agricultural organizations, railroads, etc
Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act
The Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act (1932) outlaws yellow-dog contracts, forbade fed courts from issuing injunctions for nonviolent strike behavior, and protected collective bargaining. Did Not apply to state courts, where injunctions could still be obtained
Bonus Army
Veterans, organized through the American Legion, wanted “adjusted compensation” to replace lost wages due to the war
Congress passed a bonus bill in 1922 (over Harding’s veto)
Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Act in 1924, making bonuses payable in 1944 (over Coolidge’s veto)
Veterans would get a dollar for each day of domestic service (max 500 dollars) and 1.25 dollars each day of overseas service (max of 625 dollars)
Amounts of 50 dollars or less were immediately paid. All other amounts were issued as Certificates of Service maturing in 20 years. Veterans could borrow a percentage of their payout
3.68 billion dollars worth of certificates were issued.
THE BONUS ARMY, PART 2
The Bonus Expeditionary Force (20,000 strong) descended on Washington DC in 1932 to demand immediate payment of their bonus (as supported by a new bill before Congress)
When the bill failed, the bonus marchers clashed with the army in a series of riots. 4 died and 1k were injured
Pres hoover was embarrassed by the forced eviction done with bayonets and tear gas by the army under the direction of Gen Douglas MacArthur
A second bonus march was diffused in May 193 with the offer by FDR for veterans to work at CC camps
Congress passed a bill to give veterans their bonuses in 1936 (over FDR’s veto)
Stimson Doctrine
The Stimson Doctrine (1932) stated that the US wouldn’t recognize territorial gains made by force
“Good Neighbor” policy
Investments in Latin America went sour and economic imperialism became less popular in the US as Hoover sought to keep the US isolated. Hoover sought to be a “Good Neighbor” to Latin American nations by abandoning the interventionism of TR’s time.
Marines were pulled out of Nicaragua and a new treaty was negotiated with Haiti.
Election of 1932
FDR vs. Hoover
Franklin Roosevelt was the first Democrat in 80 years to win the presidency by majority vote instead of a plurality. This happened in the election of 1932.
“The Brain Trust”
This was a small group of reform-minded people that advised Roosevelt and wrote FDR’s speeches
FDR’s “Three R’s”
Relief, Reform, Recovery
The First Hundred Days
This refers to the first 100 days that a politician is in office. In FDR’s case, he managed to get Congress to pass 77 laws in his first 100 days.
More legislation passed than normal; first 100 days of FDR’s 1st term. Immediate goals = relief & recovery
