The Changing Political environment Flashcards
How did Hoover attempt to use volunteerism to deal with the great depression? (1917-1933) (5)
-1929 Agricultural marketing act set up a farm board to buy crops and stabilise prices
-Committee for unemployment relief & Presidents emergency committee for unemployment set up in 1930 to coordinate voluntary relief agencies
-1930 Hawley-Smoot tariff act increased existing tariffs
-National credit corporation funded in 1931 by healthy businesses to help failed ones, however this failed as it had a $500mill budget, and by the end of the year had only lent out $10mill
-Volunteerism failed since unemployment rose, businesses broke promises and in midterms republicans lost the house of reps
How did the Presidency change under Wilson? (1917-33) (7)
-Economy fell from a rapid boom to a mini recession as unemployment reached 960,000
-End of WW1 meant less agricultural/industrial demand
-1st red scare created a fear of communism
-Increased government intervention, such as the sedition act which banned speaking out against the government
-Increased rights for women and African Americans
-Women gained the right to vote in 1920, with the 19th amendment
-The great migration led to black people having some political influence in northern cities
What occurred in the first red scare? (1917-33, 9)
-in 1917, the Russian monarchy was toppled by a communist revolution
-Rumours of a communist revolution spread to the USA
-In 1919, the communist labor party and communist party of America were founded
-These parties, alongside anarchists, distributed pamphlets urging revolution
-in 1919 there were 3600 strikes as 4 million (1/4 of workforce) workers went on strike
-Red hunting broke out, as people accused others of being communist
-In April 1919, the post office discovered 26 bombs addressed to state officials
-In August 1919, attorney general M. Palmer set up the radical division, to seek out communists
-The division lead to 5000-10000 arrests, and 556 deported
What was Wilsons vision for world peace, and why did it fail? (1917-33) (7)
-Wilsons 14 points were proposed on January 8th, 1918
-The first 5 points were rules of international conduct (no secret treaties), 6-13 were individual disputes (Alsace-Lorraine to France)
-The 14th point was the creation of the league of nations, an international organisation aiming to solve future disputes diplomatically
-However in march 1920 senate refused to ratify the treaty of Versailles
-Public didn’t want to see more foreign involvement following the bloodshed (112,432 died)
-Republican backed senate, led by Cabot Lodge, thought it threatened US’ freedom
-People thought the US should focus on domestic affairs
How did Hoover use federal intervention to deal with the great depression? (1917-33) (5)
-In January 1932, the Reconstruction finance corporation was set up in order to lend to states for relief, with a $300mill budget provided by congress for loans
-in February, Hoover signed the Glass-Steagall act, providing $750mill worth of gold reserves for loans
-the RFC was granted $2bill to give to state and local governments for public works
-The federal home loan bank act lent people money to help with their mortgages
-However these attempts failed, since it failed to stop the rise of unemployment to 25%, Americans lost confidence in the economy and the government, and the traditional republicans disliked the $3trill budget deficit Hoover took the economy into
Why did the democrats lose the 1920 election? (1917-33) (2,2,2)
-Wilsons vision for world piece (his 14 points)
-Isolationist population didn’t want more foreign involvement following WW1
-Harding’s appeal to the public, being a warmer person
-People wanted the ‘Return to normalcy’ being a laissez-faire economic system
-Wilsons unpopular policies, such as the espionage and sedition act, which banned speaking against the government, were seen as unconstitutional
-People disliked the government intervention in Wilson’s new freedom programme (1913 revenue act created a progressive tax system for the first time)
Why did the appeal of republicanism decline coming to the 1932 election? (1917-33) (9)
-Hoovers legislation meant the government fell into debt
-Hoovers volunteerism was seen as too little too late (Republican reactionary)
-Hoover poor treatment of the bonus army (WW1 vets who marched on Washington due to lack of pensions)
-FDR was an excellent communicator and a warm person
-People preferred FDR’s new deal to the laissez faire policies
-FDR campaigned well, with ‘A chicken in every pot’
-Wall street crash led to unemployment skyrocketing to 25%
-40million voted, the highest number ever
-Banks and businesses went bankrupt
Who were the 3 presidents in the republican ascendency? (1917-33) (3,3,3)
-Warren Harding (1921-23) believed in low regulation laissez faire economics
-Campaigned his ‘Return to normalcy’ with his warm personality
-accused of cronyism and corruption, namely the teapot dome scandal (illegal leasing of oil fields in return for bribes)
-Calvin Coolidge (1923-29) maintained the laissez faire system, and did very little
-made easy credit available and decreased business regulation
-‘America needs to be American’, as he cracked down on immigration
-Herbert Hoover (1929-33) was neither interventionist nor laissez faire
-favoured volunteerism, and attempted it during the wall street crash
-However this failed, and his poor response ended the ascendency
Why did Wilson represent a change in US domestic policy? (1917-33) (4)
-When coming into office, the USA was the worlds leading industrial nations, her citizens having a high standard of living
-This was due to the low regulation laissez faire economic system
-Wilsons new freedom programme aimed to increase government intervention
-Created a progressive income tax system, and aimed to regulate business finances
How was America governed (1917-1933) (7)
-There are 3 branches of the US government: the executive, legislative and judiciary
-The executive comprises of the president, VP and cabinet
-Their role is to ensure laws are enforced, and to control foreign relations and the army
-The legislative comprises of the senate (100) and the House of representative (435)
-Their role is to pass laws
-The judiciary comprises of all types of law courts, the highest being the supreme court
-Their role is to ensure laws are constitutional, and interpret what laws mean
-What was prohibition (1917-33) (5)
-From the 19th century, Temperance campaigners had argued alcohol encouraged crime, poor health, communism and a lack of decency
-The opposition to alcohol ramped up following the WW1 entry, since many did not want to waste grain on alcohol, and many big beer companies were German
-In 1919, the 18th amendment made it illegal to make, sell or transport alcohol
-Although prohibition remained on the agenda in the 20s, it became increasing difficult to enforce, some believing it to raise crime
-In 1933, the 21st amendment repealed the 18th, ending prohibition
How and why did confidence in the presidency change from 1917-1964 (1933-45) (5)
-Confidence fell under Wilson due to his unpopular policies, his cold persona and his end to isolationism, although WW1 would’ve risen it
-Confidence rose under Harding due to his ‘return to normalcy’, the roaring 20s an his warm persona
-Confidence rose under Coolidge due to his warm persona
-Confidence fell under Hoover due to the great depression, his cold persona and his failure to stop the depression
-Confidence rose under FDR due to his new deal, his warm persona and WW2, although it would’ve fell in the Roosevelt recession and the imperial presidency
What were some of Americas steps into entering WW2 (1933-45) (11)
-In 1935, FDR asked congress for neutrality legislation, and congress prohibited arms selling
-in 1937 a cash and carry provision was added, to sell anything except lethals
-FDR exchanged Destroyers for bases with the UK, to help against hitler
-This was done by executive order, bypassing congress
-The Lend lease was a policy of giving aid and supplies to the UK without reassurances of repayment
-This act was heavily pushed through congress by FDR
-in 1941, FDR and Churchill drew up an Atlantic charter, a list of war aims
-this was basically trying to spark an incident to get the US in the war
-on Dec 7th, 1941, the Japanese attacked pearl harbour, and the US entered the war the next day
-as commander in chief, FDR chose where troops went and negotiated with allies
-overall the imperial presidency led to a rise in FDR’s powers, in order to protect the country
What were Hoovers lame duck months like (1933-45) (5)
-Hoover lost the election as FDR got 57.4% of the vote, yet Hoover was still in office for 4 months
-Hoover tried to revive the economy by decreasing tax, decreasing government spending and reorganising banks and making loans available
-However his efforts failed
-Unemployment reached 15mill (25%), as wages were cut and businesses went bankrupt
-the Feb 1933 banking crisis led to banks running out of money, and all banks shutting by march
What political difficulties did Roosevelt experience in 1937 (1933-45) (5)
-From 1936, the supreme court began to rule against many federal agencies, deeming them infringing on state rights
-both the AAA and NRA were deemed unconstitutional in 1937
-FDR proposed the judiciary reform bull, to increase the number of supreme court judges, and pack it with his supporters
-This would add one judge for every judge over 70
-However he was forced to abandon this policy since it was an extreme violation of the separation of powers principle
How and why did the presidency change under Roosevelt (1933-45) (11)
-FDR was given special powers by congress, due to his persuasive war rhetoric
-the SSA provided federal welfare for the first time, due to the depressions severity
-The amount of legislation passed was unprecedented, and FDRs involvement grew
-FDRs personality/ the depression allowed him to expand his powers and control congress
-FDR created a significant white house staff to increase intervention
-An enlarged white house staff was necessary to manage all new deal legislation
-FDR used executive orders when congress didn’t help to pass laws
-FDR used 28 fireside chats and biweekly press meetings to explain policies
-FDR understood how to manage people/media to gain vital support
-Increasing American involvement in WW2 saw more legislation
-Careful management was required to ensure gov. action remained popular
What were the reasons for continued isolationism in the 30s (1933-45) (4)
-The US had historically avoided entangling alliances
-Large German/Italian American populations shouldn’t be upset
-Many saw all Europeans as equally bad, shown by British and French refusals to pay back debt
-America was preoccupied with its own problems, and didn’t think they would/should make the world a better place
How did the Berlin Blockade, NATO, arms race and increased power of the president help the US become a superpower (1945-61) (2,3,3,3)
-When the USSR Blocked Berlin in 1948, the USA airlifted supplies in
-This demonstrated the US’ victory over the USSR
-In 1949, the US was a founding member of NATO
-article 5 stated all members would respond on an attack on one of them
-The USSR responded by creating the warsaw pact
-The USA were the first country to have atomic bombs (50 by 1948)
-When the USSR developed them in 1949, this led to an arms race
-The space race between USA and USSR was over who would control space
-The president had the power to react to a nuclear war
-The president could move forces around without congress
-the CIA and NSC reported to the white house
What were the 4 phases of the Korean war (1945-61) (2,3,2,2)
-In June 1950, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel, starting the war
-3 days later, Truman sent troops under general Macarthur
-Truman declared the aim was to unite Korea by force, not just stopping North Korea
-US troops reached the Chinese boarder, and were warned not to bomb the Yalu river
-US troops, wanting to show power, went right up to the Yalu river
-2 days later, Chinese troops attacked American ones
-The US was forced down south to the 38th parallel
-Truman gave up attempting to unite Korea. Macarthur criticised him and was fired
-The war continued on for another 3 years, over 40,000 Americans dying, and became the first of many proxy wars
