The Changing Political Environment 1917-33 Flashcards
How did WW1 cause the democrats to fall out of power in 1921
Woodrow Wilson had taken them into war despite campaigning to keep out of it.
People believed that involvement in the war had been a mistake and liked it even less when President Wilson tried to involve USA more closely in international affairs once the war had ended
What promised did Harding make that made people pick him for the next election?
He promised a return to normalcy
What is normalcy
A return to things as they had been before the war
Why was normalcy so wanted by the people?
Because after the war there being a short economic depression and unemployment rose from 950,000 in 1919 to 5,01000 in 1921 leading to protest strikes and riots
Factors that impacted upon the American political environment
- ideas about nations history and traditions
- the personality policies and style of the prime minister
-relationship between president and congress and wether the congress was democratic or republican
- dominant contemporary political philosophy
- the media/public opinion
- state of economy and society
-real or perceived foreign threats
who were the 3 presidents between 1921-1933
Warren Harding (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
What was similar about all 3 republican presidents backgrounds
All came from modest backgrounds and their descent to presidency was proof of the American Dream
Who came up with the American dream
James Truslow
What is laissez faire
Leave alone attitude and not much federal intervention
What did all 3 of the republican presidents have in common
A laissez faire attitude
Helped gain economic strength
Wanted people to have more freedom
All Republican
When was warren harding president
1921-23
When was Calvin Coolidge president
1923- 29
When was Herbert hoover president
1929-32
Why did the republicans stay in power for so long
People liked the laissez faire attitude
They boosted the economy and helped businesses grow due to cutting taxes
Gave people the freedom to work hard and do well
What did warren harding do as president
- promised return to normalcy
- reduced taxes to give businesses more money to grow
- Introduced Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act which imposed a tax on goods from foreign countries encouraging Americans to buy American
What did Calvin Coolidge do as president
- “business is americas business”
- Didn’t do much just stuck to the same policy as Harding
- had a huge respect for businessmen and adhered to the Laissez faire policy
- Gave business men freedom to make profit and become rich
What did Hoover do as president
-believed in laissez faire but also rugged individualism meaning people should not depend on the government for help
-lost the next presidential election because his viewpoint was too severe
What is the difference between President and Prime Minister?
The term president usually refers to the head of state of a country that is a republic. A prime minister is the leader of the government of a country with a parliamentary system of government
Who were the 3 republican presidents from 1921 to 1932
Warren Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Why did the republicans stay in power for so long
People liked the laissez faire attitude
They boosted the economy and helped businesses grow due to cutting taxes
Gave people the freedom to work hard and do well
What promised did Harding make that made people pick him for the next election?
He promised a return to normalcy
What were the first things Harding put in place to bring bring America back to normalcy?
Balance the government books
reduce taxation on American people
and introduced tariffs to protect US trade and industry
provide country wide radio to boost the US industry and as a method of communication
He also said there would be a committee set up to study the race question
How did Harding express many other peoples views after the war?
Believe US should be supportive of other nations but not entangled with them and that it should focus on itself meaning that by American became a significant word
What did isolationism mean?
Introducing trade tariffs that favoured the US businesses not joining the league of nation not setting up colonies it also meant cutting back in immigration
What did the 1921 emergency quota act restrict?
Immigration to 357,000 a year and was revised to 150,000 a year in 1924
What did the neutrality act between 1935 to 1939 do?
Restricted the help the USA could give to all the countries if they went to war however it still helped Europe rebuild economically and broken the Washington conference of 1921 to 22 which set limits on national Navy
Why didn’t people like Woodrow Wilson as a president?
People thought he took far too bigger apart in government decision-making and didn’t consult Congress about promoting the league of Nations. He also took America to war and believed that president should be involved in lawmaking. This was an unwelcome change in presidential behaviour
What was President Harding slogan?
Government in business and more business in government
What did laisser faire attitude believe that the government was for?
To keep its own spending under control rather than spending to help those who were failing
Why wasn’t there a Democrat leader after Harding?
The Democrats couldn’t agree on a candidate
Why did the red scare keep the Republicans in power?
People were scared of the left-wing and of losing their freedom
What did people who believed in in rugged individualism feel?
Poor and homeless or we can buy government support because it’s their self reliance the government should not interfere with anything
USA should isolate itself from other countries
USA should restrict immigration
when was the Great Depression
1929
what is the federal reserve system
supervising and regulating banks
what happened in the Great Depression
- it lasted a decade
- people were evicted and shantytowns appeared
- people looked to the federal government for assistance
- Hoover was blamed for the intolerable social and economic conditions
- shantytowns were nicknamed Hoovervilles
- Hoover was defeated by Roosevelt in the 1932 elections and helped the USA get out of the depression
Banking causes of the great depression
- the difficulties in the banking system became entangled with the international and financial crisis in 1931
- the banking system in the US was fragile in the extreme
- the federal reserve was crucial in controlling the amounts of money in circulation but was inherently weak
- there was a lack of bank regulation - no federal deposit insurance system existed to provide security and major banks operated independently
- small banks lacked reserve to cope with the pressure
- the federal reserve base in Washington not New York led to communication problems
- the federal system was made up of private bankers who were a fan of the old system
Industry causes of the Great Depression
- traditional industries eg coal mining began to decline
- growing unemployment as consumers stopped consuming and added to problems
- insufficient purchasing power in the economy for things such as cars
-genaral electrics income fell from 60m in 1930 to 14m in 1932
- wages didnt rise fast enough for workers to become adequate consumers
- coipition from Europe rose after ww1
Agriculture causes of the Great Depression
-farmers suffered fro debt after investment in new equipment/tech
- prices for farming goods fell
-as incomes fell farmers fell behind om mortgage repayments and tax debts increased
- by 1929 the farmers annual income was an average of $273 whereas the national average was $750
Stock market and shares causes of the great depression
- people had strong belief in stability of the Stockmarket
- many shares bought by ordinary people were bought on credit
- $14 billion was wiped of shares and there was a 14% drop in the market
- stock market corrupt - inside dealings
- new technology and production techniques saturated the market
what did hoover set up at the very beginning of the greta depression
the federal farm board system
what did the federal farm board system do
helped famers that found it hard to sell their goods because of the governments isolation tariffs
what was hoovers reason to be setting up the federal farm board system
was a one off thing for show so that it looked like he was trying to help
when hoover realised that lassiez faire wasn’t working what did hoover believe the answer was
private charities set up by businesses and the wealthy to offer help on a local and personal level
he felt all he could do was encourage people to do this
what did hoover set up in 1930
the presidents emergency committee for employment
what was the presidents emergency committee for employment
a temporary organisation to find work projects for the unemployed and to persuade businesses to create more jobs on a local voluntary basis
he encouraged business men to invest in the economy by setting up similar organisations
what happened after he made the presidents emergency committee
he decided that federal intervention was needed
what happened between 1930 and the federal elections in 1932
hoover moved from encouraging private help to federal help by first advising them on projects and then giving them money to fund some of the help
was hoover change of direction by asking the congress to pass laws welcomed by the congess
no
why did hoover put the government into debt
he tried to put more federal measures in place but the congress rejected them.
the ones he did manage to pass put the government into debt which was the opposite of his job
in the last year of his presidency he had put the government into $3000 million worth of debt
how did the bonus army begin
in 1924 the government gave those who fought in ww1 a bonus payment calculated on the years of their service
most of the money was put into a fund until 1945
what did many veterans do when the depression hit
asked the government for their bonuses early as some of them were unemployed or homeless. however the government refused
what happened when the bonus army camped in Washington
people were afraid of riots happening
the police tried to break up the camps
when and where was the bonus march
June 1932, marched on Washington to make demands in person with estimated number of 15000 to 200000 people and they camped around the city
what happened to the bonus army on July 28
troops were sent in with tear gas bayonets cavalry and tanks and machine guns and the camps were dispersed
what did the later report published suggest about the people camping
suggested many were communist agitators or criminals in attempt to make it seem less blame worthy
why did the bonus army cause hoover to lose popularity
despite the fact he asked the commander of the 12th infantry to use restraint people didn’t like the way he treated the veterans
who was the majority in the House of Representatives by 1931
the democrats
impacts that the First World War had on domestic policy
- led to unprecedented and increasingly unpopular federal government intervention in the economy and society under Wilson
-contriburted tp the rise of the republicans (HCH)
- generated demand for a return for normalcy
-ensured an introduction to the prohibition (1920-33)
-contributed to the red scare (1919-20)
- generated debate over how much USA should be involved with other nations
what caused the first red scare
