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History: America 1917-96 > Topic 1 > Flashcards

Topic 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Who introduced the return to ‘normalcy’?

A

Harding

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2
Q

What are tariffs and why are they often placed into goods?

A

They are taxes put on goods, in order to encourage or discourage trading abroad

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3
Q

What is the League of Nations?

A

An organisation formed at the end of WWI, set up for international co-operation and to help its member states to settle their differences peacefully, rather than by going to war

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4
Q

How much did unemployment rise in 1921 as a result of the war?

A

unemployment rose from 950k to 5 mil in 1921.

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5
Q

What is the Great Depression?

A

The economic collapse that hit the USA in 1929

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6
Q

What is a hire purchase?

A

Buying goods on credit, ‘buy now and pay later’

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7
Q

Did Wilson take far too big a part in government decision making?

A

yes

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8
Q

What does the republican notion laissez-faire mean?

A

‘Leave well alone’ - minimal government interference

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9
Q

‘Less government in business and more…’?

A

business in government

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10
Q

Did Harding interfere, did he draft laws or drag the USA into international politics?

A

He did not - he believed in laissez faire

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11
Q

Why were Harding’s friends considered as being corrupt?

A

several of them exploited their positions to make money, making administration look corrupt

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12
Q

What did Coolidge combine with dignity and morality?

A

laissez faire

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13
Q

What serious flaws/problems did the ‘boom’ economy of the 1920’s bring to American society?

A

Overproduction and underconsumption

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14
Q

What was the red scare?

A

fear of communism - Soviet Union

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15
Q

Where did the red scare come from?

A

Russia

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16
Q

How long did the first red scare last?

A

1919-20

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17
Q

What kind of society did Americans live in during the red scare that disturbed them?

A

Capitalist society - communism looked for equality

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18
Q

What do anarchists believe in?

A

the idea of running a country with no formal government

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19
Q

How many strikes were there in 1919?

A

c. 3,600

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20
Q

What was ‘red hunting’?

A

the accusation of being communist - many people during the interim would accuse each other of dealing with communism

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21
Q

What is the KKK and what did they do?

A

Ku Klux Klan: a white supremacist organisation, which rebounded in 1915, that was racist, anti-communist and anti-immigrant - targeted all groups considered ‘Un-American’

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22
Q

What is rugged individualism and who ‘created’ it?

A

The practice or advocacy of individualism in social and economic relations emphasizing personal liberty and independence, self-reliance, resourcefulness, self-direction of the individual, and free competition in enterprise. Hoover.

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23
Q

How did those who believed in rugged individualism feel?

A
  • People, even 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, either. It should not regulate working hours, pay or working conditions, or fix the bank interest on mortgages or other loans. Businesses had to be free to run themselves, even if they exploited the workforce.
  • the USA should isolate themselves from other countries
  • The USA should restrict immigration
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24
Q

What was the return to ‘normalcy’ proposed by Harding?

A

WASPS believed it was a return to things as they had been before war. There was a lot of social discontent: protests, strikes, riots and unemployment had risen from 950k to 5mil - returning to the pre-war kind of life would mean to remove all this ‘discontent’.

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25
Q

How did Harding define ‘normalcy’

A

As a stable, steady way of life

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26
Q

why did Harding want a return to normalcy?

A

He wanted to shift the focus back to the USA again: which led to isolationism.

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27
Q

What did Harding say about the ‘race question’?

A

He said there should be a committee set up to study it and to how best solve it.

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28
Q

What was isolationism about? And how did it ‘work’?

A

the USA would be supportive of other nations but not ‘entangled’ with them. The USA had to focus on itself - ‘Buy American’ became a significant watchword. There were trade tariffs introduced that favoured US businesses, the US was to not join the League of Nations and not set up colonies - AGAIN to focus on itself.

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29
Q

Did Isolationism cut back the number of immigrants coming into the country?

A

Yes, the 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted immigration to 350,000 a year. This was then revised to 150,000 in 1924.

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30
Q

What were the Neutrality Acts?

A

These Acts restricted the help the USA would give to other countries if they went to war.

31
Q

Was the USA entirely isolationist?

A

No, in fact it helped Europe rebuild economically

32
Q

Would the USA have been more internationalist if the Great Depression would have not set in?

A

yes, the Depression imposed many people to focus on the problems their own countries faced instead of looking outwards.

33
Q

What shed light on the fact that Republican policies were working?

A

The fact that ‘Buy American’ prospered the economy and consumerism, hire purchase and new technology produced consumer goods that were far more cheaper. THEY CREATED A ‘BOOM’

34
Q

What was the American Civil War of 1861-65 about?

A

Northern states fought the Southern states over the issues of slavery

35
Q

What caused the Great Depression?

A

underlying problems with the ‘boom’ (created by isolationism) combined with out-of-control share trading which produced the Wall Street Crash

36
Q

What was the Wall Street Crash and what did it lead to?

A

When the US stock market collapsed, it sent the USA and then other countries into the Great Depression

37
Q

What happened in consequence of the Wall Street Crash?

A

Unemployment soared, people lost their homes, banks and businesses failed.

38
Q

Why was there a decline in republicanism? What did Hoover do?

A

Great Depression which resulted in consequence of the Wall Street crash.

Hoover realised that laissez faire wasn’t working - he persuaded Congress to set up Federal Farm Board to help farmers in consequence of isolationist tariffs.

39
Q

Why did the presidency change after WW1?

A
  • Wilson took far too big a part in government
  • took USA to war without consulting with congress
  • he produced legislation, drafted bills and expected congress to fall in line - breaking the principle of the separation of powers
  • people were fatigued from Wilson’s manoeuvres
  • ‘laissez faire’ + ‘less government in business and more business in government’ seemed attractive to many
  • democrats could not agree on a candidate
  • america was entering a boom period through the presidency of both Harding and Coolidge
40
Q

main points of the first red scare.

A
  • Russia became a communist government in 1917
  • people in the USA feared communism at home (they loved capitalism), especially during strikes
  • Anarchists distributed leaflets in cities urging revolution
  • 3600 strikes in 1919
  • mistrust - people would accuse others of being secret spies or communists = ‘red hunting’
  • Left-wing people became afraid to express their opinions, especially as groups like the KKK targeted ‘un-Americans’
41
Q

Bonus Army main points.

A
  • the government had given WWI veterans a $50 payment in 1924 with the rest of the bonus, calculated based on the time they served, to be paid in 1945.
  • many veterans asked for the money early as the depression hit but the government refused - many were unemployed and some even homeless
  • Washington march 1932 - 150,000-200,000 people marched
  • police tried to break up the camps
  • troops were sent in days later with tear gas, bayonets, tanks and machine guns
  • > Hoover lost popularity by treating such a respected group of people in this way
42
Q

decline in republicanism main points.

A
  • the republicans had been the majority in both houses since 1921
  • as the Great Depression hit -> people returned to the democrats - who were the majority in the house
  • Hoover was personally unpopular with voters due to his perceived failure to help them during the depression and also managed to upset republicans who didn’t like the relief efforts he did make (although he won the nomination as no-one else was suitable)
  • FDR (Roosevelt) promised Americans a ‘New Deal’ -> 40,000,000 voted for him - largest turn-out in American history
43
Q

New Deal main points.

A
  • federal gov would take action to help the American people
  • a promise made to balance the budget, but in reality FDR was far more comfortable going into debt in order to fulfil what he saw as the gov’s role
  • New Deal thinking stressed rapid, national action - federal action - this expanded federal powers at the expense of states’ power - Roosevelt used ‘war’ rhetoric to get powers from congress
  • alphabet agencies: TVA, AAA, NRA
44
Q

What was FDR like?

A
  • charming, persuasive and pragmatic
  • he was media-savvy: he used his ‘fireside’ chats on the radio to speak to Americans
  • congress was swayed by him and despite not initially wanting to submit to lots of legislation, FDR ended up doing so.
45
Q

consequences of Roosevelt’s presidency.

A
  • his ‘fireside chats’ = the media was always supportive of his agenda
  • FDR was elected 4 times rather than the convention maximum of 2
  • he was not universally liked= small-gov republicans hated his agenda and the supreme court ruled the AAA and NRA as unconstitutional in 1936
46
Q

Roosevelt’s legacy main points.

A
  • Truman inherited a very different presidency to Roosevelt
  • the president was involved in the formation of policy and legislation and the White House was far bigger
  • the media expected the levels of communication provided by Roosevelt to continue
  • the gov was seen as responsible for the welfare of its citizens -> Fair Deal, New Frontiers, Great Society etc.
47
Q

WWII main points.

A
  • WWII was responsible for really bringing the USA out of the depression
  • the USA geared up for wartime levels of production even if the country didn’t join war
  • high production levels meant employment and economic prosperity
  • ‘lend-lease’
  • the USA entered ww2 after a surprise attack by Japan on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii -> unemployment plummeted, industrial output and profits rose and the depression ended
  • 400,000 Americans died fighting and 600,000 were wounded or captured
48
Q

leadership and style of Truman

A
  • not charismatic or confident and made mistakes under pressure, leading to the phrase ‘to err is truman’
  • recognised the importance of the media and used a Flipchart to explain his economic policy but handled the Korean War badly
  • Connected poorly with the public, giving wooden speeches and making mistakes.
  • worked well with government officials even if he didn’t always choose the right ones
  • worked less well with congress and was less able to network, threaten and charm - although it was held by republicans from 1946
49
Q

leadership and style of Kennedy

A
  • from a political family, understood to charm, present and give speeches
  • worked well with the media, learning names and using television to show his family
  • spoke to the public and his presentation of himself worked too
  • organised the administration poorly, didn’t hold meetings correctly, consulted the wrong people (for example ‘bay of pigs’), not enough long-term planning
  • worked very well with congress, especially thanks to his personal connections and deal-making
50
Q

leadership and style Johnson

A
  • an effective political operator - had been in politics for a while
  • not a natural but competent in his handling of the media
  • could give good speeches or stiff, awkward ones
  • organised the administration well
  • effective at dealing with Congress, partly due to his political past
51
Q

leadership and style of Nixon

A
  • clever and capable but suspicious and intolerant of disagreement and often backtracked
  • distrustful of the media and managed it calamitously (Watergate)
  • not good with people despite working at it - came across as awkward and insincere
  • organisationally competent but did not take advice well at all
  • poor management and negotiation skills meant it was hard for him to manage congress
52
Q

what were influences in the political landscape?

A
  • second red scare
  • liberalism
  • counter-culture
  • conservative reaction
53
Q

second red scare main points.

A
  • after ww2, many Eastern European countries occupied by the USSR emerged with communist governments
  • Second red scare took place in the climate of the Korean and Cold War
  • China became communist in 1949 and the USSR held its first nuclear weapons test. Truman was accused of not supporting the anti-communist Chinese gov enough
  • Truman had held off because the Chinese gov was corrupt and as it seemed the rebels just wanted change in china, not global communism. China’s support for communist North Korea proved this wrong
54
Q

second red scare main points. (McCarthy)

A
  • headed the red scare from 1950-54
  • claimed to have a list of 205 spies in the Federal Gov, then pretended to have left it on a plane, then he had 57, then 81
  • Tydings Committee was set up to investigate his claims, concluding his claims were false
  • ‘red baiting’ became common across the country
  • 20 million people watched McCarthy’s interviews of the army in 1953. His treatment was unreasonable, he was censured by the senate and the scare died down
55
Q

second red scare main points. (anti-communism 54-80)

A
  • red scares affected civil liberties as the FBI was given new powers to bring people to the loyalty boards of the HUAC - tapping phones, bug offices and homes, open letters etc
  • people were worried about expressing their views - libraries removed books like those of Marx
  • Krushchev’s 1959 visit was met with placards saying ‘the only good communist is a dead communist’
  • there was a bipartisan support for anti-communism in Congress and the White House
56
Q

Liberalism main points.

A
  • second red scare and increasing violence against black people in the south made many feed uneasy
  • Kennedy openly discussed liberalism and openly classed himself as a liberal
  • liberals tended to be well-educated and middle class or even wealthy
  • support for liberal causes such as minority rights grew during the 60s
57
Q

Counter culture: Hippies

A
  • supported loosening the tight family system and living communally instead
  • many used drugs: cannabis and LSD in particular
  • woodstock festival in 1969 was a massive hippie gathering- loud music, drugs and sexual promiscuity
58
Q

Counter culture: Radical student groups

A
  • students for a democratic society (SDS) was set up in 1960
  • its 1962 Port Huron statement denounced conventional politics and called for a return to the belief that all men were created equal
  • it rejected all forms of bigotry and protested, often violently, against the Vietnam War
  • 4 unarmed students were shot dead by the national guard at Kent State University in Ohio while protesting for the invasion of Cambodia
59
Q

Counter culture: Conservative reaction

A
  • many older Americans were bewildered by counter-culture and clung to family values. As protests spread across the country, some got the impression that liberal gov wasn’t working
  • New Right politicians campaigned on a platform of restoring law and order and traditional values - Nixon was successful in 1968
  • during the 70s a rightist movement (especially the Christian Right) emerged campaigning against homosexuality, abortion, contraception and other causes liberals had championed in the 60s
60
Q

what caused the change in gov?

A
  • ww2
  • Cold War
  • korean war
  • vietnam war
61
Q

what did ww2 lead to?

A
  • ww2 led to a more internationalist view, the USA was the founder of the UN in 1945
  • the world polarised after 1945 and the USA adopted a policy of ‘containment’: stopping communist influence from spreading by helping non-communist countries (Truman Doctrine)
  • the Marshall Plan gave aid to war-torn countries prevent communist feeling
  • USA founded NATO to bind together the anti-communist camp
  • Nuclear Defense: The USA had to be preparing for a nuclear attack following the USSR’s weapons tests + Federal Defense Administration was set up in early 1950s to organise evacuations and exercises (e.g. ‘duck and cover’) + some people bought their own fallout shelters for around $1000
  • The Arms Race: The USA’s holding of atom bombs rose from 13 to 50 between 1947-48, The USSR’s rush to keep up led to a race between the two, Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) meant that neither side ever launched a single nuclear weapon in anger
  • The armed services: a large, permanent peacetime military force was created + Defense spending became a key pin in US economy + Hawks and doves divide emerged in politics that crossed party lines
62
Q

impact of Cold War on presidency.

A
  • the president could act more independently in terms of foreign policy - more foreign involvement = more power for the president
  • The 1947 National Security Act created a new Defense Department at the Pentagon under the President’s control. The CIA and National Security Council (NSC) were created, reporting directly to the president and not congress
  • the president was commander-in-chief of the military and could use the new larger forces around without congress
  • the president had the power to use the nuclear weapons without congress’ approval
63
Q

Impact of the Korean War on domestic policy.

A
  • North Korea invaded south korea in 1950 with soviet help
  • truman wanted to fight a ‘limited war’, keeping the North Koreans in North Korea - he stressed that the UN was going to war and not the USA
  • korea emphasised the shift in presidential attention away from domestic matters (e.g. civil rights) and toward international policy
  • there was a new expectation that the USA’s job was to be involved in international affairs
  • republicans in congress were no longer happy with co-operation and began to criticise Truman even more
  • defense spending peaked at 14% of GNP -some came from taxes but a lot from borrowing
64
Q

impact of the Korean War on presidency.

A
  • the media was initially supportive of Truman and expected the levels of cooperation they got from FDR
  • Truman was conscious of exacerbating the spiralling hysteria of the Red scare and held back with the media
  • pure speculation filled the news: suddenly Truman was going to use the atom bomb and the draft - neither were true
  • MacArthur drove korean troops beyond the 38th parallel and up to China, bringing China into the war despite Truman’s orders not to - MacArthur was sacked and Truman had little public support in this
  • Truman was criticised of being soft on communism when he used peaceful resolutions with the USSR
65
Q

Impact on the Vietnam war on domestic policies.

A
  • the war created similar budgetary concerns to Korea. Johnson’s ‘war on poverty’ was effectively abandoned because of the demands of the Vietnam war.
  • the draft came into force in 1969 - a massive unpopular policy as rich people avoided it by going abroad or finding an exemption. Young men burnt their draft cards ($10,000 fine or 5 years in prison) while protesting and refused to go
  • a broad spectrum of society protested against the war. Vietnam veterans against the war (VVAW) marched in 1967 with the membership of 30,000. No one understood PTSD and veterans returned to unemployment and mental health problems while the public held them responsible for the atrocities. Some veterans returned their war decorations
66
Q

Impact on the Vietnam war on domestic policies. (media coverage)

A
  • The war was initially reported using White House or military briefings. Vietnam was known as the first ‘tv war’
  • soon reporters covered shocking stories of soldiers fighting while on drugs, the My Lai Massacre, the use of Agent Orange and so on
  • Walter Cronkite returned after the Test Offensive and broadcast a scathing criticism of the war in 1968
  • LBJ was heard to say after that he had lost the support of ‘Middle America’ for the war
67
Q

impact of Vietnam war on the presidency

A
  • the power of the president in dealing with foreign affairs meant that people held the president responsible for the war (for example the LBJ chant)
  • president Johnson had acted without a formal declaration of war by congress - this power was taken away in 1973
  • Americans began to look more closely at the president’s actions during future wars rather than supporting them immediately
68
Q

reasons for the decline of confidence levels in government 1968-80?

A
  • media
  • scandals
  • mishandling of events
  • administration
  • social factors
  • the presidents
69
Q

how did the media contribute to the decline of confidence in gov

A
  • ppl had far greater access to the media -TV, radio and newspapers
  • the media’s role had evolved from explaining what the government was doing (as under FDR’s New Deal) to criticising it following Truman’s actions during the Korean War
  • The media took Kennedy and his government but their role soon became to uncover gov deception
70
Q

how did scandals contribute to the decline of confidence in gov

A

-public confidence was shaken by evidence that Nixon had spied one the democratic Party’s election campaign by bugging the Watergate Hotel. Nixon was heard to swear and lie to the country - he resigned in 1974

71
Q

how did the mishandling of events contribute to the decline of confidence in gov

A
  • vietnam spiralled out of control under LBJ
  • President Carter completely mishandled the taking of hostages during the Iranian revolution in 1979
72
Q

how did social factors contribute to the decline of confidence in gov

A
  • violent reaction by authorities in the South had always made many Americans feel ashamed
  • there were nationwide riots after 1964 and after MLK was assassinated
  • police violence became a point of argument - especially in black ghettos of northern cities
  • some whites felt like too much government focus went on the poor and minority groups with nothing for them
  • Southern Democrats and whites turned on the Democratic party (and to a lesser extent liberal Republicans) as civil rights measures were handed down federally
73
Q

how did the presidents contribute to the decline of confidence in gov

A
  • LBJ took America into a war without a formal declaration by Congress, Vietnam then became extremely unpopular
  • Nixon was shifty, suspicious, communicated badly and ended his presidency with a scandal
  • Ford was not forgiven for pardoning Nixon rather than taking him to trial - it was seen as politicians looking after their own kind
  • Carter was a very moral man but was politically inexperienced, inflexible and unable to deal with size of the federal gov

History: America 1917-96 (5 decks)

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