US out of War

Question 1

What were the 3 economic strengths that the US had with WWI?

Answer 1

1. One way trade with Europe. American industry and agriculture were prospering.
2. Many European overseas markets were taken over by the USA and their American industries became more successful for European competitors.
3. Advances in technology

Question 2

What were the 4 social and economic problems that the US faced from WWI?

Answer 2

1. Unemployment strikes
2. Fears of Radicalism
3. Race Riots
4. Isolation
5. Immigration Problems

Question 3

Elaborate on the Unemployment strikes

Answer 3

• 4 million soldiers were demobbed in 1919. Industries had laid-off workers so returning soldiers could find employment.
• Prices doubled between 1914 - 1919 yet wages barely rose.
• Bosses of industries knew that high unemployment rates gave them the strong hand and were unwilling to compromise with workers demanding higher wages. Therefore, there was a wave of violent strikes throughout 1919.

Question 4

Elaborate on Fears of Radicalism

Answer 4

• War triggered a communist revolution in Russia, in USA two communist parties were established in 1919.
• Anarchists started a wave of bomb attacks.
• Rise of communism combined with violent strikes by workers terrified people that the revolution was coming to the USA.

Question 5

Elaborate on Race Riots

Answer 5

• 23 cities in the USA had race riots in 1919.
• Many black people that moved to the northern cities from the south after 1910 were under attack from the white communities around them.
• Riots were also a reaction to the discrimination and poor economic circumstances that blacks faced after the war.

Question 6

Elaborate on Isolation

Answer 6

• President W.W drew up the ‘Fourteen Points’ which became the basis for the League of Nations. He desperately wanted to achieve his dream of world peace.
• 1919 the mood in the USA was against the League and Wilson. Americans didn’t want their soldiers to be killed trying to resolve disputes around the world. Afraid that they would end up paying the bill for European squabbles. Want to return to isolationism.
• 1919 & 1920 Congress refused to support Wilson, rejected the league and eventually Wilson himself. They voted for what the new Republican President Harding called ‘normalcy’.

Question 7

Elaborate on Immigration Problems

Answer 7

• Some Americans wanted to end the open door policy that brought millions of people to the USA in the 19th century.
• By 1900 there was not much land and the need for workers declined. Americans believed the quality of immigrants was declining. Many new immigrants were poor labourers with little education.
• Anti-immigrant feelings increased during the war, especially against the Germans. 1917 brought about a literacy test meaning that immigrants had to prove they could read a 40-word passage before they would be allowed into America. This disadvantaged people from eastern Europe, Italy and Russia, many of them have not gone to school.
• Immigrant Ghettos appeared in northern cities of America. They were often places of violent crime, drunkenness and prostitution. Many Americans believed the immigrants were to blame for these urban problems. This led to a widespread intolerance of foreigners which continued into the 1920s.