In search of the American Dream: the USA, c.1917-96
American Dream was a phrase used to promise people that they would protect rights and
freedoms and fight for equal opportunities.
Search for a better way of life.
WASP – White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant
Totalitarian – The government is fairly elected, demands total obedience to the state.
1.1 – The changing political environment, 1917-1980
The system of government
The US government is a multi-level government: federal, state and local.
Most officials are elected
Two-party system: Republican and Democrats
The constitution lays down federal laws
o The Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting laws.
Separation of powers – tension over federal and state law making
o Some states resisted federal legislation
The president is the head of the executive arm, head of state and commander in
chief.
President have to balance the needs of both parties in Congress
The political environment
Depending on how the gov. deal with social, economic and political problems affects
the response of the American people
The success of the gov. depends on the relationship between
o President and congress
o President and media
o The effects of internal and external influences
, How did the political environment change, 1917-1933?
Time President Party
1913 - 1921 Woodrow Wilson Democrat
1921 - 1923 Warren G. Harding Republican
1923 - 1929 Calvin Coolidge Republican
1929 - 1933 Herbert C. Hoover Republican
What impact did the First World War have?
The return to ‘normalcy’
Harding promised the people a return to normalcy
When Harding took power, there had been a short, sharp economic depression.
Unemployment rose from 950,000 to 5,010,000.
Social discontent: protests, strikes and riots.
Balance the gov. books; reduce taxation; tariffs to protect US trade and industry;
provide countrywide radio.
Committee to study ‘the race question’
Isolationism
The USA had to focus on themselves
Had supporters and opponents within both parties
Trade tariffs favoured US businesses
Cutbacks on the number of immigrants
o 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted to 357,000 a year
o Revised to 150,000 a year in 1924
Between 1935 and 1939, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts that restricted
the help the USA could give.
The USA was not completely isolated
o Helped Europe rebuild economically and brokered the Washington
Conference of 1921-22
Possible that without the GD that America would have become more internationalist
Modern technology produced consumer goods far more cheaply
o Hire purchase allowed people to buy these goods over a period of time
How did the Presidency change?
Woodrow Wilson took over in the First World War in 1917
People though he became a big part in decision making
o He took America to War
o Didn’t consult Congress about promoting the League of Nations
o Drafted bills and introduced them to Congress himself
The appeal of Republicanism
Wilson was replaced by Harding – focussed on laissez-faire
o To manage social problems
o Gov. job to keep its own spending under control
The Rep. was the party of business
Harding’s campaign aims were vague
o Did not try and draft laws
