Unit 1F - In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917-96
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
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Unit 1F - In search of the American Dream: the USA, c1917-96
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In search of the American Dream, 1917-1996
The changing political environment, 1917-1980
(1.1) 1917-1933
The impact of the First World War
· President Woodrow Wilson took the USA into WW1 in April 1917 despite campaigning in the
1916 election on a platform of keeping out of it after Germany attacked US shipping and
tried to recruit Mexico as an ally.
· Warren G. Harding won the election of 1920, promising a return to ‘normalcy’, a word he
made up.
· There had been a short, sharp economic depression between the end of the war and
Harding taking office in 1921. This was caused in part by the end of the war and led to
protests, strikes and riots: unemployment was five times greater in 1921 than in 1919.
· ‘Normalcy’ would mean an end to these problems; a slow, steady way of life. He would do
this by balancing the books, reducing taxation, imposing tariffs(e.g, Fordney McCumber),
providing radio and addressing the 'race question’.
· 5,010,000 were unemployed in 1921
Isolationism
· Harding proposed that the USA should be supportive of other countries without becoming
‘entangled’ in their affairs in the League of Nations.
· This meant both in terms of politics and in terms of self-sufficiency - people were
· encouraged to ‘buy American’ by high tariffs on imported goods e.g. the Fordney-McCumber
Act of 1922.
· Immigration was also to be cut:
o the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 restricted immigration to 357,000 per year with
no more than 3% of the people from that country in the USA in 1910.
o the National Origins Act revised this down to 150,000, reduced the quota to2% and
used the 1890 census to further reduce southern eastern European (Catholic)
immigration.
· Congress passed neutrality acts to restrict the USA when other countries went to war.
· On the other hand, the USA brokered the Washington Conference 1921-22 to limit naval
growth
The presidency
· President Wilson had been only the second Democratic president since the Civil War.
· Many people felt that Wilson had been far too hands on as president and had exceeded his
powers, this was emphasised by the southern democrat's discontentment.
· Wilson had taken the USA into World War One and had not consulted Congress on his
promotion of the League of Nations.
· He had also been proactive in producing legislation, drafting bills himself and expecting
Congress to fall into line - this was seen as breaking the principle of separation of powers.
· Republicanism seemed the natural reaction Wilson’s perceived over activity - Harding was a
Republican.
, · Harding had campaigned with the slogan “less government in business and more business in
government” - this was laissez-faire small government. The Republicans became the party of
big business, not intervening to control wages, working hours or prices.
· Harding’s administration was rife with corruption with many of his appointees engaging in
corrupt activity like the Teapot Dome scandal, in which Albert Bacon masterminded.
· The Democrats could not agree on a candidate for the 1924 election so Harding’s VP, Calvin
Coolidge, took over on a platform of moral integrity.
· He was another laissez-faire president: he let Congress go its own way and didn’t interfere
with the economy.
· The economy entered a ‘boom’ period and many felt Republican policies were working as
the flaws were not clear at the time. When Hoover ran in 1928 for the Republicans, he
proclaimed that the Republicans had eradicated poverty.
The political landscape
The First Red Scare 1919-20
· Russia underwent a series of revolution from 1905 to 1917 and had a communist
government from 1917.
· People in the USA feared communism at home, especially during strikes- due to anarchists.
· Workers had not struck during WW1 but they did when their conditions did not improve in
times of peace.
· The Communist Part of the USA (CPUSA) and the Communist Labour Party (CLP) were
founded.
· Anarchists distributed leaflets in cities urging revolution.
· There were about 3600 strikes in 1919 and about one in four workers took part.
· A shipyard strike in Seattle developed into a citywide general strike, leading to hysterical
reports of a communist revolution.
· People accused each other of being communists - this was known as ‘red hunting’.
Suspected left-wing workers were sacked by their employers and people suspected their
neighbours.
· Left-wing people became afraid to express their opinions, especially as groups like the Ku
Klux Klan targeted ‘un-American’ people.
· January 1920, the FBI raided 33 cities. In the Palmer raids 10,000 were arrested.
· “Sacco and Vanzetti” case, where two immigrants were on trial or robbery and attempted
murder. They were innocent yet falsely accused and abused during trial being called
“anarchist bastards”
'Rugged individualism’
· President Herbert Hoover gave laissez-faire government a new spin - rather than meaning
inaction, it meant giving people responsibility for themselves. (so, a change in emphasis
rather than a change in direction)
· ‘Rugged individualism’ stated that:
o people were weakened by government support because it removed the incentive to
work hard, whether they were unemployed and sick or working homeowners
o the government should not interfere with business by regulating working hours, pay,
conditions or prices
, o the USA should not be involved in foreign disputes immigration should be restricted
because most were coming to improve their lives rather than to bring wealth into
the country.
The Great Depression
· Out-of-control share trading culminated in the Wall Street Crash of October 1929.
· The Great Depression followed the Crash: unemployment soared; people lost them homes
and banks and businesses failed.
· Republicans favoured leaving the economy to sort itself out, repeating their actions in the
early 1920s, many believed that the recession would be far shorted than it turned out to be.
· Hoover got Congress to set up the Federal Farm Board in 1929 to help farmers who were
unable to export due to foreign tariffs.
· Mostly, however, Hoover believed that help was best provided by charities and
philanthropists rather than by government.
· He set up the President’s Emergency Committee for Employment in 1930 to find work for
the unemployed but it was overwhelmed.
· Between 1930 and 1932, Hoover realised that federal help was necessary. He gave help at
first through the states and then directly from the Federal Government. Congress tried to
obstruct his sudden hands-on interventions and those that did pass did not go far enough
yet still racked up government debt, running a deficit of $3bn in 1931.
· Many people experiencing hardship blamed Hoover personally for the crisis and the lack of
help.
· 1.3 million unemployed, 5000 banks went out of business in 1929 to 32.
· 110 died due to starvation.
The Bonus Army
· The government had given First World War 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 bit but the government refused
- many were unemployed, many were homeless.
· In June 1932, the veterans marched on Washington - around 150,000-200,000 people
marched. Some camped in front of the White House.
· Amid fears of riots, the police tried to break up the camps. Troops were sent in on 28th July
with tear gas, bayonets, tanks and machine guns.
· Hoover lost a lot of popularity by treating such a respected group of people in this way.
The swing away from the Republicans
· The Republicans had been the majority in both houses of Congress since 1921.
· As the Great Depression took hold, people returned to the Democrats, who were the
majority in the House form 1931 and the Senate from 1933.
· Hoover was personally unpopular with voters due to his perceived failure to help them
during the Depression yet he also managed to upset Republicans who didn’t like the relief
efforts he did make although he still won the nomination as no-one else was suitable.
· Hoover’s opponent in the 1932 election, Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a 'New Deal’
for the American people. He had been an effective Governor of New York and ran a positive
campaign, giving lively speeches.
· Hoover won only six states in the election. 40 million voted, then the largest turnout in
American history.
, · Once Roosevelt was in power, the Republican party continued to unravel as it failed to put
forward an alternative to Roosevelt’s policies.
· Roosevelt offered a new deal and alternative attitude.
· Hooverville emerged, one in Washington had 1,000 residents.
(1.2) 1933-1945
Influences on the political landscape
New Deal thinking
· Roosevelt promised that the Federal Government would take action to help the American
people.
· He promised to balance the budget but in reality, Roosevelt was far more
· comfortable going into debt in order to fulfil what he saw as the government’s role.
· New Deal thinking stressed rapid, national action - federal action. This expanded
· federal power at the expense of states’ power. Roosevelt used ‘war’ rhetoric to get
· powers from Congress.
· A number of federal ‘Alphabet’ Agencies were set up:
o the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to electrify and develop the Tennessee Valley
in several states
o the National Recovery Administration (NRA) to set up and enforce business codes of
practice
o the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) to regulate and subsidise
agriculture.
Changes in the presidency
Roosevelt
· Inaugural speech (March 4th 1933), he said “only thing to fear is fear itself”
· President Roosevelt was charming, persuasive and pragmatic.
· He was media-savvy: he used his ‘fireside’ chats on the radio in speak directly to Americans
and off the record press conferences for the media members.
· Congress was swayed by him and, despite not originally intending to submit lots of
legislation, Roosevelt ended up doing so.
· A lot of legislation was passed in the first 100 days, especially on banking, taxation and
economic help.
Increasing the importance of the presidency
· Roosevelt increased significantly the size of the White House staff. He also used executive
orders wherever he could rather than congressional legislation. (He was more concerned
with general policy rather than detail), he even introduced a new executive office.
· His ‘fireside chats’ were accompanied with regular meetings with the press both formally
and informally - the media was always supportive of his agenda.
· Roosevelt was elected four times rather than the convention maximum of two. But he
wasn’t universally liked - small-government Republicans hated his agenda and the Supreme
Court ruled the AAA and the NRA as unconstitutional in 1936.
· Threats to replace the ageing small-government Supreme Court justices with Roosevelt’s
supporters (‘packing the court’ and violating separation of powers) shocked the country and
Roosevelt backed down but from then on, the Court was less obstructionist.
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