Republican Resurgence and Decline

Transcription

1 Republican Resurgence and Decline What characterized the cnservatism in the presidencies f Harding, Clidge, and Hver? What drve the grwth in the American ecnmy in the 1920s? What were the causes f the Great Depressin? Prgressive plitical cnditin had fragmented Reasns why Prgressivism declined: radicals were nt affected by war s aftermath, rganized labr resented Wilsn s Prgressive administratin, farmers thught wartime price cntrls discriminated against them, liberals drifted away, ppular supprt fr Prhibitin and religius fundamentalism, large middle class became interested in building business civilizatin Prgressivism s final natinal triumphs were frgne befre the war s end 18 th and 19 th Amendment Prgressivism did nt disappear in the 1920s Key leadership in Cngress Impulse fr gd gvernment remained strng Public service persisted Nrmalcy The Electin f 1920 Americans were weary f idealistic crusades, suspicius f leaders Cnservatives were favred Republicans nminated Warren Harding Nrmalcy plicy Restratin, nt revlutin Cntrasted with Wilsn s grand internatinalism Harding s nrmalcy reflected his wn cnservative values Public was unaware f his escapades Didn t hpe t be ne f the great presidents, but the best lved Demcrats nminated James Cx Franklin Rsevelt wn vice president nminatin Demcrats suffered frm breakup f Wilsnian calitin and cnservative pstwar md Peple favred Harding s return t nrmalcy Cx nly wn states in the Demcratic Suth Early Appintments and Plicy Harding s administratin was similar t Ulysses Grant Cabinet had peple f mixed abilities and skill levels Secretary f State: Charles Hughes Cmmerce Department: Herbert Hver Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

2 Treasury Department: Andrew Melln Agriculture Department: Henry Wallace Lesser ffices went t members f Ohi gang grup that Harding met with t avid stress f White Huse Harding lved plitics, until he became president Self-dubt verwhelmed him during his presidency Preferred t relax with Ohi gang Harding administratin dismantled many cmpnents f Prgressivism Appinted cnservatives t Supreme Curt, including William Taft Federal child-labr and minimum wage law fr wmen was struck dwn Against unin strikes and federal regulatin Harding administratin Secretary f Treasury Melln established pr-business tne, reminiscent f McKinley Reductin f gvernment spending and lwer taxes Budget and Accunting Act f 1921: created Bureau f Budget Efficiency and nnpartisanship was brught t the budget preparatin prcess Melln insisted that tax reductin g t the rich Grup in Cngress fught t preserve graduated incme tax Melln eventually wn ut Cngress lwered incme taxes Revenue Act f 1926 favred high-incme grups Melln favred high tariffs Frdney-McCumber Tariff: increased rates n chemical and metal prducts and extended duties t agricultural imprts Higher tariffs had unexpected cnsequences During the war, US had transfrmed frm debtr natin t creditr natin Melln insisted that Eurpean pwers repay all that they had brrwed High tariffs made it hard fr natins t sell prducts t the US and btain dllars Republicans exercised mre lenient prgram f gvernment regulatin f crpratins Named cmmissiners wuld prmted friendly regulatin Advcates f big business were appinted t cmmittees Harding prved t be mre prgressive than Wilsn in ne idea He reversed plicy f excluding African Americans frm federal psitins Spke ut against vigilante racism Senate failed t pass anti-racism bill Administrative Crruptin Members f Ohi gang used White Huse cnnectins t benefit themselves Crruptin in Veterans Bureau Crruptin in Justice Department Crruptin in Prhibitin Bureau Teapt dme was a majr scandal Similar t Watergate scandal that wuld happen 50 years later Teapt Dme was set aside as naval il reserve Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

3 Albert B. Fall f Interir Department let cmpanies explit the depsits Harding himself avided crruptin Harding died after a speaking tur in Alaska The natin was heartbrken Harding had pardned Eugene Debs Grief yielded t scrn and cntempt Revelatin f scandals enraged the public Nan Brittn published bk in which she claimed t have had an affair with Harding Harding s administratin was viewed as ne f the wrst in American histry Scandals bscured accmplishments He led the natin ut f turmil Created fundatin fr ecnmic bm Prmted diversity and civil rights Appinted Jews and spke against KKK N previus president had prmted wmen s rights as frcefully as did Harding Silent Cal Vice President Calvin Clidge assumed Presidency Clidge thught presidency shuld revert t its Gilded Age stance f passive deference t Cngress Americans embraced Silent Cal Simple and direct, strng principles Shrtest inaugural address He was mre cnservative than Harding Favred success f big business The man wh builds a factry builds a temple Fcused n industrial develpment Strve t end gvernment regulatin f business and reduce taxes The Electin f 1924 Clidge distanced himself frm scandal Republicans nminated Calvin Clidge Demcrats were divided between new urban culture and traditinal rural culture Demcrats nminated Jhn Davis New farmer-labr calitin rganized Prgressive party and nminated Rbert La Fllette Vters preferred t keep cl with Clidge ; Clidge wn The New Era Prsperity and technlgical achievements characterized a New Era Thse in the large middle class were absrbed int the New Era Republican presidency favred business interests Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

4 The Grwing Cnsumer Culture Mre peple had mney and leisure Grwing advertising industry Installment buying Cnsumer-gds industries fueled ecnmic bm frm 1922 t 1929 Cmmdities became widely available Mtin pictures, radi, telephnes, autmbiles Scial transfrmatins By 1908 there were nearly 10,000 mvie theaters acrss the natin Hllywd became center f prductin Birth f a Natin became a triumph f cinematic art Based n The Clansman, featured steretypes Blatantly racist film By mid-1930s every city and mst small twns had mvie theaters Chief frm f mass entertainment Radi bradcasting had spectacular grwth News bulletins, scheduled prgrams, cmmercials Clumbia Bradcasting System (CBS) Federal Radi Cmmissin was established t regulate Clidge was first president t address the natin by radi Airplanes, Autmbiles, and the Ecnmy Wilbur and Orville Wright built and flew the first airplane at Kitty Hawk, Nrth Carlina American pilts flew British r French planes during WWI Aircraft industry pened during the war Kelly Act: federal gvernment subsidized airplane industry Air Cmmerce Act: prvided federal funds t aid advancement f air transprtatin and navigatin Aviatin industry received psychlgical bst in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh Jr. made the first sl transatlantic flight Amelia Earhart became first wmen t fly sl acrss the Atlantic Cngress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Crss Outstanding American Wman f the Year The mst significant ecnmic and scial develpment f the early 20 th century was the autmbile Frd Mt Cmpany Frd s reliable Mdel T (Tin Lizzie) demcratized the autmbile Prductin f autmbiles stimulated steel, rubber, glass, and textile industries Als gave rise t gigantic market fr il prducts Mvement f gd rads, financed by gas tax Encuraged suburban sprawl Autmbile industry became leading example f mdern mass-prductin Assembly line Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

5 Stabilizing the Ecnmy Drive fr efficiency pwered the wheels f mass prductin and cnsumptin became cardinal belief f Republican leaders Herbert Hver made frtune n mining peratins Hver develped philsphy in American Individualism Cperative individualism, assciatinalism Hver supprted middle way between regulatin and hands-ff traditin Hver transfrmed the Cmmerce Department int the gvernment s mst dynamic agency Sught new markets fr business Cnferences n efficient design, prductin, distributin Mve tward standardizatin Hver created Bureau f Aviatin and Federal Radi Cmmissin Hver s pririty was the trade-assciatin mvement Thrugh trade assciatins, cmpeting business leaders wuld share infrmatin Advantages wuld be predictable csts, prices, markets, mre stable emplyment Supreme Curt upheld legality f sharing infrmatin The Business f Farming Agriculture remained the weakest part f the ecnmy during the 1920s Briefly after the war, farmers hpes sared Overprductin brught lwer prices fr crps Early taste f depressin in the Suth Mst successful farms were getting larger, mre efficient, mre mechanized Tractrs, plws, harvesters, fertilizers, methds f animal breeding Mst farmers were struggling t survive Sught plitical remedies McNary-Haugen bill sught t secure equality fr agriculture in benefits f the prtective tariff It was a plan t dump farm surpluses n the wrld market in rder t raise prices in the hme market Gal was t achieve parity raise dmestic farm prices McNary-Haugen bill passed, but was veted by Clidge Denied plan fr gvernment fixing f prices Dismissed as unsund and uncnstitutinal Mcnary-Haugenism did nt fail: debates made farm prblem a natinal issue Plitical alliance between Suth and West began t emerge Setbacks fr Unins Urban wrkers shared affluence f 1920s Organized labr did n better than rganized agriculture Harding endrsed cllective bargaining and tried t reduce wrkday but Cngress ppsed Red Scare and strikes f 1919 left uneasy impressin Pstwar depressin f 1921 weakened unins Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

6 Business grups in Chicag designated the pen shp the American plan f emplyment Discriminatin against uninists T suppress unins, emplyers required yellw-dg cntracts that frced wrkers t agree t stay ut f a unin Owners als used labr spies, blacklists, intimidatin, cercin Prsperity, prpaganda, welfare capitalism, active hstility cmbined t cause unin membership t drp Samuel Gmpers died Railway Labr Act was an exceptin Ablished the Railway Labr Bard and substituted Bard f Mediatin Als prvided fr the frmatin f labr unins withut interference The Gastnia Strike f 1929 Anti-unin sentiment was fiercest in the Suth during the 1920s Wave f vilent strikes Mst unrest centered in large textile mills Demand fr cttn plummeted after war Owners clsed mills, slashed prices, rigid qutas fr each wrker This stretch-ut system prvked wrkers t rebel Many jined United Textile Wrkers Mill wners frcefully suppressed Gastnia Strike escalated int prlnged cnflict Lray Mill was the largest in the Suth, wrkfrce was slashed in ,000 wrkers walked ff the jb Encuraged by Natinal Textile Wrkers Unin, Cmmunist rival t UTW Many yung wmen amng strikers Gastnia, a newspaper, reprted militant wmen NTWU cmmitment t racial equality was the mst upsetting thing t lcal prejudices Cmmunist party rganizers insisted racial justice But few f the strikers embraced racial equality Leaders in black cmmunity feared backlash and discuraged African Americans t strike Lray Mill s managers refused t negtiate Nrth Carlina gvernr dispatched natinal guard units Gang f masked men destryed the unin headquarters Many were killed in skirmishes Seven strikers were eventually cnvicted f cnspiracy t cmmit murder Lray Strike cllapsed NTWU did nt have enugh funds t feed the strikers President Hver, the Engineer Hver Versus Smith Clidge did nt run fr reelectin Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

7 Natin was surprised Hver munted campaign Republican platfrm: credit, cst cutting, debt reductin, tariff Rejected McNary-Haugen prgram but prmised farm bard Demcrats nminated Alfred Smith Did nt endrse McNary-Haugen Pledged equality fr agriculture Prmised t enfrce Vlstead Act, like Republicans Prhibitin Nt much different frm Republicans Tw candidates had essential similarities Hver: Quaker, engineer, architect Smith: Cathlic, anti-prhibitin, similar t Hver, rural citizens distrusted KKK ppsed Smith Electin f 1928: mre peple vted than ever befre Hver wn, even in Demcratic Suth Hver was called the Wnder By by Clidge Defeat f Demcrats cncealed realignment Smith s image, handicap in the hinterlands, swung big city vtes t Demcratic side Calitin f urban wrkers and unhappy farmers was in the making Hver in Cntrl 1929 dawned with high hpes, business seemed gd, incme was rising Hvers prgram t stabilize business carried ver int prgram fr agriculture Offered tw main remedies: federal help fr cperative marketing, higher tariffs n imprted farm prducts Agricultural Marketing Act: set up Federal Farm Bard t set up stabilizatin crpratins Failed because the Great Depressin came at the same time Farmers gained even less frm tariff revisin Hawley-Smt Tariff carried duties t an all time high Raised prices paid by cnsumers The Ecnmy Out f Cntrl Tariff did nthing t check a deepening crisis f cnfidence New era f permanent grwth Get-rich-quick schemes pwered by greed Speculative mania Flrida real-estate bubble burst Stck values began t sar with increasing speculatin Melln tax reductin gave peple mre incme One culd by stck n margin and brrw rest frm a brker Gamblers in the market ignred warning signs Prductin was catching up with demand Business inventries rse Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

8 Rate f spending slwed By 1929 stck market entered fantasy wrld Cautin was ignred Orgy f mad speculatin Hver urged stck exchange and Federal Reserve ffices t discurage speculatin The Crash and Its Causes Stck values tumbled, wild scramble t unlad stcks fllwed Leading bankers frmed a pl t buy stcks t halt the slide Tuesday, Octber 29 was the mst devastating single day in the market s histry Plunge in prices fed n itself Business and gvernment leaders initially expressed cnfidence that markets wuld rebund Cllapse f stck market revealed that ecnmic prsperity was previusly built n weak fundatins Incme decreased, banks clsed, farms freclsed Stck market crash did nt cause the Great Depressin, revealed majr structural flaws in ecnmy Wages kept lw while prices kept high Imbalance between prductivity and purchasing pwer Rate f investment plummeted high tariffs and installment buying deflatin were cncealed by freign lans crprate structure cllapse when truble came Gvernment plicies als cntributed t the ecnmic debacle Tax reductins led t versaving by the public Diminished demand fr gds Hstility tward labr unins discuraged cllabrative bargaining High tariffs discuraged freign trade Lax enfrcement f antitrust laws Gld standard cntributed t depressin t Plicy makers tightened mney supplies The nly way t restre ecnmic stability was t let prices and wages fall Passive gvernment leaders turned recessin int depressin The Human Tll f the Depressin Cllapse caused immense scial hardships Thse wh kept jbs saw decrease in wages millin peple ut f wrk Hbs, tramps, train hpping, scavenging fr fd Hver blankets: pr peple cvered themselves with newspaper t keep warm Suicide rate sared Hver s Effrts at Recvery Few leaders acknwledged the magnitude f crisis Thught ecnmy wuld cure itself Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

9 Hver was nt passive Hver set firm limits n gvernment actin Hver believed business structure was sund, peple nly needed hpe Let first shck f depressin fall n crprate prfits rather than wage earners Unins agreed t nt strike Gd times weren t actually arund the crner Hver hurried gvernment cnstructin prject in rder t prvide jbs Federal Reserve returned t an easier credit plicy Cngress passed tax reductin Federal Farm Bard stepped up lans Hawley-Smt Tariff devastated freign trade Depressed ecnmy hurt Republicans Hvervilles: settlements acrss the cuntry Demcrats wn majrity in Huse and enugh t cntrl Senate Ecnmic indicatrs renewed hpe in 1931 Anther shck ccurred Failure f Austria s largest bank triggered financial panic in central Eurpe Hver prpsed mratrium n reparatins and debt payments Eurpeans withdrew mney frm America, gld standard abandned Cngressinal Initiatives Demand fr federal actin impelled Hver t emply gvernment pwer Cngress set up Recnstructin Finance Crpratin fr emergency lans t banks, insurance cmpanies Hver s critics fund favritism t business Glass-Steagall Act: bradened definitin f cmmercial lans that the Federal Reserve wuld supprt Released gld use t back ntes Federal Hme Lan Act created banks fr hme mrtgages Dubius trickle dwn thery Cntractin f credit devastated debtrs Cngress was verflwing with bills fr federal relief measures Hver accepted federal-directed relief Emergency Relief Act: gave Recnstructin Finance Crpratin $300 millin fr relief lans t states Farmers and Veterans in Prtest Gvernment relief fr farmers had been abandned Gvernment quit buying crp surpluses Desperate farmers defied the law Militant Farmer s Hliday Assciatin Desperate talk f revlutin Cmmunist party began t draw crwds Few Americans cnverted t cmmunism Fear f revlt arse when unemplyed veterans cnverged n capital Bnus Expeditinary Frce Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm

10 Purpse was t get immediate payment Hver persuaded Cngress t pay fr the veterans Pliceman killed tw veterans Hver dispatched sldiers under MacArthur and Eisenhwer and Pattn Administratin insisted that Bnus Army cnsisted mainly f Cmmunists and criminals nt evidenced Hver wrked hard, but stress tk a tll n his health and mrale Ishmam Ahmed; Ishmam.cm