America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed

America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed. Theme 1: A Republican Decade Theme 2: Society in the 1920s Mass Media and the Jazz Age Theme 3: A Business Boom The Economy in the Late 1920s Cultural Conflicts Theme 4: Worker Rights International Peace Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed. Theme 1 Government and the People Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

A Republican Decade Chapter 21, Section 1 What events fueled the Red Scare of the early 1920s? What conflicts led to the major labor strikes of 1919? How did Republican leadership during the Harding and Coolidge presidencies shape the 1920s? What issues influenced the presidential election of 1928?

The Red Scare Chapter 21, Section 1 Issues of concern in the presidential election of 1920: Emerging from the shadow of World War I Putting the economy back on track Republican Warren G. Harding called for a return to normalcy. Many Americans hoped that Harding s normalcy would protect them from the spread of Russia s communism, an ideology openly hostile to capitalism and First Amendment freedoms. Some Americans were concerned that the European immigrants entering the United States were Communists or other radicals. Events at home and abroad brought about a Red Scare, an intense fear of communism and other radical ideas.

Red Scare Events Chapter 21, Section 1 Schenck v. U.S. Gitlow v. New York The Palmer Raids Sacco and Vanzetti Charles Schenck mailed letters urging men to avoid military service. Schenck was convicted of breaking the Espionage Act. In his appeals, Schenck said he was exercising his freedom of speech. The Supreme Court said that the government is justified in silencing free speech when there is a clear and present danger. Socialist Bernard Gitlow published calls for the violent overthrow of the government. He was convicted of criminal anarchy. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction, stating that he had urged people to engage in violent revolution. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer ordered the arrest of thousands of suspected subversives (people trying to overthrow the government) without evidence. Many were innocent, yet more than 500 were deported. Two anarchists were accused of a robbery and murder. Many people believed that they were singled out because they were both radicals and immigrants. After a trial that many believed was unfair, the jury found them guilty and sentenced them to death.

Labor Strikes Chapter 21, Section 1

The Harding Presidency Chapter 21, Section 1 Foreign Policy Domestic Issues The Teapot Dome Scandal Harding and many Americans wanted a policy of isolationism, avoiding political or economic alliances with foreign countries. Harding called for international disarmament, a program in which nations voluntarily give up their weapons. He promoted the expansion of trade and acted to protect business at home. As Americans became more isolationist during the Red Scare, they also became more nativist. Nativism is a movement favoring nativeborn Americans over immigrants. In 1921, Congress passed a law restricting immigration. The law included a quota, or a numerical limit imposed on immigrants. In 1923, corruption scandals rocked Harding s administration. The worst was the Teapot Dome Scandal. Harding s Secretary of the Interior secretly gave drilling rights on government land to two private oil companies in return for illegal payments. There was no evidence that Harding was involved in the scandals. He died while still in office.

The Coolidge Presidency Chapter 21, Section 1 Coolidge assumed the presidency after Harding died. He summed up a major theme of the Republican decade: The chief business of the American people is business. Coolidge supported a laissez-faire approach to business. His economic policies helped fuel the economic boom of the 1920s. Coolidge wanted peace and stability without getting the United States too deeply involved in other nations. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg worked with the French foreign minister to create the Kellogg-Briand Pact. Under this pact more than 60 nations agreed not to threaten each other with war. Unfortunately, there were no provisions for enforcement, and many of the countries that had signed the pact would be at war with each other by 1941.

A Republican Decade Assessment Chapter 21, Section 1 How did the Red Scare contribute to America s policy of isolationism in the 1920s? (A) It made Americans more nativist. (B) It caused a significant American military increase. (C) It helped Americans form stronger relationships with non-communist countries. (D) It decreased U.S. involvement in Latin America. Teapot Dome refers to a scandal in the Harding administration involving (A) Indian reservations. (B) Oil leases. (C) Government sale of western lands. (D) Veterans hospitals

America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed. Theme 2 Who are the Americans Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

Society in the 1920s Chapter 20, Section 1 How were women s roles changing during the 1920s? How were the nation s cities and suburbs affected by Americans on the move from rural areas? Who were some American heroes of the 1920s? What made them popular with the American public?

Women s Changing Roles Chapter 20, Section 1 The Flapper Image The flapper, a type of bold, fun-loving young woman, came to symbolize a revolution in manners and morals that took place in the 1920s. Flappers challenged conventions of dress, hairstyle, and behavior. Many Americans disapproved of flappers free manners as well as the departure from traditional morals that they represented. Women Working and Voting Although many women held jobs in the 1920s, businesses remained prejudiced against women seeking professional positions. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote in all elections beginning in 1920. At first, many women did not exercise their right to vote. It took time for women s votes to make an impact.

Americans on the Move Chapter 20, Section 1 Rural-Urban Split Although the economy in the cities expanded in the 1920s, many farmers found themselves economically stressed. This resulted in a migration from rural to urban areas. Rural and urban Americans were also split over cultural issues. While many in the cities were abandoning some traditional values, rural populations generally wanted to preserve these values. Growth of the Suburbs While cities continued to grow, many Americans moved from cities to suburbs. Improvements in transportation made travel between the cities and suburbs increasingly easy. This shift in population was one example of changing demographics, or statistics that describe a group of people, during the 1920s.

Waves of Migration Chapter 20, Section 1 During the Great Migration, which lasted through World War I, many African Americans had moved from the rural South to take jobs in northern cities. Industrial expansion during the 1920s also encouraged African American migration to the North. However, they often faced discrimination in both the North and the South. After World War I, masses of refugees applied for entry into the United States. Immigration from China, Japan, and southern and eastern Europe was limited; however, many immigrants from Mexico and Canada filled low-paying jobs in the United States. Certain areas became magnets for immigrants. A barrio, or Spanish-speaking neighborhood, developed in Los Angeles, California; New York also attracted numerous Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia. The Act excluded from entry anyone born in a geographically defined Asiatic Barred Zone except for Japanese and Filipinos. In 1907, the Japanese Government had voluntarily limited Japanese immigration to the United States in the Gentlemen s Agreement. The Philippines was a U.S. colony, so its citizens were U.S. nationals and could travel freely to the United States. China was not included in the Barred Zone, but the Chinese were already denied immigration visas under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

1924 Indian Citizenship Act Until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Indians occupied an unusual status under federal law. Some had acquired citizenship by marrying white men. Others received citizenship through military service, by receipt of allotments, or through special treaties or special statutes. But many were still not citizens, and they were barred from the ordinary processes of naturalization open to foreigners. Congress took what some saw as the final step on June 2, 1924 and granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. The granting of citizenship was not a response to some universal petition by American Indian groups. Rather, it was a move by the federal government to absorb Indians into the mainstream of American life. No doubt Indian participation in World War I accelerated the granting of citizenship to all Indians, but it seems more likely to have been the logical extension and culmination of the assimilation policy.

Society in the 1920s Assessment Chapter 20 Section 1 Why were some Americans opposed to flappers? (A) Flappers opposed the Nineteenth Amendment. (B) Flappers challenged traditional values. (C) Americans preferred sports heroes. (D) Americans thought that flappers encouraged immigration. Which of the following was a migration pattern in the 1920s? (A) From cities to suburbs (B) From suburbs to cities (C) From suburbs to rural areas (D) From the United States to Canada and Mexico

Society in the 1920s Assessment Chapter 20, Section 1 Why were some Americans opposed to flappers? (A) Flappers opposed the Nineteenth Amendment. (B) Flappers challenged traditional values. (C) Americans preferred sports heroes. (D) Americans thought that flappers encouraged immigration. Which of the following was a migration pattern in the 1920s? (A) From cities to suburbs (B) From suburbs to cities (C) From suburbs to rural areas (D) From the United States to Canada and Mexico

Mass Media and the Jazz Age Chapter 20, Section 2 How did the mass media help create common cultural experiences? Why are the 1920s called the Jazz Age, and how did the jazz spirit affect the arts? How did the writers of the Lost Generation respond to the popular culture? What subjects did the Harlem Renaissance writers explore?

The Mass Media Chapter 13, Section 2 Growth of the mass media, instruments for communicating with large numbers of people, helped form a common American popular culture during the 1920s. The popularity of motion pictures grew throughout the 1920s; talkies, or movies with sound, were introduced in 1927. Newspapers grew in both size and circulation. Tabloids, compact papers which replaced serious news with entertainment, became popular. Magazines also became widely read. Although radio barely existed as a mass medium until the 1920s, it soon enjoyed tremendous growth. Networks linked many stations together, sending the same music, news, and commercials to Americans around the country.

The Jazz Age Chapter 13, Section 2 Jazz, a style of music that grew out of the African American music of the South, became highly popular during the 1920s. Characterized by improvisation and syncopation, jazz became so strongly linked to the culture of the 1920s that the decade came to be known as the Jazz Age. Harlem, a district in Manhattan, New York, became a center of jazz music. Flappers and others heard jazz in clubs and dance halls; the Charleston, considered by some to be a wild and reckless dance, embodied the Jazz Age. Jazz pioneers Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong made important contributions to jazz music.

The Jazz Spirit Chapter 13, Section 2 Other Art Inspired by Jazz Painting Literature The Lost Generation Like jazz musicians, painters in the 1920s took the pulse of American life. Painters such as Edward Hopper and Rockwell Kent showed the nation s rougher side; Georgia O Keeffe s paintings of natural objects suggested something larger than themselves. Novelist Sinclair Lewis attacked American society with savage irony; playwright Eugene O Neill proved that American plays could hold their own against those from Europe. Gertrude Stein remarked to Ernest Hemingway that he and other American writers were all a Lost Generation, a group of people disconnected from their country and its values. Soon, this term was taken up by the flappers as well.

The Harlem Renaissance Chapter 13, Section 2 In addition to being a center of jazz, Harlem emerged as an overall cultural center for African Americans. A literary awakening took place in Harlem in the 1920s that was known as the Harlem Renaissance. Expressing the joys and challenges of being African American, writers such as James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes enriched African American culture as well as American culture as a whole.

Mass Media and the Jazz Age Assessment Chapter 20, Section 2 Which of these best describes how the growth of mass media affected American culture? (A) It allowed local cultural traditions to flourish. (B) It made learning the Charleston easier. (C) It spread the work of Lost Generation writers. (D) It helped create a common American popular culture. What was the Harlem Renaissance? (A) A style of jazz music (B) An African American literary awakening (C) An increase in the popularity of newspapers and magazines (D) A type of jazz club found in Harlem

America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed. Theme 3 Economic and Social Change Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

A Business Boom Chapter 21, Section 2 What role do businesses and consumers play in a consumer economy? How were Henry Ford and the automobile important to the 1920s? In what ways did industrial growth affect the economy of the 1920s? Why did the economic boom bypass some people and benefit others?

A Consumer Economy Chapter 21, Section 2 The 1920s saw the development of a consumer economy, one that depends on a large amount of spending by consumers. Until the 1920s, middle-class Americans generally paid cash for everything. Manufacturers developed installment plans and clever advertising to encourage consumers to buy on credit. Many new electric appliances created a surge in demand for electricity. Between 1913 and 1927, the number of electric power customers quadrupled. By the 1920s, marketers developed a new approach to advertising. Advertisers used psychology to appeal to consumers emotions and insecurities to sell products. As consumption rose so did productivity. A measure of productivity is the Gross National Product (GNP). The GNP is the total value of goods and services a country produces annually. Productivity rose to meet consumer demand, but it also rose because the nation developed new resources, new management methods, and new technologies.

Ford and the Automobile Chapter 21, Section 2 In 1896, Henry Ford perfected his first version of a lightweight gas-powered car. He called it the quadricycle. The improved version was the Model T. Ford wanted to produce a large number of cars and sell them at prices ordinary people could afford. To sell less expensive cars, he adapted the assembly line for his factories. An assembly line is a process in which each worker does one specialized task in the construction of a final product. Ford s success came partly from vertical consolidation controlling the businesses that make up the phases of production. Ford was a complex businessman. His pay rate was very generous, but he used violence to fight unions.

Industrial Growth and Bypassed by the Boom Chapter 21, Section 2 Industrial Growth Automobile making became the nation s largest industry. Thousands of new businesses arose to serve automobile travel. Other non-automobile-related industries grew as well. Limited government regulation (laissez-faire policies) helped the value of businesses to soar. Rapid business expansion opened up opportunities for small companies. Bypassed by the Boom Some Americans struggled to survive during the 1920s. Many unskilled laborers remained poor, and their wages and working conditions did not improve with the boom. Agricultural industries had expanded to meet wartime needs but later failed to uncover new markets. Railroads suffered from shrinking demand, mismanagement, competition from trucking firms, and labor unions that fought against layoffs and wage cuts.

A Business Boom Assessment Chapter 21, Section 2 What was the new approach to advertising in the 1920s? (A) It informed the consumer about the quality of the product. (B) It showed the product s superiority over the competition. (C) It appealed to the emotions and insecurities of the consumer. (D) It helped the consumer to identify the manufacturer. In the United States which group suffered economically in the 1920s? (A) Unskilled laborers (B) Agricultural workers (C) Railroad companies (D) All of the above

The Economy in the Late 1920s Chapter 21, Section 3 Why did the economy of the late 1920s appear healthy to most Americans? What danger signs were present in the economy of the late 1920s?

Economy Appears Healthy Chapter 21, Section 3 Herbert Hoover won the 1928 election, benefiting from the years of prosperity under previous Republican presidents. Americans had unusually high confidence in the economy in the 1920s. People made risky investments based on the popular notion that everyone ought to be rich. Many employers believed that they could prevent strikes and keep their productivity high with benefits that would meet and exceed the demands of workers. This approach to labor relations is called welfare capitalism. Under welfare capitalism employers raised wages, provided paid vacations, health plans, recreation programs, and English classes for recent immigrants. They even set up company unions to hear the concerns of their workers. As a result of welfare capitalism, organized labor lost members during the 1920s.

Economic Danger Signs Chapter 21, Section 3 Uneven Prosperity Personal Debt Playing the Stock Market Too Many Goods, Too Little Demand Trouble for Farmers and Workers The rich got richer Huge corporations rather than small business dominated industry. Many Americans believed that they could count on future income to cover debt. They bought on installment plans boasting easy terms. The rapid increase of stock prices encouraged: Speculation, the practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a huge return, and Buying on margin, the practice of allowing investors to purchase a stock for only a fraction of its price and borrow the rest at high interest rates. Rising productivity had brought prosperity, but it also created a surplus of goods. Manufacturers had more product than consumers could buy. Farmers unable to pay their debts defaulted on bank loans, which caused rural banks to fail. Coolidge vetoed a farm relief bill. While companies grew wealthy, many factory workers remained poor, especially in distressed industries.

Personal Debt and Income Distribution in the 1920s Chapter 21, Section 3

The Economy in the Late 1920s Assessment Chapter 21, Section 3 Why did employers practice welfare capitalism? (A) To create false demand for goods (B) To prevent strikes and keep productivity high (C) To encourage stock market investment (D) To raise tariffs What is buying on margin? (A) Making high risk investments in hopes of getting a huge return (B) Causing a decrease in the price of a stock by spreading rumors about a company (C) Allowing certain investors to buy stock at a lower price (D) Allowing investors to purchase a stock for a fraction of its price and borrow the rest

Cultural Conflicts Chapter 20, Section 3 What were the effects of Prohibition on society? What issues of religion were at the core of the Scopes trial? How did racial tensions change after World War I?

Prohibition Chapter 20, Section 3 The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which took effect on January 16, 1920, made the manufacture, sale, and transport of liquor, beer, and wine illegal. As a result, many Americans turned to bootleggers, or suppliers of illegal alcohol. Bars that operated illegally, known as speakeasies, were either disguised as legitimate businesses or hidden in some way, often behind heavy gates. Prohibition sharpened the contrast between rural and urban areas, since urban areas were more likely to ignore the law. Additionally, it increased the number of liquor-serving establishments in some major cities to far above pre- Prohibition levels.

Organized Crime Chapter 20, Section 3 The tremendous profit resulting from the sale of illegal liquor, as well as the complex organization involved, helped lead to the development of organized crime. Successful bootlegging organizations often moved into other illegal activities as well, including gambling, prostitution, and racketeering. As rival groups fought for control in some American cities, gang wars and murders became commonplace. One of the most notorious criminals of this time was Al Capone, nicknamed Scarface, a gangster who rose to the top of Chicago s organized crime network. Capone proved talented at avoiding jail but was finally imprisoned in 1931.

Issues of Religion Chapter 20, Section 3 Fundamentalism As science, technology, modern social issues, and new Biblical scholarship challenged traditional religious beliefs, a religious movement called fundamentalism gained popularity. Fundamentalism supported traditional Christian ideas and argued for a literal interpretation of the Bible. Billy Sunday and other famous fundamentalist preachers drew large audiences. Evolution and the Scopes Trail Fundamentalists worked to pass laws against teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. A science teacher named John T. Scopes agreed to challenge such a law in Tennessee. His arrest led to what was called the Scopes trial. The Scopes trial became the first trial to be broadcast over American radio. The case became a public debate between fundamentalists and modernists.

Racial Tensions Chapter 20, Section 3 Violence Against African Americans Mob violence between white and black Americans erupted in about 25 cities during the summer of 1919. The worst of these race riots occurred in Chicago, where the African American population had doubled since 1910. A white man threw a rock at a black teenager swimming in Lake Michigan, and the boy drowned. The incident touched off riots that lasted several days, destroyed many homes, killed several people and wounded many more. Revival of the Klan Although it had been largely eliminated during Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan regained power during the 1920s and greatly increased its membership outside the South. The Klan s focus shifted to include terrorizing not just African Americans but also Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and others. After the arrest of a major Klan leader in 1925, Klan membership diminished once again.

Fighting Discrimination Chapter 20, Section 3 During the 1920s, the NAACP fought for anti-lynching laws and worked to promote the voting rights of African Americans. These efforts, however, met with limited success. A movement led by Marcus Garvey, an immigrant from Jamaica, became popular with many African Americans. Garvey, who created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), sought to build up African Americans self-respect and economic power, encouraging them to buy shares in his Negro Factories Corporation. Garvey also encouraged his followers to return to Africa and create a self-governing nation there. Although corruption and mismanagement resulted in the collapse of the UNIA, Garvey s ideas of racial pride and independence would affect future black pride movements.

Cultural Conflicts Assessment Chapter 20, Section 3 How did Prohibition reinforce the division between urban and rural areas? (A) Speakeasies only replaced legal saloons in urban areas. (B) Rural areas were more likely to obey Prohibition. (C) Urban areas were more likely to obey Prohibition. (D) Bootleggers only worked in rural areas. Which of the following best describes Marcus Garvey s goals for African Americans? (A) Religious fundamentalism and an end to teaching evolution (B) Equality with Catholics, Jews, and immigrants (C) Universal suffrage and an end to lynchings (D) Self-respect, economic power, and independence Want to link to the Pathways Internet activity for this chapter? Click here!

America: Pathways to the Present: Cambridge Ed. Theme 4 The U.S.A. and the World Copyright 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

Worker Rights What were the effects of WWI on worker rights? What factors lead to the fall of worker rights? How did the US government react to strikes? What events fueled the Red Scare of the early 1920s?

International Labour Organization The ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice. There was keen appreciation of the importance of social justice in securing peace, against a background of exploitation of workers in the industrializing nations of that time. There was also increasing understanding of the world's economic interdependence and the need for cooperation to obtain similarity of working conditions in countries competing for markets.

American Workers The war's end, however, was accompanied by labor turmoil, as labor demanded union recognition, shorter hours, and raises exceeding the inflation rate. Over 4 million workers--one fifth of the nation's workforce--participated in strikes in 1919, including 365,000 steelworkers and 400,000 miners. The number of striking workers would not be matched until the Depression year of 1937. Workers who avoided striking during the war were now demanding wage increases to keep pace with spiraling inflation. Over 3,300 postwar strikes swept the land. A small group of radicals formed the COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY in 1919. Progressive and conservative Americans believed that labor activism was a menace to American society and must be squelched. The hatchetman against American radicals was President Wilson's Attorney General, A. MITCHELL PALMER. Palmer was determined that no Bolshevik Revolution would happen in the United States.

Palmer Raids From 1919 to 1920, Palmer conducted a series of raids on individuals he believed were dangerous to American security. He deported 249 RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS without just cause. The so-called "SOVIET ARK" was sent back to Mother Russia. With Palmer's sponsorship, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was created under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover. In January of 1920, federal agents broke into the homes of suspected anarchists without search warrants, jailed labor leaders, and held about 5,000 citizens without respecting their right to legal counsel. Palmer felt that American civil liberties were less important than rooting out potential wrongdoers. Eventually most of the detainees were released, but some were deported. During the 1920s, many of labor's gains during World War I and the Progressive era were rolled back. Membership in labor unions fell from 5 million to 3 million. The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed picketing, overturned national child labor laws, and abolished minimum wage laws for women.

Worker Rights Assessment Which Factors were the major causes of the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids, which followed World War I? (A) Success of the Communist Party in congressional and Presidential elections. (B) Race riots in Los Angeles and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. (C) Failure of the United States to join the League of Nations and the unpaid German War Debts. (D) The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia and workers strikes in the United States. The International Labor Organization was formulated in (A) 1925 (B) 1939 (C) 1919 (D) 1929

International Peace Did the U.S.A follow a policy of isolation in the 1920s? How did loans by the U.S. both help and hurt German recovery? What was the intent of the Kellogg-Briand Pact?

The Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22 Between 1921 and 1922, the world s largest naval powers gathered in Washington, D.C. for a conference to discuss naval disarmament and ways to relieve growing tensions in East Asia. In the wake of World War I, leaders in the international community sought to prevent the possibility of another war. Rising Japanese militarism and an international arms race heightened these concerns. As a result, policymakers worked to reduce the rising threat. Senator William E. Borah (R Idaho) led a congressional effort to demand that the United States engage its two principal competitors in the naval arms race, Japan and the United Kingdom, in negotiations for disarmament. In 1921, U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes invited nine nations to Washington, D.C. to discuss naval reductions and the situation in the Far East. The United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy were invited to take part in talks on reducing naval capacity, while Belgium, China, Portugal, and the Netherlands were invited to join in discussions on the situation in the Far East. Three major treaties emerged out of the Washington Naval Conference: the Five-Power Treaty, the Four- Power Treaty, and the Nine-Power Treaty. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/naval-conference

Debt Repayment and Reparations In the years following the First World War, issues of debt repayment and reparations troubled relations between the Allies and the now defeated Germany. The U.S.-sponsored Dawes and Young Plans offered a possible solution to these challenges. At the end of the First World War, the victorious European powers demanded that Germany compensate them for the devastation wrought by the four-year conflict, for which they held Germany and its allies responsible. Unable to agree upon the amount that Germany should pay at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the other Allies established a Reparation Commission to settle the question. In the spring of 1921, the Commission set the final bill at 132 billion gold marks, approximately $31.5 billion. When Germany defaulted on a payment in January 1923, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr in an effort to force payment. Instead, they met a government-backed campaign of passive resistance. Inflation in Germany, which had begun to accelerate in 1922, spiraled into hyperinflation. The value of the German currency collapsed; the battle over reparations had reached an impasse.

Dawes Plan In late 1923, with the European powers stalemated over German reparations, the Reparation Commission formed a committee to review the situation. The committee presented its proposal in April 1924. Under the Dawes Plan, Germany s annual reparation payments would be reduced, increasing over time as its economy improved; the full amount to be paid, however, was left undetermined. Economic policy making in Berlin would be reorganized under foreign supervision and a new currency, the Reichsmark, adopted. France and Belgium would evacuate the Ruhr and foreign banks would loan the German government $200 million to help encourage economic stabilization. U.S. financier J. P. Morgan floated the loan on the U.S. market, which was quickly oversubscribed. Over the next four years, U.S. banks continued to lend Germany enough money to enable it to meet its reparation payments to countries such as France and the United Kingdom. These countries, in turn, used their reparation payments from Germany to service their war debts to the United States. In 1925, Dawes was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his plan s contribution to the resolution of the crisis over reparations.

The Coolidge Presidency Coolidge assumed the presidency after Harding died. He summed up a major theme of the Republican decade: The chief business of the American people is business. Coolidge supported a laissez-faire approach to business. His economic policies helped fuel the economic boom of the 1920s. Coolidge wanted peace and stability without getting the United States too deeply involved in other nations. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg worked with the French foreign minister to create the Kellogg-Briand Pact of1928. Under this pact more than 60 nations agreed not to threaten each other with war. Unfortunately, there were no provisions for enforcement, and many of the countries that had signed the pact would be at war with each other by 1941.

Young Plan In the autumn of 1928, another committee devised a final settlement of the German reparations problem. In 1929, the Young committee proposed a plan that reduced the total amount of reparations demanded of Germany to 121 billion gold marks, almost $29 billion, payable over 58 years. Another loan would be floated in foreign markets, this one totaling $300 million. Foreign supervision of German finances would cease and the last of the occupying troops would leave German soil. The advent of the Great Depression doomed the Young Plan from the start. Loans from U.S. banks had helped prop up the German economy until 1928; when these loans dried up, Germany s economy floundered. In 1931, as the world sunk ever deeper into depression, a one-year moratorium on all debt and reparation payments was declared at the behest of President Herbert Hoover; an effort to renew the moratorium the following year failed.

International Peace Assessment The Dawes Plan (A) Allowed the U.S. to forgive German war debts from WWI. (B) Gave Germany American loans so it could pay its war debts to France and England. (C) Significantly improved the economic problems in Europe. (D) Forced Germany to pay its reparations to the U.S. on a quicker schedule. What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact? (A) A treaty outlawing war (B) A treaty outlawing trade with Communist countries (C) A treaty supporting war against Communist countries (D) A treaty supporting international civil liberties