HSC MODERN HISTORY NOTES

33yAt42JnkxG5z

USA: 1919-1941
12 Republican Economic Policies
Democrat: Socially progressive and interventionist economic policies
Republican: Morally and socially conservative policies. Laissez-faire economic policies
Laissez-faire: No governmentinterference in the economicaffairs of the nation
Subsidies: Direct financial aid from government to help private industry
« During the 1920s the USA experienced a time of economic growth and prosperity (although not for
all) - significant growth in American capitalism and business.
« The presidents in this time:
- Warren Harding (1921-1923)
- Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
- Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

KEY FEATURES OF REPUBLICAN ECONOMIC POLICIES:

Laissez-faire « No government interference in the economic affairs of the nation
33yAt42JnkxG5z

policy « Defined the attitude of Republican governments

» Based on the idea that leaders of the economy should be free without
regulation

Budgetary policy « Republicans sought to cut government expenditure =a surplus of

money

Taxation policy « Cut taxes for the rich and companies

Tariffs ¢ Tariffs increased to protect US industry and limit foreign competition

* Increased 32 times out of 37 total alterations
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Regulation « Fewer regulations and fewer to enforce them, allowing for businesses
to:
- Coordinate advertising
- Eliminating competition
- Creating monopolies
* No way to regulate child labour

American ¢ Supportfor capitalism

Capitalism « Lower taxes, free market, deregulation of corporations and 33yAt42JnkxG5z

restrictions on labour unions

Protectionism ¢ Policy that erects tariffs and other barriers on imported goods
— the hope was to lessen imported goods and protectthe local
economy

pH

® thinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983291
 PRESIDENT WILSON
e Theodre Roosevelt felt that William Howard Taft, the Republican Party presidential successor,
had been ineffective as a president, which was unfair considering his legislative record. In
running against Taft in 1912, he split the Republican vote and lost the election to Democratic
Woodrow Wilson.
e President Wilson’s administration (1912-1920) oversaw one of the most notable legislative
programs in American history — Continued the progressive reform agenda of limiting the power
33yAt42JnkxG5z

of the private sector of big businesses and enacted government controls to benefit the
common people.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

e Achievements were overshadowed by disagreements over whether or not the US should side
with Britain in war against Germany and allies.
e Driving force behind creation of the League of Nations at the Versailles Peace Conference. 33yAt42JnkxG5z

POLICIES OF THE PRESIDENCY OF WARREN HARDING

e Republican candidate Warren G Harding won a landslide victory in the 1920 presidential election
— Received support for many female voters who did not want to become embroiled in another
war.
e Woodrow Wilson's reforms and the war had quickened the pace of change — Millions of women
had entered the workforce and increased demand for female labour. (‘A return to normalcy’).
e Administration was strong and successful in many ways; brough budget under control, steering
the economyinto recovery following the short depression in the immediate aftermath of the
war.
e Harding was carelessin his choice of friends and brought the office of the President into
disrepute through a series of infamous scandals:
o Membersof Cabinet were caught in political corruption (The ‘Ohio Gang’) — Reflected
33yAt42JnkxG5z

badly on Harding's leadership abilities.

© Secretary of the Interior, Albert F Fall, became the first Cabinet member to be convicted
while in office and was imprisoned over the ‘Teapot Dome Scandal’ —> Secretly granted
exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome reserves to Mammoth Oil and Pan American
33yAt42JnkxG5z
Petroleum companies for cash and no-interest loans.
o Attorney-General, Harry M Daughterty, was acquitted of selling illegal liquor permits and
33yAt42JnkxG5z

forced to resign.
e Despite the scandals, Haridng was mostloved by the American people by appearing to be ‘one of
33yAt42JnkxG5z

them’.

POLICIES OF CALVIN COOLIDGE

e Dryand sardonic wit became legendary; summed up his administration's vision of society by
saying ‘The chief business of the American people is business’.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

e Aim was to oversee good government and honestyin public life. Avoided undue intervention in
the economy and put faith in self regulation of businesses. Government's task was to increase
spending yet improvethe national structure within which business would prosper and provide
opportunities for employment.
e Tax rates werecut in the belief this would encourage investment.

pH

PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983293
33yAt42JnkxG5z
 I3Long-Term Causes of the Great Depression
e Postwar Recession: US economyfound it difficult to readjust to shrinking markets and
oversupply of farm and manufactured goods.
Rising Prices: Demand for luxury goods that were previously unavailable led to rapid inflation,
with the costofliving rising by 100% over two years.
Agriculture: Agricultural surplus was difficult to sell, resulting in falling prices. Exports to
Europe fell by 80%, reducing farm incomes and forcing bankruptcy and poverty,
Industry: Rapid expansion in the coal mining industry had created many jobs but with the
33yAt42JnkxG5z

introduction of oil and gas as a fuel, coal production and employment fell dramatically.
Speculative Investment: Investors and those wanting to ‘get rich quick’ were caught up ina
share-buying spree in companies that would never turn a profit.
Reliance on Credit and Rising Debt: Manufacturing industries relied on easy credit for
customers who wanted to buy now and pay later — As banks overextended credit the economy
33yAt42JnkxG5z

slowed, jobs were lost, and banks were unable to pay depositors.
Lack of GovernmentDirection: Without a strong labour union movement to help businesses in
check, the government policy of laissez faire allowed self-regulation of the market, and failure
to diversify the economy meant over-reliance on car and radio production.

14 Reactions to the Great Crash of 1929

Stockholders lost US $40 billion dollars. 33yAt42JnkxG5z

Over 9000 US banksfailed as a result of the crash, many due to lax lending policies.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

‘Black Tuesday’: In September 1919, Great Britain’s Bank of London called in loans made to US
banks, triggering an immediate decline in the value of the US dollar.
To pay creditors, the US immediately recalled ar debt and reparations owed by European
countries such as Germany, Austria and Britain.
Once the American economyfaltered and the flow of American investment credits to Europe
dried up, the US slump turned into a worldwide Depression.

Average Americans « Hours and wages greatly reduced

« Many lost jobs
33yAt42JnkxG5z

« Lost life-savings
«Immense debt
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Investors ¢ Small investors were hit hard

« People attempting to sell before prices went down more
¢ Many could not get any bids for their sales
« Crowds gathered outside stock exchange on Black Thursday
« Some large investors (eg. Jesse Livermore) gained money

Businesses(including «500 banks closed

banks) ¢ Bankers put moneyin to stabilise the market. Panic reduced for a short
while

US Government ¢ President Hoover did not initially understand the gravity of the crash.
Liass-faire thinking meant he stayed uninvolved for a while.

National Confidence * Confidence destroyed as the success of the stock market was seen as
~ a large part of the ‘American way’
trinkswap
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983292
 21 Effects of the Great Depression

Unemployment 33yAt42JnkxG5z
Unemployment rose from 3.2% in 1929 to 29.4%
in 1933 and 26.7% in 1934 - Between 12 and 15
million workers.
More than a quarter of the workforce was
jobless.
Malnutrition and starvation became a reality for
hundreds of thousands of people in the US.

Construction Industry Building and construction industry is one of the

best indications of economic activity > In the US
and around the world, the industry collapsed
overnight.
In the US, construction fell from US $8.7 billion to
just US $1.4 billion between 1929 and 1932.

Collapse in Consumer Spending By 1932, US manufacturing had suffered a

decline of about 77%, despite Hoover's efforts.
Consumption and investment declined and
production fell rapidly.
Soup kitchens became a familiar feature in towns
and cities, with long queues of people desperate
to eat.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Loss of Savings Loss of confidence in American financial

33yAt42JnkxG5z

institutions.
Middle classlostall their savings, position in
society, and any hope of rebuilding former
33yAt42JnkxG5z

prosperity for years to come.

Working class and those below the povertyline
with little or no savings suffered even more
heavily as employment collapsed.

Social Unrest With no social security or welfare payments in

the US, manyslipped further into poverty.
Plight of US Army veterans was especially dismal
— To force the early lump sum payment of
promised cash bonuses, morethan 12 000
veterans of WWI marched on Washington DC in
the summer of 1932, setting up shanties referred
33yAt42JnkxG5z

to as ‘Hoovervilles’.
In May 1933, a second armyarrived in
Washington, however Eleanor Roosevelt greeted
them. In 1936, Congress passed a bill to disburse
almost $2.5 billion in veteran's benefits.

33yAt42JnkxG5z
Male jobs in the manufacturing sector were hard
pH
33yAt42JnkxG5z

PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983295
 hit, although women with clerical and teaching
jobs fared better.
Many men wereforced to go on the road to find
worth with the result that family breakdowns
increased dramatically.
Poverty and stress of losing the breadwinner
caused illness, however by the end of the 1930s,
the place of women was moreor less assured
with increased job opportunities.
Outbreak of war in 1941 meant any woman who 33yAt42JnkxG5z

wanted to work was moreor less guaranteed a

job.

Farmers Farmers became desperate as crop prices

dropped dramatically.
Gross farm incomes fell from $12 billion in 1929 to
$5 billion in 1932.
Banks stopped lending money for home and farm
mortgages, with many going under.

African Americans No hope of an ‘American Dream’.

Unemployment rate was twicethat of whites in
33yAt42JnkxG5z

America.
Revival of the Klu Klux Klan in the Deep South
contributed to great social tensions that incited
33yAt42JnkxG5z

violence towards black people.

31 Growing Urbanisation and Industrialisation

NATURE AND IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALISATION

e The USA became the world’s leading industrial power due to a strong farming economy,rapidly
33yAt42JnkxG5z

overtaking Europe in the early 20" Century — Became a world power and forcing urbanisation
as the farming community became mechanised.
e WHY — USA’ abundance of natural resources, energetic spirit of free enterprise, application of
new techniques of mass production, mass immigration and a rapidly expanding labour force.
e Rapid growth put enormous wealth into the hands of a few capitalists — Led to urbanisation.

GROWING URBANISATION
e Inthe early 20" Century, the US became more urbanised so that by 1920, a majority of the
population lived in cities.

1900 1910 1920 1930

e The 1920 census showed more people living in towns than the countryside for the first time in
pH US history - 54 million out of 106 million.
,» thinkswap 1681983296
Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com
33yAt42JnkxG5z
 e Many saw the growth of urban living as a threat to what they saw as the American wayoflife >
their support for Republican presidents of the 1920's was a partof an effort to turn back the
clock.

MIGRATION
e Movement of people drastically increased — pressure on new cities and created new industries
33yAt42JnkxG5z

to absorb these people.

e Many cities developed ethnic ghettos. 33yAt42JnkxG5z

Overseas

e From 1900-1930, over 18 million people migrated to the United States.

e 80% of these people were from Europe, with 20% from Italy alone.

Great Migration
33yAt42JnkxG5z

@ Southern African-Americans seeking work and escaping violencein the South.

e The black population of northern cities grew by 35% up to 1920.

GROWING INDUSTRIALISATION
e Once the Civil War ended in 1865, the US rapidly became a major industrial power.
e This trend continued into the 1920s, with industrial production doubling between 1922 and 1927.

United Kingdom
Relative per capita industrialization level

Germany
France 33yAt42JnkxG5z

Austria-Hungary
Russia
Italy
United States
Japan

1760 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900

33yAt42JnkxG5z

33yAt42JnkxG5z

Year

HENRY FORD AND INDUSTRIALIZATION

e Fords pioneered anew method of massproduction — parts were added to the car as it
travelled along an assembly line.
Worker fitted the component for which he was responsible.
Production of masses of cheap goods which could be afforded by thousands ofordinary
Americans.

IMPLICATIONS OF GROWING URBANISATION AND INDUSTRIALISATION

e The US enjoyed aboom in the 1920s.

e Consumer goods became moreaffordable for the average American.
e Encouraged growth in related industries.

Social e Moreleisure time is available, leading to a growth in entertainment

pH

PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983375
 industries.
e Newcultural influences in cities (central and southern European, and also
black American).
e Race riots against blacks in cities (e.g. Chicago 1919).

[Political e Growing importance of urban voters and politics.

33 Growth and Influence of Consumerism

NATURE AND IMPACT OF CONSUMERISM - KEY FEATURE

e Industrial expansion made more massproduced goods available — Became relatively cheap for
33yAt42JnkxG5z

US people (e.g. cars and Hollywood films).

e Electrification and increasing application of credit meant that even working families had
access to new products.
Consumption encouraged by sophisticated advertising and availability of credit.
Malfunctioned in 1920s and 1930s — Overproduction & underconsumption.
Consumerism emerged in the 1920s as a driver in finance, communications, entertainment and
33yAt42JnkxG5z
behaviour.
e Development of consumerism played a key role in making consumer products increasingly
available to a wider part of society.

GROWTH OF CONSUMERISM
e The fastest growing industries in the 1920's were cars, chemicals, electricity and electric
products.
Growing production of motor vehicles and electricity increased the demand for gas and rubber.
Electrification of America led to the development of a range of domestic products:
o Cookers
o Refrigerators
o Washing machines
o Radios
e The development of cars and radio increased accessto forms of entertainment such as
cinemas, music, dance halls and sport.
e Advertising promoted consumerism by employing increasingly sophisticated strategies to
increase consumer demand for new products.
e Rapid industrial expansion of the transport industry increased availability of consumer
products and the fast pace of technological development combined with rapid growth in
industry provided arange of new consumer products aimed at domestic consumers.
e Circulation of newspapers and magazines expanded enormously in the 1920's, and by 1922, ten
magazines claimed a circulation of over 2.5 million.
e Increasing affluence and leisure time saw the growth of spectator sports; in 1924, it was
reported that 67,000 people watched the football match between Illinois and Michigan.
e By the 1920's, Hollywood had become the film-making capital of the world, and there had been
40 million tickets sold each week in 1920.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

pH

PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983373
 INFLUENCE OF CONSUMERISM
e Dominance of jazz music was seen as.a corrupting influence by older generations, as it was
brought to American cities by black communities as part of the Great Migration.
e@ Same concernapplied to the rise of Hollywood stars and the first film sex symbols; magazines
werefilled with stories of their hedonistic lifestyles that people wanted to copy.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

e People became less concerned with traditional values of social class & tradition — became
more experimental in their approach to life.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

3.4 Social Tensions

KEY FEATURES
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Changesin Society

e Industrialisation, urbanisation, immigration and consumerism all contributed to social change.

e Prosperity was unevenly distributed; some rural groups, the poor, black and new immigrants
33yAt42JnkxG5z

wereleft behind — Great Depression had different impacts on different groups.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

Influence of Conservatism

e Perceptions of negative effects of rapid social change contributed to a conservative backlash,

33yAt42JnkxG5z

e Conservatives supported Prohibition (no alcohol), opposed teaching of evolution in schools,

called for tighter controls on immigration, and were unsympathetic to unions & socialists.

Religious Fundamentalism

REACTIONS TO SOCIAL CHANGE 33yAt42JnkxG5z

e Ladies Home Journal1921 — Jazz was the accompaniment of the voodoo dancer, simulating
the half-crazed barbarian. Jazz stimulates extreme deeds, breaking awayfrom all rules and
conventions, and its influence is wholly bad.
e Rev Burle Culpepper 1925 — Dancing is a divorce feeder; it is heathen, animalistic and
damnable. It degrades womanhood and manhood and is the most pernicious (harmful) of all
modern customs.

RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
e Savagery of the First World War — Rise in fundamental Christianity (belief in the literal truth of
everything.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Revivalists

The aim of revivalist preachers was to increase church attendance.

Burke Culpepper was one of several revivalist preachers who became popular in the US in the
early 20" Century.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

e William G McLoughlin — Culpepper made his revivals a blend of vaudeville, stump speaking and
the old-time religion at its most frothy. Acted out the story of Christ's trial and crucifixion.

Fundamentalists

e Name originated from the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association that was formed in 1919.
e@ Supported avery traditional approach to religion, and were opposed to the sinful behaviour of
> the ‘modern world’.
PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com
1681983375
 Campaigned to oppose developments that reflected modernity.
Believed traditional Protestant values were under siege.
Strong in America’s rural south-east and midwest‘Bible Belt’, which influenced social
developments in the region into the 1960s.
e Rejected concept of evolution — opposition to Darwinian scientific theory being taught in
schools came to prominence in the 1925 Scopes Trial.

Scopes MonkeyTrial 1925

e Populist leader William Jennings Bryan tried to justify his opposition to the teachings of
evolution in schools.
Tennessee and 15 other states had passed lawsdeclaring it illegal to teach Darwinism.
Creationism vs. Darwinism teaching in schools.
Became a massive public event that attracted large audiences.
Prosecution of John T Scopes for teaching Darwinism — Teacher found guilty and was fined but
verdict was later overruled.
Clarence Darrow led the defence; William Jennings Bryan led prosecution.
Case highlighted the difference between small townbeliefs and city dwellers.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Decline - George M. Marsden

e Marsden suggests the movement of fundamentalism declined after 1925 due to the ridicule they
faced in the public eye.
e Movement began in reality to conform to its popular image — The moreridiculous it was made
to appear, the more genuinely ridiculous it was likely to become.
Before 1925, the movement commanded much response, though not outstanding support.
After the summer of 1925, the voices of ridicule were raised so loudly that many moderate
Protestant conservatives quickly dropped support of the cause rather than be embarrassed by
association.

Immigration Restrictions
Xenophobia — The dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries
e Racism and xenophobia was directed at African-Americans, immigrants and socialists.
e Prior to 1921, other than the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, immigration into the US had never
33yAt42JnkxG5z

been systematically restricted by federal law — Changed in 1921 with the Emergency Quota Act
& Immigration Act in 1924.
e Immigration restriction laws of 1921 and 1924 put a limit on the number of the high numbers
attempting to enter the US and favoured migrants from Northern Europe.
e The USA prided itself on being aland born on immigration, but this didn't stop them from
creating laws to prevent Asians from entry — USA welcomed white immigration.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

V1 IMMIGRATION ACL
e Imposed literacy tests on new immigrants:
o Must be able to read 30-40 words oftheir language.
o First time a US law affected European immigration.
@ Section 3 of the Act listed a large number of ‘undesirables’ who would be prevented from
migrating. Listed ‘inadmissible persons’:
o Unintelligent people, people with diseases (chronic or infections), polygamists and
prostitutes.
pH
o Included some political categories (e.g. anarchists).
PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com
33yAt42JnkxG5z

1681983377
 e Barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan and the Philippines).

\124 IMMIGRATION ACT

e Total immigration quota of 165 000 people.
e Asian immigration barred (including Japan and the Philippines).
e Quotes amended in 1929:
o Totalimmigration quote reduced to 150 O00. 33yAt42JnkxG5z

o National quotes adjusted to one sixth of 1% of 1920 census figures.

IMPACT OF QUOTAS
e From the introduction of the Nuremberg Lawsin 1935, persecution of Jewish people in
Germanyand Austria(from 1938) increased, leading to large numbersof people wishing to
immigrate.
e A Fortune survey in 1938 found:
o Less than5% of Americans were willing to raise quotas to accommodate refugees.
o More than two-thirds agreed that ‘with conditions as they are we should try to keep
them out’.
e A Fortune pollin mid 1939 asked ‘Would you vote yes or no to open the doorsto a large number of
European refugees’:
o 85% of Protestants, 84% of Catholics and 26% of Jewish people answered no.

Anti-Communism & Politics

33yAt42JnkxG5z
e Anti-communism developed due to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia 1917, greater immigration
from Eastern Europe, and post war strikes in 1919 — Red Scare (1917-1921).
e Recent immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe in particular to be identified with
Communism, attempts to overthrow the American system of government, various
assassinations on high profile Americans etc.
e Palmerraids made Attorney General Mitchell Palmer very popular for his exposure of the
Communistthreat in the USA.
e Rise and persecution of Communism became popular with workers in the USA — Establishment
of the FBI(stop spread of communism influence) & Palmer raids in 1920 (Hoover rounded up
33yAt42JnkxG5z

anarchists and communists).

THE RED SCARE

e Established Americans thought that letting immigrants in was only adding to America’s
problems and was diluting America’s European white nature.
e War increased these feelings, particularly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, causing
Americans to be worried about being swamped by people from Southern and Eastern European
(classified as ‘Reds’).

Strikes

e Awave of strikes in 1919 - 3600 strikes involving 400,000 workers - convinced Americans that
communists weretrying to destroy their wayoflife.
e Many disputes turned to violence as employers used heavy handed tactics with government
approval.
e Strikes were largely the result of terrible working conditions and low pay,
e Authorities reacted to the strikes as though they were the start of a communist revolution to
pH
take over America.
PPthinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com
1681983299
 Bombing

e Fear of radicalism was greatly increased by a series of bombing incidents during 1919, including
one which destroyed part of the home of the Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer.
e Press whipped up hysteria, and mobs and police attacked socialist parades.

Palmer Raids 33yAt42JnkxG5z

e After the attack on his home, Mitchell Palmer devoted himself to rounding up anyone he
believed was a ‘Red’.
e During the ‘Palmer Raids’, between 4000 and 6000 suspected communists were arrested in 36
33yAt42JnkxG5z

cities across the USA.

e Despite the fiasco of the Palmer Raids, alarms and hysteria of the ‘Red Scare’ continued to rise
during the 1920s — People used it as an excuse to attack ethnic groups they mistrusted
(Catholics, Jews, blacks).
e Trade unionists were regarded as un-American and unions were considerably weakened in the
1920s by raids and persecution.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

SACCOAND VANZETTL
e 5 May 1920 — TwoItalian labourers (Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti) were arrested and
charged with the murder of a guard and a paymaster (15 April 1920)..
e Tried before Judge Webster Thayer — Trial began in May 1921 and lasted 45 days; took place at
the height of the Red Scare.
Jury returned a verdict of guilty and Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death.
Sacco and Vanzetti were singled out becauseof their politics and their race.
Case was appealed in multiple courts, but Sacco and Vanzetti were put to deathin the electric
chair on 24 August 1927.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Evidence for Prosecution

e 61 eyewitnesses identified them as the killers (‘Some Italian men did it’).
e Sacco and Vanzetti were both carrying loaded guns at their arrest.
e Prosecution had said Sacco and Vanzetti had acted in a guilty manner during their arrest.

Evidence for Defence

107 people confirmed Sacco and Vanzetti's alibi.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

Prosecution witness did not agree on frysild.

Other men confessed to the murders.
Sacco and Vanzetti lied to the police because they thought they would be victimised because
they were foreigners and had radicalpolitical beliefs.

Racial Conflict
e 1865 — Slavery Prohibited
e Racial control and white supermacyvia terrorism (lynching), biased laws and
33yAt42JnkxG5z

disenfranchisement — Maintaining social hierarchy.

e Lynchings occurred most frequently in the South, but also occurred in northern states; still
occurred in 1920s and 1930s but were declining in number.
e African-Americans in the South suffered at the hands of white authorities > Jim Crow laws
33yAt42JnkxG5z

denied African-Americanstheright to vote and maintained a racially segregated society.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

pH

PPthinkswap 33yAt42JnkxG5z

Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983300
 World War | began what would become the Great Migration of Blacks from the Southern States to the
North.
e Drawn by job opportunities in the expanding manufacturing industries (500,000 blacks moved
from the south).
e Factories still required labour, but immigration restrictions meant this movement would
accelerate in the 1920s.

Total population Black population

1910 465 766 5 741

1920 993 675 40 838

Race riots occurred in 23 cities in 1919.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

e In Chicago, the riot lasted a week, with 38 people being killed (23 black,15 white). 537 people
were injured and over 1000 people lost their homes.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

Lynchings occurred mostfrequently in the South, but also occurred in northern states; still occurred
in 1920s and 1930s but were declining in number.
e Decline in lynchings has been attributed by Garret Peckto the increased role of the federal
government from World War I.
e Eraof voluntary policing and vigilantism came to an end - blacks stood together to oppose
white violence and henceforth became louder in their demands for equal rights.
e Attempts to passanti-lynching laws in Congress were unsuccessful
> First introduced in 1918, lynching (and failing to prevent it) became a federal crime.
> Passed by the House in 1922, but blocked by southern senators; pattern repeated in the
1930s.
> President FDR commented that southern senators would block everybill to keep
America from collapsing if he came out for the antilynching bill.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

KKK wasresponsible for lynchingsin the south and raceriots in the north — Came into being at the
end of the Civil war in the southern states and then disappeared but grew membership in the southern
and midwestern states. Aim was to attack and terrorise African-Americans, Jews, Catholics and
foreigners.
e KKK met aneed for many Americans — Sense of belonging, importance and power;had very
little influence in big cities.
e Klan attracted fanatics who believed that the best American citizens were white Anglo-Saxon
Protestants.
e Claimed 5 million members in 1923 but fell to 200,000 by 1929.

Prohibition
e The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibited ‘the manufacture, sale or transportation of
33yAt42JnkxG5z

intoxicating liquors’. It was ratified in 1919.

> Volstead Act (1919) was the law that enforced this amendment. Defined intoxicating
liquors as anything over 0.5% alcohol per volume. Came into force on 17 January 1920.
> Gave Federal government powersto enforce Prohibition.
> Most of the support came from small towns in the South and West. 33yAt42JnkxG5z

e Strong conservative reaction to change — Much of the support from Prohibition came from old
Americans to reassert their values.
e Surprising little opposition to Prohibition: 33yAt42JnkxG5z

pH

PPthinkswap 33yAt42JnkxG5z

Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983379
33yAt42JnkxG5z
 > Impact of WWI — Grain was used in the production of alcoholic beverages and was
needed for food.
> Manyfelt it was patriotic to go without alcohol.
> Disorganisation of opposition.
e Prohibition fails:
> Geographical difficulties; US had 18,700 miles of coastlines and land boards, and made it
impossible to intercept all smuggled alcohol.
> Chemists could sell alcohol on doctors’ prescriptions.
> Industrial alcohol was easily diverted and distilled to turn into an alcohol drink

(moonshine).
> Problems for Treasury Agents; 5000 agents were employed to enforce.
33yAt42JnkxG5z

> Popularity of Speakeasies — Became very popular with many fashionable city dwellers.
> Division among supporters; enforcersveryill equipped to fight alcohol.
> Role of government — Historians argue that Congress did not do more to enforce
Prohibition as they did not want to alienate rich and influential votes who drank.
e Wickersham Commision — Set up by Hoover to investigate Prohibition and favoured it to
33yAt42JnkxG5z

continue.
e FDR abolished Prohibition in 1933 — 21st Amendment made it the responsibility of individual
states to decide on issues, rather than abandonment of Prohibition in total.

Strengths:
Broad favours and supporters
initially.
Strong in rural areas and Midwest.
By 1914, many states had already
banned alcohol.
Anti-Saloon League made Prohibition
a big issue in politics — Politicians
supporting Prohibition maintained
Weaknesses:
Became very unpopular and people
voted for Hoover who would end it.
No enforcement.
Unpopularity towards the end of
Hoover's presidency meant he did not
get re-elected.
Geographically difficult to enforce
Prohibition.
Enforcers were getting bribed.
Rise in crime — Gangs fighting over
control of alcohol.
Bootleggers became rich as they
were not taxed by the government.

Opportunities:
16 Amendment (1913) meant the
federal government could levy
income tax, making it less reliant on
taxing alcohol.
Wartime need for efficient use of 33yAt42JnkxG5z
Threats:
States that were ‘wet’ undermined the
work of those that were ‘dry’.
Looming reapportionment of
Congress would see more urban than

rural members.
resources (e.g. grain) and animosity
towards German culture.

33yAt42JnkxG5z

33yAt42JnkxG5z

thinkswap Find more study resources at https://www.thinkswap.com

1681983380