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51 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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1920 Election and Harding
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-Harding elected over Cox/Roose. Return to normalcy.
-He was a newspaper big shot, liked being a senator chillin. Not an intellectual. -Harding was much kinder than Wilson in many ways. Lets draft dodgers out of jail -Sets up crucial cabinet, hoover is the commerce sec who does everything behind the scenes. War ends in 1921, treaty of Washington w/naval reductions. Hughes bad ass sec of state, former supreme court |
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Attorney-Gen Harry Daugherty lets Jesse Smith sell decisions
Charles Forbes steals Veteran Administration funds |
-Harry turns a blind eye to Jesse Smith when he sells favorable decisions and public offices to people. If people wanted jobs, he just said pay me.
-Pocketed and embezzled money from the VA. |
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Harding's trip to Alaska, the end of the admin
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-realizes all of the problems in his admin, he goes on a trip to Washington and everything starts falling apart
-Harding dies, Forbes leaves the country, and the assist kills himself. |
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Teapot Dome Scndal
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-Albert Fall, sec of interior, and he leased oil reserves in WY/CA to sinclair oil comp. In return he gets "loans" and bribes in millions.
-Harding gets implicated, because he had to convince him to transfer Navy lands to interior lands, which he did. |
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1920's overview
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-Roaring twenties
-Students begin to feel a greater sense of identity and knowledge, many things are still with us. Music and sports heroes today are measured by then. Film stars begin here too. -Prohibition was in effect, but more people drank than ever before. Criminals, mobsters. -Boom came in 1923 with Coolidge |
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Melon as sec of treasury
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-favored low taxes and for the rich to get richer. Wasn't really directly involved in the scandals, but his policies led to the market crashes
-Wasn;t that bad, but repd big biz |
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Another interpratation to Harding's admin
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-In the 70s, a historian comes out and says that he was a pretty crucial progressive. If you look at the end of his admin, they were very progressive
-He was advocating govt taking the initative, supporting radio and aircraft. -He wanted to extend conservation, creating a dept of public welfare. -He says that it wasn'[t until Coolidge that the progressive era ended |
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Social Tensisons, post war recession
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-Inflation, since economy was inflated due to war prodn. Govt contracts fall through, and everyone loses their jobs
-Soldiers are unemployed. Workers strike. But general populace thought that these strikes were because of Commies/Bolsh -Workers in the North sometimes had to work 36 straight hours because of people not showing up -1919 police strike in Boston, mainly Irish. Working on pre-war wages, public had no sympathy at all. Coolidge calls the national guard. |
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Red Scare
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-Americans believed the rumors that the Commies had committed atrocities during the revn.
-All immigrants are suspected to be Commies. -Third International formed in the Soviet Union. Dedicated to promoting and spreading communism around the world -Shitloads of letter bombs sent to capitalists, and in Chicage 2 commy parties emerge -In reality, no threat to Americans or America. Only a few immigrants were radicals, and they were socialists, not Soviets. -America you could actually change things at the legislative level, no one was going to do armed revolt |
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Palmer Raids
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-Palmer orders raids of COmmunist offices and HQ's. Didn't really do anything, but he went on them to stop them.
-J edgar hoover is on these raids, and is crucially against the red threat |
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WASP reactions towards new immigration
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-Madison Grant ranks all the people of the world in acceptablity for race purity. Puts Germans at the top. WWI comes along and he moves the to the bottom. Complete bullshit science.
-Massive immigration restrictions. Democs lose voting bloc. Literacy tests for immigrants to keep them out. -Quota's on immigrants from 1 mil to 300K. Coolidge restricts even further, to 150K. |
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Black Scare of the 20's
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-Revolved around the 200K Blacks that served in WWI. There, they were respected by people, not racists.
-Shitloads of people lynched, many of them veterans. Race riots in cities. Black nationalism begins, Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Assoc.wanted to move blacks back to Africa because no one would ever get along here. He got people to start protesting |
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KKK
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-emerges crucially in the 20's. William Simmons founds the new Klan in 1915
-4.5 million members in the 20s. Originally Bent on supressing black vote, even threating if they showed up at the polls. Now they believed they needed a police state to keep order -Go against everyone, not just blacks. Anti-Semites, Catholics, immoral behavior, anti-urban, anti-comm, anti-everything not small town - |
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D.C Stephenson
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-in 1924, he is the leader in Indiana. By this time, strong enough to influence the democratic national convention. That year, the convention included a condemning of the Klan, they have it removed
-Convicted of murder the next year |
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Drys versus the wets
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--mobsters become rich beyond their wildest dreams. Drys were in the south, wets were in the cities and favored by Catholics and Jews. Candidates would say they were in favor of alcohol and get elected on that even though it was illegal.
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Scopes monkey trial
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-over the evolution controversy, pitted Protestant Fundamentalists supported by Bryan, and the other side of evolution proponents.
-The ACLU got involved and decided to make a legal case out of it, to find a biology teacher willing to teach it for the specific purpose of getting in trouble. John Scopes comes out and does it. -The city of Dayton wanted to attract attention, and so they host the trial. Darrow was the lawyer, was agnostic, and looked forward to the debate. But he knew that Scopes would be prosecuted, no closing defense |
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Why no defense of Scopes monkey trial
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-Bryan didn't give a closing statement, and didn't want to let Bryan to get the bully pulpit. So he cleverly gave no closing arguments, so Bryan couldn't either.
-Darrow also called upon Bryan as a witness. Bryan eventually had to admit that the Bible couldn't be taken THAT literally. |
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Calvin coolidges pres style
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-He was always said to be too proper, his personality was proper and some described dreary.
-Very much a hands off pres, abdicated his power to the business community. Real departure from the progressive era. At his election in 1924, it was over def progress - |
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Andrew Mellon and Cool
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-His sec of Treasury. He believed economic incentives to increase investment was the key to economic growth. Crucial tax cuts, and by 1929 huge tax refunds. So they had to fill in the gaps
-They cut expenses and raised the tariff crucially. Businesses love this shit, better adv with foreign copn. raised prices for consumers. -Regressive taxes too. Luxury taxes on big goods, increasing postal rates. Mellon said that biz would reinvest and create jobs (Trickle Down). For 6 years looked like it was working |
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Foreign Policy is short-sighted
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-Crucial German reparations, paid to the US through Britain and France, little by little Weimar loses stability and funds.
-We were warned that continued reparations would cripple the country and give rise to a reactionary. -We should have lowered tariffs, but the high protection was part of the program. Or we could have simply forgiven war debts then FR/BR could have stopped paying us, which would have helped. |
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Kellog-Brand Pact
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-Also quasi isolationist. Didnt join the league of nations, didn't fuck with any of them politically or economically to prevent another war. -This act outlaws war 1928 between US and France. Nice idea
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Election of 1928
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-Dems run Al Smith (first Catholic) and they run Hoover. Southern prejudice against catholics prevents their support.
-And al smith was pro-alcohol and do away with prohibition. |
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Prosperity of the 20s
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-Production and stock market soar, stocks rise 65% and wages rise only by 24%. Prices are crucially inflated
-People buy stupid things on credit and owe massive debts, defaults. Advertising led people to buy this bullshit. In 29 shitloads of cars and automobiles. Motels come up, service stations, etc. -Many Americans didn't really take part in the prosperity. Many places had no electricity out in bumfuck. So it was only prosperity for some. Blacks, asians, etc. |
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Problems with Coolidge Prosperity
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-Warnings of boom and bust are unheeded
-Business culture and making heroes out of biz peeps prevail. Florida real estate boom |
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Florida real estate boom and bust, get rich quick mentality
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-More and more becoming the place to invest. It was warm, beaches, etc. But the prices were not rising because people are moving there, they are only rising because of speculation.
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Stock margin buying
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-Buying stocks on credit, lent to speculators. Would lend 100$ if you only had 10$. The stocks themselves were considered collateral. So it was all based on shit
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Coolidge Bull market
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-had little relationship with the actual strength of the real economy, it was all on paper.
-No one recognized it because either a. didn't want to be pessimistic or b. didn't know how the shit actually worked. Didn't want to rock the boat -Economists were warning that they were in a bubble and that shit was going to blow up, but Coolidge encouraged stock sales |
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Crash of 1929
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-The catalyst for the Depression. Not the sole cause, but the beginning of it.
-Shitloads of shares sold over instabiilty and loss of confidence. Shatters the business confidence, and triggers economic decline. |
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Effects of the Crash of 1929
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-people lose all their stocks, and create bank runs. Banks lose all of their money and are wiped out, so all of your money is gone. Banks had lent to speculators as well
-Corps had to decrease prodn, lay offs and lower pay. -Farms foreclose, 60% drop in agric prices. Spending decreases, and more lay offs. |
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British response to the crash
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-Said this shit was fucked, so they try to get out and bring business to England. Everyone takes their money out of the American market and puts it in to the Brits one. Causes mass selling off of assets.
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Great Depression as the biggest crisis since Civil War
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-Did not really end until 1941
-Unemployment ranges between 25-80% -Massive bank failures -Hoovervilles -Dust Bowl |
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Depression as greatest Crisis since Civil War
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-Did not end until 1941
-Massive unemployment, 25%-80% in some areas. Coal industry almost sank to nothing. Farm income drops dramatically -Bank failures (200 a mo), bank runs, 400K people lost all of their savings. -Lawyers and doctors get paid in chickens and commodities instead of money. -Dust bowl |
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People initial reactions to Depression
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-Had to migrate and look for work. 100's of thousands go everywhere to work wherever.
-Age of the hobo, massive poor. People bartered because no one had any money -For the most part, people weren't starving/famine in a crucial sense. Just couldn't buy things. |
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Dust bowl
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-Years of idiotic dry farming and cutting down trees removed the topsoil and made the whole southern Plains a desert.
-Massive migrations to California to try to find work. |
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Hoover blamed for depression
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-Really wasn't all his fault, mainly his predecessors, but is blamed nontheless
-Criticized for his fishing spot, he goes away and conveyed the sense that he didn't care about the country. -He was really not uncaring, donated to charities. |
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Hoover program limited in GDep
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-Broke with the Coolidge-Mellon approach of no government. He uses government, but in a limited way. Began to set a new course
-Has states undertake public works, has Congress authorize funds for public works, social compact with biz to not initially lay off people, farm prices board. -These were long term duration things, not immediate. And he opposed massive relief by the govt. Wanted to rely on volunteerism and genouristy |
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Hoover's reconstrction Finance Corp 1932
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-Govt would lend money to kepp them afloat during these crises. Railroads, banks. This was a new direction
-This was looked to many as nothing but a big biz bailout. Seen as another trickle down idea. Didn't really work |
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European economy collapse in GDep
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-Hoover tries to find a scapegoat to get the blame off of him. He had lived outside of the US, been all over the world, you would think he would be more open minded. But he was desperate
-He blames foreigners for everything, paralyzes the admin. |
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Public response to GDep, politically/socially
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-Minor gains for socialists/commies. seen as a failure of the people, not the American system
-Most people coped peaceably. Most violence came from the govt. -"Bonus Army" attacked. Vets from WWI promised they would get a bonus, they march peaceably on wash. They set up a hooverville in anacostia. -MacArthur attacks them with bulldozers. No question of their patriotism, not causing any trouble. Hoover is blamed because he did not let the press know that he had ordered against it. This ruins his rep crucially. |
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Election of 1932
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-FDR is the candidate against Hoover. Pledged to immiedatly respond to this bullshit. Hoover loses big time. Him and Hoover hate each other. He didn't even wait to be invited to the convention, he just showed up. It was a crisis.
-The press treats him really bad. Hoover was gloomy and didn't communicate well with the people. -Hoover asks Roos after his loss to help him before his swearing in. He refuses, which some saw as shitty, but in reality it was smart. Didnt want to be tied to the previous admin. -Puts together the brain trust, professors, intellectuals, and progs replace the biz fucks. |
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FDR's election-post
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-immediatly influenced the country, gave them hope, expanded presidential power and changed the way people viewed the presidency
-exuded confidence and charisma. Uses radio extensively, fireside chats. Says my friends and people listen |
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Roos first 100 days
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-Emergency Banking Act, shuts down banks and the FDIC set up. Loans to banks
-Farm Credit Admin, and the AAA set up. -Home Owners Loan Admin -Fed Emer Relief Admin -CCC, Civil Works Admin, WPA. Provides jobs |
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Emergency Banking Act
Farm Credit Admin/Homeowners Loans |
-Shuts down the banks, and sets up the FDIC
-Loans to banks to stabilize them -And also goes off of the gold standard, to prevent hoarding of money. -Helps farmers, and prevent foreclosures |
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Federal Emergency Relief Admin
CCC, Civil Works Admin, then the WPA |
-Provided immediate relief to people. 500 mil
-Hopkins did not like the idea of a govt handout. But, this kind of relief was necessary at this point -Really, really worked. Put hundereds of thousands of people to work planting trees, working on parks, and building infra. -Allowed old jobs to go forward, teachers, road workers, etc. rehired. 4 million workers within a few months are put back to work. But he doesn't want to spend this amount forever, hoped that private sector could pick up the slack. It didn't -So WPA is formed. provides jobs to actors, theaters, arts, etc. |
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National Recovery Admin
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-General Hugh Johnson heads it. Old Bull mooser progressiv
-Industrial codes. These are rules and codes that biz is supposed to follow. Set prices, wages, hours, quality, safety conditions -Collective bargaining for labor. Section 7A of the shit. Req companies to negotiate with labor unions. -Supreme Court ends it as unconstit. They don't have the power to set prices, wages, etc. he later tries to pack it, strikes fear into the court |
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Wagner Relations Labor Act 1935
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-National Labor Relations board created. This part of the NRA was saved from the striking down by the Court
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Agricultural Adjustment Admin
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-Production restriction, raise prices through artificial scarcity. Should have been done a long time before. Many thought it was a waste
-Supreme Court ends it as unconstitutional. Now instead of paying to destroy, now you pay with subsidies. |
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Two of Roos progs especially vulnerable to striking down by Court
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-Rural Elec Admin. Would bring elec to places in the country that they had ignored. They were mad that the govt was encroaching
-Tennessee Valley Authority for same reasons |
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Demagogues arise in response to Roos
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-Roman Cath priest that was crucially on the radio. At first supported him, but he detested banks. He was anti-semitic too, which hurts him later
-Dr Townsend becomes his butt buddy. He says to have old age pensions, but they have to spend it w/in 30 days. Roos doesnt really listen, and pisses him off -Huey Long. Louisiana pol and gov. He did a lot of progressive shit, free textbooks, lunches for kids. Roads and shit. Social services that were unprecedented in the South. assasinated |
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Election of 1936
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_wins crucially
-Major realignment as blacks and labor go in stroves to the Dems. -Major labor unions rise up. AFL and CIO grow crucially. They became important |
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Results of the New Deal
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-Generated a public confidence and hope.
-But did not find the answer to solve future depressions and to save capitalism entirely -Does not result in the end of the depression, just a mitigation. WWII brings us out -Fed expands power crucially, and becomes intimate in common life. Social security still around, TVA. FDIC. -Political revn. Not until Reagan was their a real shift in the thrust of govt. |
