The war caused America to do quite a few un-American things during that time but it was also able to push through a few final reforms needed in progressivism especially when it came to labor reform and equal rights. Though many of those steps taken towards equal rights would be taken away after the war ended. This also saw an end to major progressive reform on the scale seen during Wilson’s presidency before the war. That did not mean progressivism was over though, a few major reforms were still to come. After the war progressivism would never see the scale that it saw before the war, however. Wilson was not done in office just yet. Now that the war was over Wilson had treaties to negotiate.
Wilson personally saw to the peace negotiations in …show more content…
As such the only one of the points he could negotiate was the creation of the League of Nations which would enforce the new world order that he had not been successful in getting anyone to agree to. The treaty, as it was created put heavy restrictions on the German people, forcing them to give up their colonies, taking their territory, and forcing them to pay $35 billion in reparations after admitting total guilt in the war. It did not open the seas, allow self-determination for colonies, or open diplomacy and the agreements on the League of Nations did not please the Senate either. Three separate groups in the Senate opposed Wilson’s League. Eastern Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge believed that the League would threaten the nation’s independence. La Follette and other “irreconcilable” eastern Republicans and western progressives refused to sign fearing that U.S. troops would simply be used to bolster the irresponsible imperialist nations of Europe. Finally, a large group …show more content…
A fear that made even the most innocent of socialist ideas or protests look dangerous. Strikes that crippled the City of Seattle and the coal and steel industries reminded many of the European class warfare that lead to the communist uprising in Russia. Labor Unions were still fighting for better pay, hours, working conditions but companies were portraying them as radicals, feeding the fear. Coincidently a series of terror threats began in 1919 around the same time as the labor strikes. Mail bombs were discovered by post office officials. The intended recipients were John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Holmes, and other powerful leaders. A few months later multiple bombs went off within minutes of each other in multiple cities shaking the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. These three factors came together to create a Red Scare. Palmer led the fight by ordering the arrest of labor leaders, peace activists, socialists, communists, and alien dissenters. Over 6,000 people were detained on one evening in January 1920 alone. Many of them were held without charge, others faced police brutality, and 500 aliens were deported. By mid-1920 the Red Scare had run its course and Palmer was proven wrong about his warnings of a communist uprising in
Wilson personally saw to the peace negotiations in …show more content…
As such the only one of the points he could negotiate was the creation of the League of Nations which would enforce the new world order that he had not been successful in getting anyone to agree to. The treaty, as it was created put heavy restrictions on the German people, forcing them to give up their colonies, taking their territory, and forcing them to pay $35 billion in reparations after admitting total guilt in the war. It did not open the seas, allow self-determination for colonies, or open diplomacy and the agreements on the League of Nations did not please the Senate either. Three separate groups in the Senate opposed Wilson’s League. Eastern Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge believed that the League would threaten the nation’s independence. La Follette and other “irreconcilable” eastern Republicans and western progressives refused to sign fearing that U.S. troops would simply be used to bolster the irresponsible imperialist nations of Europe. Finally, a large group …show more content…
A fear that made even the most innocent of socialist ideas or protests look dangerous. Strikes that crippled the City of Seattle and the coal and steel industries reminded many of the European class warfare that lead to the communist uprising in Russia. Labor Unions were still fighting for better pay, hours, working conditions but companies were portraying them as radicals, feeding the fear. Coincidently a series of terror threats began in 1919 around the same time as the labor strikes. Mail bombs were discovered by post office officials. The intended recipients were John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Holmes, and other powerful leaders. A few months later multiple bombs went off within minutes of each other in multiple cities shaking the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. These three factors came together to create a Red Scare. Palmer led the fight by ordering the arrest of labor leaders, peace activists, socialists, communists, and alien dissenters. Over 6,000 people were detained on one evening in January 1920 alone. Many of them were held without charge, others faced police brutality, and 500 aliens were deported. By mid-1920 the Red Scare had run its course and Palmer was proven wrong about his warnings of a communist uprising in