Amh 2020 Exam 3

Front 1

Red Scare

Back 1

Hysteria of Bolshevik Revolution in Russia which spawned a small Communist party in US. Americans jumped to conclusion that labor troubles were caused by Bolsheviks. Big Red Scare of 1919-1920 resulted in nationwide crusade against anti-Americanism, including state laws forbidding syndicalism, the advocacy of violence through social change.

Front 2

K Klux Klan Membership

Back 2

Blossomed in 1920's. Ultra-conservative movement against diversity & modernity that was transforming American culture. Spread astonishingly fast. Peaked in mid-1920's with 5 million members. Collapsed rather suddenly in the late 20's.

Front 3

Immigrant Workers

Back 3

Immigration was slowed to a trickle in the 1920's. Immigrants tended to cluster in enclaves with people of their own ethnicity. Labor unions were hard to organize because of this. Ethnic rivalries were played upon by cynical employers.

Front 4

Prohibition

Back 4

1919, the 18th Amendment and Volsted Act prohibited alcohol. Was meant to keep stimulants out of the hands of blacks in the south (keeping them in their place) and combat vice in the west. Spawned speakeasies, homemade liquor & rampant crime for shares of the illegal liquor business. Very hard for gvmt to enforce.

Front 5

John Dewey

Back 5

Professor on the faculty @ Columbia U, made the most revolutionary contribution to education during the 20's by setting forth the principals of "learning by doing" that formed the foundation of the so-called "progressive education" with it's greater permissiveness. Believed that the workbench was as essential as the blackboard and that "education for life" should be the goal of the teacher.

Front 6

Manufacturing in the 1920's

Back 6

Very sophisticated & ingenious. Assembly lines were becoming streamlined, productivity went up as a result of new technologies. New industries sprang up - electrical, cars, advertising. Refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, radios were the hot items.

Front 7

Economy of the 1920's

Back 7

Mass consumption, buy now/pay later. Everyone owned cars, sports became a big business. Prosperity accumulated along with an overhanging cloud of debt.

Front 8

Impact of Automobiles, Radio & Moving Pictures

Back 8

It was huge, as it broke down previous barriers to communication, travel and what the average person knew about the world around them. Radio knitted the nation together. Movies eclipsed all of other new forms of amusement. Much of the rich diversity of immigrant cultures was lost w/technoogy of radio and movies. However, the standardization of tastes and language hastened immigrants entry into US mainstream. Set stage for emergence of working-class political coalition.

Front 9

Margaret Sanger

Back 9

Fiery feminist, lead birth control movement. Openly championed use of contraceptives.

Front 10

Harding's Cabinet

Back 10

Harding was unable to detect some of the bad apples amongst his associates (because he was weak & inept to some degree). His cabinet was made up of a few outstanding individuals but some corrupt ones as well. Albert Fall (Sec. of Interior), AG Harry Daugherty, member of the Ohio Gang.

Front 11

International Disarmament

Back 11

Harding was prodded into supporting this by businesspeople unwilling to dig deeper into their own pockets for money to finance the naval rebuilding program. Britain and Japan were alarmed that American ships were filling up the oceans. Washington Disarmament Conference in 1921-22, agenda was naval disarming & situation in East Asia. Proposed 10 year holiday on battleship production. Five power Naval Treaty gave concessions to Japan and China while agreeing that we would limit our involvement in E. Asia.

Front 12

Teapot Dome Scandal

Back 12

Sec. Of Interior Albert Fall had Sec. Of Navy transfer Teapot Dome and Elk Hill oil reserves to Interior Dept. Harding signed the order, and Fall leased the fields to 2 prominent oil men for 400K in kickbacks. Fall spent year in jail, others aquited.

Front 13

Split of the Democratic Party in 1924

Back 13

Relecting cultural tension of the decade, party was split between "wets" and "drys" (Prohibition), urbanites v. farmers, Fundamentalists v. Modernists, Northern Liberals v. Southern status quo, immigrants v. old stock Americans. Progressive Party got 5 million votes in election.

Front 14

America as a World Creditor

Back 14

US Treasury had loaned 10 billion to Allies during and after WWI. US wanted to be paid. ALlies insisted that they paid with blood and loss of life, and that the US should write off the debt. Allies were also upset at the high US tariffs that prevented them from selling their goods. AMerica hoped that the German reparations to other European countries would provide the money to pay back the US. US never did get the money.

Front 15

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

Back 15

Started out as a fairly reasonable measure designed to assist farmers, it ultimately required more than 1000 amendments in the Senate & turned into the highest protective tariff in US history. Went from 38.5 to 60%. Widened trade gap & plunged America and other nations into even worse depression. Helped provide fuel for Hitler's rise.

Front 16

Hoover's Great Depression Policies

Back 16

Hoover shrank from the heresy of goverment handouts. Was convinced that industry, thrift and self-reliance were the virtues that had made America great and feared that government giving handouts would weaken and or destroy the national fiber. Assisted railroads, banks & rural credit corps. Established RFC - 1/2 billion initial investment, became a govmt lending bank that provided indirect relief to insurance companies, banks and agricultural orgs, railroads & even state & local govmts. No loans to individuals. RFC established months too late for maximum benefit.

Front 17

Bonus Expiditionary Force

Back 17

Thousands of impoverished vets prepared to march on Washington to demand Congress for the immediate payment in full of a differed bonus (prematurely). 20K men on Capitol in 1932, they were evicted by MacArthur who fired tear gas and torched the shanty town that the vets had built. An 11m old baby died, it was a brutal episode.

Front 18

Roosevelt's Hundred Days

Back 18

Created Civ. Conservation Corps (CCC) which provided employment for 3 mil men, reforestation, fire fighting, flood control & swamp drainage. Also created many other programs, such as Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA), Agriculture Adjustment Act) (AAA), Home Owner's Loan Corp (HOLC), Civil Works Admin (CWA).

Front 19

WPA

Back 19

Works Progress Administration, in 1935 ultimately spent about 11 billion on thousands of public buildings, bridges & hard surfaced roads. Also controlled crickets in Wyoming and built a monkey pen in OK City. Critics called it "We Provide Alms". Provided many jobs for high school and college age students, improving the community (including murals).

Front 20

1930's Dust Bowl

Back 20

Late in 1933 a prolonged draught struck the states of the trans-Mississippi Great Plains. No rain, furious winds...Eastern CO to western Missouri. 10's of thousands of refugees watched their ruined acres. Hundreds of thousands migrated to CA. CCC planted trees in barren topsoil to help stop erosion.

Front 21

Federal Securities Act

Back 21

May 27, 1933 - also known as the "Truth in Securities Act", required promoters to transmit to the investor sworn information on the soundness of their stocks & bonds. Lead to the S.E.C.

Front 22

National Labor Relations Act

Back 22

1935, created a powerful new National Labor Relations Board for admin and reasserted the right of labor to engage in self-organizing and to bargain collectively through representatives of its own choice. Wagner Act backed this up. Many unskilled laborers were able to organize into unions.

Front 23

Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO)

Back 23

Born within the ranks of the AFC, it was initially called "Committee for Industrial Organization". It broke with the AFL in 1938, after which it changed its name to "Congress Of..." By 1940 claimed 40 mil, incl. 200K blacks. Cracked the US Steel Corp and finally got them to unionize, as well as General Motors.

Front 24

Roosevelt's "Court Packing" Plan

Back 24

FDR wanted to pass legislation that would permit him to add a new Sup. Court Justice for every one over 70 who would not retire. The max membership could then be 15. Caught the country and Congress off guard (badly), called a "dictator bill" it was a costly political mistake for FDR.

Front 25

Results of The New Deal

Back 25

Failed to cure the depression. FDR relieved the erosion of the nation's greatest resource - it's people. Helped preserve democracy in America at a time when democracies abroad were disappearing. Girded the nation for WWII. Detractors said that it was radical, incompetent, confused and cross-purposed. However, it steered a middle course between unregulated capitalism and socialism and prevented dictatorship or extreme L/R wing solutions.

Front 26

1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreement

Back 26

Provided for the negotiation of tariff agreements between US and other nations, especially Latin Amer. nations. It resulted in a reduction of duties. Response to Hawley-Smoot.

Front 27

American Isolationism

Back 27

The alarming events unfolding in Europe and elsewhere boosted US isolationism. Americans disliked the dictators but they felt that they were insulated being surrounded by oceans. Still disillusioned from WWI, bitter from defaulted Ally loans. Mired in depression, couldn't appreciate the forces that were gathering in Europe and didn't want to get sucked into it anyway.

Front 28

Fascist Agression

Back 28

Mussolini and Hitler made land grabs against Versailles, knowing that US was mired it its own probs. Hitler invaded Poland, Austria and Czech, followed by France. Stalin spilt Poland with Hitler.

Front 29

Non-Agression Pact Between Germany and USSR

Back 29

Unable to secure a mutual defense treaty w/Britain & France, USSR turned to Germany. This meant that they would not bleed each other out in war, which was what many hoped for.

Front 30

Lend/Lease Program

Back 30

FDR's idea to lend or lease American arms to the other battered democracies (like Britain). When war was over, the guns and tanks could be returned. Congressman Taft argued that it was like lending chewing gum - you don't want it back. Concept was to send guns, not sons. Approved by Congress in 41. Sent about 50 billion to Allies in arms & equipment. Ended any pretense of neutrality, and Hitler considered it a declaration of war and began to attack all American ships.

Front 31

FDR's 3rd Term

Back 31

Willkie, Taft and Dewey were FDR's opponents in the election. FDR promised Americans would not go to war, which he reneged on. Willkie ran a close popular vote but ultimate lost the election.

Front 32

Pearl Harbor

Back 32

Even as Japan started becoming aggressive, US continued to trade with her, including war materials like steel, oil and gas until finally in late 40 embargoes and a freezing of Japanese assets were put into place. Japan was faced with 2 alternatives - agree to US demands or go to war. They chose war. Negotiations were underway in DC in Dec. 41, Japs attacked. 3K dead, entire Pac. Fleet sunk and lots of aircraft damaged or destroyed. United all of the country for war.

Front 33

War Preparedness

Back 33

Country was unified, snapped the economy to attention. Ended the lingering depression, War Production Board fired up factories, tons of weapons produced. Farmers increased output. Scarcity of goods created inflation. Rationing instituted for critical goods like meat, butter, tobacco, coffee, sugar. Labor unions resented gvmt dictating rules but eventually fell in line.

Front 34

Japanese Internment Camps

Back 34

US forcibly interred 110K Pacific-Coast Japanese Americans for fear that they would sabotage the US in the event of a Japanese invasion. Unnecessary and unfair, it was caused by Pearl Harbor hysteria & swell of Pac. Coast anti-Japanese sentiments. Internees lost hundreds of millions of dollars in property and lost earnings. Eventually the US apologized & paid each survivor 20K.

Front 35

ABC-1 Plan

Back 35

Agreement w/British to "Get Germany First" before Japan to keep Hitler from getting all of Europe and Russia, thereby becoming nearly unconquerable.

Front 36

Women in WWII

Back 36

216K women were employed for noncombat duty. More than 6 mil women took up jobs outside outside the home, over half of which had never worked for wages. Many were mothers and gvmt set up day cares. "Rosie the Riveter" became popular. After the war, many women wanted to keep working (and many did), However, the great majority of women did not work for wages when they had young kids and most continued their traditional roles in the home. Britain and USSR had a far greater percentage of women pressed into service. After the war, these women ushered in the "baby boom".

Front 37

African American Participation in WWII

Back 37

Some 1.6 mil blacks left the south to seek jobs in war plants int he west and north. Explosive tensions arose over employment, housing and segregated facilities. Also drafted into armed forces but generally assigned to service branches rather than the combat units. Helped embolden blacks in equality, NAACP shot up.

Front 38

Financing WWII

Back 38

War invigorated the economy but the cost of the war exceeded 330 billion, 10x the cost of WWI & 2x all previous spending since 1776. Despite higher tax rates only 2/5 of war paid by current revenues. The rest was borrowed. Ntl Debt skyrocketed from 49 bil to 259 bil in 45.

Front 39

Battle of The Atlantic

Back 39

Hitler had tons of UBoats wreaking havok in the Atlantic. However, in 1942, US joined 1K British bombers in bombing raids on Cologne. The tide turned on the German UBoats in Spring '43.

Front 40

Allied Second Front

Back 40

North Africa to Rome. Americans wanted invasion of France but instead settled for French-held North Africa in Nov 1942. Eisenhower was general, 400K men, 850K ships. Trapped Germans in Tunisia where they surrendered.

Front 41

Actions of The Holocaust

Back 41

Scientific mass murder of undesireables, including estimated 6 million Jews. US slow to respond to the genocide that they knew was taking place.

Front 42

Casablanca Conference

Back 42

FDR met w/ Churchill to plan blows after Africa. Step up war in Pacific, invade Sicily, increase pressure on Italy & insist on unconditional surrender.

Front 43

Atomic Bomb

Back 43

Developed as "Manhattan Project" in secret by refugee German scientists in secret. Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 3 days apart. 260K people were killed, wounded or missing. Japan surrendered (mostly unconditionally) afterward.

Front 44

Origins of Jazz

Back 44

Moved up from New Orleans along with migrating blacks in WWI.

Front 45

RFC (Reconstruction Finance Corp)

Back 45

Established RFC - 1/2 billion initial investment, became a govmt lending bank that provided indirect relief to insurance companies, banks and agricultural orgs, railroads & even state & local govmts. No loans to individuals. RFC established months too late for maximum benefit. Giant corps were dubbed "Millionaires Dole".