Post World War I America

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Post World War I America

• Politics and Prosperity

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• America's present need is not heroics, but
  healing not nostrums but normalcy not
  revolution, but restoration not agitation, but
  adjustment not surgery but serenity not the
  dramatic, but the dispassionate not experiment
  but equipoise not submergence in
  internationality, but sustainment in triumphant
  nationality.
• Harding Speech

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POLITICS
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• Normalcy meant creating a safe, isolated, and
  controlled environment after the chaos of WWI.
  How does the government make the American people
  feel safe again?
• Control Communism
• Control Labor Unions
• Isolationism
• Nativism

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The Red Scare

• The Red Scare refers to Americas intense fear
  of Communism and other politically radical ideas.
  
• Why is it referred to as a Red scare?
• What about Communism caused fear and panic for
  Americans?
• How did the US protect itself against Communism
  and other radical ideas?

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Why Red?The Russian Revolution

• Under Vladimir Lenin, Russias worker and peasant
  classes revolted against the beliefs of the
  oppressive, czarist government. They united under
  a red flag.
• In November of 1917, they were victorious.
• Made peace with Germany, left WWI, and put all
  privately owned businesses, transportation, and
  industry under government ownership.

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Why Red?The Russian Revolution

• Those displaced by Lenins government, including
  former government officials, military leaders,
  and industry owners (labeled the Whites) fought
  against Lenin in a civil war until 1920 when the
  Reds won.
• The United States had supported the Whites due
  to economic investments in Russia. Therefore,
  Lenins Reds were the enemy of American
  economic and political interests in Russia.

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Basic Communist Doctrine

• The government owned all land and property. No
  private ownership.
• Wealth was collected and then distributed by the
  government, evenly amongst all individuals
• A single political party controlled the
  government.
• The needs of the country superseded the needs
  (and rights) of the individual.

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vs.

• Why do you think that both the government and
  the citizens of the United States would fear
  Communism coming to America?

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• How do we protect America against Communism?

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Schenck v. United States

• Schenck opposed US involvement in WWI and
  actively encouraged soldiers to not fight.
  Represented radical ideas and defiance.
• The Supreme Court ruled that the government is
  justified in silencing free speech when there is
  a clear and present danger to the nation.

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Censorship Activity

• Does censorship exist today? Should there be
  censorship of any type? If so, for whom? If so,
  for what? (movies, music, television, speech,
  internet, news, etc?)

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• School Newspaper
• Censorship Group Activity
  
  

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The Palmer Raids

• Any movement, however cloaked or dissembled,
  designed to undermine the government, will be met
  with unflinching, persistent, aggressive warfare.

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The Palmer Raids

• Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer
• Campaign to find groups posing a clear and
  present danger
• Govt appointed taskforce arrested suspected
  subversives
• Thousands of arrests made without evidence, over
  500 deported

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Palmer Reading
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Sacco and Venzetti

• After the guard and paymaster of shoe factory
  were murdered in April of 1920, two Italian
  immigrants (and anarchists !) were arrested,
  convicted, and electrocuted for the crime.
  Anarchy would not be tolerated !!

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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vC3SuTTcj2u8
• Sacco and Vanzetti Summary

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Labor Strikes
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• There is no right to strike against the public
  safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.
• Calvin Coolidge, 1919

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• With government crackdowns on anarchists and
  other revolutionaries, work stoppages in the US
  declined from more than 3,000 a year in 1919 to
  under 1,000 in 1929.
• Union members, deemed as radicals, dropped from
  five million in 1920 to almost three million in
  1929.

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Isolationism
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• Isolationism was Americas wish to avoid
  political or economic alliances with foreign
  countries. To free itself of relying on
  foreigners, the US
• Actively engaged in world trade to increase the
  sale of US goods and increase wealth
• Raised tariffs on foreign goods to discourage
  imports and create more opportunities for
  American-owned business

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Nativism
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• To further isolate and insulate themselves
  against the rest of the world, the US began to
  crack down on the influence of foreigners on
  American society.

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The KKK and Americanism Reading

• Quotas Numerical limits on immigration to the
  US
• National Origins Act 1924 Based on the 1890
  census, only 2 of each countrys total
  population in the US would be allowed entrance
  into the US