chapter 21 u.s. history 2. the jazz age 20.1 presidential politics 21.2 a growing economy 21.3 the...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 21U.S. History 2
The Jazz Age
• 20.1 Presidential Politics• 21.2 A Growing Economy• 21.3 The Policies of Prosperity
20.1 Presidential Politics
• The Harding Administration
• The Coolidge Administration
Calvin Coolidge
The Harding Administration
• In 1920, Warren G. Harding won the presidency and promised a return to normalcy, or a “normal” life after the war.
• Harding gave most cabinet appointments to his old poker-playing friends.
• They became known as the Ohio Gang.
The Harding Administration
• Some members abused their positions to sell jobs, pardons, and immunity from prosecution.
• Before the public learned of the scandals, Harding fell ill and died in 1923.
Harding’s funeral procession
The Harding Administration
• Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall, secretly allowed private interests to lease lands containing U.S. Navy oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming.
• He received bribes totaling over $300,000.
• The Teapot Dome scandal resulted in Fall being the first cabinet officer ever to go to prison.
Albert B. Fall
The Harding Administration
• Another scandal involved Attorney General Harry Daugherty.
• He refused to turn over files and bank records for a German-owned American company.
• Bribe money ended up in a bank account controlled by Daugherty.
• He refused to testify under oath, claiming immunity, or freedom from prosecution.
Harding and Coolidge
The Harding Administration
• He claimed that he had confidential dealings with the president.
• Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president after Harding’s death.
• Coolidge demanded Daugherty’s resignation.
Calvin Coolidge takes oath of office
Last known photograph of Harding
The Coolidge Administration
• Coolidge distanced himself from the Harding administration.
• He focused on prosperity through business leadership with little government intervention.
• He easily won the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1924.
The Coolidge Administration
• The Democratic Party’s candidate was John W. Davis.
• A new Progressive Party nominated Robert M. La Follette as their candidate.
• Coolidge won the 1924 election with more than half the popular vote.
• Coolidge promised to give the U.S. the normalcy that Harding had not.
Calvin Coolidge
21.2 A Growing Economy
• The Rise of New Industries• The Consumer Society• The Farm Crisis Returns
The Rise of New Industries
• In the 1920s, Americans enjoyed a new standard of living with higher wages and shorter work days.
• Mass production, or large-scale product manufacturing usually done by machinery, increased the supply of goods and decreased costs.
• Greater productivity led to the emergence of new industries.
The Rise of New Industries
• Henry Ford developed the assembly line by dividing up tasks into simple tasks that unskilled workers could perform.
• This greatly improved production.• His Model T sold for $850 the first
year but later dropped to $490 after being mass-produced.
• By 1924, the Model T was selling for just $295.
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display the information.
The Rise of New Industries
• He increased workers’ wages and cut the work hours to gain workers’ loyalty.
• Henry Ford changed American life with his affordable automobiles.
• Small businesses such as garages and gasstations opened.
• The petroleum industry expanded tremendously.
The Rise of New Industries
• People could live farther away from work–creating the auto commuter.
• By 1919, the Post Office used planes and trains to improve efficiency.
• In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took a transatlantic solo flight.
Replica of the Spirit of St. Louis
The Rise of New Industries
• Americans began supporting the commercial flight.
• By the end of 1928, 48 airlines were serving 355 American cities.
The Rise of New Industries
• In 1926, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) established a permanent network of radio stations to distribute daily programming.
• In 1928, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) set up coast-to-coast stations to compete with NBC.
The Consumer Society
• Higher wages and shorter workdays led to an economic boom and a consumer society.
• Americans became confident that they could pay back their debt at a later time.
• Advertising convinced Americans that they needed new products.
The Consumer Society
Advertisement for Ford
The Consumer Society
• By the early 1920s, many businesses hired professional managers and engineers.
• The large number of managers expanded the size of the middle class.
The Consumer Society
• In the 1920s, unions lost influence and membership.
• Employers promoted an open shop, a workplace where employees did not have to join a union.
• Welfare capitalism, where employees were able to purchase stock, participate in profit sharing, and receive benefits, made unions seem unnecessary.
The Farm Crisis Returns
• American farmers did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s.
• Prices dropped dramatically while the cost to improve farmers’ technology increased.
• During wartime, farmers produced more for food supplies needed in Europe.
The Farm Crisis Returns
• Farmers borrowed money at inflated prices to buy new land and machinery to raise more crops.
• Farmers prospered during the war.
• After Congress raised tariffs, farmers could no longer sell products overseas.
The Farm Crisis Returns
• Coolidge twice vetoed a bill to aid the farmers, fearing it would only make the situation worse.
• American farmers remained in a recession throughout the 1920s.
21.3 The Policies of Prosperity
• Promoting Prosperity• Trade and Arms Control
Promoting Prosperity
• Harding’s secretary of treasury Andrew Mellon reduced government spending.
• The federal debt was reduced by $7 billion between 1921 and 1929.
Promoting Prosperity
• He applied the idea of supply-side economics to reduce taxes.
• This idea suggested that lower taxes would allow businesses and consumers to spend and invest their extra money, resulting in economic growth.
• In the end, the government would collect more taxes at a lower rate.
Promoting Prosperity
• Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover attempted to balance government regulation with cooperative individualism.
Promoting Prosperity
• Manufacturers and distributors were asked to form their own trade associations and share information with the federal government’s Bureau of Standards.
Promoting Prosperity
• Hoover felt this would reduce waste and costs and lead to economic stability.
Trade and Arms Control
• By the 1920s, the U.S. United States was the dominant economic power in the world.
• Allies owed the U.S. billions of dollars in war debts.
• The U.S. national income was far greater than Britain, Germany, France, and Japan combined.
Trade and Arms Control
• Many favored isolationism rather than involvement in international politics and issues.
• The U.S. was too powerful and interconnected in international affairs to remain isolated.
• Other countries felt the U.S. should help with the war’s financial debt.
Trade and Arms Control
• The U.S. disagreed, arguing that the Allies had gained new territory and received reparations.
• Reparations were huge cash payments that Germany paid as punishment for starting the war.
• Reparations crippled the German economy.
Trade and Arms Control
• Charles G. Dawes, an American diplomat and banker, proposed the Dawes Plan.– American banks would make
loans to Germany so it could pay its reparation payments. – France and Britain agreed to
accept less reparations and pay more on their war debts.
Trade and Arms Control
• The Washington Conference held in 1921 invited countries to discuss the ongoing post-war naval arms race.
• Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes proposed a 10-year moratorium, or pause, on the construction of major new warships.
• The conference did nothing to limit land forces.
Trade and Arms Control
• Japan was required to keep a smaller navy than the U.S. and Britain.
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact was a treaty that outlawed war.
• Participating countries agreed to stop war and settle all disputes peacefully.
Trade and Arms Control
• Eventually, 62 nations ratified it.• The treaty was
considered a victory for peace but had no binding force.
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