4 - Boom & Bust ('12-'32) (Emergence & Normality Combined) -- WIP 1/2

Question 1

Emergence & Normality - examples of interventionist Legislation/Events

Answer 1

• Federal Farm Loan Act ‘16 - Federal farm loan Board oversaw:
  
  • Federal land banks
  • Mortgage interest rates
  • Intervene in irresponsible loans
• Federal Reserve Act ‘13 - Introduced the Federal Reserve System to oversee monetary policy & to control inflation(/money supply)
  ___
• Clayton Anti-Trust Act ‘14 - expanded list of prohibited business practices to create a fairer market
• Federal Trade Commission ‘14 - Trade regulation; ruled out ‘Unfair Methods’ of trade competition

Question 2

Emergence - Wilson’s Amendments

Answer 2

• 16th Amendment ‘13 - Income Tax
• 17th Amendment ‘13 - direct election of senators in each state
• 18th Amendment ‘19 - Prohibition (loopholes)
• 19th Amendment ‘20 - Women get the vote

Question 3

Emergence - Economic Legislation/Events

Answer 3

Tax & tarrif reform
* Underwood Tariff Act ‘13 - lowered avg. tariff rates from 40%-27% & reintroduced a Federal Income tax
* Revenue Act ‘16 - income tax only had to be paid by those with an income over $4k (4x industrial wage)
___
Banking reform
* Federal Reserve Act ‘13 - Introduced the Federal Reserve System to oversee monetary policy & to control inflation(/money supply)
___
Federal Trade Commission
* Federal Trade Commission ‘14 - Trade regulation; ruled out ‘Unfair Methods’ of trade competition
* Under Wilson administered ~400 cease-and-desist orders, but some felt it was too weak

Question 4

Emergence - Social Legislation/Events

Answer 4

Workers’ rights
* Child Labour Act ‘16 - dealt w/ 2M under 16 workers w/ no education by banning the sale of products from factories that employed children, but ruled ‘Unconstitutional’
* Workmen’s compensation Act ‘16 - offered financial assistance if absent due to illness or injury
* Adamson Act ‘16 - Max of 8 hrs work for Railroad workers
___
Unsympathetic to Trade Unions
* Ludlow Coal strike ‘13 - srtikers were refused their demands and evicted from their homes, camped outside the company and the Colorado National Guard fireded on the tents, killing 26 people
* Wilson sent in the federal troops to restore order & break up the strike

Question 5

Emergence & Normality - AA Legislation/Events

Answer 5

NAACP formed in ‘09
The Great Migration beginning in ‘16 onwards - worsened racial tensions but provided somewhat safer opportunities as AAs relocated to Northern & Western urban centers - though still ultimately resulted in poverty due to discrimination in employment etc.
Jazz Age & Harlem rennaisance - enhances AA cultural visibility & broke down Northern social racial barriers
___
By ‘32, AA unemployment: 50% (60% in some urban areas), wheras for white Northerners only 25%
___
Wilson appeased conservative Southern voters, but dissapointed Northern White & Black voters; the NAACP had initially backed him in ‘12
* Segregationalists put in charge of Federal Agencies, reinforcing segregation
* Felt no further duty to AAs & supported Segregation; Wilson shook hands with Tillman - a known supporter of Lynching
___
* Wilson didn’t prevent KKK resurgance in ‘15
Anti lynching legislation failed to get past the Senate
Tulsa Race Massacre ‘21 - in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a White mob killed ~300 AA residents, & the district where they lived was destroyed

Question 6

Normalicy - Economic legislation/events

Answer 6

Economic boom of ’20s
* mass production techniques (e.g. car industry), consumer credit/hire purchase schemes, wages increased modestly but most significantly shifted even moreso towards the rich
* Share of income of the top 5% in ‘29: 34%; of top 1%: 19%
___
Stock Market Crash ‘29
* Over 4 working days, shares in Dow Jones dropped by 25%
* Led to bank failures, loss of billions in wealth, & ultimately the great depression
___
Smoot-Hawley Tarrif ‘30
* imposed further tariffs on 20k items, but only resulted in retaliatory tariffs and worsened the crisis
Agracultural Marketing Act ‘29
* established the federal farm board to stabalise prices & promote agracultural products, but very limited success as it failed to prevent the decline in farm prices
* Farmers’ incomes from ‘29-‘30 fell by 25%, whilst non-farmers’ income fell by 6%
___
Reconstruction Finance Corporation ‘32
* provided emergency loans to banks, insurance companies etc. but insifficient & too conservative to be effective

Question 7

Normalicy - Social legislation/events

Answer 7

• Sheppard-Towner Maternity Aid Act ‘21 - provided federal aid to states to encourage the building of infant and maternity health centres
  ___
  Immigration Act ‘27 (Under Coolidge) - implemented a literacy test that require immigrants over the age of 16 to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in at least one language
• Increased the tax paid by new immigrants upon arrival
• Excluded entry for Asians except for Japanese and Filipinos
  ___
  Prohibition; 18th Amendment ‘19
• the rise of bootlegging & speakeasies, increased organised crime (e.g. Al Capone), public disillusionment
• repealed in ‘33 (21st Amendment) due to said public dissilusionment, need to stimulate industries
  “Flapper culture” - women embraced new fashions, representing a shift towards greater social freedom & gender equality in urban areas
  ___
  Bonus March ‘32 - veterans demanded payment for their WWI services immediately instead of by ‘45; forcibly dispersed by General MacArthur, highlighted the severe economic distress of the depression

Question 8

Normalicy - FP legislation/events

Answer 8

Washington Naval Conference ‘21-‘22
* Restricted the construction of warships for naval powers
* Powers agreed to respect their pacific territories & to avoid conflict
* More respect to China’s sovereignty
* Reduced naval competition but didn’t stop growing militarisation in the ’30s
___
Kellog-Briand Pact ‘28
* 62 countries signed, pledging that they would outlaw war for resolving disputes, but was toothless & didn’t prevent WWII
___
The Dawes Plan ‘24
* Germany was given loans to stabalise its economy –> it could repay reperations to UK & France –> UK & France could repay its loans to US
* Initially very successfull and reduced EU tension, but tied EU economies to US loans, proving disasterous when loans were recalled in GD
___
US refused to recognise territorial changes due to force - specificaly in response to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria ‘31

Question 9

Emergence - Causes of Neutrality

Answer 9

• Public Opinion
  
  • Prevailing mood against war & felt distant to the US
  • ‘14, 1.5k women marched in NYC against the war
  • Influential people - such as Secutary of State Bryan - prganised movements against it
• Wilsonianism
  
  • Declaration of Neutrality ‘14
  • Wilson wanted to mediate; US could be a peacemaker if neutral
  • He warned against taking sides
  • Guided by sense of Christian morality
    ___
    However, there were factors against Neutrality
• Support for Allies
  
  • many of WIlson’s allies favoured the Allies & he felt a personal connection with Britain
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
  
  • Ended towards the start of the war once US threatened Germany with more intervention
  • With 8hrs notice in JAN ‘17, Germany resumed it

Question 10

Emergence - Causes of entry into WWI

Answer 10

Initial hesitation, as being Neutral was largely supported, & he would have upset large EU minorities in the US
___
Resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ‘17
* After the sinking of the Lusitania ‘15, it was suspended, but Germany announced with little warning in ‘17 that it would be resumed; this return greatly shifted public opinion against Germany
Zimmerman Telegram
* UK intelligence intercepted a telegram to Mexico, suggesting Mexico could invade the US w/ German support to distract it from getting involved in EU; US felt its sovereignty was being threatened
Economic/trade interests in EU
* The US had strong trade alreasy, but they had also loaned lots of money to UK & France, which could be in jeapordy if they lost the war
* loans amounted to $2B

Question 11

Emergence - Effects of entry into WWI

Answer 11

Propoganda & Civil Liberties
* Espionage Act ‘17 & Sedition Act ‘18 - restricted freedom of speech: made criticising the war, government or military illegal, Socialist leader Debs sentenced to 10yrs in prison, 2k ppl prosecuted
* 75M pamphlets, 7.5M posters & speeches organised to promote the war
___
War Production
* WIB (War Industries Board) controlled raw materials & set priorities
* Industrial production increased by 32% from ‘14-‘17, & $20B raised in war bonds (public funding)
___
Workers
* Their right to unionise & bargain collectively was supported
* Union membership ‘16-‘19: 2.5M-4M
* 8hr work day in many industries & wages increased ~20% during the war
* 4M men enlisted, creating labour gaps
* Post-war, inflation & employer backlash led ot over 3.6k strikes in ‘19
___
AAs
* 350k enlisted, though in segregated units & mostly in non-combat roles
* AAs filled in labour gaps in industrial Northern cities
* Post-War competition for jobs & housing led to rising tension & race riots in ‘19

Question 12

Emergence - Wilson Progressive?

Answer 12

Progressive aims he achieved
* Greater Suffrage - 19th Amendment
* More Intervention - established principle of federal regulation; 4 Amendments
* Anti-Corruption - Clayton Anti-trust Act ‘16 & Federal Trade Commission ‘14
* Labour Laws - Workmen’s Compensation Act ‘16 & Adamson Act ‘16
* Prohibition - 18th Amendment
___
However
* Neglected AA rights
* Supported Segregation & not AAs

Question 13

Emergence - AA strengths & weaknesses

Question 14

Emergence - WWI strengths & weaknesses

Question 15

Emergence - Reform success strengths & weaknesses

Question 16

Immigration ‘12-‘32

Answer 16

Great Atlantic Migration - 18M Europeans migrated from ‘90-‘17
The Great Migration ‘16-‘70: AAs began relocating from the rural South to the Urban centers of the North & West

Question 17

Presidents ‘12-‘32

Answer 17

2T - Wilson - ‘12-‘20
___
0.5T - Harding - ‘21-‘23
1.5T - Coolidge - ‘23-‘28
1T - Hoover - ‘29-‘32

Question 18

Wilson strengths & weaknesses

Answer 18

• Banking reform; more centralised
• Workers rights
• Established the principle for Federal Regulation
  ___
• Supported Segregation
• Unsympathetic to Trade Unions

Question 19

Harding strengths & weaknesses

Answer 19

• Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act ‘21
  
  • provided federal aid to states to encourage the building of infant and maternity health centres
• Successful cuts to government spending
  
  • $5B to $3.333B from ‘20 to ‘22
• Reduced federal government intervention, achieving ‘return to normalcy’
  ___
• Isolationism and Conservatism
• Scandals
  
  • Teapot Dome Scandal
  • ‘Ohio Gang’
  • Harding’s behaviour

Question 20

Coolidge strengths & weaknesses

Question 21

Hoover strengths & weaknesses

Question 22

Emergence - ‘12 Election

Answer 22

• Wilson won mainly due to TR & Taft pslitting the Republican vote:
  
  • Wilson 42%, TR 27%, Taft 23%, Debs 6%
  • TR considered Taft too conservative, & the Republican party was becoming more fractured between progressivism & conservatism
• 59% of population voted
  ___
• Wilson Campaign - NEW FREEDOM: individual & state rights, he was endorsed by Bryan & won less votes than he had, but still won
• TR Campaign - NEW NATIONALISM: welfare state, minimum wage for women, social security system
• Taft Campaign - Conservative, said TR was “running for his ego”

Question 23

Emergence - ‘16 Election

Answer 23

Wilson wins

Question 24

Normalicy - ‘20 election

Answer 24

Harding wins with biggest majority ever (excluding unchallenged election of President Monroe 100yrs prior)

Question 25

Normalicy - **'24** election

Answer 25

Coolidge wins

Question 26

Normalicy - **'28** election

Answer 26

Hoover wins * Record as financial minister during the boom

Question 27

Normalicy - **'32** election

Answer 27

FDR wins, though his campaign has contradictions

Question 28

Reps. Change & Continuity **'12-'32**

Question 29

Dem.s Change & Continuity **'12-'32**