A Republican Decade

Key Terms

• Communism• Red Scare• Isolationism• Disarmament• Quota• Teapot Dome scandal• Kellogg-Briand Pact

The Red Scare

• Czar Nicholas II lost his power in March 1917– Alexander Kerensky then took over

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew Kerensky

• Red and White Armies were established– Red: Lenin White: landowners and rich

• Red Army won and the USSR was created• Communism:

– Government owned all land– Single political party in power– Needs of the country were most important

• The Red Scare took off in America

Different Events Dealing with the Red Scare

• Schenck v. US– Charles Schenck sent letters to men who were drafted and

urged them not to report for duty• Broke the Espionage Act

• Gitlow v. New York– Published in cities that they should overthrow the

government by force• The Palmer Raids– Palmer was the Attorney General

• Believed that radicals were conspiring to overthrow the government• Targets were Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists

Labor Strikes

• Boston police officers had not received a pay increase since the start of the war

• Steelworkers launched a strike against the United States Steel Corporation– Work of communists

• Soft-coal miners also went on strike demanding higher wages– Were granted the miners a 14% pay increase

Republican Leadership

• The Red Scare had important political consequences– Americans felt that

they Republican Party was more likely to restore stability than the Democratic Party

Harding Presidency

• Believed in the spoils system• Many Americans wished to avoid political

alliances with foreign countries– Isolationism

• Called for a disarmament– Nations of the world would voluntarily give up

their weapons• Passed the Fordey-McCumber Tariff– Dawes Plan later (assisted Germany)

Domestic Issues during this time

• Patriotism– Immigrants would not be loyal to the US

• Religion– Protestants mistrusted immigrants

• Urban conditions– Blamed city problems on immigrants

• Jobs Workers– Immigrants would take jobs

• Red Scare– Spies or be radicals

• Teapot Dome Scandal– Fall took money for the oil drilling of California and Wyoming

The Coolidge Presidency

• Coolidge wanted a Laissez Faire economy– Congress supported it– Lowered income and inheritance tax rates and

approved higher tariffs• Established the Kellogg-Briand Pact– 15 nations pledged not to use the threat of war in

their dealings with one another• 60 later joined

Questions to Consider

• What is the Red Scare?• Why did people believe that these labor

strikes were occurring?• What were some domestic issues during this

time?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zywzzl9A

iU• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZbho6As

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