Americans Struggle With Postwar Issues

Chapter 12-1

Postwar Trends

• WWI had left many Americans exhausted as returning soldiers faced unemployment & took jobs from women & minorities, the economy was facing high inflation, & factories suffered as orders declined

• Many Americans responded by becoming fearful of others• This was termed as nativism or prejudice against foreign born people• In addition many also favored a policy of isolationism or a pulling away

from involvement in world affairs

Fear of Communism

• One perceived threat to the American way of life was the spread of Communism

• This is a political system that is based on a single party government ruled by a dictatorship

• The government owns & controls all aspects of the economy

The Red Scare• A panic would sweep the U.S. in 1919

when the Vladimir Lenin & his followers would overthrow the Russian government & establish a new communist state

• In the U.S. a Communist Party would also be established with 60,000 members

• Shortly after the establishment of the party in America a series of bombs were mailed to government & business leaders

• One such bomb was mailed to the home of the U.S. attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer

• The bomb would explode injuring a servant, not Palmer

The Palmer Raids• Palmer would hunt down

suspected communists & anarchists or those who opposed any form of government

• In the process he would violate & trample the civil rights of many innocent people

• In the end many were deported & tried with little or no evidence

• Many felt Palmer was doing this to gain support for a presidential run while others felt he did not know what he was talking about & just ignored him

Sacco and Vanzetti• Although the Red Scare was short lived it

did have an impact on society• This nativists attitude would ruin the lives

& reputations of many foreigners• Two of the most famous victims were two

Italian immigrants named Sacco & Vanzetti• These two men were accused of robbery

& murder• The evidence was circumstantial at best &

the two were convicted & put to death• Since their death it has been proven that

the gun used was owned by Sacco but no evidence has been uncovered that suggests he was the one who fired it

Limiting Immigration• The call became limit

immigration• Many believed that the

“new Americans” were members of the communist party, were anarchists, or socialists

• Any way you looked at it many Americans believed that they were here to destroy the American way of life

The Klan Rises Again• As a result of these anti-immigrant

feelings different groups of bigots began to come to prominence

• One such group was the Ku Klux Klan or KKK

• Groups such as these used the anti-immigrant feelings as an excuse to harass & attack those unlike themselves

• The KKK would also attack Jews, African Americans, & Catholics

• The Klan would achieve some popularity, 4.5 million in 1924, but would decline in popularity due to criminal activity & good sense

The Quota System

• In an attempt to calm fears on immigration the government reacted with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921

• This act would set up a quota system that would establish a maximum number of immigrants that would be accepted from each country

• The law would discriminate against the Jews & Catholics from eastern & southern Europe

A Time of Labor Unrest

• During the war labor pledged not to strike so not to interfere with the war effort

• However by 1919 labor unrest was ramped as there were over 3000 strikes

• Labor wanted the right to unionize, better working conditions, & higher wages

• Business owners wanted the opposite as they wanted control of the workers & labeled strikers as communists

The Boston Police Strike• In Boston Police officers had not had

a raise since WWI & were denied the right to organize

• When organizers asked for the raise they were fired

• In protest the rest of the officers went on strike & were ultimately fired by the governor Calvin Coolidge

• The striking officers were not allowed to return as new officers were hired

• This act would make Coolidge a hero earning him the nomination of Vice president under Warren Harding

The Steel Mill Strike

• The Steel workers wanted many of the sane things that the police officers wanted: wages & right to unionize

• In response 300,000 workers went on strike• The workers were beaten & strike breakers were

brought in • In the end a report was published that detailed the

harsh conditions the workers faced which horrified the public

• The workers won an 8 hour day & an increase in pay but not the right to organize

The Coal Miners• In contrast the coal

miners were able to garner a 27% wage increase as well as the right to organize

• John L. Lewis would lead their fight & would become a national hero in the eyes of labor

Labor Movement Loses Appeal

• Despite limited gains labor unions would lose appeal for many reasons1. Immigrants would work in poor conditions

for low wages2. It was difficult to organize immigrant

workers because of language barrier3. Workers were used to relying on

themselves4. Most unions excluded African Americans