Goal 8: WWI and Beyond

Effects of the War• Influenza Epidemic

– Hit the U.S. in 1918 and spread around the world killing 550,000 Americans, including 50,000 soldiers. World wide between 50-100 million people.

Post War Recession

• End of opportunities for women– With men coming home from war, it created a

competitive job market. – By 1920, there were fewer women in the

workforce than there were in 1910.

• End of opportunities for African Americans– African Americans and returning soldiers were

competing for jobs and housing. Race riots erupted in northern, industrial cities.

Inflation Effects Americans

• During the war, there was no inflation, or rising prices.– After the war

consumers rushed to by goods instead of bonds.

– Scarcity of goods and widespread demand caused inflation.

• During the war, there was no inflation, or rising prices.– After the war

consumers rushed to by goods instead of bonds.

– Scarcity of goods and widespread demand caused inflation.

• During the war, there was no inflation, or rising prices.– After the war

consumers rushed to by goods instead of bonds.

– Scarcity of goods and widespread demand caused inflation.

Inflation Effects Americans• FARMERS

– During the war, the price of corn, wheat, cotton, and other agricultural goods and risen because of Hoover’s policies. After the war prices dropped dramatically. Farmers were not able to pay their mortgages or feed/seed for the next growing season.

• Industrial Workers– Wages did buy what they used to,

in 1919 20% of the workforce went on strike at one time or the other.

– Demanded rewards for their wartime patriotism, they wanted higher wages and shorter workdays.

The Red Scare

• Communist ideology called for an international worker’s revolution.

• Vladimir Lenin called for revolutions outside of the Soviet Union.

• The revolutionary activity and the series of workers strikes triggered the first American Red Scare, a wave of widespread fear of suspected communists and radicals thought to be plotting revolution within the U.S.

The Red Scare• General A. Mitchell

Palmer, U.S. Attorney General.– Launched a broad

offensive against radicals in the U.S. in 1919-1920.

– The Palmer Raids, 1920 police arrested thousands of people, some who were radicals and some who were immigrants from southern or eastern Europe.

• Most were never charged with a crime

The Red Scare

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)– New York City formed in 1920 to

protect the civil liberties of Americans. Got involved in court cases.

• Sacco and Vanzetti– Italian immigrants and known

anarchists were charged with shooting and killing two men during a robbery despite little to no evidence except for an eyewitness that said the robbers “looked Italian.” They were found guilty and put to death by electric chair.

Americans Embrace “Normalcy”• 1920 Election

– Republican candidate Warren G. Harding rejected Wilsonian idealism and called for a return to “normalcy” or simpler times. Won in a landslide and republicans also took control of congress.

Americans Embrace Normalcy• By 1920 the U.S. was an

economic giant. It was the richest, most industrialized country in the world. – British and French

demanded goods as well as credit from American companies.

• This situation fundamentally changed America’s economic standing in the world

• The U.S. was now the largest creditor nation in the world, other countries owed the U.S. more money than the U.S. owed them.

A Booming Economy (16.1)Automobile Drives Prosperity• Henry Ford and mass

production, rapid manufacture of large numbers of identical products.

• Model T, a reliable car the average American could afford

• Ford hired scientific management experts to improve mass production techniques

• He put his cars on moving assembly lines, in two years it reduced the time to make a Model T from 12 hours to 90 minutes.