1920-45

• Immigration Restriction Act 1924 - restricted immigration from Asia but promoted immigration from Mexico
• 1920s society -> rise of flappers, prohibition, growth of KKK, jazz music + consumerism
• Federal Highway Act - 1921, developed an immense national highway system.
• Agricultural Credits Act 1921 - funded 12 banks to offer loans to farms, benefitted big farms only.
• Yellow dog contracts - 1920s, anti-strike laws by Republicans
• Herbert Hoover presidency 1929-33
• Hoover policies:

  • high tariffs
  • low tax
  • helped farmers
• Harding policies:

  • Budget + Accounting Act 1921
  • Fordney Mccumber Act 1922
  • Sheppard-Towner Act
• Warren Harding presidency 1921-23
• Scandals under Harding:

  • Teapot Dome Scandal 1921 - accepting + giving out bribes
  • Ohio gang - political allies + poker buddies Harding appointed to his cabinet - received allegations + was corrupt
• Andrew Melon, Secretary of the Treasury 1921-32
• Fordney McCumber Act - 1922, highest tariff ever
• Calvin Coolidge presidency 1923-29
• 19th Amendment - 1920, women got the right to vote
• Effects of Great Depression:

  • 1933, 5500 banks closed
  • 20,00 companies went bankrupt
  • unemployment rose from 3% in 1929 to 25% in 1933
  • 13M unemployed
  • national income fell by half - $40 billon 1932
• Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act - 1930, result of Depression, raised tariffs by 20%
• Franklin Roosevelt presidency 1933-45
• New Deal - implemented under Roosevelt, series of reform acts produced in 1933-34
• New Deal opposition:

  • left - Huey long, wanted to overthrow capitalism
  • right - Liberty league 1934, Conservative Democrats, 125000 members
  • Supreme Court - declared policies unconstitutional, opposed intervention
• Second New Deal - 1936
• Reason for 2nd New Deal:

  • insured voters won’t vote radical left
  • Roosevelt became frustrated with Supreme Court
  • big business was losing its enthusiasm
• Securities Act - 1933, aimed to protect investors against fraud + introduced federal controls on stock market.
• Glass Steagull Act - 1933, stop banks from investing American citizens’ personal savings.
• Securities Exchange Act - 1934, established Securities + Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate trading practices.
• Alphabet agencies - Roosevelt tackled rate of unemployment via his public works projects, also referred to by their abbreviations.
• CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps 1933 -> agency employed young men to help with conservation projects e.g planting trees, flood prevention barriers.
• WPA - Works Progress Administration 1933 -> administration created to provide jobs for the middle-aged + older workforce in construction, provided 8.5 million jobs
• AAA - Agricultural Adjustment Act 1933 -> act aimed to save agricultural industry by boosting cost of crops.
• FERA - Federal Emergency Relief Act 1933 -> provided grants to government workers, aim to protect their salaries + fund other agencies that provide aid to those in need.
• TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority 1933 -> introduced electric power network that covered 7 states.
• NRA - National Recovery Act 1933 -> created industry codes which fixed wages + prices, allowing workers to unionise.
• FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 1933 - created banking insurance policy that guaranteed anyone who deposited money into the bank that was under the Federal Reserve would be entitled to pay-out even if their banked failed.
• SEC - Securities + Exchange Commission 1934 -> set up to restore stock market + allow investors to invest in the market again with confidence - ended buying sales on margin
• Gold Standard - monetary system where a nation’s currency is relative to the value of gold.
• April 1933 - Roosevelt abandoned the Gold Standard.
• Good Neighbour Policy 1933:

  • US would intervene in Latin American affairs less
  • Hoover removed troops from Latin American countries
  • FDR promoted good neighbour policy + US did not want to side with countries
• Platt Amendment 1934 - Roosevelt wanted to put American interests first + this treaty attempted to protect Cuba's independence from foreign intervention
• Ludlow Amendment 1938 - forbid the declaration of war without first gaining support from a referendum
• Settling disputes:

  • settling disputes with troops in 1920s -> often replaced by loyal + local militia
  • US gave Columbia $25m in compensation for supporting independence of Panama
  • dispute with Mexico after default on loan payment in 1914
  • 1922 - Mexico agreed payment of $500,000 + provided compensation for damage caused during Mexican Revolution
• Economic investment: Latin America

  • doubled investment + US companies manufactured there
  • economists hired by Guatemala +Mexican government to create plans for countries wanting US investment