The Decade of Normalcy

The Election of 1920  Democrats: James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt  Campaign for the League of Nations  Republicans: Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge  Republicans were split on Harding’s view  Won the election  Used slogan: “A return to normalcy”

Postwar Foreign Policy  War Debt  Allied nations owed US $10.3 billion  Europe said US tariffs were slowing their recovery  US should pay more because they lost less  US said the countries received reparations and territory after the war  US said they would not cancel debts  Eventually US reduced most debts  Loaned Germany money

The Washington Conference  The Four-Power Treaty  US, Great Britain, France, and Japan  Respect each others’ Pacific holdings  The Five-Power Treaty  Four-Power + Italy  Freeze navy levels  Halt building warships for 10 years  The Nine-Power Treaty  Five-Power + Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal  Open Door policy

Business Normalcy  The Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922  Increased import duties to high levels  Protected new industries in the US  Bureau of the Budget  Try to decrease national debt by watching the budget  Changes in Taxation  Cut taxes  Prosperity in the nation still decreased the debt

Labor and Labor Unions  Rise of technological unemployment  Union Decline  Employers promoted the open shop  Promoted welfare capitalism  Enables employees to buy shares in the business  Wages and working conditions improved  Strikebreaking  Federal government on the side of employers

Restricting Immigration  Immigrants were arriving in large numbers  Nativists – did not like:  Took all the jobs for lower wages  Scared they were radicals  They were Catholic  The National Origins Act  1921 – Emergency Quota Act  Cut people admitted to the US  1924 – National Origins Act  Permanent restrictions  Discriminated against certain nationalities

Sacco and Vanzetti  Two Italian immigrants accused of killing two men  They were anarchists  Convicted and sentenced to death  Many believed they never got a fair trial  Guilt or innocence has never fully been proven

Scandals Among Harding’s Advisers  The Ohio Gang  Harding’s poker friends  Used their connections to sell appointments  Teapot Dome Scandal  Albert Fall, Sec. of Interior, leased Navy owned oil lands to individuals  Harding died before news of the scandals broke