1. There’s A COLD WAR Coming...
A history of the USA leading to the Cold War

2. The First Half of the 20th C
Leading up to WWI, the US was dealing with complications of open capitalism.
Policies could be seen as a shift left or right during the first half of the 20th Century.
Here are some of the major issues seen between labour unions and workers rights:

3. 1892 – Frick and his Pinkertons
Frick (who ran one of Carnegie’s steel plants) wanted to protect their profits, so he stopped negotiations with the union, slashed wages, and evicted workers from their company homes.
When the workers started to strike, he brought in the Pinkertons (hired thugs).
Three Pinkertons and seven protesters were killed in an armed conflict that lasted two weeks.
Later, an assassination attempt on Frick failed.

4. 1902 – President Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal:
following mine owners decision to stop negotiations with their miners
Roosevelt threatens military force against the owners, and states that labourers and capitalists must both be treated fairly.

5. 1911 – President Taft & the “Trusts”
followed up a lot of Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive policies by going after the trusts (large business conglomerates or corporations).
In 1911, Taft used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to go after John D. Rockefeller’s company Standard Oil. It was deemed as a monopoly and broken up into 34 individual companies.

6. 1914 – The Clayton Act:
Taft passes the Clayton Act: legitimized unions, boycotts, strikes, picketing, and collective bargaining as long as it is done peacefully.
These actions are seen as a significant move from classic liberalism to modern liberalism for the USA.

7. What will cause the BIG ?

8. 1917 – The First Red Scare:
after the Russian Revolution and a Wall Street bombing, a reactionary response from the Americans occurred that led to greater support for classic liberal policies.

9. 1921 – Harding presidency Promises
Harding becomes president on his promises of a return to normalcy: isolationism, nativism (reduction of immigration), and laissez-faire (a reduction of government involvement)

10. 1920’s – Mass production and consumption
Some capitalists, like Ford, show that happy and well treated employees will work harder and be more productive. Ford shows that the industry can change without government legislation
Mass production drops prices and the 20’s start to ROAR!

11. 1920’s – Unregulated Credit:
new consumer products (fridges, cars, telephones, radios) as well as stock investments saw many Americans borrowing money to buy or invest beyond their means.
this economic situation helped to lead to the crash of 1929 and the resulting depression.

13. 1933 – Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal:
a series of make work projects attempts to put the unemployed (25% of the public) back to work
This included: road and dam building, creating national and state parks, fighting forest fires, tree planting

16. In Canada – 1930’s
1935, Mackenzie King becomes PM and introduces new social programs and public institutions:
Using the unemployed to build harbours, ports, highways, and airstrips
1937, est. Trans-Canada Airlines (crown corp. Which eventually becomes Air Canada)
1936, est. the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC – public broadcaster)
1938, Bank of Canada (crown corp)
1939, The National Film Board
UI Act (1940), family allowance (1944), and National Housing Program (1944) CHMC

17. WWII and the US Economy
daily government spending reached $250 m, and 2/3 of gov’t contracts go to larger corporations, smaller businesses start to disappear.
the New Deal projects end

18. 1944 – Bretton Woods Conference
the end of economic nationalism, and a push for global free market trade
the World Bank, IMF, and GATT (WTO) begin to control global economic affairs
The US abandons isolationism and (with Europe in post-war ruins) becomes the major economic super power

19. Right or Left
Go back through these events and decide whether each of these policies are a “shift left” or “shift right”