CHAPTER SUMMARY

“Return to Normalcy” Although progressivism lost its appeal after the Great War, the Eighteenth Amendment (paving the way for Prohibition) and the Nineteenth Amendment (guaranteeing women’s suffrage) marked the culmination of that movement at the national level. Reformers stiU actively worked for good and efficient government at the local level, but overall the drive was for a “return to normalcy”—conformity and moral righteousness.

Isolationism America distanced itself from global affairs—a stance reflected in the Red Scare, laws limiting immigration, and high tariffs. Yet America could not ignore international events because its business interests were becoming increasingly global. Although the United States never joined the League of Nations, it sent unofficial observers to Geneva. The widespread belief that arms limitations would reduce the chance of future wars led America to participate in the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 and the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928.

Era of Conservatism Many Americans, particularly people in rural areas and members of the middle class, wanted a return to a quieter, more conservative way of life after World War I, and Warren G. Harding’s landslide Republican victory allowed just that. The policies of Harding’s pro-business cabinet were reminiscent of those of the McKinley White House more than two decades earlier. Union membership declined in the 1920s as workers’ rights were rolled back by a conservative Supreme Court and in response to fears of Communist subversion. Workers, however, shared in the affluence of the 1920s, thereby contributing to the rise of a mass culture.

Growth of Economy The budget was balanced through reductions in spending and taxes, while tariffs were raised to protect domestic industries, setting the tone for a prosperous decade. Harding’s successor, Calvin Coolidge, actively promoted the interests of big business. The public responded enthusiastically to the mass marketing of new consumer goods such as radios and affordable automobiles. Agricultural production, however, lagged after the wartime boom evaporated.

The Great Depression The stock market crash revealed the structural flaws in the economy, but it did not cause the Great Depression. Government policies throughout the twenties—high tariffs, lax enforcement of anti-trust laws, an absence of checks on speculation in real estate and the stock market, and adherence to the gold standard—contributed to the onset of the Depression. Hoover’s attempts to remedy the problems were too few and too late. Banks failed, businesses closed, homes and jobs were lost.