AMH 2020 Notes (Exam 3)- Dollar diplomacyo Effort of the United States (Taft) to further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countrieso “We give countries the loans, and compel repayment by military intervention in those countries Going to make loans to countries that are developing nations Hope is that loans would stimulate growth in these developing nations, and would increase demand for US goods in these countries State department authorizes these countries to have American forces in these countries- Nicaragua- Occupy the Dominican Republic- Haiti- Bolivia- El Salvador- guarantees that the US is going to get their money back- essentially, these countries aren’t independent anymore- they are American possessionso Many people unhappy with this ideao African American leaders in US protest because they feel like the black Haitians are being mistreatedo In the 20’s dollar diplomacy is reconsidered and starts to fade awayo *was a great idea, but didn’t work out in practice*- NWLB (National War Labor Board)o Established 8 hour work day for workers with time and a half for overtimepayo Endorsed equal pay for womeno Made a promise to the government that said they wouldn’t strike if the government would give them the right to unionize legally in returno By doing this, AFL grew in membership by a third and by the end of the war there were over 3 million people in AFLo 1 in every 5 workers were a union membero Massive strike that disrupts the steel industry, 350,000 people strike, industry doesn’t negotiate- labor strikeso Supreme Court against them Supports child labor and reverses decisions that were pro-laboro Causes membership in labor unions to drop dramaticallyo By 1929, only about 10 percent of workers were union members (previously 1 in 5)o Idea that all laborers are socialists/communists frightens progressive workers Americans begin to feel that there are dangerous radicals all around them- Calvin Coolidgeo Was governor of Massachusetts and nominated for presidency in 1920o Ran for president in 1924 (REPUBLICAN)o Platform goes for isolation and foreign policy, limited government, tax cuts for business basis for modern day Republican ideas- Limited government- Tax cuts for business (AKA the wealthy)- Want to get away from foreign policy Isolation was a response to the great waro The end of the progressive era (Republicans don’t support progressivism)- Sacco and Vanzettio Americans have hostility towards “reds” (communists) the red scareo 3 strikes against them: Italian, anarchists, and evaded the draft in WWI increases nativismo Convicted of murder, sentenced to deatho Historians still debate today whether they did it or not- Nativismo Fear of communism, radicalism, and immigrantso Fear lead to a rise in nativism, which was “political racism towards immigrants/ anyone not native born in the US”o Nativism reaches presidency, leads to acts against immigration (EX: Japanese immigration, Chinese exclusion act, etc.)- Harold Lloydo A comic actor in silent films, used physical danger as a source of comedy (EX: Never Weaken)- Never Weakeno The movie we watched in class starring Harold Lloyd- Political responses to the Depressiono Reconstruction finance corporations created by Hoover Provided loans to railroads, banks, roads, and utilities Slashed the amount of income taxes they charged Hoover begged state and local governments to employ the unemployedo Hoover’s response: 1) economic outcomes product of individual character: “if you don’t work hard, you don’t deserve to have a job” 2) voluntarism: business community could regulate itself- “people that do have jobs need to work harder, and we need to tighten our belts collectively as a country”- Hoover cut federal taxes- Most innovative thing created: Reconstruction finance corporation (RFC- see above) OVERALL: his response isn’t active enough to do any damage- Hoover has a reputation as a “do nothing president” even though he did stuff- however, at this point in American history, this is an unprecedented crisis and the way he handles the situation isn’t “above and beyond” enough- Franklin D. Roosevelto served as secretary of the navy like TR had done during span am war (wanted to be like TR)o suffered from polio in 1941 and was paralyzed from waist down;o Eleanor Roosevelt help him out greatly, he returns to political lifeo wins easily in 1932 (32nd president)o "Relief, Recovery, and Reform"o popular and effective with americans --> people responded to him really wello had "fireside chats" every sunday on the radio, and talked about all of the problems in America and how they were going to fix ito despite growing up in a very wealthy family, a lot of people (poor) felt that he had personally saved them and helped them- he inspired peopleo his charisma allowed him to broaden president's power for the future- “Hundred Days”o within the first hundred days of his presidency, they are going to tackle 5 major problems Banking failures- The money in banks disappear- FDR calls March 5th a national "bank holiday"- Congress creates an emergency banking act- FDR follows up on fireside chat promising to people that their money is safe- Banks reopen March 13th- Before FDR over 4,000 banks collapsed: after this, only 61 banks collapse- FDIC created: insured people's money up to $2500 (so, if a bank collapses and you have $2400 in a bank, you will get all that money back)- Today, FDIC insures money unto $250,000- Stops banks from making risky loans as ;well- FDR removes nation from the gold standard Agricultural overproduction- The government regulates the farm economy by offering cash subsidies to farmers who cut com oddities:- wheat, corn, cotton, hogs, rice, tobacco, and dairy products- problem: the benefits from this are not evenly distributed across society- EX: a plantation owner in Mississippi earned $26,000, but other people (african Americans) in the same situation aren't receiving the same benefitso ***THE NEW DEAL DIDN'T HELP AFRICAN AMERICANS OUT*** The business slump- can't get rid of the larger corporations Unemployment The housing crisiso national recovery administration (NRA)o helps the large corporations- agrees on what prices should be, but the businesses an still do whatever they wanto businesses set these prices for what
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