Unit+6

Unit 6 1/31/11: __U.S. Steps to WWI:__ 2/1/11: Edits to C23 Qs:
 * 1) **Declaration of Neutrality** (1914) Wilson runs his campaign on the slogan "he kept us out of war!" - wanted to remain "neutral"
 * 2) **Ties to England** (1914) They were involved in their trade & economy, wanted to keep their trade despite "neutrality" - also had historical/cultural ties, English colonies
 * 3) military preparation - building up their army
 * 4) **Sinking of Lusitania** (May 7, 1915) Germany sinks a British passenger ship, killing 1,198 people, 128 of them were American.
 * 5) **Zimmerman Telegram** (February 25, 1917) England intercepted a telegram from Germany to the president of Mexico, asking them to join the war & telling them they would regain lost land to the US by doing so.
 * 6) **Russian Revolution** (March 1917) The old Russian monarchy was out of the government, allowing a new government to take over which took the country out of the war completely.
 * 7) **Unrestricted Submarine Warfare** (1917) Germany also threatens to send out more submarines to destroy the allied powers, the US included. They sink numerous ships
 * 8) **Declaration of War on Germany** (April 1917)
 * 1) Trench warfare was used; powerful, advanced weapons; more countries
 * 2) War Industry Board - helped clarify problems; propaganda
 * 3) (#4) New map of Europe - reduce empire power & size - reduction of arms - borders were based on nationalities (based on shared culture, language, identity) --> trying to make peace - did not join the League of Nations because they did not want to give over any power, wanted their independence.


 * A Society in Turmoil - Postwar America **
 * __During the war:__ booming economy, #1 power in the world - not devastated by the war.
 * Recession - millions unemployed, GNP went down 10% in one year; 100,000 businesses went bankrupt, farmers lost their lands
 * Progressive advancements that were being made slowed down
 * Workers unrest - strikes (Boston Police Force, Steelworkers' Strike - largest strike in history)
 * Violence - racial struggles (Chicago = war, race riots), violence during strikes as well.
 * New African-American attitudes - soldiers thought higher of themselves, wanted social recognition & rewards, they became more determined to get equal rights & to put an end to racism and segregation.
 * Red Scare - communist threats in America, led to bombings & the Soviet Union government threatening to start rebellions across the world - put people in panic & started the anti-radicalism movement. This movement supported the idea of "100% Americanism," raids started on suspected radical centers, arresting whomever they caught.
 * 1920 election stopped Woodrow Wilson's focus on idealism; Warren G. Harding (Republican) wins & focuses on a return to "normalcy"


 * "The New Era" - C24 **
 * A time of dramatic economic, political, and social CHANGE.
 * "The Roaring Twenties" --> cultural frivolity
 * Women gaining their own identity - hair, dress, social, smoking, etc.
 * Battle between conservatism & liberalism.[[image:http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/files/2010/11/Hollywood6652.jpg align="right" caption="The Hollywood sign shown above L.A"]]
 * The Cinema (p.649)**
 * the film industry, although invented by the French & British, was dominated by America in response to WWI
 * 1920s- Hollywood produced 700 films a year on average; more than 10x the number by any other nation
 * France- 70%, Latin America - 80%, 95% in Canada & Great Britain of films were American made films
 * Half of the theaters in the world were in America by the end of WWI
 * The Soviet Union created a porcupine - similar to Mickey Mouse; shows influence of American culture on the world
 * Movies were & still are America's largest cultural export
 * Film industries in other countries were flourishing due to American market's influence - "Bollywood" - small british film industry (exported many great writers, actors, directors - Alfred Hitchcock)
 * In recent times Hollywood stil remains the leading place for film making, as does America in general. However, Hollywood itself is becoming more diverse & global - import of actors/directors/writers from other countries.
 * 1922-1930s: viewers went from 40 to 100 million


 * Dance Halls (p.652-653)[[image:http://www.savoystyle.com/Savoy.jpg align="right" caption="The Savoy ballroom was the largest & most popular dance halls in America in the 1920s & 1930s"]]**
 * dance craze swept America in the 1920s and 1930s
 * great African-American migration brought jazz out of the South and into the urban North
 * the phonograph and radio helped popularize music
 * relative prosperity allowed this to be available to the working class as well as prohibition of saloons and traverns helped limit their options of leisure time activities
 * to hear powerrful music, show off new clothes and hairstyles, and of course to dance
 * attractions include bands and famous musicians like Paul Whiteman, Ben Pollack, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington
 * for working class immigrants dancing at dance halls and savoys was part of becoming American
 * large crowds foprmed at public placse like these dance halls however groups of people (usually by race or religion like Italians or Jews) would be segregated in their own groups
 * the growing culture began to overwhelm the close-knit-ethnic cultures that many young Americans had grown into
 * The Savoy was one of the largest and most popular dance halls of the country located in Harlem, New York featuring some of the most famous bands


 * Decline of the "Self-Made Man" (p.655)**
 * Started declining after the war - America was focusing more on training, education, preparation - and there was less focus on talent & the idea of simply achieving something.
 * Myth: with talent & effort you could become successful - was deminishing. People needed higher education, money (wealthy stayed wealthy - social inmobility)
 * Men were becoming confused & unsure about how to become successful - reflected In Eddison, Ford, Lindbergh - represented achievements of modern society w/out the benefit of higher education - essence of both the new & old era

2/4/11: 2/7/11:

Top Five Main Ideas of the 1920s:
 * 1) There was a dramatic rise in consumerism during this time, many people found themselves living less traditionally and making less clothing
 * 2) The economy was full of new opportunities for the middle class, due to these changes they created a new outlook on life, freeing
 * 3) There were many asepcts that changed communication in the 1920s, like the radio and movies
 * 4) Means of transportation changed too, car sales rose during this period, making it easier and quicker for people to see family, friends, and to travel
 * 5) Battles of conservatives and liberals were prominent; conservatives were for religious fundamentalism (The Scopes Trail), prohibition, and nativism (The New Klan)
 * 6) Cities became more modern, and rural areas were left behind, clinging on to their morals and traditionalism
 * 7) Women were less domesticated, pursuing more individuality - dance halls, flappers, etc.

Social Changes - 1920s
media type="custom" key="8296714"

2/8/11: Chapter 24 Review:
 * __**Q#3**__ - Hoover and most republicans had a favorable view on laissez faire capitalism; volunteer associationalism; wanted to crete national business associations, no force, the government was trying to help them do this; business networking - cooperartion; promised economic turn around, did not have the chance to proove it, within a year the country went into the Great Depression- bad luck.
 * __**What's Hoover going to do?**__ Hoover has his core beliefs, but he might have to forget them to help the country under these severe circumstances.

Chapter 25 - The Great Depression
2/9/11: 2/12/11: How does the stock market work?
 * 1929 - The stock market crashes, first signs of the Great Depression
 * 1930 - A ten year drought starts in the south & west, The Dust Bowl - destroys economies even further
 * 1930's trend- There is a continuation of racism and racial tensions - immigration - Scottsboro Boys trials
 * 1931 - The Communist Party stages a march in D.C. - weakened in 1939, but did expand in 1935
 * is the Red Scares still going on? Or did the Communist Party die down for a while?
 * 1932 - Banking crisis begins - depression in full effect, deepens in the US & spreads to Europe
 * 1933 - Franklin Roosevelt becomes president - New Deal starts
 * 1930's trend - new publications begin in the US, //Gone with the Wind, How to Win Friends & Influence People, Life// Magazine//, Grapes of Wrath, Native Son, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.//
 * Causes of the Great Depression: lack of diversification, maldistribution of wealth, declining exports; boom then bust - "Black Tuesday;"
 * Continuation of the depression - banking system collapse,
 * sells shares, or parts of the ownerships, of publicly owned companies
 * every company is assigned a symbol
 * companies are sold by traders or brokers
 * value of the stock depends on factors, which make the value go up and down
 * buyers made a bid & sellers put up their price - an "ask"
 * to value these stocks when they go on the market, company lawyers have to draw up paper work about the company's IPO - initial public offering
 * The IPO barely stays the same, it changes every few seconds - factors that determine its price: how much money the company makes in ratio to their amount spent - equity; stock costs versus the amount the company earns; depends on the state of the economy; stock market indexes tell brokers how a group is doing.
 * when companies go public - they grow & earn money
 * The Great Depression - money in the stock market went into the products that the companies built with the money people invested --> over production

Herbert Hoover's Attempts to Stop the Great Depression Hoover Video
 * Agricultural Marketing Act - helped farmers maintain their prices before the stock market. Farm Board would make loans & establish corporations to buy surplus. Keeps from lowering prices, keeps them higher.
 * voluntarism - wanted people to volunteer to help with the downfall, not to cut pay or hours from workers - no success
 * fixing government spending - increased the government's budget to get money for public works programs, but then tried to keep it balanced when the economy worsened.
 * reconstruction finance corporation
 * Hawley-Smoot Tariff - increased protection on 75 farm products, tax on farming/agricultural imports --> bad because other countries pass tariffs on American goods - even more export declining
 * key concept: Hoover's downfall - Bonus army
 * was extremely respected before he took office; largest figure of the time
 * seen as a big business Republican, not able to connect to the common man
 * he did have a sense of social obligation - "The only problem with capitalism is capitalists. They're too damned greedy."
 * to keep his belief that the government should not be too involved - relied on voluntarism
 * 1932 Campaign - his name turned into a joke, every where he went
 * Bonus army - WWI vets wanted their bonuses, but they were not supposed get their bonus in 1945, they were desperate
 * Roosevelt provided for a hope that tomorrow would be better

2/15/11: 2/16/11: Great Depression Problems media type="custom" key="8388874" FDR - Presidency Revealed Video:
 * Many believed that the GD was the mark of the end of capitalism
 * used the new democratic majority in both houses to accomplish things
 * farmers were on the verge of revolution - AAA paid farmers to grow less; to take fields out of use & to slaughter animals - keeps less goods on the market & prices high
 * AAA helped some keep their farms; farm owners got the payments, but their workers never saw it - they fired some of their workers because they were growing less.
 * Roosevelt turned the government into the nation's largest employer - 250,000 CCC jobs
 * NRA - supposed to stop the boom & busts of capitalism less painful --> turning into a communist economy?
 * Francis Perkins - first women to ever serve in a president's cabinet - labor secretary


 * Chapter 25 Top Ten**
 * 1) **"Black Tuesday"** - October 21, 1929 - First sign of the Great Depression; the stock market crash was the first step in a long downfall for the American economy.
 * 2) **Declining Exports** - European sources were gaining their strength back from WWI & were becoming more independent, not needing to outsource. This was one of the major causes of the GD.
 * 3) **Banking Collapse** - The economy suffered even worse after the stock market crash, when the banks totally fell. The total money supply dropped by more than a third, depositors lost millions, and banks everywhere were declaring bankruptcy.
 * 4) **Hoover** - President at the beginning of the GD, a strong believer in laissez faire - made Americans hate and blame him for the GD, he tried to do the best he could while still valuing his beliefs.
 * 5) **Dust Bowl** - The south and mid-west, if their economy was not already the worst of all the country's - suffered from a 10 year drought, many relocated to find refuge.
 * 6) **Scottsboro Case** - Especially during the GD, discrimination and prejudice did not let up. Two white women falsely accused 9 black men of rape, with no evidence they somehow managed to get the boys sent to jail, they were not released for 20 years.
 * 7) **Retreat from Consumerism** - No one in America had money because of the great state of crisis they were in, the fact that no one could buy anything depressed the capitalist economy even more.
 * 8) **Escapism** - Programming on the radio and literature writing were using techniques like escapism to help people escape from the pressures of life.
 * Legacies of the New Deal**
 * **Electoral Reallignment** - new coallition for the Democrats, because of FDR's New Deal programs African Americans were voting Democrat. They had been voting republican since the Civil War.
 * **Programs that lasted past the New Deal** - Programs like Social Security, Federal Housing Authority, Federal Deposit Insurance. SCC (watch over & regulate stock market),
 * **Physical legacy** - TVA, WPA,
 * **Deficit Spending** - Keynesian economics - Keynes said it's not necessarily a bad thing if the government goes into debt, as long as it for the benefit of the overall economy. --> Roosvelt Recession - they tried to slow their spending down - unemployment rate was only fueled by government spending - resulted in a negative for the economy.
 * **Establishment of the "Broker State"** - instead of forging all elements of society into one, they separated to create more competition in the marketplace.
 * **"Black Cabinet"** - Roosevelt's ND programs did little to help or hurt African Americans, but he did hire some blacks to join in his administration of the federal government.
 * **Social Injusticies** - The New Deal programs did extremely little to stop racial injusticies and prejudice, some programs reinforced discrimination by only allowing whites to recieve aid. They also reinforced traditional gender roles in society.
 * **Indian Gains** - John Collier fought for legislation to help Native Americans, the new Indian Reorganization Act allowed them to once again own land conjunctively as a tribe, instead of individually - this stimulated their agricultural economy as well.
 * **Women** - traditional gender roles were popular during this time, women made virtually no progress during this period, Roosevelt did hire Francesw perkins to his cabinet, but they still achieved little as a gender.
 * **New Expectations** - Because the government acted so aggressively during the GD, the people were now expecting more involvement and aid from them, and the strong Democratic party.
 * **Hope** - In actuality, the New Deal only kept the country's head above water, it did not end the GD, but it did instill faith and a sense of possibility among Americans.