20-1 Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues
pp. 590-595
Essential Question: What issues divided Americans after the war's end?
Subquestions:
a. What was the American reaction to the perceived threat of communism?
b. What key events or changes in other countries had a strong political/cultural impact in the US?
c. How did relations between labor and management change after the war?
d. Did tensions between security and civil liberties abate (reduce), increase, or stay the same after the war?
Starter Sources:
Class Zone ch. 20
Teacher Tube
Lots of YouTube videos are available on Sacco and Vanzetti. Some exist on the Palmer Raids, although they're not as good. Try to choose from a reputable source. Be very aware of perspective!
Cyclical rise of anti-immigrant groups, in this case the KKK
Cool YouTube link on Teapot Dome Scandal 1:49 clip on how the scandal went down.
I felt that Danzer failed to show how much power the KKK had politically during the 1920's in 20.1. "They also tried to influence nation, state, and local politics." (Danzer 593) Not only did the KKK "try to influence" the government, they succeeded according to a documentary on the KKK on the history channel. "You couldn't get easily voted into public office in many states if you were not either a clansman or sympathetic to the clan." (IKA member from History of the KKK video)
ReplyDeleteSources:
The Americans
Video Sources
http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan/videos#history-of-kkk
MUST SEE VIDEO!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u56KAE0y8A
"'I'll have the law on you' Olberholtzer cried, to which Stevenson replied 'I am the law.'"
Dear Danzer, THAT is the extent to which the KKK had control in government politics
Communism scared the masses. the "Red Scare" was just a scare. The communist Party never took any kind of control. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer went overboard here. "Palmer's raids however, failed to turn up evidence of a revolution. Nor did agents discover explosives, and they found only three pistols in their search for weapons." (Danzer 592). If not for this revival of nativism, Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco might have been given a fair trial. In this hysteria sensible thinking was not always apparent. This scare reminds me of the post 9/11 day we live in today. Suspicion of Muslims is extreme. It is unfortunate but there are many prejudices and suspicions, just because this person is a Muslim.
ReplyDeleteI though this was pretty coincidental, talking about how bad Palmer was.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1858691,00.html
Loving the Blogger by the way.
How did relations between labor and management change after the war?
ReplyDeletewages didnt stay with the prices in a store. employers refused to give raises to there employeys even though they were getting more money. strikes began to occur. in 1919 there were more than 3000 strikes. and during that year more than 4 million workers walked off the job. by 1919 the cost of living had doubled. but police in boston had yet to get a raise since the start of ww 1police went to the police commisioner to ask for a living wage they were all fired. so the police wen on strike but the govener calvin coolidge silinced the up rise. with the nat. guard. the police commissoner then refused to allow the men to come back. ironically the strikers were replaced with new police member that got everything the strikers wanted.
The initial response to communism was fright. Yet only one-tenth of one percent of americans joined the party. Communists wanted to abolish private property. In addition, there was a rash os several dozen bombs mailed to government and business leaders. A. Mitchell Palmer decided he would take action against the "red scare".Palmer sent agents to go hunt down possible communists. However his raids failed to turn anything up.
ReplyDeleteAmericans have always valued their rights. There have been periods in history that the government has violated American people's rights. Fear of the communist party was mostly tied to the growth of the organized labor movement.
Sources:
The Americans by Danzer
http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2006-05-17-voa2-83131412.html
Jess, you have to hyperlink the video. Otherwise we can't access it easily. (That goes double for you Kirby)
ReplyDeleteand triple for you, Ellery.
ReplyDeleteIn all of American history there were five eras of the KKK rising up. A gang rooted in hatred and terrorism. Five times they were allowed to gain power. Why?
ReplyDeleteTrying to understand the “Why” of the Klu Klux Klan is almost like trying to understand why humans continue to kill one another. Starting with Kirby’s opening statement, one of the most striking results of the war was the growing sense of fear. The fear of Communism, the fear of technology, fear of unions. And out of this sort of domestic chaos, people tried to take a stand. The Klan was one of the organizations who rose to the opportunity. At the ‘Clash of Cultures’ website it described how during their second era, the organization’s actions were focused on enforcing morality and sobriety. They were proponents of prohibition, and supposedly of American ethics (you know, the ones that involve kicking out anyone who was not EXACTLY LIKE THEM).
The Klan was really just ordinary people promoting community activities under the banner of patriotism. And when I saw the picture of “Klan Day at the Races” it seemed that the reason they were able to keep coming back was because they had started as a radical mob, but become a friendly community group.
This of course is just like saying “They were originally a tribe of cannibals, but it’s ok; now they run a very successful French restaurant.”
I thought that I'd posted this yesterday but I guess that it didn't go through.
ReplyDeleteThe American reaction to the threat of Communism:
- Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover to head the new anti-radical division of the Justice Department (later became the Federal Bureau of Investigation) to hunt down suspected Communists, socialists, and anarchists
- Palmer raids led to alien radical being deported without a trial, suspects being jailed for weeks without seeing lawyers, invasion of private property without search warrants [Danzer 591]
- The killing of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti after convicting them murdering a factory paymaster and his guard and stealing $15,000 dollars ($168,679.50 today) [Danzer 592]
- The revival of the Ku Klux Klan, which by 1924 had 4.5 million members [Danzer 593]
- Sacco and Vanzetti died in the Electric chair on August 23, 1927
- 1961 Ballistics tests founds that Sacco’s pistol was in fact the on that had been used to shoot the guard
- August 23, 1977 Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis declared that Sacco and Vanzetti had not been given a fair trial
The following is an excerpt from the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti is which Vanzetti discusses how he came to posses the revolver that was found in his possession. For a little background information on this subject, Vanzetti, at the time of his arrest, had said that he had bought the gun at the store, and he lied about how much he paid for it.
Now, speaking back a few months. When you were arrested, you had a revolver on you? A. Yes.
Q. Where did you carry that revolver? What part of your clothes did you carry it in? A. I carried on my back pocket, pants back pocket, but I don't remember if in right or left side.
Q. When, about when, did you get that revolver? A. It was two or three months.
Q. And what was the occasion of your getting that revolver? A. I went to Falzini's house one day.
Q. Now, you are going to tell us about a conversation. I might as well stop you. You can’t. But did you get a revolver at the Falzini house? A. Yes.
Q. Why did you get the revolver? A. I got the revolver because it was a very bad time, and I like to have a revolver for self-defense.
Q. How much money did you use to carry around with you? A. When I went to Boston for fish, I can carrry eighty, one hundred dollars, one hundred and twenty dollars.
Q. What do you mean by "It was a bad time"? A. Bad time, I mean it was many crimes, many holdups, many robberies.
Q. Many holdups? A. Yes.
Q. Do you remember what you paid for the revolver? A. I think $5.
Sources:
The Americans
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/s&vevidence.html
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/vanztest.html