Tttafter_a_Long_Period_of_Agitation

Red Scare A phenomenon known as the Red Scare took place in the United States during World War I and some years afterward. Anger and fear among many in the American population that dissidents and subversives were sabotaging the war effort led to repression and arrests of suspected threats against American society. Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1918, making it illegal to impede the war effort by encouraging draft resistance. Leftist radicals were emboldened by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and were eager to respond to Lenin's call for world socialism. The United States was in turmoil throughout 1919. The huge number of returning veterans could not find work, something the Wilson administration had given little thought to. After the war, fear of subversion resumed in the context of the Red Scare, massive strikes in major industries (steel, meatpacking) and violent race riots. Radicals bombed Wall Street and workers went on strike in Seattle, in February. During 1919, a series of more than 20 riotous and violent black-white race-related incidents occurred. These included the Chicago, Omaha, and Elaine Race Riots. On May 1, 1919, a May Day parade in Cleveland, Ohio, protesting the imprisonment of the Socialist Party leader, Eugene Debs, erupted into the violent May Day Riots. A series of bombings in 1919 and assassination attempts further inflamed the situation. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer conducted the Palmer Raids, a series of raids and arrests of non-citizen socialists, anarchists, radical unionists, and immigrants. By 1920, over 10,000 arrests were made, and the aliens caught up in these raids were deported back to Europe, most notably the anarchist Emma Goldman. [edit] Aftermath of World War I A 1919 sheet music coverA popular Tin Pan Alley song of 1919 asked, concerning the United States troops returning from World War I, "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm After They've Seen Paree'". In fact, many did not remain "down on the farm"; there was a great migration of youth from farms to nearby towns and smaller cities. The average distance moved was only 10 miles (16 km). Few went to the cities over 100,000. However, agriculture became increasingly mechanized with widespread use of the tractor, other heavy equipment, and superior techniques disseminated through County Agents, who were employed by state agricultural colleges and funded by the Federal government. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson campaigned for the U.S. to join the new League of Nations, which he had been instrumental in creating, but he rejected the Republican compromise on the issue and it was impossible to gain a 2/3 majority. During the summer and fall, he embarked on a grueling cross-country tour to promote the League, which was a terrible strain on his health. On October 2, Wilson collapsed of a massive stroke in the White House, leaving him blind in one eye and partially paralyzed. He recovered somewhat, but was never the same again. Congress rejected entry into the League, reflecting the generally isolationist sentiment in America. World War I left Germany in a state of turmoil with no war reparations payments flowing to the Allies. The U.S. effectively orchestrated payment of reparations; under the Dawes Plan, the U.S. loaned money to Germany, to pay the reparations to countries like Britain and France, which in turn paid off their own war debts to the U.S. In the 1920s, European and American economies reached new levels of industrial production and prosperity. After a long period of agitation, U.S. women were able to obtain the necessary votes from a majority of men to obtain the right to vote in all state and federal elections. Women participated in the 1920 Presidential and Congressional elections. Politicians adjusted themselves, crafting issues such as world disarmament, child labor laws, mothers' pensions and, especially, prohibition, that seemed to appeal to women. Women did respond to these issues, but in terms of general voting they shared the same outlook and the same voting behavior as men. Roman Catholic women were reluctant to vote in the early 1920s, but they registered in very large numbers for the 1928 election in which Catholicism was an issue. A few women were elected to office, but none became especially prominent during this time period. Overall, the women's rights movement was dormant in the 1920s as Susan B. Anthony and the other prominent activists were dead and no one came along to replace them