Self-Help in Hard Times

Walkout in Seattle
1. About 100,000 workers brough the city to a halt
  1. Began with 35,000 shipyard workers striking for a wage increase
    1. Appealed for support to the Seattle Central Labor Council
      1. It must have been hard to get a large group pf people to agree on something this large of an issue
      2. City stopped functioning
      3. Only thing that kept going were firemen
      4. This is critical to the prosperity and livelihood of the city
      5. 30,000 meals were prepared in large kitchens
      6. Transported to halls all over the city and served cafeteria style
      7. This system is smart because otherwise how would citizens survive
Strikes and Reactions
1. Deaths, raids, beatings occurred
  1. Mayor of Seattle made a statement
    1. Statement reflected the fear of not only the strike, but what it symbolized
      1. It's obvious that strikes threaten the government and can expose the corruptness of different institutions
      2. If strikes are non-violent I think they can be extremely effective
Steel Mills in Pennsylvania
1. Men worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, doing work in incredible heat
  1. 100,000 steelworkers were signed up in 20 different AFL craft unions
    1. Threaten strikes
      1. Pressure from Woodrow Wilson and Gompers to postpone stike
      2. September 1919, 100,000 union men and 250,000 other workers also went on strike
      3. This must have extremely disrupted the normalcy of operations
      4. Department of Justice moved in and carried raids on aliens to try and deport them
      5. Other factors operated against the strikers
      6. Most recent immigrants spoke different languages
      7. Lasted for 10 weeks
      8. National Committee called the strike off
      9. The year following, 120,000 textile workers struck, 30,000 silk workers, etc.
      10. Prime environment for striking
"The Roaring Twenties"
1. IWW destroyed, Socialist party falling apart
  1. Congress put an end to dangerous flood of immigrants
    1. Passed immigration quotas
      1. Favored anglo-saxans, kept out black and yellow people, limited jews, latins, slavs
      2. Now I understand there have to be limits, but we are discriminating against individuals from coming here
2. Ku Klux Klan revived
  1. Spread to the north
    1. by 1924 it had 4.5 million members
      1. Naacp seemed helpless against them
      2. Marcus Garvey-preached black pride, racial separation, reutrn to Africa
      3. Inspiring movement for some blacks
      4. Preached racism and hatred
3. Jazz and fun
  1. The jazz age
    1. Unemployment was down
      1. Millions of people were not doing poorly
      2. Problem- prosperity concentrated at the top
      3. This sounds like the theme of America
      4. Little industrial towns like Muncie, Indiana
      5. Class system revealed in this town
      6. Writers emerged and discussed this concept
      7. Sinclar, Lewis Mumford, Scott Fitzgerald, etc.
4. Women
  1. Finally won the right to vote
    1. Nineteenth amendment guaranteed this
      1. Still a middle class-upper class activity
      2. It's corrupt to allow this to continue
5. Poor
  1. Few spoke out for the poor people
    1. Fiorello La Guardia spoke out for them
      1. He was a congressman from a district of poor immigrants
      2. Asked secretary of agriculture to investigate the high price of meat
  2. Andrew Mellon
    1. Richest men in America and he was the secretary of the treasurer
      1. Of course he favors laws for the rich
      2. The Mellon Plan
      3. Top brackets would have general reduction of income taxes
      4. Lowest bracket would have theirs lowered by a meek 1 %
      5. This is unacceptable
      6. It passed
      7. Bitter labor struggles still occurred
      8. 1922- coal miners and railroad men went on strike
      9. Textile strike in Rhode Island
      10. Class feelings were awakened and some strikers joined radical movements
      11. Communist party was organized and involved in the organization of the Trade Union Education League
      12. Tries to build a militant spirit
      13. Played a leading part in the great textile strike that spread through the Carolinas and Tennessee
      14. They are gaining fury
Stock Market Crash of 1929
1. Marked beginning of the Great Depression
  1. Came directly from wild speculation which collapsed and brought the whole economy down with it
    1. The speculation included saying the economy was fundamentally unsound
      1. Corporate and banking structures, unsound foreign trade, economic misinformation, "bad distribution of income"
      2. The highest 5% of the population received about 1/3 of all income
      3. Many critics blamed it on the workings of the capatalist system
      4. 5000 or more banks closed
      5. Continued laid off of workers
      6. Industrial production fell by 50%
Herbert Hoover
1. "Hoovervilles"
  1. Poor living areas for people who could not afford to pay rent of houses
    1. Built on garbage dumps
      1. Horrible living conditions
    2. John Steinbeck wrote Grapes of Wrath
      1. Examining horrors of this period
Unemployment for veterans
1. March of the Bonus Army
  1. More than 20,000 came
    1. Bill to pay off the bonus passed in the House but not Senate
      1. Of course this was problematic and caused immense amounts of anger
      2. The veterans stayed and caused problems
      3. Troops used tear gas to clear veterans out of buildings
      4. How can we treat those that defended us in such a disgusting manner?
      5. Two veterans shot
2. Unemployment councils formed all over the country
  1. People organized to help themselves since business and government were not helping
    1. Self help example in Pennsylvania
      1. Coal miners dug mines on company property and mined it
      2. Local juries would not convict these people
      3. Beautiful example of working together for a cause
Franklin Roosevelt
1. New Deal
  1. Addresses need to reform capitalism and manage rebellion
    1. Stabilize system for its own protection
      1. National Recovery Act
      2. Designed to take control of the economy through a series of codes agreed on by management, labor, and government, fixing prices and wages, and competition
      3. Also wants to improve and make concessions to working people
      4. Supreme Court declared this act unconstitutional in 1935
  2. Reduces unemployment from 13 million to 9 million
    1. That's still a large statistic
2. Agriculutral Adjustment Administration
  1. attempt to organize agriculture system
    1. Favors big farmers
      1. This appears the case in every institution
      2. Not helping the poor farmers
      3. Black farmers even worse off
      4. Nate Shaw tried to help black farmers in Sharecroppers union
3. Wagner-Connery Bill
  1. Provided elections for union representation
    1. Helps settle labor disputes, and a board to settle problems and handle grievances
      1. A series of labor outbursts in 1934 led to legislative action
      2. Largest strike was 325,000 textile workers in the south
      3. Shows dissatification
Wagner Act
1. National Labor Relations Board
  1. Could this have helped alleviate problems?
    1. Moderate labor rebellion by channeling energy into elections
      1. Set limits in economic conflict
2. Challenged by steel corporation in the courts, but still was rendered as constitutional
'30s and '40s
1. Clearly shows the dilemmas of the working people
  1. Minimum wage established
    1. Also established 40 hour work week, outlawed child labor, housing was built for small percentage of people who needed it
  2. Social security
2. Federal Art Project
  1. Put thousands of writers, artists, and actors to work
    1. This is a great idea
      1. Allows people to express creativity
3. When New Deal ended capitalism still in place
  1. Rich still controlled nation's wealth by laws, courts, police, college, church, newspapers
    1. Roosevelt was a hero to millions
      1. He also fueled continuation of a system of waste, inequality, and concern for profit
      2. Still a system that views humans as numbers, not souls
      3. Black Harlem was an illusion of prosperity
      4. Still horrible living conditions
      5. Tuberculosis was common
      6. Harlem Hospital was dirty and bred disease
4. Blacks were invisibles in the north and south
  1. This was perspective from whites
5. Hitler was on the rise in Europe
  1. Invaded Pacific, Japan, and China
    1. Western empires not being threatened by new ones