Unit Ids

ADVANCED PLACEMENT AMERICAN HISTORY

IDENTIFICATIONS FOR UNIT VII

Red Scare, Palmer raids

In 1919, the Communist Party was gaining strength in the U.S., and Americans fearing Communism associated labor violence with the Russian revolution. In January 1920, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer commenced a series of raids in 33 cities that broke into meeting halls and homes without warrants. Four thousand "Communists" were jailed; some were deported. Communist Party membership declined by 80%.

Harding scandals: Teapot Dome

The Naval strategic oil reserve at Elk Hills, also known as "Teapot Dome" was taken out of the Navy's control and placed in the hands of the Department of the Interior, which illegally leased the land to oil companies. Several Cabinet members received huge payments as bribes. Due to the investigation, Daugherty, Denby, and Interior Secretary Albert Fall were forced to resign.

Secretary of the Treasury Mellon, tax cuts

An American financier, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Harding in 1921 and served under Coolidge and Hoover. While he was in office, the government reduced the WW I debt by $9 billion and Congress cut income tax rates substantially for the wealthy while ignoring middle-income Americans. He is often called the greatest Secretary of the Treasury after Hamilton.

McNary-Haugen Bill, vetoes

The bill was a plan to raise the prices of farm products. The government could buy and sell the commodities at world price and tariff. Surplus sold abroad. Twice Coolidge vetoed it. It was the forerunner of the 1930's agricultural programs.

Henry L. Mencken

In 1924, founded The American Mercury, which featured works by new writers and much of Mencken's criticism on American taste, culture, and language. He attacked the shallowness and conceit of the American middle class. The Baltimore Sun sent him to cover the Scopes Trial.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Most critics regard The Great Gatsby as his finest...