Curtis Wong

Concordia 5th Period

021007

Chapter 12.2 Summaflexion

Key Terms
Warren G. Harding – Senator of Ohio.
Kellogg-Briand Pact – Pact which renounced war as an instrument of national policy.
Isolationist – In opposition to political and economic entanglements with other countries.
Fordney-McCumber Tariff – Tariff which raised the tax on imports to its highest level ever, almost
80%.
Charles Evans Hughes – Secretary of state, then chief justice of the supreme court.
Ohio Gang – The president’s rowdy, poker-playing cronies from back home.
Albert B. Fall – Interior Secretary close friend of various oil executives.
Teapot Dome Scandal – Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall’s secret leasing of oil-rich public land to
private companies in return for money and land.

Summary
The republicans wanted to retake the White House and gathered in Chicago of 1920 to nominate
their presidential candidate. Though none of the Republican candidates could gather enough support to
win the nomination. The electoral count was 404 to 127. Harding won, and he promoted “return to
normalcy” on domestic front. He wanted to return America to the simpler days before progressive
reforms.
After World War I, there were many problems relating to war debts, arms control, and
reconstruction of war-torn countries. Then Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes took the floor and
urged that no more warships be built for ten years. . In addition, he Suggested that the five major naval
powers-the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy-scrap a significant proportion of their
existing battleships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. He ended up getting 64 countries to agree with this,
also known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
People in the United States stepped up to immigrants, and nativist attitudes had been growing
since the 1880s. The Nativists felt that they were stealing their jobs because they are willing to work
for half their prices. In addition, the demand for unskilled labor in the United States decreased after
World War I, especially in industries such as coal mining and the production of steel and textiles.
Immigrants had generally filled these jobs, and with fewer unskilled jobs available, nativists reasoned,
fewer immigrants should be allowed into the United States. Also, racist ideas like those expressed by
Madison Grant, an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, had
an influence on attitudes toward immigration.

Reflection
In this section, I have read about how the United States was recovering from World War I and
what they did to fix it, as well as the high tariffs and immigrants coming into the United States. That is
basically what the section is about. I just realized why the people or Nativists, started hating on the
immigrants, and I’m sure I would be too, if they just come here to find a place to stay and steal our jobs
by working for nothing. I would be pretty mad, but I wonder if that is still the reason why we consider
them illegal now, and why we do it. I think it is a population crisis here and there.