PRESENT DAY

A symbol of America's Isolationism during the 1930's, the Good Neighbor Policy renounced "the use of military force and armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere." (America, pg. 782) This came while Germany was absorbing its neighbors by aggression and appeasement, and its belligerent antics were attracting allies in the form of Italy and Japan. It could be reasoned that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who supported this diplomatic initiative, wanted no part in trying to put out the fires over seas when the country he was running was in the throes of the Great Depression, leading to this Isolationism. Also, America's role in World War One had become a sour issue, in part because some politicians were accusing that America's involvement in the war was done to fill the pockets of profiteers.

" 'We were heroes in 1917, but we're bums now,' one veteran complained bitterly." (America, p. 748)

The Bonus Army was a large group of World War I veterans who descended on Washington, D.C., in May of 1932, demanding early fulfillment of a promise made to them by the U.S. government. In 1924, Congress had voted to give a bonus to veterans of the war but they couldn't collect it until 1945. But when the Depression hit and the veterans were out of work and desperate to feed their families and to survive, they organized themselves and about 15,000 of them marched on Washington and set up camps in various places. They created well-organized makeshift camps, complete with dug-out streets and latrines. Whole families lived in these camps while the veterans waited for Congress to agree to give them their bonuses immediately. But the idea was voted down and in July, General MacArthur was sent in to clear the veterans out of the camp. An ugly scene ensued in which MacArthur and his men set fire to the camp, burning it to the ground, forcing 10,000 people to flee, injuring some. "Newsreel footage captured the deeply disturbing spectacle of the U.S. Army moving against its own veterans..." (America, p. 748)

"Stock prices had been rising steadily since 1921, but in 1928 and 1929 they surged forward, rising on average over 40 percent. At the time market activity was essentially unregulated. Margin buying, in particular, proceeded at a feverish pace, as customers were encouraged to buy stocks with a small down payment and finance the rest with a broker loan. But then on 'Black Thursday,' October 24, 1929, and again on 'Black Tuesday,' October 27, 1929, the bubble burst. On those two bleak days, more than 28 million shares changed hands in frantic trading. Overextended investors, suddenly finding themselves heavily in debt, began to sell their portfolios. Waves of panic selling ensued. Practically overnight stock values fell from a peak of $87 billion (at least on paper) to $55 billion" (America, P.724).

The "roaring '20's" were supposed to be a time of huge economic prosperity and growth for the United States. While that may be true--on paper--it also saw the extreme overextension of American investors, consumers, lenders and banks. The huge boom in the market led investors to borrow large sums of money and invest it back into the market, believing that the stock market would be their ticket to great prosperity. Speculation ran wild and, unfortunately, as investors were increasingly putting loaned monies and using margin financing to invest in the unregulated stock market , they were artificially swelling a market that was already at record high levels. The week of October 21st was an especially unstable week of trading, with record numbers of shares exchanging hands. On October 24th, this level of trading went through the roof and a panic quickly ensued--a record 12.9 million stocks were traded that day. According to the SEC, it is estimated that of the app. $50 billion in new securities offered during the 1920's, 50 percent became worthless.

"Black Thursday" was just the beginning of the economic crisis that would soon ensue, however. Tuesday, October 29, 1929 or "Black Tuesday" would see 16.4 million stocks trade hands as desperate investors and consumers sought to get their (loaned) monies out of a failing market. The hysteria that ensued would lead to the run on the banks, where thousands of Americans went to their banks to withdraw money in a panicked state, only to find that the banks didn't have enough money on hand to distribute to it's customers. Banks failed or were forced to temporarily close and the economy was in shambles.

The stock market crash and the run on the banks would lead to the formation of two major Government agencies--the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The SEC would provide regulation of the stock market and the FDIC would ensure that all consumers' deposits are insured by the Federal Government.

PBS: The First Measured Century -- The Stock Market Crash
The Securities and Exchange Commission -- How the SEC was Formed
The New York Times Web Special: Looking Back at the Crash of 1929

"Jazz was such an important part of the new mass culture that the 1920's are often referred to as the Jazz Age." (America, p. 705)

A cultural transformation took place in the United States in the 1920's. Magazines, tabloids, radio, movies and phonograph records all contributed to a whole new way of life for Americans. The first movie to be produced with sound was The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, in 1927. It is significant not only for being the first "talkie", but also because had to do with the newest form of music to come along, which was jazz. The 1920's are known as the Jazz Age. This new style of music has its origins in the music of the South, particularly New Orleans, and also has roots in African and European musical styles. Most of the early jazz musicians were black, and the popularity of jazz moved northward to cities like Chicago and New York. Some of the best known jazz musicians of this era were Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and "Jelly Roll" Morton.
Jazz is an improvisational style of music, meaning that musicians don't follow notes written on a page, but rather, improvise as they play and sing. Related to jazz are styles such as the blues and ragtime. It was, and still is, a very free style of music. Some of the main themes of the songs from the Jazz Age were women's freedom to enjoy their sexuality, and black opposition to white mainstream values.
The invention of phonograph served to spread jazz to a wide audience, not only in the United States, but in Europe as well.
Much like any new form of music, for example the rock and roll of the 50's and 60's, jazz was controversial and labeled by some as "the devil's music". It was liberating and sensual and broke the rules musically and socially. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph, criticized it by saying that sounded better played backwards.

"An individual should not have too much freedom. A nation should have absolute freedom." - Sun Yat Sen

Sun Yat Sen is known as the Father of Modern China. He was born in Guangdong, China in 1866 and died in Beijing in 1925. A member of the Kuomintang Party, he is best remembered for his political philosophy outlined in his Three Principles of the People. These three principles were nationalism, democracy and equalization. He believed that China should be controlled by Chinese, not by foreign imperialist powers and that the government should be republican with democratic elections. His equalization theory said that wealth should be more evenly distributed and ownership of land by private citizens should be prohibited. Much like the government of the United States, his idea for a democratic state included executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as the censurate and the civil service branches.
Sun Yat Sen fought for many years to establish a republic in China. He achieved this goal in 1912, only to be overthrown by the dictator Yüan Shih Kai after only four months as provisional president of the Republic. Despite this failure, his work opened the door for the formation of the Chinese Republic by Chiang Kai-Shek in 1928.

"What great nation in such circumstances would not have taken up arms? Much as we had desired peace, it was denied us, and not of our own choice. This flag under which we serve would have been dishonored had we withheld our hand." --Woodrow Wilson, Flag Day Address; June 14th, 1917.

President Woodrow Wilson delivered his "Flag Day Address" in June of 1917, just twelve days before the first American troops would land on European soil, officially entering the U.S. into World War I. It was a strong and heavily patriotic speech, which sought to explain to an unsettled and undecided American public that the United States was essentially forced into the war by the Germans, and that to sit passively by would not only be dangerous, it would be very un-American. The Germans, Wilson says, have left us no choice through their insults, aggression and espionage. He also points out that Germany tried to incite Mexico into starting a war with us, and attempted to recruit Japan as their ally.

But President Wilson explains to the people that the offenses committed against America are not the only reason why our men are being sent overseas. President Wilson acknowledges that the German people themselves did not want this war machine, but was subject to it nonetheless. President Wilson details Germany's plot:

"Their plan was to throw a broad belt of German military power and political control across the very center of Europe and beyond the Mediterranean into the heart of Asia; and Austria-Hungary was to be as much their tool and pawn as Servia or Bulgaria or Turkey or the ponderous states of the East."

Germany was attempting to control the whole of Europe, and then Asia, through force, political and economical control. President Wilson reminds the people that the Germans have control over many countries in Europe and the Ottoman empire, and has partial control of France and Belgium. President Wilson stresses that it is simply not enough to stop the Germans with what they currently have, they must be defeated fully.

According to President Wilson, this serves two purposes: the Germans will have to relinquish rightful control of the territories and will be punished for their aggressiveness. By allowing the Germans to retain control over countries they overtook with force, it would reinforce and justify their methods of taking real estate by force. Secondly, when they are defeated, the Government will forced to relinquish power, thus paving the way for a democratic government to come into power:

"If they can secure peace now with the immense advantages still in their hand which they have up to this point apparently gained, they will have justified themselves before the German people: they will have gained by force what they promised to gain by it: an immense expansion of German power, an immense enlargement of German Industrial and Commercial opportunities. Their prestige will be secure, and with their prestige their political power. If they fail, their people will thrust them aside; a government accountable to the people themselves will be set up in Germany as it has been in England, in the United States, in France, and in all the great countries of the modern time except Germany."

President Wilson then waxes philosophical about protecting the liberties, rights and freedoms of the people of Europe and explains to his audience that we, as Americans, must be there to help "set the world free." If we do not, President Wilson assures, freedom and democracy will be pushed aside and crushed by the great armies of our enemies.

President Wilson is careful not to mention too bluntly some of his forthcoming intentions in this speech. He cloaks them in a shroud of strong patriotism, noble causes and threating enemies. He attempts to provoke strong feelings in the audience, in hopes that they will act on impulse and not try to dig too deep as to what other motives there may be (as many leaders have done throughout history and continue to do) for sending millions of American troops across the Atlantic.

That is not to say that WWI wasn't justified--it absolutely was. However, there were ulterior motives behind the fully noble and charitable causes the President told the nation that we were fighting for. Our own Economic interests played a large part in the war. All of our economic partners in Europe were coming under fire from Germany. Our ability to further own our economic interests would be greatly diminished if the Germans controlled the majority of the Ottoman empire and Europe.

If the Spanish-American war was our introduction as a "Superpower" and "World Police," then World War I was our prime-time slot. President Wilson wanted to ensure that when those countries that had been under German control were eventually freed, and the map of Europe and the Middle East were re-drawn, the United States would be right there to divvy up the spoils and assert our power and interests. We were not going to miss out on this momentous re-distribution of power.