It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Six

First published in September 2012, but slight edit/clarification added August 20, 2017


As noted in the previous segments to this series, during the Great Depression, Democrats assembled a coalition which kept their general philosophy the dominant one for decades. But the coalition was so varied, it is amazing that it held together for so long. Black Americans abandoned the Republican Party for the Democratic Party in the election of 1936 (incumbent Democrat Franklin Roosevelt vs. Republican Alfred Landon), where they have remained ever since. White, often "ethnic,"* workers, both union and non union, previously had often supported Republicans, especially during the Teddy Roosevelt era, but also because of  Republican support for high tariffs on imported goods from the Civil War era clear up until the beginning of the Great Depression. Democrats, on the other hand, tended to favor lower tariffs in those times.** The Great Depression brought such calamity to American industry (a nearly 50% decline by 1933!!!), and also generally overseas, that tariffs became less of an issue, and thus far less of a political advantage to Republicans. Unemployment, the depressed economy and fairer distribution of income took center stage with all workers, union and non union. Franklin Roosevelt and many Democrats and progressive Republicans clearly favored helping workers and unions, in general, and workers shifted to the Democratic Party in droves. The era of Prohibition even played a part in the political realignment of the country.*** In many of the "ethnic neighborhoods" previously mentioned, residents, often, but not always Catholic, were more tightly cemented to the Democratic Party when many Democrats advocated, and got, the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 (the 21st Amendment).(Note: Many immigrants, both Protestant and Catholic, came from cultures where alcoholic beverages, wine, beer or special liquors, were part of their every day lives. People of fundamentalist religious beliefs generally supported Prohibition. I must admit, I'm not sure how many Jewish immigrants or Asian immigrants viewed alcohol in those times.)

By the 1970s, the old Democratic coalition from the 1930s was showing more than a few strains. The Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s (supported by a majority in both parties in both Houses of Congress), but with major opposition by southern Democrats) had brought a backlash from southern whites, and the movement of many blacks northward, mainly into large industrial cites, strained relations with white working class Americans.**** In old city neighborhoods, the general prosperity of the post World War Two era gave working class people a chance to move into developing suburbs and the middle class. Interestingly, the help by progressives in both parties, but mainly in the Democratic Party in that era, in fostering a fairer distribution of income (often by supporting unions) helped make at least some, if not much, of this possible, but once in suburban areas, voters began to be much more selective in their choice of candidates, often turning more conservative and casting their lot with Republicans. To be fair, change is not always easy for people to accept quickly, but until recently, time gradually brought general acceptance of the changes, except for some who have remained angry and determined to turn back the clock. This angry segment of society, often, but not in every case, white and male, became a part of the Republican coalition, although many maintained their registration as Democrats (I told you, change is not always easy or quick), being termed "Reagan Democrats" during the 1980s. Thar's NOT to say there aren't angry members of the Democratic Party too. Remember, by essentially maintaining a two-party system, it isn't easy to keep voters happy with every position announced by respective party candidates. That's part of the coalition building needed to gain and retain political power.  

So what about women? That's next in Part Seven...

* "Ethnic" in the sense that many immigrants had poured into America from the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, often congregating in specific neighborhoods of cities or towns, where they lived and worked. The prosperity of the post-World War Two era helped many of these people, or perhaps more so their children or grandchildren, to move into then developing suburbs of the nation, which then often brought a change to their political views, as will be seen.

** I'm certainly generalizing here, as how tariffs affected markets and prosperity is another debate, but let's keep this simple and common sense. If a company in a foreign country could ship some product to the U.S. cheaper than you could make it here, either as an owner or employee, your business or job was threatened. The higher the tariffs imposed on such imported goods, the less threatened your business or job was. The theory was, with industry doing well, workers would do well, and both business people and workers would spend their earnings on goods in other businesses, thus spreading the prosperity. The main problem was, profits from "protected" industries were not often shared in any sense of a fair manner with workers. Further, the other side was, high American tariffs brought high counter tariffs by foreign countries on American goods sold overseas; so, if you were an exporter, you hated high tariffs. Tariffs were the main source of revenue for the Federal government until the early 1900s. Republicans generally saw tariffs as a "money maker" for Uncle Sam, while Democrats preferred that tariffs only be used to keep the government solvent, and that lesser tariffs could be used to promote the export of American goods.    

*** Prohibition forbid the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating beverages in America. It became the law of the land with the 18th Amendment, which went into effect in early 1920. It also spawned the growth and proliferation of organized crime in America, as opponents of the law, often, but not always, Catholic Americans (and hypocritical supporters who liked a little nip once and a while or more) wanted alcoholic beverages, against the law or not. "Bootlegging" soared, as various alcoholic beverages were produced in basements, bathtubs, and backyards. Some of the alcohol produced was downright dangerous, containing impurities that could cause blindness and even death. For those familiar with "The Beverly Hillbillies," the highly popular television comedy of the 1960s, you may recall how Granny kept a still to produce what she called her "rheumatiz medicine," a beverage that could eat right through the table if spilled. Son in law Jed said it was so powerful, he used it to "blow (tree) stumps." The gangster era became famous, as organized crime groups established "business" territories in cities, large and small, where they made money by the shovel full, or maybe, the "bathtub full," would be a better way of putting it. As one group tried to move into another group's territory, fighting would break out, with paid gunmen on both (or all) sides, but casualties of innocent passersby was not uncommon. Chicago's Al Capone is the most famous of the Prohibition era gangsters to most Americans.

**** The immensely popular television comedy "All In The Family" clearly demonstrated the strains in American society, as character Archie Bunker, a working class New Yorker, was appalled and angry over the changes going on around him, including the addition of a black family next door to him. While not a faithful voter (see note), Archie was a Republican, showing how white working class Americans were changing political allegiance from Democrats to Republicans. (Note: In one episode, Archie goes to vote, only to be turned away for expired registration, because he hadn't voted in such a long time.)    

WORD HISTORY:
Wheat-This word, closely related to "white," goes back to Indo European "kweytos/kwi(n)dos," which had the notion of "bright, shining." This gave Old Germanic "(k)hwaitijaz," literally "the bright or shining grain." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hwaete," which then became "whete," before the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Weizen," Low German Saxon has "Weet," West Frisian has "weet," Dutch has "weit," Danish has "hvede," Icelandic has "hveiti," "Norwegian has "hveti,"
and Swedish has "vete.

The Great Depression, Part Six

Prior to the 1930s, generally, the Republicans were the “protectionist” party in terms of trade policy. American farmers wanted tariffs on any foodstuffs being brought into the country and American labor wanted tariffs on just about any goods being imported. During the Great War (later called "World War One"), American farmers produced agricultural products in huge quantities and a sizable portion of these products were sent overseas to help feed people where their own national economies had been disrupted so much by war. Since there was really no need to worry that these countries would try to sell agricultural products in America (after all, they couldn’t produce enough to feed their own people, let alone export anything), tariff issues were a cold topic and remained so for a time after the war ended. As the rest of the world recovered, trade issues began to heat up, although from my reading and recollection, the idea that masses of foreign agricultural products would somehow flood the United States in those times was mostly nonsense; still, American farmers liked the idea of high tariffs for goods coming into the country. Republicans benefited from supporting such tariffs, as farmers “tended” to vote Republican. Likewise, labor unions wanted high tariffs to protect against foreign manufactured items from entering the country, or at least to keep these products high in price. Naturally each industry and their workers wanted tariffs on items they produced to limit or exclude competition. The labor vote was frequently split between the two parties, but some unions “tended” to be pretty staunch supporters of Republican candidates. (Just a note: If you aren’t familiar with American politics in those times, you might think ol’ Randy has lost some of his marbles. Of course, you might think that anyway, but unions DID frequently support Republicans back then, and Republicans tended to be much more “protectionist” than Democrats. So yes, things have changed considerably since those times. Hey, what’s that rolling on the floor? Looks like a marble!)

Just for the sake of simplified example and explanation, let’s say that companies in fictitious country “Beneluxia” produce a surplus of radios. They want to sell their surplus in other countries. If American made radios cost $10.00, and “Beneluxia” made radios cost $7.00, our producers wanted to make sure that foreign made radios would cost more by the imposition of tariffs; so we would put a tariff of $4.00 per radio brought into the country, thus the “Beneluxia” made radio now costs $11.00, giving the American made product the price edge in the market.

In the spring of 1929, Congress took up legislation about tariffs. President Hoover wanted new legislation, but he and the White House staff lost control of the bill, and the whole situation got out of hand. All kinds of products were added to the tariff list, as business interests weighed in to limit or exclude competition. The problem was, a couple of years before, America had committed to trying to curtail tariffs and move toward a more open exchange of goods. The final legislation, known as the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, was really not what Hoover wanted, but he reluctantly signed it into law in June 1930. Almost immediately other countries retaliated, and a virtual tariff war ensued, all in the midst of America’s economic downturn. Further, without American markets to sell their products, other countries began to experience their own downturns, and before you knew it, economic calamity began to become pretty much worldwide, although especially in industrialized nations.

Germany suffered tremendously, as the peace treaty ending the Great War imposed large reparations payments on her. American banks made loans to many European businesses and countries in the post-war era. As Germany struggled to pay reparations, and she and other European countries lost markets in the U.S. because of tariffs, loan payments began to become more difficult to make. If lots of folks owe money to banks, and they can't make payments, guess what? The banking system becomes shaky.

WORD HISTORY:
Tariff-This word traces back to Arabic "arrafa," which meant "notify, inform." From this came the noun "ta'arif," which meant "list of fees." Latin borrowed the term as "tarifa," with the same basic meaning, and it later was inherited by its Italian offspring as "tariffa." English borrowed the word as "tariff" in the late 1500s.