Tariffs are a hot topic in America considering the United States’ purchasing power and global influence. It is no surprise that in 2020, we find ourselves debating the same issues about tariffs surrounding elections as the nation did in 1928.

In analyzing the information presented in a 1928 economic and financial newspaper article from Barron’s, based out of Boston, it is easy to see that the main arguments surrounding tariffs are still widely debated today. The 1928 article puts forth the example of Congress’ newly found tendency to link existing problems, ie. tariffs and farm relief to discuss the issue of government intervention on behalf of American farmers. This is similar to Trump’s idea that tariffs are linked to problems of employment in the United States and that higher tariffs will stimulate the American economy, thus providing more jobs.

In analyzing the similarities of national debates nearly a century apart, it is interesting to note that the article recalls the 1828 “tariff of abominations” that were the “first clear-cut division of opinion as to free trade and protection.” This is where the ideas of protectionism, the idea that it was the government’s duty to ensure that business was regulated best for American producers and consumers alike, and non-protectionism, which asserted that the concept of laissez faire would best suit America’s market, were associated with the Democratic party and the Republican party respectively.

The 1928 election debates about possible tariffs highlighted an emphasis on tariffs as an international issue rather than just a domestic problem. The United States enjoyed immense influence and power in 1928, as the nation does now, over foreign producers who worked to meet the demands of the American markets. Those pushing the international argument generally lean towards the lowering of tariffs, similar to today.

Causes

The events that unfolded in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the summer of 1921 were not isolated. The town had been plagued by the systematic racism that led to the development of both a “White Tulsa” and a “Black Tulsa” (14). Systems of segregation and disenfranchisement accompanied by the resurgence of men’s, women’s, and juniors’ KKK groups assured the oppression of blacks and the supremacy of whites.

Ellsworth cites three key events in setting the stage for the race riots. In October of 1917, the home of a wealthy man by the name J. Edgar Pew, was bombed. Although no evidence supported the claim, the local white newspaper the World blamed the bombing on black workers associated with the labor organization the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). 17 people were arrested and found guilty, then were hijacked by the “Knights of Liberty,” stripped, whipped, tarred, and feathered (30).

In March of 1919, O.W. Leonard, a white ironworker, was shot and killed. Racial tensions rose as blacks grouped together to ensure the safety of the three defendants. None were found guilty and no lynching occurred.

In August of 1920, a taxi driver named Homer Nida was hijacked and murdered by a white man named Roy Belton who was later lynched by an angry mob of other whites (43). This case is important in understanding how the massacre could have taken place because it showed that if the police could not defend a white defendant from an angry mob of whites, that they could be complacent in the attacks of blacks in the community.

Impacts

The impact that the race riot had on the African American community is immeasurable. The death toll is still uncertain, with reports ranging from as low as 30 to as high as 300 dead (66). Many blacks fled Tulsa during the riots, but those that stayed and survived were detained in internment camps, holding upwards of 4,000 blacks. White reconstruction committees attempted to purchase the burnt land for cheap in order to build more white businesses, when this was shot down, the white owned land in the black community was quickly rebuilt to begin making profits again (84).