ip of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) sought to preserve the influence it had gained in the government during the war by silencing the radicals within the unions and preaching anti-communism; the AFL had feared that the end of the war would bring government control into the arena in the form of support for industry. Productivity increased during this period, but wages did not keep pace with the cost of living. As a result, worker resentment grew just below the surface, occasionally erupting in sporadic strikes. The organizers of the massive strikes of 1919 remained near the workers, ready to exploit this resentment when the right moment came.
The stock market crash of the Fall, 1929, and the resulting Depression shocked the American system. Unemployment had begun to rise to the 10% level in the year before the crash, but within weeks after the crash it skyrocketed to levels which have never been accurately figured. In some cities, where most of the populace was employed by a single industry, the levels may have reached upwards of 80%. Most of the country's industrial was idled as demand for products fell, and workforces were slashed by more than 50%. Large numbers of unemployed persons hit the road in search of work, creating a vast pool of migratory labor; most others relied on the support of their families and on the overburdened resources of private relief agencies. Radical leftists took advantage of the situation by organizing protests, and riots, by the unemployed. Union leadership, on the other hand, used the opportunity to defeat conservative Republican incumbents who had opposed the organized labor movement.
Labor activity was initially defensive, as the ranks of unions were depleted by massive layoffs. The AFL initially opposed government relief and welfare legislation; communist- and socialist-led unions, on the other hand, called for government relief and conducted relatively unsuccessful strikes. Large, albeit u...