When the war ended and the soldiers began to come home parades were thrown in their honor and the American Legion was created to help support the veterans. Over two million men were in search of jobs in an economy that was done producing war materials. This was turning the economy into a recession. People began to rush after produced goods that were left over and store prices began to skyrocket. In 1919 prices had increased by nearly 15%.The cost of living, food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities were being increased by inflation. War materials no longer needed to be produced which meant many people would lose their jobs. During the war factories had to increase the wages their employers made. After the war they began to drop the wages and lead to an abundant amount of strikes in 1919. There were a total of about 3,600 strikes involving almost 4 million workers.
The first strike took place in Seattle where 35,000
shipyard workers walked off because they demanded higher wages and fewer hours.
The strike soon turned into a General Strike meaning other community members,
not just the workers began to strike. More than 60,000 people were on strike
for 5 days. The most famous strike took place in Boston in 1919. This strike
was done by the police officers; nearly 75% of them left the job. They forced
the Governor to call in the National Guard. When the
officers decided to go back to work the police chief fired them
all and replaced them with new officers. The governor decided the police chief
did the right thing by firing those men. He said, “There is no right to strike
against public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime.”
