1890-1920 The USA by 1920: economic power; social and ethnic divisions; political reaction and renewed isolationism Flashcards
What was the US economy like by 1920s?
By 1920, the USA was the world’s leading industrial nation partly due to the impact of the First World War. The USA did not enter the First World War until 1917. Its economy benefited greatly from the war. Indeed, by 1918 the USA was the world’s leading economy.
The war was fought in Europe and badly affected the economies of leading countries such as Britain, France and Germany, which had to divert their resources to the war effort. These countries bought much needed supplies from the USA. Money poured into the USA for food, raw materials and munitions.
This led to the growth of US industry and agriculture.
Moreover, many countries ended up borrowing huge sums of money from the USA. American bankers and businessmen increasingly invested in Europe and made money once the economies of these countries recovered in the 1920s.
In addition, during the war, European countries were unable to maintain their pre-war exports. US manufacturers and farmers took over European overseas markets and further expanded. For example, the USA took over from Germany as the leading producer in the world for fertilisers and chemicals. Finally, the war had stimulated technological advances, particularly in mechanisation as well as the development of new raw materials such as plastics. The USA led the world in new technology.
By 1920, the USA produced and consumed 70 per cent of the world’s oil and was its leading producer of coal and steel. On the Great Plains of the Midwest, large, efficient farms supplied the rest of the world with nearly a third of its wheat and over two-thirds of its corn.
America was, without doubt, a wealthy country. The standard of living for many American families was much higher than that of their European counterparts, especially as the USA had not been directly affected by the ravages of war as had most of Europe. However, wealth in the USA was unevenly distributed and millions of Americans did not have a share in the nation’s prosperity in this land of the free’. Many industrial workers found themselves at the mercy of the large business corporations that employed them wages forced them to live in slum areas of towns.
but refused them any negotiating rights over working hours or rates of pay. Low
Small farmers were also facing financial difficulties as they struggled to compete with larger agricultural enterprises and competition from Argentina, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
What was the US society like by the 1920s?
American society was diverse and multicultural. At its core were the ancestors of the original white, English Protestant settlers, but they had been joined in America by Germans, Poles, Italians, Irish, Chinese, Russian Jews and other immigrants who came in search of the ‘American dream. The first two decades of the twentieth century saw further waves of immigrants, though the reality they experienced was often poverty and exploitation. By adding their cultural dimensions to the American scene, they created a society unlike any other in the world. It aggravated the racial tension that existed in America despite the end of slavery.
Moreover, the USA remained a divided and unequal society. African Americans, especially in the South, were very much second-class citizens due to discrimination, segregation and intimidation. Native Americans had lost their lands and original way of life and were now confined to life on reservations.
What were politics in the US like by the 1920s?
There had been some expansion in the role of the president and the federal government under a series of presidents during the Progressive Era, particularly Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, and especially in the regulation of business, finance and social reform. However, the role of both remained limited as many Americans, especially in Congress, championed a laissez-faire society, upholding the principle of individual liberty, with minimal government control.
In world affairs, the USA had moved from isolationism to involvement in the First World War with its president, Wilson, playing a leading role in the peace conference and the setting up of the League of Nations. However, the prevailing mood in the USA by 1920 was for far less involvement, especially in Europe, and for a return to isolationism.
