1920 America Flashcards
What is an economic boom?
When a country enters a period when the vast majority of businesses are doing well, sales are high, wages are increasing and unemployment is low.
What was America’s policy of isolation?
This is when during WW1 America stayed out of war with foreign countries.
How did the policy of isolation help contribute to the economic boom?
Staying out of the war meant they didn’t have to pay for equipment, food etc.
How did WW1 benefit America?
- They were loaning other countries ( meaning they would get more back through interest).
- They became the world’s largest manufacturer as they supplied other countries with guns, chemicals, dyes and medicine.
What is consumer society?
It is where people frequently buy new goods, often these are things that they do not necessarily need.
How did the consumer society help cause an economic boom?
A demand for more goods meant there was a need for more products meaning more profit and more workers.
What is an assembly line?
Goods made in stages/ bit by bit by different people.
What is mass production?
When there is a demand for more goods.
What did the government do to help the economy boom?
Isolation policy
Fordney McCumber Tariff act 1922 - tax on foreign goods
What is the cycle of prosperity?
Mass production of cheaper products and hire purchase plans to help people afford to buy more goods.
How did purchase plans cause an economic boom?
People bought more things they couldn’t realistically afford but just paid it back over time and on top of that pay interest.
What was a hire purchase plan?
When people could pay in small installments.
How did advertisements help cause an economic boom?
It drove the need to buy new goods and made people want to keep up with others, therefore buying more things.
Which group of people benefited from the economic boom?
Factory owners and business owners.
Which people did not benefit from the economic boom?
Native Americans- their land was taken from them and were forced to places where plantation was bad.
African Americans- There was still a lot of racism and there weren’t a lot of job opportunities.
Immigrants- 1924 an act that only allowed 150,000 immigrants a year.
How did ordinary people help contribute to an economic boom?
They put a lot of trust in the market and bought loads of things they did not need.
What was the black renaissance?
A time of cultural revival for AA music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theatre and politics in Harlem, Manhattan.
How significant was the popularity of Jazz music in the 1920s?
Very significant as it showcased black talent and let black people make money from it.
What new opportunities did women have in the 1920s?
They were allowed to work 25% more women were working. 10.5 million in 1920.
They were allowed to smoke (even though it was looked down upon)
They could have un-chaperoned visits with men
What evidence was there that women did not really benefit in the 1920s?
Even though women could work they were paid a lot less than men meaning they couldn’t live on their own and still had to depend on men. This also only applied to white middle-class working women.
How much did cinema change in 1920?
There were 35 million to 100 million people in cinemas a week.
What were some crazes in 1920 America?
Pole sitting
Jazz
cinemas
What was the prohibition?
The prohibition was a ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.
Who introduced the prohibition and why?
It was introduced by Hoover who was the president at the time. It was done to lower the crime and immorality rate.
