1920s BOOM Flashcards
Causes for the 1920s boom (8 causes)
Resources
Impact of WWI
Technological Advance
Mass Production
Credit - borrowing money
Confidence - in the economy
Policies of Republican Presidents
Who were the 3 1920s Republican Presidents?
Warren Harding 1921-1923 (died)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
In terms of the economy/businesses what did Laissez Faire mean?
Hands off governing
Allow businesses to boom
Rugged Individualism
Success through your own efforts
If you work hard, you will be successful
Who was Henry Ford?
Key industrial businessman
Union basher - hated - used hired thugs
Charity giver - built a hospital and Ford Museum
Model T Ford
Cheap to make (simple design & cheap materials)
Made millions of them
The 1st car to be mass-produced (15 million)
What is the Production line?
Henry Ford invented it, it involved a car on a track/conveyor belt and it had stations of speiclaised workers.
What was the production rate of Ford?
1913 - 1 car every 3 minutes
1920s - 1 car every 10 seconds
How did Ford stimulate the economy?
90% of petroleum
75% of plate glass
80% of rubber
What were the 6 ways that the USA economy boomed?
New Industries
Transport
Construction
Advertising
Shopping
Entertainment
Elaborate on how new industries were a way in which the US economy boomed
- The boom was dominated by ‘new’ industries (cars, chemicals, electricity & electrical products).
- Mass-produced cars were cheap/most Americans were able to afford them.
- Increase of production of cars = demand for more steal, glass + rubber = those industries boomed.
- American chemical industry led the world w/ products like fertilisers & dyes, new plastics & man-made fibres.
- Electricity led to a range of domestic goods being developed e.g. cookers, vacuum cleaners.
Elaborate on how Transport was a way in which the US economy boomed
- 1930 - miles of paved road had doubled
- # of trucks increased to 3.5 million by 1929.
- Buses increased, taking passengers from the railways.
- Aircraft for civil flights their first appearance in 1920s, making 162,000 flights by 1929.
Elaborate on how construction was a way in which the US economy boomed
- # of banks, insurance, & advertising companies & showrooms for cars and new electrical products increased rapidly.
- more people are employed in building roads to serve the increasing amount of cars.
- Great wealth growth contributed to the building of hospitals, schools and other public buildings.
Elaborate on how Advertising was a way in which the US economy boomed
- Promoted the vast range of consumer goods on offer.
- Increasingly sophisticated techniques were used: adverbs were more colourful and catch-phrases were introduced.
- Magazine and radio advertising increased.
Elaborate on how Shopping was a way in which the US economy boomed
- Chain stores opened to stock new ranges of goods
- Clothing for women started to become mass produced.
- Wider choice of materials and styles than ver before.
- Clothing sales went up 427% in the 1920s.
- Goods could be delivered more easily by mail order due to truck transport improving.
- Mail order companies grew.
Elaborate on how Entertainment were a way in which the US economy boomed
Newspaper and magazines
- 1922 ten magazines claimed a circulation of over 2.5 million
Sport
- 1924 - 67,000 people watched football
Cinema
- 1920s Hollywood become the filmmaking capital of the world.
- 1920 - 40 million cinema tickets sold each week
- Filmmaking became a mass-production industry.
- Comedies were most popular and made quickly
Who missed out on the BOOM & Why? (4)
Farmers
New Immigrants
Blacks
Old Industry Workers
- Richer got richer & the poor become poorer
- 1928 estimated 42% of US population lived below the poverty line.
Elaborate on how farmers missed out on the BOOM
- End of war brings a massive glut (surplus) into economy.
- Canada supplying quality food exports.
- Many left farms for factory work in cities.
- Large farms bought small properties very cheap and increased their wealth.
Elaborate on how New Immigrants missed out on the BOOM
Take whatever work they can get:
- Very low wages
- Not well educated
- Worked on construction as labourers
- Boosting the new impressive city skyscrapers.
Elaborate on how Blacks missed out on the BOOM
Most in southern states
- Working as poor farmers
Oppression from whites forced some to move north and work in construction and factories
Elaborate on how Old Industry Workers missed out on the BOOM
- Some industries boomed in the 1920s
- As tech changed, the need for some industries dropped significantly.
- coal dropped s oil took over
- Mine closed
- Standards in safety dropped
- coal dropped s oil took over
- 1922 - 600,000 miners went on strike for 4 months
- No sucess
