America 1920-73 - Part one: American people and the 'Boom' Flashcards
(105 cards)
1
Q
What was the ‘Boom’?
A
The Boom was a period of rapid economic growth in the 1920s. During this time, industrial production, employment, and consumer spending all increased.
2
Q
How was advertising used to promote consumerism?
A
- Newspapers, magasines, radio, celebrity endorsements.
- Used catchy slogans and vibrant visuals.
- They associated products with desirable lifestyles.
3
Q
What was hire purchase?
A
Allowed people to buy expensive products like cars and pay in instalments.
4
Q
How significant was hire purchase?
A
- Made many more products affordable.
- Thus boosted consumerism which drove demand
5
Q
Why was mass production so groundbreaking?
A
- Increased output
- More jobs
- Deceased time of production
6
Q
What was Prohibition?
A
Prohibition made it illegal to brew, import or sell alcoholic drinks.
7
Q
What were the main cultural changes of the 1920s?
A
- Jazz
- Cinema
- Sport
8
Q
How did Jazz come about?
A
- Jazz originates from the Southern States, created by African Americans.
- Spread as African Americans migrated north.
- Became very popular in big cities - in bars and nightclubs.
9
Q
How did sport become more popular?
A
Through new technology like radio and television. Also through newspapers and magazines.
10
Q
Which amendment stipulated the prohibition of alcohol.
A
18th Amendment
11
Q
When did prohibition start and end?
A
1920 - 1933
12
Q
Why was Prohibition introduced?
(Four reasons)
A
- Many people saw alcohol as contributing to the decline in moral values
- Religion - Many religious groups and churches opposed it.
- Immigrants - Most beer was brewed by German immigrants or imported from Germany. People who drank beer during WWI were labelled as traitors.
- Rural areas - People in rural America saw alcohol as the reason why there was so much violence and crime in the big cities. They were big supporters of the ASL.
13
Q
What does the ASL stand for?
(In the 1920s)
A
Anti-Saloon League
14
Q
What did the ASL do?
A
They led a big campaign for the prohibition of alcohol, which passed into law in 1920.
15
Q
Who was Al Capone?
A
Al Capone was an infamous criminal who participated in all types of organised crime.
15
Q
What was organised crime?
A
Illegal activities which gangs would participate in to make money.
15
Q
Give examples of organised crime.
(In the 1920s)
A
- Fixing horse and dog racing
- Running brothels
- Racketeering
- Smuggling alcohol across the border
15
Q
What were well known names in organised crime?
(In the 1920s)
A
Al Capone
‘Lucky’ Luciano
‘Machine Gun’ Kelly
Vito ‘Chicken Head’ Gurino
(You don’t need to know all of these, just Al Capone)
15
Q
Give some statistics on Al Capone.
A
At the height of his power, he was making $2 million a week through organised crime.
He made $10 million a year from racketeering alone.
15
Q
What was bootlegging?
A
Smuggling alcohol over the border illegally.
15
Q
What was racketeering?
A
When a gang threatens to smash up a buisness if they don’t give them a large sum of money.
16
Q
What was a speakeasy?
A
An illegal bar during Prohibition.
17
Q
Did Prohibition have its expected effect?
A
No. It made crime go up, not down.
18
Q
Why did Al Capone escape persecution for so long?
A
Because he bribed the police and witnesses never testified.
19
How did Prohibition end?
The 18th amendment was repealed in 1933 by Franklin D. Roosvelt.
20
Was FDR for or against Prohibition.
Against. He gained many votes because his stance against Prohibition was very popular.
21
What were some of the cultural changes that came about in the 1920s?
* Jazz
* Cinema
* Sport
22
In what year did women get the vote in the USA?
1920
23
What amendment passed womens' right to vote?
The 19th Amendment
24
How did the position of women change in society in the 1920s?
* Some women started to behave differently - smoking and drinking in public, and wearing more revealing clothes.
* More women lived on their own
* More women divorced - less likely to remain in an unhappy marriage.
* More women were working.
25
State some statistics to support how the position of women change in society.
* The divorce rate doubled during the 1920s
* 25% increase in the number of women with jobs between 1920 and 1929
26
What was a 'flapper'?
An independent and fashionable young woman of the 1920s.
27
What did flappers do?
* Some rode motorbikes and went to nightclubs with men late.
* Their liberal attitude shocked the more traditional members of society.
28
Who were flappers mainly?
Middle and upper-class women of the Northern States.
29
In what region was change slower to come?
| (For women's rights)
In the Southern states and poorer, rural areas, life didn't change significantly for the millions of women there.
30
What were some republican policies implemented in the 1920s?
* Tariffs
* Low taxation
* Laissez faire
31
What are tarrifs?
By how much could they increase prices?
Taxes the American government put on foreign goods.
They could make prices increase by 60% - 400%.
32
Why were tarrifs implemented?
To encourage people to buy American goods and products.
33
What did 'Laissez faire' do?
Made the government interfere as little as possible in American businesses and lifestyles.
34
What were the consequences of low taxation?
People had more mone to spend, the government had less money.
Tax cuts benefited the rich especially.
35
How did America's policy of Isolationism benefit it during WWI?
America sold weapons and supplies to European countries.
America had greatly profited and had very little debt at the end of the war.
36
Give some stats on Bank and Government influence in the 1920s.
Some people borrowed up to 90% of their investment.
Republican polices meant that people had more money to invest.
Banks let almost anyone borrow money 'on the margin'.
37
What is buying on the margin?
Borrowing money to invest it.
38
Give the three laws that were passed to regulate immigration.
Literacy Act 1917
Immigration Quota 1921
National Origins Act 1924
39
What was the Literacy Act of 1917?
Banned entrance to the country to any immigrant 16 or over that could not read a 40-word sentance.
40
What was the Immigration Quota of 1921?
Only let 350,000 immigrants in the country each year.
41
What was the National Origins Act 1924?
Only let 150,000 immigrants in the country each year.
42
Why did people want to emigrate to America?
* Space - European cities were overcrowded.
* Land - was cheap, fertile and full of natural resources.
* Jobs
* Religion - some religions were persecuted in Europe
* Higher Pay - standard of living was higher in America
* American Dream - American culture said that anyone can achieve success. "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence.
43
What were some impacts of immigration?
* They were disliked by many, as they were often poor, spoke bad english and had different cultures.
* Began racial tensions as they were feared. The russians revolted in 1917. Americans feared something similar.
44
Where did many immigrants come from?
Many immigrans came from South and Eastern Europe.
45
When did more immigrants start coming to America?
Late 19th century, early 20th.
46
What was the immigrant experience of America.
Some succeeded, but very few.
Most were uneducated, unemployed and poor. They were ready to work at a low wage in any job. This led many working class Americans to believe immigrants were out for their jobs.
47
When was slavery abolished in the USA?
1865
48
What amendment abolished slavery?
The 13th amendment
49
What were Jim Crow laws?
Racist laws passed to keep control by segregating white and black people.
50
Give examples of racism in the 1920s.
* Less favoured for jobs.
* Lived in poorer areas.
* Jim Crow laws.
51
Why did many African Americans move to the Northern states?
* Better pay
* Better treatment and working conditions
## Footnote
African American population of New York and Chicago more than doubled during the 1920s.
52
What was the black 'Renaissance'?
The flourishing of African American communities.
53
Give an example of the Black 'Renaissance'.
**Harlem** - became a centre for creativity with black culture, poets, writers, artists and musicians.
54
What was the KKK?
A racist terror group.
55
What were the KKK's aims?
**Maintain white supremacy** over African Americans and immigrants and 'keep them in their place'.
56
How many members did the KKK have in 1925?
5 million
57
How did the KKK rise back in popularity?
Mostly due to the 1915 film *The birth of a Nation* which showed Klansmen saving white families from violent black criminals.
58
Who did the KKK target?
Anyone unlike them - white and protestant. They attacked black people, immagrants, catholics, jews and even drunks and gamblers to 'clean up' society.
59
What did the KKK do to black people?
They used methods of intimidation such as whipping, branding with acid, kidnapping, castration and lynching.
60
How did the KKK's popularity decline?
| In 1925
A popular Klan leader was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young woman.
He exposed many secrets of the KKK at the trial.
Withing a year, membership went from 5 million to 300 thousand.
61
Why did people fear or dislike immigrants?
| (1920s)
They were seen as bringing 'un-American' ideas such as communism.
62
Why was Communism feared?
In 1917, Russia experienced a communist revolution.
Many people thought one could happen in America as well.
Especially as America had let 1.5 million russian immigrants in the past few years.
63
Why was Anarchism feared?
Anarchist Leon Franz Czologsz had shot dead US President William McKinley in 1901.
64
What was the Red Scare?
The period where the government would arrest anyone who was suspected of being communist.
65
How many people were arrested during the 1919-20 'Palmer Raids'?
6000 supspected communists were arrested across 33 cities.
66
Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?
Italian-born immigrant anarchists who were charged with robbing a shoe factory and murdering two staff in April 1920.
67
When were Sacco and Vanzetti tried?
They were tried in May 1921. It lasted 45 days.
68
Why did the Sacco and Vanzetti case cause so much uproar?
The evidence against them was inconclusive.
The judge even said Vanzetti 'may not actually have committed the crime but he is morally to blame because he is our enemy'.
69
What happened at the end of the case?
| (Of Sacco and Vanzetti)
They were found guilty.
(Most people think they were not.)
They were executed by electric chair on 23 August 1927.
70
What companies profited in the 1920s?
Some of the most famous are: Ford, Edison Radio and SMEG Fridges.
71
By how much did share prices go up by, on average, during the 1920s?
They went up by 300%.
72
What quote represents how confident the public were in the stock market in the 1920s?
"The stock market is invincible"
73
Share ownership in 1920 and 1929.
4 million American owned shares in 1920, in 1929, there were five times this.
74
Herbert Hoover quote describing wealth accumulation in the 1920s.
Hoover said "the poor man is vanishing from among us".
75
Give an instance of a race riot.
1919: after a black youth entered a whites only beach in Chicago.
76
Why was alcohol easy to smuggle into the country during Prohibition?
There were 1500 'Prohibition agents' for 18600 miles of coastline and borders.
77
How accessible was alcohol during Prohibition?
Despite the ban on alcohol, there were speakeasies all over the country and many people went on drinking.
78
Why were alcohol-smuggling gangs difficult to prosecute?
They would often bribe law-enforcers to avoid conviction.
79
Jazz became popular in the 1920s. What quote supports this?
The 1920s was commonly referred to as the "Jazz Age".
80
In what cities did Jazz become popular?
NYC and Chicago. It was the most popular music in bars and nightclubs.
81
What demographic did Jazz appeal to?
The young, black and white regardless.
82
Weekly audiences for cinema in 1919 and 1930.
35 million in 1919
100 million in 1930
83
How many films was Hollywood producing per year in 1929?
By 1929, Hollywood film studios were producing 500 films a year.
84
What was the first full length movie to include sound? When was it released?
'The Jazz Singer', 1927
85
Famous sportsmen of the 1920s.
Babe Ruth (baseball) and Bobby Jones (golf).
86
How much was Babe Ruth making per year by 1930? How much is it worth today?
Babe Ruth was making $80 000 a year by 1930, equivalent to £7 million today.
87
How much money could you borrow for an investment?
| (1920s)
Investments could be up to 90% borrowed money.
88
What were the principal aim of the Republican policies?
| (1920s)
To give more money for people to spend.
89
Cars, 1919 and 1929.
9M cars in 1919
26M cars in 1929
90
Telephones, 1919 and 1929
10M telephones in 1919
20M telephones in 1929
91
Radios, 1919 and 1929
60k radios in 1919
10M radios in 1929
92
What products became popular in the 1920s consumer society?
Toasters, vacuum cleaners, washing machines etc. - household appliances
93
Ford Model T, production time before and after mass production.
Before - 12 hours
After - 93 minutes
94
General Electric share price.
| (March and September 1929)
129 cents in March
396 cents in September
| (1929)
95
How did the wealthy benefit from the Boom?
* Wealth accumulation
* Stock market rise
* Tax cuts
96
How did regular people benefit from the Boom?
* Rising wages
* Technological advances - new jobs
* Consumerism - more affordable goods
97
Car production rate 1929.
4.7 million per year
98
Fact about number of speakeasies in NYC.
| (Before and after Prohibition)
There were more speakeasies in NYC, in 1933, than bars before Prohibition.
99
How many speakeasies were there, nationwide, in 1933?
About 200,000
