America Flashcards
1
Q
What is opportunity?
A
A good position or chance or prospect as for advancement or success
2
Q
What is inequality?
A
The condition of being unequal in social economic or political grounds (not having the same opportunity as others)
3
Q
What was the treaty of Versailles?
A
The peace agreement made at the end of the war
4
Q
What is the League of Nations? And how did the Americans vote towards it?
A
It asked whether the USA should enter the peace keeping organisation and they voted no as they didn’t want to get involved with other countries problems
5
Q
What happened at the star of January 1920 to do with alcohol?
A
Prohibition, as a reaction to reduce rising crime rates in big cities like Chicago and Washington
6
Q
Why was Warren Harding voted in to replace Woodrow Wilson?
A
He had a policy called ‘America first’ where he talked about plans to normality where America only focused on their own problems
7
Q
What and when was the Sacco and Vanzetti scandal?
A
In the middle of the 1920s / two immigrants who were unfairly arrested for the murder of 2 American police guards which shows the US’ views towards foreigners after WW1
8
Q
What happened at the end of 1920 to do with women?
A
They gained the right to vote in national elections (2 years after British women were granted the right)
9
Q
What happened in 1921 to do with immigration laws?
A
American put a limit on the amount of people who could move to the US for work (worried immigrants would take their jobs and bring other countries problems with them)
10
Q
What was the ‘Ford-McCumber Tariff’ and when was it introduced?
A
In 1922, it put a tax on foreign goods — hope to encourage Americans to buy their own good instead
11
Q
What was the ‘Johnson reed immigration act’ and when was it passed?
A
1924, a law reducing down the number of people granted entry into the USA from other countries — limited immigrants to 2% of the population
12
Q
By 1930 roughly how many families owned a motor car?
A
It had risen to 23 million which was 1/4 families
13
Q
How had the lives of housewives changed by the mid 1920s?
A
The invention of machines to do household chores (Greta inventions such as vacuum cleaners, fridge-freezer)
14
Q
What did the immigration act in 1929 do?
A
It stopped all Asian immigrants coming to live in the US
15
Q
By the end of the 1920s how many dollars had used by families to purchase radios?
A
$600 million
16
Q
By the end of 1929 how many people were flocking to new cinemas to see films?
A
95 million people
17
Q
By the end of the 1920s how many women were now working?
A
Over 10 million (risen by 25%)
18
Q
Was 1920s a period of opportunity and/or inequality?
A
For many- opportunity with inventions & votes for women & employment rising For some (immigrants & POC)- inequality as immigration acts were passing & racism was very high
19
Q
Roughly how many people owned a motor car by the end of the 1920s?
A
23 million
20
Q
After 1919, how many arrivals came to the USA every year?
A
1 million
21
Q
What did Woodrow Wilson want after the war?
A
Normality
22
Q
What happened in the early 1920s that disturbed the public peace?
A
Strikes and demonstrations
23
Q
Who became president in 1920 and what did he promise?
A
Warren Harding - to put America first
24
Q
What did the famous 18th amendment introduce in 1920?
A
Prohibition
25
Why were the ‘good times’ beginning for most Americans in the 1920s?
New inventions, introduction of motor car and radio (first broadcast in 1921)
26
Who replaced warren Harding as president?
Calvin Coolidge
27
Which groups of people did not benefit in the USA in the 1920s?
The working class, farmers, Black people and immigrants
28
What happened during the prohibition years?
Gangster organised speakeasies to sell illegal alcohol and 5ey would bribe police officers
29
What was the ‘jazz age’ and what effect did it have?
It gave black people an escape route from poverty and social change
30
What happened on the 24th October 1929 and what were the effects on America?
People sold their shares and industries lost loads of money
31
What do American republicans do / believe in?
Preserve tradition and follow Laissez-faire / don’t believe in high taxes - pleases rich /
32
What did democrats do / believe in?
They’re an ordinary people’s party / intervene in everyday life / favoured helping those in need (poor or elderly)
33
Republicans believed in a tariff- what does this mean?
Putting taxes on imports and foreign goods, encouraging Americans to buy home-produced goods- helped industries to thrive
34
What is low taxation?
Lower taxes, people would have more money to spend, allowing industrial growth; businessmen benefited the most
35
How did the Republican Party help people in the USA in the 1920s? (2 points)
Believe in laissez-faire- didn’t get involved so could make a profit, low taxation- they had more money to help themselves grow and get benefits
36
What 5 things helped the economic boom in America during the 1920s?
Hire purchase, mass production, advertisement, shares and WW1
37
What was hire purchase?
Buy now, pay later scheme - allowed more people to afford things so businesses would boom
38
What is mass production?
An assembly line to churn out millions of products from machines, quicker and cheaper so products weren’t as expensive so more people could buy them
39
What was advertisement?
Learnt from propaganda, making people more aware of a product, increasing the demand as a result
40
What were shares?
Americans became share holders and would invest in an industry, if it does well the y would make a profit so had more money to spend on goods, this increased demand for goods so increased demand for jobs
41
How did WW1 help the economy in America in the 1920s?
America made huge loans to France and Britain to help buy ammunition for weapons, America did well due to little foreign competition so firms made huge profits selling weapons to allies
42
How did the ford motor car industry influence the boom in america in the 1920s?
It encouraged mass productions, making production much quicker and cheaper, this gave people jobs so opportunity to earn more money
43
How many Model T cars were produced between 1908 and 1925?
15 million
44
How quickly were cars coming off the production line in 1927?
One every 19 seconds
45
How many cars were ,ad sin 1929?
4.8 million
46
How did the motor car industry help other industries?
Supplied more jobs as the demand for glass, leather, steel and rubber increased. (Increasing jobs)
47
How much did automobiles use up US glass production?
75% of glass production was for automobiles
48
What job was the biggest single employer in the 1920s due to the mass production of motor cars?
Building roads
49
How many people owned a car in the US compared to the UK and Russia?
1/5 in America, 1/43 in Britain & 1/7000 in Russia
50
What did the motor car allow to happen living wise? And what did this do?
Allowed people to buy homes in the suburbs, boosting house building and stimulated growth of smaller businesses
51
How had the car industry developed from 1890?
1 car came off the line very 10 seconds / in 1900 - 4,000 cars were made 1908-1925 at million cars were made
52
How did the moving production line help production?
Number of cars massively increased / each worker had one or two small jobs to do to the skeleton
53
What impact did mass production have for ford?
More than 15 million were made / it made the motor company the US’ biggest industry
54
How had the motor industry improved by the 1920s?
Motor cars were the biggest US’ industry, there was 1 car to every 5 people
55
How did Ford help the boom further?
Stimulated growth of hundreds of other smaller businesses / allowed people to live in the suburbs / roads = biggest single employer / lots of steel and glass and leather industries increased / gave people jobs
56
How did single women benefit from the boom?
Attitudes to women changed: the vote, more rights, work and independence
57
How were single women still at a disadvantage throughout the boom?
Still seen as single objects / seen and not heard / men are still seen as superior
58
How did housewives benefit during the boom?
Increase in rights / inventions like fridge-freezers, cars and vacuums made jobs easier
59
How did native Americans lose out during the boom?
They were treated badly and were in poverty / lived in run down areas
60
How did immigrants lose out during the boom?
Weren’t looked upon fairly / were treated with suspicion
61
How did black people lose out during the boom?
Massive racism / different facilities
62
How did factory workers benefit during the boom?
More jobs with better wages, could experience new inventions
63
How did businessmen benefit during the boom?
Mass production helped income / invested in shares to expand their business / could afford new inventions
64
What percentage of America’s wealth did the top 5% earn?
33%
65
In 1929 how many Americans lived below the poverty line with less than $2000 per year?
60%
66
How did white farmers struggle during the boom?
Food prices were dropping, due to new technology so they were overproducing, resulting in lower income, so difficultly with mortgage and repayment
67
How did black farm labourers or workers struggle during the boom?
Almost 1 million lost jobs due to their bosses not being able to afford them as they weren’t needed due to new technology, moved to southern and northern cities, more racism
68
How did miners struggle during the boom?
Wage cuts, job loses and mine closures due to new forms of power (oil and gas) becoming more widely used
69
What were the roaring twenties?
A time of entertainment
70
Name a few crazes in the roaring twenties
Mahjong, marathon dancing and flagpole sitting
71
Who was a big baseball star in the roaring twenties?
Babe Ruth in the New York yankees for setting a home run reckrd
72
How much money were characters like babe Ruth earning?
$80000 a year ($7 million in today’s money)
73
Who won the British and US open in 1926-27-30?
Bobby jones, golfer
74
How did radio broadcasts help major sporting events?
Encouraged people to go, around 60 million listeners heard the 1927 world heavyweight boxing title fight between jack Dempsey and gene tunney
75
Name 3 famous black jazz musicians
Louis Armstrong, duke Ellington and Bessie Smith
76
How did jazz help black musicians?
They could make big money from nightclub, radio performances and record sales
77
Who was Charles A Lindbergh?
The first man to fly non stop from Harlem, New York to Paris, France over a 33 1/2 hour flight. Wa some of the most famous men and received over half a million well done letters
78
How many people went to the movies each week in 1919?
35 million
79
In 1930 how m at people were going to be movies each week?
100million
80
What was the star system and how did it encourage movie views?
They wouldn’t just promote the movie but the stars in the movie. This attracted obsessive fans to copy their lifestyles, changing behaviour in fans. They would also pay to see anything that the stars were in, boosting any movies or magazines
81
Name 3 movie household names
Charlie Chaplin, Rudolf Valentino and Clara Bow
82
How many films were Hollywood studios making a year and what did the produce for others?
50 films a year, creating jobs for thousands and lots of money for the millions flocking to see comedies, romances , action and adventure.
83
When were talking films created? And how did this boost cinemas?
In 1927. Cinema audiences were desperate to see how their fave movie stars spoke, so would visit more often
84
Who were flappers?
Middle to upper class women who’d go out dancing and smoking. They dressed more revealing and had short hair and short dresses
85
Were working class women and farming women flappers?
Generally not, they had jobs to do and labour to work in the fields. Didn’t have time to afford a flapper lifestyle
86
How were women expected to act before WW1?
Wear restricted clothing, to not wear makeup, have a controlled relationship with chaperones, have no vote, be housewives and dry few had jobs
87
Why did the role of women change in the 1920s?
Women, such a flappers, rebelled. Working in WW1 helped to show that they are responsible and can work so they were allowed to go to work
88
How were women more inferior in society?
Strong conservative element in society, combo of traditional and religious country values kept so,en more restricted than young men, women weren’t politically equal, women candidates were considered unelectable and only a handful of women had been elected by 1929
89
What may have flappers revealed against?
Strictly controlled relationships, against being traditional (movies influenced women to be more sexy or daring), against all being housewives, restrictive clothing and makeup
90
What tings showed that life for women was already changing?
Urban areas women would be out without men and would kiss in public, women were taken into war industries in 1917 to work in factories, 10million women working in jobs in 1929, 24% more than 1920, wore more daring clothes and they drank
91
Who was Al Capone?
Leader of south side Italian group selling illegal alcohol, making $60 million
92
Who is Bugs Moran?
Leader of Northside Irish gang, sold illegal alcohol
93
Why were gangs in Chicago fighting?
They had competition with each other about selling illegal alcohol
94
Why did some people think banning a,Conor was a good idea?
People would save money for their children, spend more time with their family
95
What did prohibition prohibit?
Manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors
96
How long did prohibition last?
From 1920 to 1933
97
By how much did levels of alcohol consumption fall?
About 30% in the early 1920s
98
How many arrests did two of the most famous prohibition agents make?
Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith made 4,392
99
What was the trigger than rid of prohibition?
St Valentine’s Day massacre
100
Who were dries and what did they claim to support prohibition?
That 3000 infants a year were smothered to death in bed by drunken parents
101
Give a link to immigration and hating foreigners as to why they made prohibition
Most big breweries were run by german immigrants who were portrayed as the enemy. Drink also linked to Bolsheviks in Russia who were seen as lawless
102
What point did dry politicians use to support prohibition?
That alcohol created absenteeism at work and reduced production of the economy
103
What did prohibition really cause?
More crime in states like Chicago (organised crime) and violence also speakeasies
104
What was the biggest reasons that prohibition didn’t work?
Enforcement was underfinanced and not enough agents / most Americans were not prepared to obey the law so bootleggers made vast fortunes
105
How quick was it to find alcohol during prohibition in Chicago, Pittsburgh and New Orleans?
Chicago: 21 minutes, Pittsburgh: 11 minutes, New Orleans: 35 seconds
106
How many speakeasies were seized?
Over 280,000
107
Where did most illegal alcohol come from?
Around 2/3 was from Canada
108
Why else have prohibition have not worked?
Corruption, police and agents were involved in the liquor trade
109
How often were agents dismissed for prohibition?
1/12
110
What else was a problem that came with prohibition?
Organised crime
111
How much money did gangs get from selling illegal alcohol?
$2 billion
112
How many gangland murders were there in Chicago alone?
130
113
What were the 2 main main reasons for the ending of prohibition in 1933?
Failure of law enforcement against illegal speakeasies and violence of gangsters controlling the illegal trade in alcohol
114
Describe 2 problems African Americans faced in the 1920s
Being in the same situation as a white man but having to pay more and getting payed less / not getting a good enough education and still being seen as undeserving slaves
115
Why was there racial tension in the 1920s?
Slavery had been abolished in 1863 but people were still suffering from prejudice and discrimination / many still worked for plantation owners (still seen as slaves) / denied access to higher education, good jobs and the right to vote (undeserving) / African American population doubled in New York and Chicago (accused of stealing jobs)
116
What is an Athletic club?
Gangs of white people attacking African Americans when attempting to use parks, playgrounds or beaches
117
What were the aims of the KKK?
To maintain white supremacy and terrorise black people
118
Why would people join the KKK?
1915 a film released to make black people appear really good / it was popular
119
What tactics did the KKK use?
Lynching / attacked blacks and Jews, paraded with white robes, sold merch / whipping
120
How many African Americans were lynched between 1919 and 1925?
300
121
What opinion was created around African Americans when they moved to the North from the South?
They were seen as cowards
122
What did the law in 1921 do concerning immigrants?
Limited new arrivals to 350,000 a year
123
What percentage of the population in Europe moved to America?
Between 1850-1919 about 10% moved
124
Did old immigrants benefit in America?
Yes, white English speakers were the most powerful and richest group in society
125
Did the first Americans (native Americans) benefit in America?
No, white settlers began to take their land and force them to live somewhere else in reservations
126
Did black Americans benefit in America?
No they were taken to work as slaves and after slavery was abolished in 1863 many went to work on farms
127
Did new immigrants benefit in America?
Yes and no, they experienced racism but they received new, better jobs
128
Why may people have migrated to America in the 19th and 20th century?
They could get freedom and jobs
