America in the 1920’s Flashcards
Why did capitalism develop
Because of the industrial revoluiton.
What seemed showed the success of capitalism in America
The booming economy
what did many people interpret to be the final collapse of the capitalist system
The economic crisis caused by underlying causes
What is capitalism
It is a n economic system based on private ownership and individual wealth
What did people use capitalism to do
Wealthy people used it to build factories, buy machinery, and start businesses.
What did wealth people use their profits for and what did it led to
They invested their profit in more businesses and they used it to produce more goods and services. It led to the rich getting richer and it created lots of jobs
What was capitalism based on
Free market
What was free market
It encouraged competition without government interference
What is another word for free market
Free enterprise
What did capitalist critics believe about free market
They believed it resulted in the exploitation of worker because it was their labour that was producing the profits. They believed that the government should pas laws to protect workers.
What type of laws did capitalist critics think the government should pass
Laws about minimum wage and hours of work per weak and abolishing child labour.
What did the critics of capitalism also point out
That capitalism led to inequality between rich and poor, and between employers and workers.
Where else did capitalism develop
In other countries in Europe
Were specifically did industrial capitalism grow in America
In large cities of the north : New York and Chicago
What are the key features of capitalism
Private ownership of resources
Opportunities to make money
Little government interference
Emphasis on private service
Belief that competition is healthy and leads to economic growth
Possibility of success and fear of failure pushes people to excel
Freedom from government control
Rights of the individual are more important than equality
Private ownership of resources
Land, mines, factories … profit goes to individuals, but they carry the cost of failure
Opportunities to make money
But uneven distribution of wealth
Little government interference
Free market economy
Possibility of success or fear of failure
Pushes people to excel and invent new ways of doing things
Why did immigrants go to America
Was called the land of opportunity. They wanted jobs, higher wages and more opportunities to make a fortune. There was also more freedom.
How did people think they could make the dream become reality
With ambition, self reliance and hard work.
Who was an example of someone that went from very poor to very rich
President Herbert hoover
What did hoover believe
He believed in “rugged individualism” the idea that people could succeed through own hard work and efforts
What happened in the 1920’s
An economic boom
What were the foundations of the economic boom
Raw materials, skilled labour force, growing market for manufactured goods
What were the raw materials that were the foundation of the economic boom
Coal, iron and oil
What also assisted the economic boom
The ecomic policy of the republic pearl
What did the economic policy say
Little government interference
High customs duties on imported goods
Low taxes
Weak trade unions
Why did the Republican Party want high customs unties on imported goods
It encouraged people to buy locally
Why did the Republican Party want low taxes
So people had more money to spend on goods and to encourage the wealthy to invest
Why did the Republican Party want weak trade unions
So that workers didn’t have power to demand higher wages
What was the most dramatic growth in
Motor cars
What did Henry ford introduce
The assembly line. It was used to speed up production and prices dropped meaning more people could afford to buy them
What was the most famous car
The Model T Ford (the Tin Lizzie )
What types of jobs did the growth of car sales create
In the motor industry and other related industries such as: iron, steal, rubber and glass. It also led to the building of highways, petrol stations, hotels and restaurants
What other inventions became available
Telephones, radios, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, electric typewriters telephone switchboards and the passenger lift.
What did advertising do
It encourage credit and increased demand for goods. Advertisers also learnt how to control public taste
Mass media
Newspapers, radios and the first sound films were creates. Branded goods came about
How did many investors make a fortune
By buying shares and then selling them later for higher prices
What were the weaknesses in the US economy
Uneven distribution of wealth Problems in agriculture Problems in trade Unsound business practices The stock exchange
Uneven distribution of wealth
Not everyone could afford to buy the consumer goods. Millions lived in poverty. As a result, demand began to drop, factories decreased production and workers lols their jobs
Problems in agriculture
During WW1 there was high demand for farmers’ produce from Europe, but after the war, demand dropped resulting in surpluses. This cause a drop in prices, which meant that farmers weren’t earning enough money to live. As a result of this, farmers began to leave the land and workers lost their jobs.
Problems in trade
The government had a policy of protective tariffs to protect local industries and cheaper imports. This did not assist the economy, it stopped the free flow of trade between the us and the rest of the world
Unsound business practices
People were able to get credit too easily which meant that people owed lots of money. There was no control over who the bank lent money to and there was no protection for the ordinary people who had bought shares or put money in the bank. The government’s policy was to allow businesses to sort itself out without interference
The stock exchange
People were borrowing money to buy shares, wanting to sell for a profit. This system worked as long as the share prices were rising ans people were willing to buy them. When the prices of shares got higher, people were paying more than they were worth.
What were two nicknames for the 1920’s
The roaring 20’s and the Jazz Age.
What happened in the 1920
Mass media, radio backs affordable, film industry (Hollywood) experiences a boom
Why was the 1920s Calle the jazz age
Because jazz and blues became popular
What happens in a capitalist system
Freedom to compete in industry and to become wealthy
What is not always matched with the freedom of living in a democratic system
The freedom to compete in industry and to become wealthy in a capitalist system
What do people assume when they experience the freedom of capitalism
That democracy wold be part of that freedom
What was it like in apartheid South Africa
There was capitalism without democracy
Where were women employed since the first worl war
In factories an offices
When did women earn the right to vote
In the 1920’s
What did many middle class women do
The adopted new fashions and social behaviours which led to more independant lives
What happened for many ruler and working class American women
There was no real change or greater equality
What were the 1920s also a time of
Continuing poverty and inequality for minority groups
Who did not receive the same benefits during the economic boom
The African Americans and the native Americans, although there were limited improvements
Where do many African Americans move from and to
They moved from rural southern states to the cities of the north (New York, Detroit, Chicago) where they had a better chance of finding jobs and education
Who started the black capitalist movement
A small, but growing, group of black middle class Americans
What did the black capitalist movement do
It encouraged black people to set their own businesses
When were native Americans granted American citizenship and the right to vote
In 1924
Whet were the condition in the reservations like
They were poor and they were situated near the traditional land but far away from economic centres
Why did crime increase
Because of prohibition.
What did prohibition result in
The illegal manufacturing and selling of alcohol. It resulted in a black market for alcohol which was smuggled in or illegally manufactured
Who dominated the illegal alcohol business
Gangs, mainly the Mafia
Who is an example of a Mafia boss
Al Capone
How did gangsters avoid arrest
By bribing police and judges
What was wrong with prohibition
It was impossible to enforce and competition between gangs led to an increase in violence and crime which continued after the end of prohibition
When did prohibition end
In the early 1930’s
How did immigrants help the economic boom
They provided labour for industry and markets for manufactured products
Why did many Americans become suspicious about immigrants
Immigrants were suspected of being communist
What trend was started as a result of people thinking immigrants were communist
The red scare
How did people start the treat the immigrants
With suspicion and resentment. Many were arrested and deported
When did Americans start to fear that communism might take over capitalism
After the successful Bolsheviks Revolution in russia
What were some signs of intolerance for immigrants
Xenophobia and the development of the Ku Klux Klan
Who were the Ku Klux Klan
They were a violently racist organisation which had been formed after the American civil war to terrorise African Americans who had been freed from slavery
Who does the Ku Klux Klan also attack now
Jews, catholics and socialists
How many members did the Ku Klux Klan have at the end of 1928
5 million and was suspected of having strong influence government circklels.
What did the support shown for the Ku Klux Klan show
That, while Americans valued economic freedom, they did not all support political freedom. It also showed that capitalism and democracy are not always the same thing
When did Wall Street crash
1929
What is Wall Street
It is where the New York stock exchange is situated
What did investors being to question
Whether the shares were worth the prices being asked. Some felt that their money was no longer safe and would grow with the stock market and they started to sell large numbers of shakers to get their money back
What happened on the 29 October 1929
There was a rush of frightened investors who tried desperately to sell their shares (this crated an excess of shares where demand was shrinking and shares became much cheaper )
How much did the value of the shares drop in a single day
$ 8000 million
What happened to the people who had not sold their shares
They owned shares with almost no value
What did the collapse of the stock market lead to
The Great Depression
How many Americans owned shares
About 4 million in about 100 million
What were the social and economic effects of the crash
Unemployment
Homelessness
Collapse of business, banks and industry
Agriculture
Unemployment
As factories closed the number of unemployed grew. There was no social security or unemployment insurance for those who had lost their jobs. Unemployed waited in breadlines for free food from charity organisations
Homelessness
Th unemployed were unable to pay mortgage bonds or rent and were evicted from their homes. Many ended up homeless, living on the streets or in shantytowns. About 2 million people travelled from place to place in railway goods trains, looking for work
The collapse of business, banks and industy
Many factories and businesses affected by the drop in demand for goods, retrenched workers,m reduced wages or closed down. Share prices continued to fall, until they were worth, on average, only 1/5 or their pre-cash value. The banking system collapsed as investors rushed to their banks and withdrew all their savings, often standing using queues overnight. Over 11 000 banks closed down, leading to a loss of confidence in the banking system
Agriculture
The problems which American farmers had been facing in the 1920s got worse as food prices dropped even further. The development of a ‘Dust Bowl’ in the early 190’s turned the situation into a crisis. Poor farming methods and drought turned vast areas of the country into a dessert when strong winds blew the topsoil away. Farms were abandoned as thousands of ruined farmers and evicted tenant farmers migrated westwards, to look for work in California
Governments failure to cope with the crisis
The government tried to introduce some relief measures, but they were no big enough to solve the problems. There were strikes and demonstrations, mainly by First World War veterans, who demanded he government pay them. Instead the government accused them of being criminals and communists and used the army to break up the demonstrations. People lost confidence in to government and capitalism as a whole
