America Unit 1 Flashcards
What are the 4 causes of the boom?
Industrial strength
WWI
Republican policies
Consumer goods and stocks or shares
Why did industrial strength help lead to an economic boom?
America was rich in natural resources
Population in towns were increasing as most people lived there or moved there to get jobs - however many became homeless - 73,000 in 1920
They were selling their products to other countries, like plastic (biggest producers)
Why did WWI help lead to an economic boom?
America was selling weapons and foodstuffs to allies
Weren’t in the war for long so their resources and economy wasn’t badly damaged
Allowed them to take over Germany as the biggest producers of plastic (Germany was busy with war)
Why did Republican policies help lead to an economic boom?
Policies like:
Laissez faire
Low taxation - people had more money so could spend more on the industry
Tariffs - people stopped buying products from other countries as it was expensive
Isolationism - the US worked alone
Why did consumer goods and stocks or shares help lead to an economic boom?
Many people began to buy stocks and shares as they had money to spare
Adverts promoted products made by industries (e.g. washing machines) - promoted products (more sales)
Hire purchase - pay over time so it allowed people to buy more expensive things
What is the cycle of prosperity?
Increased employment, leads to…
More money to spend on goods, leads to…
Increased demand for goods, leads to…
Increased production
It’s a constant cycle of this
If one of these things happens, it can set off a chain reaction and the rest will happen
If one is missing (e.g. no employment) then the cycle cant be created
Who was Henry Ford?
The creator of the company Ford
Helped make the motor industry very big
Introduced many process that allowed products to be sold for cheaper
What car did Henry Ford create?
Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie
How many Model T Fords were made?
15 million
How much did the Model T Ford cost in 1909 and then 1928? What does this show?
$950 in 1909
$295 in 1928
Shows that overtime, the usage of production processes (like the assembly line and standardisation) can really lower costs of products and therefore more people could buy them
How long did it take to make one Model T Ford?
A minute
What are some properties of the Model T Ford?
Affordable
Cheap
Not the best quality but very popular
How many men worked in Fords factories by 1929?
81,000 working in Fords factories by 1929
How much did the men who worked for Ford earn a day?
$5 a day
Information about Fords workers?
They were lower skilled - allowed more people to be employed (helped continue the cycle of prosperity)
What is mass production?
When products were made on an assembly line and was the same
What was an assembly line?
A line that had many stations, each station was in charge of doing one thing (less skilled workers needed)
What was standardisation? Benefits?
When all the products made were the exact same - allowed everything cheaper as different versions of products didn’t have to be purchased
What did mass production allow for?
Less skilled workers to be used - increased employment
Decreased the costs of the cars and therefore their prices too
What were 4 Republican policies?
Isolationism
Taxes
Laissez faire
Tariffs
What was isolationism?
The desire to keep out of foreign affairs
What did isolationism allow for?
America to keep all of their money
What was the Republicans policy on taxes?
Everyone was to be taxed as little as possible (even the rich)
What did low taxation allow?
People had therefore more money to spend because they were taxed less - American industry got richer
What was Laissez faire?
When businessmen were left alone
What did Laissez faire allow?
Business could come up with their own products
Could set own staff conditions
Could do whatever made America the most money
What were tariffs?
Taxes placed on imported goods
What did tariffs allow?
Less people bought goods from other countries as it was more expensive
All money was pumped back into the American industry
Example of a tariff introduced? What happened?
Emergency Tariff - May 1921
Taxes rose on products by 40-400%
What was 1920s America also known as?
The roaring 20s
What did the development of entertainment in 1920s America allow for?
People had more fun
Less discrimination - jazz music and black culture
What happened to the working week and wages that helped entertainment industries in 1920s America?
Working week dropped from 47.4 hours to 44.2 hours
Wages rose by 11%
This mean that people had more time and money to spend on entertainment industries
What are examples of entertainment industries in 1920s America?
Radio
Music
Sport
Film and movies
Why were radios introduced?
To promote products using adverts
How many radio stations were there in 1921 compared to 1922?
1 radio station in 1921
508 radio stations in 1922
When did the radio cost $60? What did this mean?
Cost $60 in 1922 - cheap and affordable so more people bought it
How many homes had radios by the end of the 1920s?
50% of homes in America had radios by the end of the 1920s
What was music age in the 1920s also known as?
The jazz age
Who were some famous musicians in 1920s America?
Louis Armstrong
Bessie Smith
How was jazz brought over to America?
Harlem Renaissance and great migration brought over jazz
What sports were very big in 1920s America?
Golf
Football
What was the type of film introduced in the 1920s?
Talkies - films with colour and sound
What types of films were popular in 1920s America?
Silent comedies
How many people went to the cinema weekly in 1925?
By 1925, 50 million people went to cinemas weekly
How many movies houses (cinemas) were there in the 1920s?
20,000 movie houses
What were 1920s women called?
Flappers
What happened for women in 1920s America?
They had more freedom
What did flappers do?
Smoked in public
Drank in public
No male escorts
Wore short skirts
Showed ankles
What year were women given the vote?
1920 - women were given the vote in America
What did the war mean for women?
They took over the men’s old jobs - many people began to realise men and women should be equal
How did the introduction of cars help women?
They were more free - could drive the cars
Did all benefit or agree with these changes to women?
No
Who didn’t agree with these changes to do with women?
Traditional women - believed women should housewives and look after the kids
What club was created to stop changes towards women ? What were some of their rules?
‘Anti flirt club’
No flirting, don’t smile, don’t wink etc.
Who didn’t benefit from changes with women in the 1920s? Why?
African American women - there was discrimination
Poor women - couldn’t afford the new fashion, didn’t have time to go out
When was prohibition introduced?
January 1920
What did prohibition do?
Attempted to stop the selling and buying of alcohol
Why was prohibition introduced?
Too many were dying from alcohol poisoning
Because alcohol was believed to have caused violence and child abandonment
Did prohibition succeed or fail?
Fail
Why did prohibition fail?
Difficult to enforce - only 4000 agents enforcing it
Black market was created for alcohol - 50million litres of illegal alcohol discovered and destroyed
Crime increased - e.g. Valentine’s Day massacre
Even politicians and those who were meant to be enforcing the law were still buying alcohol
What fuelled during prohibition? Examples?
Organised crime - Valentine’s Day massacre, bootleggers smuggled alcohol across borders from Canada
Who was the biggest criminal gang leader?
Al Capone
What area of the US did Al Capone take control of?
Gained control over Chicago
How did Al Capone hide his alcohol selling business?
Disguised it as a dry cleaners
What were speakeasies?
Places where liquor was sold illegally
What is an example of organised crime?
The Valentine’s Day massacre 1929
What was the Valentine’s Day massacre?
When Al Capones men dressed up as police officers and shot 7 rival gang members
Was a reason why prohibition also failed
Who were anarchists?
Those who wanted to overthrow the government
What was the red scare?
When communism began to spread after the Russian revolution in 1917
Americans were fearful that immigrants were communists
They were paranoid that there were spies everywhere
Why didn’t immigrants share in the boom?
Immigrants were poorly paid
Many lived in poor, overcrowded cities - they were segregated
Many were imprisoned in Ellis island
Why were immigrants disliked?
There was a desire for there to only be WASPs in the US
Red scare
Thought they were there to take over America
When were literacy tests introduced? Why?
1917 - literacy tests were introduced so immigrants could read and understand basic English
Example of a piece of legislation preventing the entry of a lot of immigrants?
Immigration Quota Act of 1921 - restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3%
Immigration Quota Act of 1924 - decreased to 2%
What year were only 150,000 immigrants allowed in yearly? What race wasn’t allowed in at all?
1929
NO ASIANS ALLOWED
What was the case of Sacco and Vanzetti?
They were arrested in 1920 as they were accused of murdering 2 men
They were put on trial and found guilt based on flimsy evidence
The judge was also prejudice
They were executed
There were many cases like these
When was slavery emancipated?
1865
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
When Black culture was brought over to North America like art, music and poetry
This was due to the great migration (when Africans migrated from the south)
When was the KKK formed?
1866
What was the KKK made up of?
WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants)
What did the KKK do?
Carried out lynchings publicly
Tortured the African Americans
What did public lynchings do?
Created fear for the Blacks
Why was there a revival of the KKK in the 1920s?
It began to grow rapidly again in the 1920s
When were the Jim Crow Laws introduced?
May 1896
What were some examples of the Jim Crow laws?
There were different schools for blacks and whites
Doctors of the other race couldn’t help you
Separate phone booths for whites and blacks
Different areas of buses or completely different buses for each race
What act introduced prohibition? When was it passed?
Volstead act - October 1919
What were the effects of prohibition?
Alcohol consumption fell by 30%
There were 32,000 speakeasies in 1932
Moonshine was introduced - bad quality and sometimes people were killed
Organised crime increased
