Background Flashcards
Give some reasons for the British Colonies ability to thrive upon their entrance to America.
Better housed/fed than other colonies.
Lack of planning made them more flexible.
Private investment led to minimal royal control.
Good trading links
Cheap and free land
How many immigrant arrived in the US between 1880 and 1910?
80.4 million, from Southern and Eastern Europe
When and what was the peak of immigration?
In 1905, immigration reached 974,000. Many of the immigrants were needed as cheap labour.
Why were immigrants used as scapegoats by other Americans?
Americans we’re fearful of mass immigration.
Also, immigrants frequently replaced striking Americans, trig to break the strike.
Many Americans felt that the immigrants we’re ruining their bargaining power.
How did immigrants help with industrialisation?
They came as both workers and consumers.
As workers, the industry greatly needed the numbers and this helped the industry progress.
Give some reasons that immigrants came to America.
Attracted to the idea of a land of freedom and opportunity.
To escape religious persecution (Russian and German Jews)
Famine (Ireland)
Poverty (Eastern Europeans)
Revolution (Mexico)
Many we’re jointing friends and family that were already settlers.
How did many immigrants find amicable when they arrived?
Many were face with poverty, America was a land of the middle class and this didn’t help their chances.
Their poverty and lack of skills set them apart from other Americans and they had no social status.
They were left with the ghettos of the middle classes who had moved out of them.
Women and children often had to work.
How did new technology benefit America?
New machinery allowed for faster production.
It also opened up new uni courses for students, government fave grants and by 1914, 4,300 people were graduating annually from 126 different colleges.
Henry Ford, the invention of the car.
How did Republican Government help corporations?
Protected under the law with limited liability meaning only the assets of the business put into the corporation by the shareholder were in risk of bankruptcy.
Continued tax imports meaning that they didn’t have as much external competition.
What was the main problem with corporations?
The amount of power they had e.g. J.P. Morgan controlled 80% of American steel production and Rockefeller controlled 85% of the oil production.
They went against the American idea that if you worked hard you could achieve anything.
These owners were called Robber Barons for their willingness to take from the poor as they often exploited them by offering low wages.
How did transport progress before the war?
Railways- by 1860, there was 30,000 miles of track.
By the 1880s, the Pennsylvania railroad was the single biggest employer in the country.
By 1910, there was over 350,000 mikes of rail, greater than the whole of Europe.
They brought goods up and down the country, making it easier for businesses.
Shipping- brought across immigrants from other countries on the new and improved steam ships.
After 1882, refrigerated ships were a frequent occurrence,
Give some reasons that America joined WW1.
Zimmerman Telegram- sent from Germany to the German American ambassador, intercepted by Britain and passed to there US. Said that Germany would support Mexico in a revolution to regain some states of America.
Submarine- Germany bombed a British submarine with 128 American soldiers, saying that it was a legitimate target. The US made Germany day that they wouldn’t sink another US submarine or ship in the future.
The US traded far more with the allies than with Germany and retained economic ties with France and Britain. E.g. In 1916, American exported $1290 million worth of munitions.
Allies- as well as exporting largely to the allies, the vast majority of support was for the allies in America.
What did the US initial neutrality mean for the economy?
They were able to trade freely with both sides of hand war. American trade rose from $2 billion to $6 billion between 1913 and 1916. Britain was spending $10 million a day in the US. NY became the worlds financial capital.
What was one of the he first actions of the government after the war broke out?
To increase the size of the army as it only stood at 120,000.
Conscription as introduced in Order to do this. Men between 21 and 39 had to register for the draft and were assigned a number to be chosen through the lottery. By 1918, almost 3 million men had been drafted.
The war industries board was set up in 1917 to organise supplies to the army, organised by a Wall Street finance called Bernard Baruch.
How did the war industries board affect the US economy?
Had a more direct role in issues, established the priorities for war production, allocating war materials to various industries.
Federal government spending rose. In 1916, it stood at 1.5% of the GDP and in 1918, it stood at 24.1%. In total, it’s estimated that the government spent around $31.2 billion on the war in Europe.
