Boom 1920-1929

Question 1

What made American companies rich by 1918?

Answer 1

During WW1, America exported weapons and food to Europe.

Question 2

What happened after WW1 and in 1923?

Answer 2

There was a depression after WW1 and in 1923, the economy boomed again boosted by policies of Republican Presidents.

Question 3

What are the policies of the republican presidents 1923?

Answer 3

Laissez faire
Tariffs
Low taxes

Question 4

What’s Laissez faire?

Answer 4

Republicans believed in this approach to the economy meaning they left businesses alone as much as possible to make as much profit as possible

Question 5

Laissez faire

Answer 5

The republican approach to economy meant American government would leave businesses alone as much as possible. This made profit for America increase. Wages were increased but taxes stayed low so workers had more money to spend on American products which increased sales and boosted profits.

Question 6

LACKPANTS

Answer 6

Laissez faire
Assembly line (mass production)
Credit (buy now, pay later)
Knowledge (new inventions that benefit economic boom)
Position of USA in WW1.
Advertising 
New consumer goods 
Tariffs (higher prices on products from abroad)
Share confidence

Question 7

Assembly line

Answer 7

Henry fords inventions of assembly line meant that new goods (model T Ford) were quick and easy to produce. This form of mass production meant that in 1927, one car was produced every 10 secs as they were all the same colour and had the same engine. This meant that costs fell so kore people could buy the car and the company made more money. In late 1920s car industry was biggest employer in USA.

Question 8

Credit

Answer 8

Term of ‘buy now, pay later’ where people payed for things in instalments (hire purchase). This meant people didn’t have to have the money at the time if they wanted to buy things (cars… radios). This benefitted economy because it meant that everyone could buy things and paying in instalments was much less daunting for people than paying upfront. More purchases were made so more money was made to boost economy.

Question 9

Knowledge

Answer 9

Meant new inventions were created that would benefit the economic boom such as Bakelite (a plastic used for making radios and telephones) and electricity which gave a more efficient and cheap way for factories to run (wasn’t good for everyone). This meant less money had to be spent on workers and new products were made for America to buy which boosted the economy.

Question 10

Position of USA in war

Answer 10

Position of USA during WW1 was that they didn’t join until 1917 and they supplied Europe with many goods during the war which meant that America’s economy was booming after the war while Europe’s wasn’t.

Question 11

Advertising

Answer 11

Companies spent huge amounts on advertising to get people to purchase new American consumer goods. This would boost the economy as it meant businesses were making more money which workers would also spend.

Question 12

New consumer goods

Answer 12

New consumer goods were mass produced and highly desirable to the American public which meant they were cheap and easy to make while making a lot of money. Some included telephones, fridges and cars. In 1920 there were 60,000 radios in America while in 1929 there was 10 million.

Question 13

Tariffs

Answer 13

Tariffs put a high price on products from abroad which encouraged people to buy goods from America which would hugely benefit the economy because all American money was being spent in America which created more jobs in factories.

Question 14

Share confidence

Answer 14

American people were very confident so they bought shares in businesses and invested their money in stock market. As confidence was high share prices rose which meant more money for American businesses ( until Wall St crash in 1929 when share prices fell in value).

Question 15

Losers of the boom

Answer 15

Farmers- Producing too many crops which they couldn’t sell so prices fell and they had to borrow money from bank to survive. More got into debt until they had to sell their farms. By 1928, half of US farmers were living in poverty and 600,000 lost their farms in 1924.

Traditional industries failed to respond to mass production methods of the 1920s unlike for which was flourishing with wages and sales. Workers weren’t able to claim better wages and working conditions in old industries due to reduction in power of Labour Unions. Coal prices fell as too much was being produced and not enough bought. New synthetic fibres replaced cotton: rayon was produced in factories which meant fewer workers were needed leading to a shortage in jobs.

Native Americans land had been seized by mining companies and they were forced to move to reservations where the soil was so poor that they couldn’t grow crops.
Immigrants endured more prejudice as they were uneducated and were willing to work any job for low wages though they were also most likely to be unemployed during the 1920s. African Americans faced segregation (especially in southern states) and lived in immense poverty. The majority lived on farms owned by white landlords and were labourers. With segregation and the the threat of the KKK, thousands moved to northern cities to look for work but all had to live in ghettoes due to shortage of jobs.

Wealth was spread very unevenly: 5% earned 33% of all money in America. There was an estimated 15,000 US millionaires by 1927 while 6 million families had an income of less than 1000 dollars a year.

Question 16

Changes to entertainment industry.

Answer 16

During boom period organised sport developed in popularity due to the coverage by magazines, newspapers and radio broadcasts. Baseball player Babe Ruth was considered a national hero and made 80,000 a year (7 mill) by 1930 along with there being 60 million listeners of 1927 world heavyweight boxing title fight between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. This shows the audience for sport growing as people are able to afford radios and sport tickets.

In 1919 movies had a weekly audience of 35 million and before 1920s movies were silent: Major companies being Warner Brothers and Paramount. In the 1930s this rose to 100 million people a week which shows that people had more leisure time and money to spend during the 1920s (because of wealthy US economy). Movie actors became icons and sex symbols to fans who copied their hair styles and dress sense that they’d seen in a magazine or public appearance (or a radio appearance). Performers like Rudolf Valentino , Charlie Chaplin and Clara Bow became household names and people would go to see a movie they were in even if it was terrible showing that the movie industry could use the popularity of stars to make more money. In 1929, Hollywood were making 500 films a year which gave employment to thousands and in the 1930 characters such as Mickey Mouse came to screens.
Before 1927 all movies were silent until the release of The Jazz Singer which was the first talkie made. This boosted cinema audiences as people were desperate to hear their favourite star’s voices.

Jazz music originated in southern states among A-A and became very popular. In the 1920s jazz spread from southern states as A-A began to move North in search of work. The music appealed to both black and white young people and began to be played in dancehalls, nightclubs and bars. New dances such as the Charleston came with its popularity. The significance of jazz is that it caused new blood to flow into the music industry. It provided opportunities for black musicians such as Luis Armstrong who made big money from record sales and performances.

Question 17

Changing role of women

Answer 17

Before the war: Behave and dress modestly, accompanied by chaperone when going out. Restricted as to what they could and couldn’t do (smoking and kissing in public). Employed in traditional women jobs e.g. servants, secretaries, nursing.
Significance / during the war: women needed in jobs traditionally meant for men as all men were at war e.g. factory work which contributed to the war efforts: It was hard to reject women having the vote due to this and organisations such as the National American Women Suffrage Association. Women won the right to vote in 1920. There was an increase of 25% of working women and by 1929 10.6 million women were working. Women then had more money to spend and became a target for company advertising.
Changing attitudes: 1920s flappers had much greater freedoms than before: their clothes were less modest and they went for a more boyish style and cared less about being ladylike (smoking, drinking and kissing men in public). Poor and black women didn’t benefit from this changing lifestyle and many in the southern states disagreed with the way of life. This change in attitudes of women shows that they are purposely going against their stereotype and rebelling for equality and a change in how society views women.

Question 18

Prohibition

Answer 18

I: Prohibition
D: In January 1920 the 18th Amendment was passed making the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal. However many continued to drink and gangsters such as Al Capone made huge amounts of money supplying illegal liquor.
E: A strong campaign against alcohol had been going on for years led by groups like the Anti-Saloon League who had support of churches and religious organisations. They believed alcohol caused social problems such as violence, poverty, addiction, dept and the separation of families.
A: Prohibition never worked as people were willing to break the law and law enforcers (police, judges, lawyers) were intimidated by gangsters’ power and were usually taking part in illegal drinking which made it hard for anyone to get in trouble. Bootleggers smuggled alcohol and moonshine into speakeasies: moonshine was so strong that deaths from alcohol poisoning went up from 98 in 1920 to 800 in 1926. This along with organised by gangsters e.g. Al Capone who made 10 million a year from racketeering meant that alcohol and speakeasies were becoming more popular than ever with 200,000 speakeasies in America in 1930 showing that the law did more harm than good. In early 1933 newly
elected Roosevelt repealed prohibition due to the attempt to make America a more moral and less violent country resulting in the rise of gangsters, organised crime and police corruption.