Boom to Bust 1920-1940 Flashcards
What the prominent shifts that took place during the 1920s?
- The rise of a consumer-oriented economy
- Mass entertainment
- Political change
What was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930) raised import duties to protect American businesses and farmers.
Name some causes of The Great Depression?
- The stock market crash in 1929
- Collapse of world trade due to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff
- Government policies
- Bank failures and panics
- Collapse of the money supply
- The reduction in purchases due to less money and demand
What year did the Great Depression start?
1929
What was ‘Black Thursday’?
Panic selling of stocks started on October 24th 1929.
What was the 18th Amendment?
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution banned the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors”
What was the Volstead Act?
The Volstead Act (January 16, 1920) closed every tavern, bar and saloon in the United States. It was illegal to sell any “intoxication beverages” with more than 0.5 percent alcohol.
Where did people go to drink during Prohibition?
Speakeasies
Name an organised crime figure in the 1920s
Al Capone
Who ran the underground trade in illegal liquor?
Bootleggers, organised crime, racketeers.
What happened to the nations wealth between 1920 - 1929?
The nations wealth doubled
What drove consumer culture in the 1920s?
Lots of people saw the same advertisements, bought the same goods, listened to the same music and did the same dances.
What was the 19th Amendment?
The 19th Amendment officially gave women the right to vote.
Name three technologies that helped with the housework in the 1920s.
- The washing machine
- The freezer
- The vacuum cleaner
Name two famous actors in the 1920s
- Charlie Chaplin
- Rudolph Valentino
- Tallulah Bankhead
- Gloria Swanson
What was the most important consumer product of the 1920s.
The automobile
Name three group areas negatively affected by the depression
- Farmers
- Minority groups
- Immigrants
- Old industry
Why were farmers affected negatively by the depression
- Workers left to go wandering America looking for work (hobos)
- By 1928, 50% of all USA farmers in poverty
- Too many crops/couldn’t sell them
Name the three R’s of the New Deal
- Relief
- Recovery
- Reform
Many _______ were unable to pay loans in the Wall Street Crash
Speculators
The 1920s saw a b____ in mass production and e_______ power
boom
economic
In what year did WW1 end?
1918
What were the benefits of USA not joining WW1 till 1917?
- Not saddled with debt
- One way war trade to Europe
- Exports of coal, wheat, brass, rubber, machinery, automobiles
Who introduced the Fordney McCumber Tariff?
Warren Harding
By 1929, most houses had e________
Electricity