Decline in the 1920s

Question 1

Which industries declined in America during the 1920s?

Answer 1

❖Ship building.
❖Coal mining.
❖Railways.
❖Farming.
❖Textiles.

Question 2

What were the causes of decline in the shipbuilding industry in 1920s America?

Answer 2

When the First World War ended, demand for ships dropped and shipbuilders struggled to find work.

Question 3

What were the causes of decline in the coal industry in 1920s America?

Answer 3

• Electricity had popularised through the building of hydroelectric dams such as the Pacoima Dam in 1928, meaning that homes and factories were no longer heated or powered by coal
• The decline of the railways and the exponential boom of the car industry (by 1926, 20 million cars were on the road-/by 1927, a model T was created every 10 seconds) meant that less coal was needed to power steam engines.

Question 4

What were the causes of decline in the railway industry in 1920s America?

Answer 4

• The use of the railways declined as more roads were built, and cars and lorries were used to carry passengers and freight instead of steam engines.
• The government had spent 1 billion dollars on a road building programme

Question 5

What were the causes of decline in the textiles industry in 1920s America?

Answer 5

❖New synthetic textiles such as rayon and nylon, made by the chemical industry, started to replace cotton.

❖New fashions, inspired by Hollywood and the boost in new types of groups such as Flappers like Clara Bow, meant that skirts were shorter and less material was used for clothes, so demand for textiles fell.

Question 6

What were the causes of decline in the farming industry in 1920s America?

Answer 6

❖ Prohibition was introduced by the 18th Ammendment in January 1920, which meant that the production of alcohol became illegal. This reduced the demand for barley, apples, hops and grapes, which were used to make alcoholic drinks.

❖ The demand for cotton fell with new fashions and synthetic textiles, such as nylon and rayon, so cotton farming went into decline.

❖The Republican US government put tariffs (such as Harding’s Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922) on food imports from other countries through a policy called protectionism. They retaliated by putting tariffs on American food, so it was harder for US farmers to sell their goods overseas.