Declining Industires

Question 1

Problems facing the coal industry

Answer 1

• coal was no longer one of the most important industries
• the use of oil and gas, which was used for electricity, became more common and coal wasn’t needed as much
• a lot of mines closed down during the 1920s and many thousands of miners were made redundant
• those who were not sacked often had shorter work hours
• this resulted in many storms from the coal miners

Question 2

Problems facing the textile Industry (tarrifs)

Answer 2

• Tariffs: tariffs on wool and cotton were which resulted in the textiles industry having to face foreign competition

Question 3

Problems facing the textile Industry (Rayon)

Answer 3

• Rayon: A new product which was far cheaper to produce than wool, cotton or silk. It required less processing therefore less workers.

Question 4

Problems facing the textile Industry (Fashion)

Answer 4

• Fashion: Fashion changed dramatically in the 1920s. Women’s skirts became shorter and three times less material was needed to make a dress than before the war.

Question 5

Problems facing the textile Industry (Impact on workers)

Answer 5

• impact on workers; owners of textile factories looked for ways to make production cheaper. Those who could afford it invested in new machinery and workers were sacked as a result. Lower wages meant more strikes.

Question 6

Problems facing the railroad industry

Answer 6

• As car ownership became much more popular, people started using railroads a lot less.
• companies did increase their carrying of goods by about 10 percent but this increase would have been far greater had it not been for the expansion of road traffic.
• very few railroad companies made large profits during this period.

Question 7

Problems facing agriculture (overproduction and low prices)

Answer 7

In order to try and keep selling their goods they had to try and beat the Canadian Argentinian and Australian competition. They attempted to do this by producing food and selling it at a lower price. This meant that the farm is made too many things they couldn’t sell. They drive prices down and got a lot less income.

Question 8

Problems facing agriculture (government action)

Answer 8

The government put in an emergency tariff act which increased import duties on agricultural products from abroad. They also then made tariffs increase on goods coming into the USA which resulted in other countries placing similar tariffs on goods from the USA including agricultural produce. As a result so the price of their own produce increased abroad and became less competitive.

Question 9

Problems facing agriculture (competition)

Answer 9

Wheat production in Canada Australia and Argentina provided an extremely serious challenge to the US farmers.

Question 10

Problems facing agriculture (wages)

Answer 10

More than 1 million farmers and less than $1000 per annum. The average farmer earned half of a coal miners income and were among the poorest paid workers in the USA.

Question 11

Problems facing agriculture (borrowing)

Answer 11

Many farmers had to borrow money just to pay their mortgage, when all allowances of credit where exhausted they had to surrender their land at home to the banks and became unemployed.

Question 12

Problems facing agriculture (growth in other industries)

Answer 12

Growth in the car and track industry meant that there was a fall in demand for hay and oats and fewer animals were needed. Changes in the fashion industry (shorter skirts etc) resulted in less cotton and wool being needed.

Question 13

Weather

Answer 13

Dust storms occurred and destroyed land of the farmers

Question 14

Prohibition

Answer 14

When the government banned alcohol there was a lot less demand for grain because they were not making beer anymore and found themselves with too much grain