depth study Flashcards
how many people left the Old World for America
between 1850 and 1914, over 40 million people left the old world for america
what did immigrants have to pass through when coming to america
upon arrival at ellis island immigrants had to pass through the immigration processing centre and there was no guarantee that they would get through
what decided whether they were admitted or not
immigrants had to face a series of tests that would decide whether they were admitted or not.
they feared the medical tests the most, they were checked by doctors and marked with an ‘X’ for mental illness and an ‘H’ for heart. Then they were checked for contagious diseases such as trachoma- the doctors used button hooks to lift up the patients’ eyelids to check for this blinding disease.
however the process did not end there, they were further questioned about occupation, whether they could read or write, and their financial situation
the problem with immigrants’ names
their names could often not be understood, many took on a new name upon entering america. a confused german jew when asked his name said ‘ich vergesse’ (i forgot), this instantly became ‘ferguson’.
reasons immigrants were detained
- illness
- young women who were alone
- immigrants without money
how many people were not allowed into america in 1911
around 2% of people were not allowed in
the average age in the USA in 1910
immigrants came from all over the world, but particularly from europe. most were young- the average age in america in 1910 was 24.
pull factors
- space (by 1900 new york was the largest city in the world and still growing)
- natural resources (america had massive natural resources- oil, timber, minerals and land was cheap)
- economic opportunity (great opportunities for new businesses)
- wages (higher in america vs europe)
- the land of the free (freedom of religion, speech and of the press)
push factors
- overcrowding (increase in population meant areas were overcrowded)
- lack of opportunity (difficult for a poor or uneducated person to improve their situation)
- unemployment (workers being replaced with new machinery + economic depression)
- persecution (people persecuted for their political views or religion, e.g jews in russia)
why USA emerged as a global superpower by 1919
the USA joined the war in 1917 (only for 19 months), they came out of the war as the world’s leading economy.
during the war they were in a one-way trade with europe, money poured into the USA for food, raw materials, and munitions.
during the war they had taken over european overseas markets and many american industries had become more successful than their european competitors. e.g US replaced Germany as the world’s leading producers of fertilisers, dyes and etc
war had led to advances in technology e.g mechanisation and new materials like plastics.
consequences of WW1 on USA
- social and economic problems: strikes and unemployment, fears of radicalism, race riots
- isolationism: american people not wanting to be involved in european affairs (not joining league)
- immigration problems: many immigrants coming to US, americans angry, literacy test
how the american economy boomed
- new industries: cars, chemicals, electricity and electrical products. enormous increase in cars created demand for steel, glass and rubber. electricity use increased largely after the war.
by 1920 most homes in the cities had electricity and 70% of all americans had electric lights
- transport: saw massive improvements, by 1930 the miles of paved road had doubled (thanks to mass production of cars).
number of trucks tripled to 3.5 million in 1929.
aircraft for civil flights made their first appearance in the 1920’s, making 162,000 flights by 1929. - construction: industrial growth created more demand for factories, even more people were employed in building roads for the increasing amount of cars. age of the skyscraper.
- advertising: mass-marketing the mass-produced goods
- shopping: wider choice of materials and styles- clothing sales went up 427% in the 1920’s.
sears, roebuck and co. of chicago: in 1928 nearly 1/3 of americans bought goods from the company giving it sales worth 347 million dollars that year - entertainment
entertainment in the 1920’s
cinema: young americans visited the cinema 2-3 times a week, 75% of americans attended the cinema at least once a week, clara bow ‘it-girl’ going against the normal standard for women
flappers: liberated urban women, short skirts, bobbed-hair, makeup, ‘powdered knees’, bright clothes, represented extreme changes of women in society
sport: in 1924, 67,000 people watched the illinois versus michigan football match at the memorial stadium, people who couldn’t attend tuned in from their radios
radio: by 1930, 40% of all homes in the USA had a radio set, could listen to music and sporting events
jazz: called the ‘jazz age’ because black music e.g blues dominated all music at this time. if arrived with the great black migration to northern cities
clubs and dancing: more sexual, from slow dances to quick-paced like the charleston
women in the 1920’s
- increasing number of women were entering work
- people were employing women because they could pay them lower wages than men
- by the end of the decade over 10 million women were in paid employment- 25% increase from 1920
- social habits were changing: women becoming more liberated, earned the right to vote in 1920, flappers were an example of extreme changes, women were expressing themselves through clothes and style
causes of the economic boom
- resources
- republican policies
- impact of WW1
- technological change
- mass-production
- mass-marketing
- confidence
- credit
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republican policies
- lowered taxes on income and company profits, giving the wealthy more money to spend
- protective tariffs on imported goods
- laissez-faire: ‘leave things be”
henry ford’s significance to the boom
- mass production: invented the assembly line.
by 1920 a car was turned out every 10 seconds - car for the ordinary man: affordable, family size
- workers were bored because work was uninteresting so he doubled their daily wages to $5
- impact of the model T: it encouraged the building of roads and the development of suburbs. it stimulated the growth of other industries e.g 90% of petrol, 80% of rubber, and 75% of plate glass were consumed by cars in the mid 1920’s when one in every 2 cars was a model T.
which groups suffered during the boom
- farmers
- blacks
- new immigrants
- old industries
farmers
30 million people earned a living through farming and half of americans lived in rural areas, new machinery e.g combine harvesters which made farming the most efficient in the world, it was producing far more than americans needed. during the war the surplus had been sold to europe. however after the war, europe recovered and was producing enough to meet their needs. USA was also competing with canada.
the price of grain collapsed and brought ruin to many small farmers. over 3 million farming families were earning less than $1000 a year. as their income dropped farmers found it difficult to pay their mortgage payments. between 1920 and 1930 the number of farms declined for the first time in american history
not all farmers suffered, big mechanised farms did well
blacks during the boom
the biggest concentration of black people was in the southern states of the usa where they were either labourers or sharecroppers.
3/4 of a million black farm workers lost their jobs during the 1920’s.
60% of black women in Milwaukee worked as low-paid domestic servants in white households.
car factories only hired blacks in small numbers; most operated on an all-white policy
new immigrants during the boom
usually uneducated so they took whatever job they could get
construction workers’ wages only rose 4% in the 1920’s and a large number of new immigrants worked in that industry
unemployment rate amongst new immigrants remained high throughout the decade
old industries during the boom
older industries were undergoing modernisation
workers in raw material industries e.g coal, steel, cotton were suffering. there was overproduction which meant prices dropped and wages fell
in 1922 600,000 miners went on strike for 4 months for better conditions but to no avail
the red scare
- russian revolution in 1917 heightened paranoia because more immigrants coming to america after WW1
- americans feared that immigrants were bringing in ideas of communism
- 16 bombs were found in a new york post office to be delivered to enemies of the revolution.
- an italian anarchist blew himself up on the steps of the attorney-general’s (mitchell palmer) home
- palmer raids: between 4000-6000 suspected communists were arrested
- some labour unions began to align themselves with international radical groups. at the end of 1920 there were strikes involving over 4 million workers
sacco and vanzetti
- in April 1920, a robbery took place at a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts - the robbers stole $15,000 USD and shot dead two employees.
- 16 eyewitnesses identified them as the culprits, both men were armed with the same caliber guns as used in the crime at the time of arrest, both men ‘acted guilty’ while being arrested and lied to police, Vanzetti had a previous conviction for armed robbery in 1919
- The men’s defence was that 107 people were able to confirm that both men were elsewhere at the time of the robbery, several other men confessed to the crime, the witnesses nearly all disagreed over what the men were wearing, the men also spoke poor english and got confused under police interrogation, explaining their behaviour.
- The judge, after the trial, said “did you see what I did to those anarchist bastards?” and also described them as ‘dagos’ and ‘wops’, two derogatory terms.
american immigration policy changing
- 1921 immigration quota act: figure set for immigrants allowed in was 3%
- 1924 national origins act: quota reduced to 2%
- 1929 only 150,000 immigrants per year
klu klux klan
- aim was to terrorize black people
- by 1920 ir had over 100,000 members; by 1925 ir had around 5 million members
- believed that WASPs were the best americans
black experience in the 1920’s
- jim crow laws: segregation of blacks in schools, parks, hospitals, swimming pools, libraries, bathrooms, and other public spaces
- discrimination and ill treatment
- thousands of blacks moved to the cities of the north hoping for a better life from 1910 to 1920
- the black renaissance: black culture and pride flourished in the cities, made whites aware of the black experience
- black theatre attracted big audiences: especially black music- jazz, blues, soul
the monkey trial
- A new law was passed in six states, including Tennessee, prohibiting the teaching of Charles Darwin’s evolution ideas in schools because those ideas contradicted the story of the Creation in the Bible.
- high school teacher John T. Scopes ignored the new law and taught his pupils Darwin’s ideas, he was taken to court.
- he was fined $100
when was prohibition introduced
january 1920, 18th amendment
what was the prohibition
- banned the sale, production and transportation of alcohol until the repeal of the law in 1933
- the law was ignored, broken and irregularly enforced
why was there a prohibition
- ‘dries’ vs ‘wets’
- growth of temperance (not drinking alcohol) movement which suggested that alcohol was linked to cholera, murder, epilepsy, many other illnesses
- mothers of families were upset because their husbands were alcoholics, spending their money on drinks instead of providing for their families
- big american brewers were of german descent, dries used this as propaganda to their advantage, suggested that refusing alcohol was a patriotic duty
why prohibition didn’t work
- speakeasies (illegal bars), bootleggers (people who imported illegal alcohol from abroad), racketeering (payments to the mafia for ‘protection’ against the mafia themselves)
- in 1919 there had been 15,000 bars in NY, by 1920 there were 32,000 (more than double)
- gangs were making 2 billion dollars a year, organized crime e.g al capone and bugs moran
- police officers employed as prohibition agents (corrupt, took bribes, outnumbered)
- illegal liquor: moonshine, ‘bathtub’ gin
why prohibition ended
- it was seen as the cause of a violent crime wave in the USA
- more americans were turning against it
- legalising it could help create jobs during the depression
- ended on december 5 1933
when was the wall street crash
october 24th 1929, 13 million shares sold (5 times the normal amount)
