Depth Study: The USA, 1919-41

Question 1

Name 4 reasons why Prohibition was introduced in 1920 (Prohibition)

Answer 1

• Historical factors
• Temperance movements
• Politicians, Church and industry
• First World War

Question 2

What was an ‘historical’ factor for the introduction of Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 2

‘Dries’ had banned saloons in 21 states by 1916 and had introduced Prohibition in 18 states by 1918.

Question 3

What was a ‘temperance movement’ factor for the introduction of Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 3

The Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union campaigned on religious and moral grounds. They believed alcohol brought ruin to families, spread disease and caused poverty and crime.

Question 4

What was a ‘politicians, Church and industry’ factor for the introduction of Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 4

Prohibition was an election winner and politicians backed the temperance movements.
Protestant Churches warned against the dangers of alcohol.
Industrial leaders (e.g. Rockefeller) said Prohibition would help the economy and reduce people being absent at work.

Question 5

What was a ‘First World War’ factor for the introduction of Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 5

Drinkers were viewed as unpatriotic; many American breweries were run by German immigrants; grain could be better used to feed the soldiers.`

Question 6

How far did alcohol consumption fall by in the early 1920s? (Prohibition)

Answer 6

Fell by about 30%

Question 7

What did Prohibition agents do?
How many arrests did they make in 1929? (Prohibition)

Answer 7

They arrested offenders and those smuggling in illegal ‘liquor’.
They made 66,000 arrest in 1929 alone.

Question 8

What were the illegal bars called?
How many were there in New York by 1929? (Prohibition)

Answer 8

Called ‘Speakeasies’
Over 30,000 in New York by 1929.

Question 9

What was the home brewed alcohol called?
What was wrong with it? (Prohibition)

Answer 9

Called ‘moonshine’
It was dangerously high in alcohol

Question 10

Who supplied illegal ‘booze’ to the cities?
Where did these booze come from? (Prohibition)

Answer 10

Bootleggers supplied illegal booze
Rum came from the Caribbean, and beer from Canada

Question 11

Who ran the illegal alcohol trade?
How much did they make a year?
Who was the most infamous gangster? (Prohibition)

Answer 11

Gangsters ran illegal alcohol trade
Worth over $2 billion a year
Chicago boss Al Capone

Question 12

What happened during the St Valentine’s Day Massacre?
When was it? (Prohibition)

Answer 12

Seven people were gunned down on the orders of Capone
In 1929

Question 13

What did gangsters do to get away with the illegal alcohol trade?
How many Prohibition agents were dismissed for corruption?(Prohibition)

Answer 13

Bribed police, the judges and courts, and even Prohibition agents.
One in 12 agents.

Question 14

When did Prohibition end? (Prohibition)

Answer 14

Law was repealed in 1933

Question 15

What were the main reasons for the ending of Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 15

• Difficult and expensive to enforce
• Bribery and corruption was high, and street gun violence was common
• The 1930s Depression saw some Politicians argue that tax from alcohol could be used to help those in poverty and the unemployed
• Farmers would be able to sell their grain if breweries reopened

Question 16

Who ended Prohibition? (Prohibition)

Answer 16

Roosevelt

Question 17

What is Speculation? (Wall Street Crash)

Answer 17

It is when speculator gambles by risking their money to make a quick profit by selling their shares when prices rose - but you could also lose everything

Question 18

What does ‘on the margin’ mean? (Wall Street Crash)

Answer 18

A 10% deposit was paid and the rest of the money for the shares was lent by the bank

Question 19

How many speculator and big investors were there by 1929? (Wall Street Crash)

Answer 19

Over 20 million speculators and 1.5 million big investors

Question 20

How far did the share prices rise by in 1928-29? (Wall Street Crash)

Answer 20

By 300%

Question 21

What happened in Summer 1929 which helped lead to the wall street crash?

Answer 21

• Factory output began to decline
• Overproduction and falling profits
• Some big investors began to sell their shares

Question 22

What happened in Autumn 1929 which helped lead even further to the wall street crash?

Answer 22

• Small investors followed the big investors and sold their shares
• Many were ruined as prices collapsed
• Black Thursday (24 October) - stock market lost 11% of its value
• Banks tried to restore confidence by buying up shares

Question 23

What happened on Black Tuesday, 29 October?

Answer 23

Banks stopped supporting the stock market. In one day, 16 million shares were sold and the market lost $14 billion

Question 24

What other factors caused the crash? (Wall Street Crash)

Answer 24

• Banks lent money ‘on the margin’ and consumers bought goods on credit - debt was rising again
• The USA was saturated with consumer goods that could not be sold, leading to overproduction
• Tariffs meant that companies could not sell their surplus goods overseas as foreign countries put up tariffs on US goods making them too expensive to buy
• The economy had been slowing down since 1927 and big investors were losing confidence
• There was inequality in the distribution of wealth - over 50% of the population earned less than $2000 a year. Low earners (farmers/immigrant workers) had not shared in the boom