economic boom Flashcards
what was the economic boom?
the 1920s the United States experienced a period of great economic expansion and prosperity
reasons
- resources
o USA had great store of natural resources such as wood, oil and land
o These had helped America to become a great industrial power by the beginning of the 19th century
o Provided a basis for further expansion
reasons
- impact of WW1
o USA came out of war well
o It had supplied Europe with many goods during the war had taken over European overseas markets
o In some areas, US industry was now the world leader e.g. chemicals
o The war hastened technological change which US industry seized on
reasons
-technological changes
o Plastic like Bakelite were produced
o There were many new technological development in many areas e.g. automatic switchboards, glass tubing, conveyor belts and concrete mixers
o Helped modernise existing industries
o Development on electricity – provide a cheaper, more efficient source of power
o Also led to the production of new consumer goods e.g. refrigerators, radios
reasons
-credit
o Growth of credit made it much easier for people to buy goods even though they did not have enough cash to pay for them on the spot
o 1925 most goods bought on credit
reasons
-mass-production
o New techniques meant that goods could be produced much more cheaply on a large scale
o Henry Ford had pioneered mass-production in the car industry
o Made cars so cheaply that thousands of ordinary Americans could afford them
reasons
-mass marketing
o Companies huge amounts of money on advertising
o This new industry developed sophisticated techniques to persuade people to buy
o The expansion of the mail-order companies gave consumers in the countryside access to the wide range of goods to offer
left out
- African Americans
o They were either labourers or sharecroppers (they paid a share of their crops to the landowner)
o ¾ of a million black farm workers lost their jobs during 1920s
o By end of the decade 25% were living in the cities
o Car factories wired blacks in small numbers
o Segregation, due to Jim Crow laws, and the presence of the KKK in the southern states, made life even harder
o Conditions remained hard for the majority of those who migrated north as they lived in ghettos and were often “the last hired and first to be fired”
left out
- farmers
o 30 million people earned a living through farming
o Made income by selling machinery and providing services
o New machines made American farming most efficient in the worlds
o However it was producing too much food than what was needed
o After the war European farmers could grow enough to meet their own needs, and the USA faced competition from Canadian farmers who were supplying a vast amount of grains to the world market
o Price of grain collapsed = farmers suffered
o Income dropped + hard to keep up payments
o 1920-1930 number of farmers declined
o Big mechanised farmers did well
o Small farmers and labourers lost out
left out
- new immigrants
o Faced discrimination
o Less educated than other workers therefore took what they could get
o Large number worked in construction during building boom
o Immigrants were a supply of cheap labour and more of the work was becoming mechanised
o Unemployment rate amongst new immigrants remained high throughout decade
left out
- workers in old industries
o Older industries were undergoing modernisation
o Industries such as steel benefited from general expansion (as there was high demand)
o There was overproduction in these industries (coal, cotton, raw materials) so prices and wages dropped
o Mines closed and wages were cut
o Safety standards dropped and working day grew longer
o In 1922 600,000 miners went on a 4 month strike for better conditions but to no avail
