Section A1 - American People & The Boom (complete) Flashcards
How much did the number of households with flush toilets rise by in the 1920s?
20% - 51%
How much did the number of households with vacuum cleaners rise by in the 1920s?
9% - 30%
How much did the number of households with washing machines rise by in the 1920s?
8% - 24%
What did the rise in the number of washing machines mean for middle class women in the 1920s?
They spent on average 3 hours a week less on housework - they could join country clubs with their friends
What impact did WW1 have on American women?
In 1917 it gave women jobs - and in 1920 they gained the vote due to their war contributions
What did the Model T Ford come in to attract women?
Different colours
How did younger urban women develop after WW1?
They wore more daring clothes, drank and smoked in public, wore makeup
How many female workers were there by 1929?
19 million - 24% more than in 1920
What happened to divorce rate between 1914-1929?
It doubled
What were the limitations of women in the workforce?
Still paid less and employment levels only rose because they were cheaper to employ
Give an example of a strike as a result of women’s treatment in the workforce?
- 1927 United Textile Workers Union strike for 56 hour weeks at 18 cents an hour
- 1928 North Carolina strike - male workers: $18 - female workers: $9 for 70 hour weeks
What didn’t improve for women in the 1920s?
- were not given access to power considered “unelectable” - very few female politicians
- Bible Belt did not adopt the new lifestyle - outraged and formed the Anti-Flirt Club
What was formed by outraged people at the new developments for women?
The Anti-Flirt Club;)
What did entertainment do for women in the 1920s?
- Films exposed them to new role models - daring heroines (e.g Theda Bara)
- Try could see thenselves in roles other than housewives (inspiration; Gloria Swanson)
- Clara Bow - played part as a flapper (young, urban girl) in a number of films
Which TV actresses were role models for women?
Gloria Swanson (an inspiration for them) Theda Bara (played daring heroines) Clara Bow (flapper in a number of films)
Give examples of more daring dances for women in the 1920s?
The Shimmy and the Bunny Hug
What changed in women’s fashion in the 1920s?
Corsets went out of fashion - 1929 skirts were knee length
What were the limitations of film on women in the 1920s?
Many women did not copy what they saw - many novels and films gave a fully inaccurate picture
Many were outraged by films e.g. Up In Mabel’s room and believed in traditional values (rural/religious)
What caused the economic boom in the USA 1920s?
- First world war
- Industries and methods
- Republican policies
- State of mind
- Three raw materials
How did the First World War cause a boom in the USA 1920s?
- Lost fewer resources - joined war late in 1917
- One way trade - lent the allies money and sold them goods
- Took over trade around world - UK, France and Germany etc. busy fighting
- Became leaders in certain industries e.g. Germany’s chemical industry
When did the USA join the war and what did this mean?
- Joined 1917 - lost fewer resources as joined later than other countries
What was one way trade?
US lent the allies money and sold them goods - would be payed back later
What industry did the US take over during the war?
Germany’s chemical industry
How did industries and methods cause a boom in the USA 1920s?
- First moving production line - set up in 1913 - goods became cheaper from this - cars had knock on effects (e.g. road building, holiday resorts etc)
- Sophisticated sales and marketing techniques - Travelling salesmen, posters, radio, billboard adverts - $3 billion a year on advertising
- Credit Schemes - encouraged poorer people to buy items on credit - 8/10 radios, 6/10 cars - buy now pay later
- Hire Purchase - people could buy from mail order catalogues (e.g. Sears Roebuck) and make weekly payments
Give an example of how car production increased in the USA
In 1919 there were 9 million cars, by 1929 there were 26 million
What was the name of the first mass produced car?
Model T Ford
What were the knock on effects of increased car production in the USA 1920s?
- Oil, Rubber, Glass and Steel
- House and Road Construction
- Holiday Resorts and Petrol Stations
- Suburbs grew
How much did industrial production increase by during the USA 1920s?
50%
How many radios were bought on credit?
8/10 - encouraged poorer people to buy goods
How much was spent on advertising during the US 1920s?
$3 billion
How many cars were bought on credit?
6/10 - encouraged poorer people to buy goods
Name a mail order catalogue used in Hire Purchase
Sears Roebuck
How did Republican Policies cause a boom in the USA 1920s?
- Low Taxation (people had more money to spend)
- Import tariffs (tax on foreign goods so people bought cheaper US goods)
- Laissez Faire (government stayed out of business affairs allowing industry to grow without interference)
- Trusts (corporation dominated by businessmen who made decisions to help their industry grow)
- Normalcy (America kept out of world politics and problems)
What law put import tariffs on food?
Fordney McCumber Tariff Act 1922
Who were the 3 Republican presidents of the US 1920s?
Harding
Coolidge
Hoover
How did American state of mind cause a boom in the USA 1920s?
- Most Americans believed it was good to spend and bad to save - latest consumer goods and plenty to eat - keep up with the neighbours
- “A chicken in every port and a car in every garage” - Herbert Hoover
What was the American state of mind during the 1920s?
Good to spend bad to save
What did Herbert Hoover once say which represents American state of mind?
“a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”
How did raw materials cause a boom in the USA 1920s?
- America had an abundance of raw materials e.g. coal, oil and iron
- Could make money exporting it
- Could save money not importing it
- Could use materials to make consumer goods
What raw materials did America have which helped the economic boom of the 1920s?
Coal, oil, iron
What did Frederick Taylor do?
Started the Industrial Efficiency Movement - 50% increase in industrial production
Who led the Industrial Efficiency Movement?
Frederick Taylor
How long did it take to make one car on the assembly line?
1 1/2 hours
How much were Ford’s workers paid in the Motorcar industry?
$5 a day
How much did Detroit grow by because of the car industry?
4 times
How many people did the River Rouge plant employ?
80,000 - 70% immigrants
How many phones were produced in the 1920s?
1915 - 10 million phones
1929 - 20 million phones
What was the name of Ford’s plant in Detroit and how many Model T Fords were made?
River Rouge - 2500 Model T Fords a day
How much did Queens (suburb of New York) grow by?
Doubled in size during the 20s
How much did Grosse Point Park (suburb of Detroit) grow by?
700%
Which suburb grew by 700% during the 20s?
Grosse Point Park
How much did USA road lengths increase during the 20s?
Doubled
What were the Republican Policies of the 1920s?
Laissez Faire, Trusts, Normalcy, Import Tariffs and Low Taxation
What did the Fordney McCumber tariff of 1922 do?
Put import tariffs on food
How many millionaires were there during the 20s?
1914 - 7000
1928 - 35,000
How much did GNP rise by during the 20s?
40%
How much did average income per person grow by during the 20s?
27%
How much did households with fridges rise by during the 20s?
1-8%
In what ways did hire purchase help the US economy to boom?
- more demand for goods meant more jobs and wages
- more people could afford to buy products including poorer elements of society - increasing demand
- increase in demand meant faster production techniques were needed so companies mass produced leading to the wider use of assembly lines
- businesses made bigger and constant profits from guaranteed payments - could reinvesting their business and expand further
Who benefitted from the boom?
- Factory owners
- Assembly line worker
- White people in the cities
- Speculators
- Early immigrants
- Middle class women
- Builders
How did factory owners benefit from the boom?
- Republican Government believed in Laissez Faire which allowed businessmen to control industry
- Owners like Ford made a fortune and reinvested money in plants e.g. River Rouge 80,000 workers - expand business further
How did assembly line workers benefit from the boom?
- assembly line gave unskilled workers work
- female employment increased 24% during the boom - suited in electrical employment due to nimble fingers
- people want more and could buy more
How much did female employment increase by during the boom?
24%
How did white people in the cities benefit from the boom?
- assembly lines made everything cheaper
- middle class could move to suburbs e.g. grosse point park
- entertainment e.g. jazz clubs and sports events - cars to work everyday
How did speculators on the stock market benefit from the boom?
- as companies grew they offered investors shares on the stock market
- 1929 - 20 million people speculating - 9 billion dollars
- offered normal people the chance to make money and spend more
How did builders benefit from the boom?
- Road length doubled and suburbs grew rapidly and skyscrapers grew
- 1920s busiest period of building in US history
- millions of people given jobs to build - money to buy consumer goods
- building materials gave a huge knock on to workers in other industries and the cycle of prosperity grew
How did early immigrants benefit from the boom?
- although faced persecution from WASPs, many found work in new factories
- 70% of river rouge workers were immigrants
- improve standard of living
How many people were speculating on the stock market by 1929?
20 million
Which groups did not benefit from the boom?
Farmers, blacks/immigrants, coal/steal/textile workers, union members, poor workers
How much did farm income drop between 1919 and 1928?
$22 - $13 billion
How many farms had electricity or mains water?
less than 10%
How much did a bushel of wheat cost between 1920-1931?
$233 - $32 drop in 10 years
How many farmers were forced off their land in the 1920s and forced to find work elsewhere?
6 million
What were the reasons for farming declines in the 1920s?
- Competition from Canada (highly efficient wheat producers in Canada meant Americans bought the cheaper Canadian produce)
- Overproduction (farmers invested in machinery, leading to massive surpluses nobody wanted)
- European markets declined (grain was no longer needed as the war had ended, Europe was also bankrupt and tariffs stopped them selling their goods in America)
How did blacks/immigrants impact from the boom?
- did least skilled jobs
- last to be hired first to be fired (and still segregated in many jobs)
- seasonal unemployment (particularly affected polish/irish immigrants)
- 1 million black farm labourers lost work
- only 3% of semi skilled owned a car
- sharecroppers shared income from cotton farming but this industry declined meaning they lost their income
How many semi skilled workers owned a car?
3%
How many black farm labourers lost work in the 1920s?
1 million
How did coal and steel workers impact from the boom?
- 1918-1920 strikes over low pay and bad conditions (coal workers wage 1/3 of national average)
- coal being replaced with hydro electricity, natural gas and oil
- West Virginia strikes ended in state troopers
- Harding set up inquiry and found miners working conditions to be bad but nothing was done about it
- North Carolina strikes 1928 - male workers $18, female workers $9 for 70 hour weeks ($48 minimum required for basic standard of living)
How much were coal workers wages in the 1920s?
1/3 of national average
Why was there a strike in North Carolina and when was it?
1928 - male workers payed $18, female payed $9 for 70 hour weeks (mining industry) - $48 seen as minimum required for basic standard of living
What happened to the coal strikes in West Virginia in the 20s?
Ended in state troopers being sent in to disperse the strikers
How did textile workers impact from the boom?
- cotton industry being replaced by artificial fibres and Asian factories (making cheaper goods)
- 1927 United Textile Workers Union strike in Tennessee for 56 hour weeks at 18 cents an hour - state troopers sent in
- More strikes in North Carolina and West Virginia followed with force used again
Who striked in 1927?
United Textile Workers Union in Tennessee - 18 cents an hour for 56 hour weeks - state troopers used to get rid of strikers
How did union members impact from the boom?
- government took the side of managers (not workers)
- Supreme Court overruled 2 state laws which banned child labour and banned laws setting minimum wages
- Trade union membership fell from 5.1 - 3.6 million (1920-29)
How much did trade union membership fall by between 1920 - 1929?
5.1 million - 3.6 million
What did the supreme court do in the 1920s that impacted trade union members?
- Overruled 2 state laws banning child labour
- banned laws setting minimum wage
How did poor workers impact from the boom?
- only 10% of wealth went to the bottom 42% of the country
- 42% lived under the poverty line
- unemployment stayed at around 4% due to electrification
How many Americans lived under the poverty line in the 1920s?
42%
How much wealth went to 42% of the population in the 1920s?
only 10%
What did the Hays Code do?
1930 - censorship to control how relationships between sexes were shown on tv
What were 2 daring films that showed women in a new light in the 1920s?
Up In Mabels Room
When A Woman Sins
How many radios were bought by 1929?
$600 million worth
What were 2 jazz related dance that emerged in the 1920s?
The black bottom
The Charleston
(many people thought jazz was a corrupting influence)
What black American performers were there in the 1920s?
Louis Armstrong
Bessie Smith
Name a boom sport?
Baseball - e.g. the new york yankees - babe ruth payed $80,000 a year
Who were icons in sport during the 1920s?
Jack Dempsey (boxing) Bobby Jones (golf) Al Capone (baseball fan)
When was the first talkie made?
1927
Name a film star?
Charlie Chaplin
Why was prohibition introduced? (important)
PUBWATER
- Politicians could get 50% more votes (e.g. from rural communities)
- Unpatriotic as gave money to german brewers
- Babies smothered by drunken parents 3000 a year
- Waste of grain as Europe was starving after war destroyed farmland
- Automobile accidents, violence
- Temperance societies e.g. Anti Saloon League, Women’s Christian Temperance Society has been campaigning since the 19th Century
- Existed in some states already
- Reliable workforce as fewer hangovers/drunkenness, powerful business men e.g. Rockefeller supported prohibition
How many arrests did Einstein and Smith make during prohibition?
4392
Who made 4392 arrests during prohibition?
Isidor Einstein and Moe Smith
How did Einstein and Smith make arrests during prohibition?
Entered speakeasies and ordered drink, then emptied contents into a flask
How much money did Al Capone make from prohibition?
$60 million a year
How many speakeasies were there by 1925?
More than there had been saloons in 1919
How many illegal stills were seized during prohibition?
280,000
Why were illegal stills particularly bad?
Fire hazards and the alcohol they produced was often poisonous
How much illegal alcohol came from Canada?
2/3 - border was difficult to control
Who was a famous bootlegger during prohibition?
Captain McCoy - specialised in the finest Scotch whisky
How did big breweries stay open during prohibition?
They bribed local government officials and the police to leave them alone
How many prohibition agents were dismissed for corruption?
1/12
How can prohibition be seen as a success? (important)
(AADHD)
- Agents employed to make arrests (e.g. Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith)
- Alcohol consumption declined by 30% (to 50%)
- Death rate due to alcohol decreased by 42%
- Homicide rates didn’t increase (where as they had dramatically from 1900-10)
- Drunk and disorderly in public reduced by 50% (1916-22)
Why was prohibition ended? / Why was it a failure? (important)
(CLUBING)
- Corrupt agents - 1/12 were corrupt, Remus bribed agents with $25,000 cufflinks
- Led to violence - e.g. St Valentines Day Massacre (Capone shot 7 of Moran’s gang members - pretending to be police and making them put hands behind back)
- Unenforceable - no support in urban areas (more speakeasies in 1925 than saloons in 1919)
- Blindness from moonshine, illegal stills were dangerous, 280,000 seized
- Insufficient agents - couldn’t control Canadian border, 2/3 of alcohol from Canada
- No tax to government for buying, distributing or making alcohol - particularly important during the depression
- Gangsters made money and ruled the cities e.g. Al Capone made $60 million a year
Why were people fleeing to the USA in the 1920s?
- escape poverty (e.g. in Italy)
- escape persecution (e.g. jews in Germany)
- to start a new life and find hope of prosperity
What was the Melting Pot Theory?
that all immigrants would forget their cultures and beliefs and become “Americans” (symbolically put into pot, melted down and reformed as Americans)
Why did the Melting Pot Theory not work?
Immigrants were proud of their cultures and didn’t want to let them go - this caused tension with white Americans and more established immigrants
Was the racism in the USA in the 1920s simply between whites and non white people?
- Caribbean Blacks looked down on African Americans
- Northern Europeans looked down on Southern/Eastern European immigrants
- Mexicans looked down on black Americans
Why were Americans concerned by immigration in the 1920s?
Thought immigrants were bringing radical views into the country e.g. communism from Russia and Anarchism from Italy
How many immigrants came from Italy in the 1920s?
3.2 million
How many immigrants came from Russia in the 1920s?
2.7 million
How many immigrants came from Germany in the 1920s?
4.4 million
How many immigrants came from GB and Ireland in the 1920s?
- 5 million from GB
- 2 million from Ireland
What was The Birth of a Nation?
Film premiered in 1915- depicts the KKK as freedom fighters - protests from African American community and declined from many cities, but still became one of the higher grossing films in history
What was the literacy test in 1917?
Reading/writing entry tests that were introduced to stop immigration as many Eastern Europeans had not received an education
What were the alterations to the Anarchist Exclusion Act in 1918?
- Removed the provision in prior law that people who had resided in the US for more than 5 years were not subject to deportation
- Punishment for anyone deported who returned to the US (5 years in prison then deported again)
Which immigration law was changed in 1918?
The Anarchist Exclusion Act
What did the Emergency Quota Act do?
Restricted number of immigrants to 357,000 a year
Quota that only 3% of any overseas group already in the USA in 1910 could come in after 1921
Which act introduced a quota of 357,000 immigrants entering America per year?
The Emergency Quota Act 1921
What did an Oklahoma Statute do in 1921?
Prohibited schools from teaching white and black students in the same facility - if anyone violated this they were charged with misdemeanour and lost their teaching certificate for a year
What did the Johnson Reed Act of 1924 do?
Reduced immigration to 150,000 per year and cut the quota to 2% based on the population in 1890 (aimed at southern/eastern Europeans)
Which acts limited immigration in the 1920s?
- Emergency Quota Act 1921 - 357,000
- Johnson Reed Act 1924 - 150,000
What did the Racial Integrity Act 1924 do?
Prohibited interracial marriage in Virginia
Which act prohibited interracial marriage in Virginia?
Racial Integrity Act 1924
What law was introduced to prohibit school teachers from teaching black and white children in the same building?
An Oklahoma Statute
What was forbidden in Oklahoma in 1925?
black boxers sparring with whites
What did the Public Assemblages Act do?
Required all public meeting spaces to be strictly segregated
Why were black Americans treated badly before 1919?
- first taken to US as slaves in 17th century
- 1861 - Lincoln abolished slavery and 11 states decided to leave the union (leading to 5 years of civil war)
- gangs like the KKK formed to intimidate black people
- KKK began to decline at the end of the 19th century but started up again after Birth of a Nation (racist film) was released
- 1876 Jim Crow Laws encouraged segregation
- immigration caused more racism - KKK had 5 million members by 1928
What happened in 1861?
Lincoln abolished slavey - leading to a civil war that lasted 5 years because 11 states wanted to leave the union - KKK was set up as a result of this
What did the Jim Crow Laws do and when were they introduced?
1876 - made black Americans “separate but equal” - encouraged segregation
How many members did the KKK have by 1928?
5 million
Where was the KKK mainly based?
The midwest and rural south - especially dominant in Indiana - Oregon and Oklahoma had governors in the klan
What were the 5 ways in which black American lives improved in the 1920s?
(PRIDE)
P - Pride for blacks emerged - Harlem became centre of black pride and creativity with the Apollo Theatre - high profile blacks e.g. Paul Robeson (actor) and Countee Cullen (poet)
R - racial segregation campaigns set up - NAACP (campaigned for the end of segregation and lynchings) - had 90,000 members by 1919
I - improvement associations set up - UNIA by Garvey encouraged black pride, to set up own business and helped blacks move to Africa to escape persecution - 1 million members by 1921
D - didn’t shop in Chicago chains until they employed black people - Black Capitalist Movement - also encouraged blacks to set up their own businesses
E - education/job opportunities available - Howard University for blacks
What was the centre of black pride in the 1920s?
Harlem - e.g. the Apollo Theatre
Which high profile blacks emerged in the 20s?
Paul Robeson, Countee Cullen
What did the NAACP stand for?
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
What did the NAACP do?
campaigned for the end of segregation/lynchings
How many members did the NAACP have?
90,000 by 1919 and 300 branches
What did the UNIA stand for?
Universal Negro Improvement Association
What did the UNIA do?
encouraged black pride, to set up own businesses and helped people move to Africa to escape persecution
How many members did the UNIA have?
1 million by 1921
What did the Black Capitalist movement do?
Boycotted Chicago chains until they employed blacks and encouraged them to set up their own businesses
What 5 problems did blacks continue to have through the 1920s?
- Poverty was great - higher rents for poorer housing - bad jobs/education available - life expectancy was 48 compared to 59 for whites in 1930
- Extremist groups persecuted them e.g. the KKK (which included government officials) who lynched, tar and feathered and branded them with acid - 50 lynchings per year
- North migration to escape persecution in the South - new york black population rose from 150,000 to 330,000
- Intimidation prevented many of them from voting
- Scared by groups of Polish/Irish immigrants who attacked blacks in parks in Chicago and other public places
How much did New York’s black population increase during the 20s?
150,000 - 330,000
What was life expectancy for black Americans?
in 1930 - 48 (compared to 59 for whites)
How many blacks were lynched per year?
50
What was the Red Scare?
Americans were scared that immigrants were bringing radical beliefs to the US e.g. communism and anarchism
What was the evidence of the Red Scare?
- 400,000 workers went on strike - including the police in Boston
- disturbances in the streets e.g. thieves and race riots in 25 towns
How many workers went on strike which led people to blame immigrants - fuelling the Red Scare?
400,000
How many race riots were there which fuelled the Red Scare?
race riots 25 towns
Why did 400,000 workers go on strike during the Red Scare?
- at the time people thought it was Communist Interference - the workers might take control of industry from the owners
- modern historians think it was Economic Hardship - wartime production levels had dropped so workers were sacked and income decreased - combined with bad working hours/conditions
What justified peoples fears of the Red Scare?
(anarchists)
- published posters calling to overthrow the government
- April 1919 bomb killed 10 people in a Milwaukee church
- May - bombs posted to 36 prominent Americans
- June - Mitchell Palmer (US Attorney General) almost killed
When did a bomb kill 10 people in a Milwaukee church?
April 1919
How many people were killed by anarchists in April 1919?
10 people in a Milwaukee church
What happened in May 1919?
Anarchists posted bombs to 36 prominent Americans
What happened in June 1919?
Mitchell Palmer - US attorney general was almost killed by anarchists
Who was put in charge of building up cases against immigrants with radical beliefs?
J Edgar Hoover
How many files did Hoover build up against immigrants?
60,000 - 10,000 told they would be deported in 1919
What happened to Palmer during the Red Scare?
- used immigrant fear to build up his own support to run for president
- predicted a Red Revolution in May 1920 and papers/politicians undermined him when this didn’t happen
- Was discredited after only 556/60,000 files had any basis of truth
How many files that Hoover built up against immigrants involved in anarchist/communist terror had any basis of truth
556 out of 60,000
Who were two immigrants who suffered persecution in the 1920s?
Sacco and Vanzetti
What is the story of Sacco and Vanzetti? (important)
- self-confessed anarchists and italian immigrants arrested in 1920 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder
- their trial became more about their radical views - relied heavily on racist slurs against their backgrounds
- judge referred to them as “those anarchist bastards”
- after six years, in 1927, they were executed - leading to protests around the world
