SHHS-History-GCSE Year 11 Unit 2 : The Roaring 20s - USA, 1919-29

Question 1

How many American servicemen died in World War One?

Answer 1

100,000

Question 2

When did the Senate reject joining the League of Nations?

Answer 2

1920

Question 3

What was the Volstead Act and when was it introduced?

Answer 3

January 1920 - It was the act which brought in Prohibition (the banning of the making, selling and distributing of alcohol) to America as a whole. The constitution had been changed to make this possible in Jan 1919 with the 18th Amendment.

Question 4

Which U.S. Republican senator led the arguments against USA joining the League of Nations?

Answer 4

Henry Cabot Lodge

Question 5

What was ‘isolationism’?

Answer 5

A belief that USA should not be involved or dragged into the affairs and conflicts of other nations, but instead, should be able to concentrate on American issues and interests. This view became very popular in America after World War One. It was promoted by the Warren Harding and the Republicans who defeated Wilson in the 1920 presidential election, and it was a major factor in USA refusing to join the League of Nations.

Question 6

What happened to President Wilson in Sept 1919 and how did it contribute to USA not joining the League of Nations?

Answer 6

He suffered a stroke on 26th Sept, 1919, whilst touring America, making speeches in favour of America joining the League. He was a semi-invalid after the stroke and this made it more difficult to persuade voters not to support the Republicans and isolationism. In March 1920 there were not enough votes in the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and consequently, the USA did not become a member of the League.

Question 7

Who won the 1920 U.S. Presidential election?

Answer 7

The Republican, Warren Harding.

Question 8

What did Harding mean by ‘normalcy’ - a term he used frequently in his election campaign?

Answer 8

He meant a return to the way of life and isolationist policies that America had before its involvement in World War One. In addition, he said that ‘We seek no part in directing the destinies of the world.’

Question 9

How had the First World War affected the U.S. economy?

Answer 9

It had benefitted. Even when officially neutral (until April 1917) USA had sold armaments and food to Britain and France. The USA had been able to export goods to places normally controlled by European colonial powers, whilst those countries were focused on war. By 1918, America had overtaken Germany in the production of chemicals and led the way in developing new materials, like plastics. Also, America was not in the war long enough to find its economy drained, as was the case with European countries who had been fighting since 1914.

Question 10

What did the Forney-McCumber tariff of 1922 do?

Answer 10

Put high tariffs (taxes) on all foreign-made goods sold in the USA. This made Americans goods cheaper for Americans to buy than imported, foreign goods. It was a ‘protectionist’ policy.
In the long-term it weakened the American economy because foreign countries retaliated by putting tariffs on American goods. Consequently, it became very difficult to sell American goods abroad.

Question 11

How many times did Presidents Harding and Coolidge raise the Fordney-McCumber Tariff?

Answer 11

32 times.

Question 12

How were Model T cars produced?

Answer 12

They were mass-produced on a moving assembly line. In this way, a car could be produced in Ford’s factory in 93 minutes, or to put it another way, one car rolled off Ford’s assembly line every 10 seconds.

Question 13

Which kinds of industries ‘boomed’ in the Roaring 20s?

Answer 13

Industries producing consumer goods, like cars, vacuum-cleaners, refrigerators and telephones. Synthetic industries also mushroomed, such plastics and rayon. Construction and electric light and power companies prospered. In terms of the food industry, canned fruit and vegetables sold well. Entertainment and leisure industries also ‘boomed’.

Question 14

Which sales schemes enabled millions of Americans to buy consumer goods, which would have been otherwise too expensive?

Answer 14

Hire purchase schemes. It was also easy to borrow money from banks at low rates of interest.

Question 15

What was bought and sold on Wall Street?

Answer 15

Shares. It is the American stock market.

Question 16

Why was there a stock market boom in USA in 1920s?

Answer 16

Because share prices in consumer goods companies were rising dramatically and investors wanted to make large profits, speculating in shares. Banks contributed to this by allowing people to loan money in order to buy shares (‘buying on the margin’). The theory here was that people would quickly make such a large profit as the price of shares rose, that they would be able to pay off the initial loan to the bank and still have money left over (often to then reinvest). Some banks loaned more money than they actually had in deposits.
The government encouraged this type of speculation in shares with its ‘laissez-faire’ policies of low taxes and non-interference in business.

Question 17

What was ‘rugged individualism’?

Answer 17

The Republican governments’ policy of making individuals responsible for their own lives and the creation of their own wealth through ‘hard work’ and enterprise. The Republicans did not belief in government assistance or the redistribution of wealth. They believed social welfare would create lazy and dependant Americans.

Question 18

What was ‘laissez-faire’?

Answer 18

The Republican governments’ policy of not interfering in business. They believed in low taxation and letting business leaders get on with the job of running their businesses without interference (rules, regulations, high taxes) from government.

Question 19

Why did the entertainment industry grow in 1920s America?

Answer 19

Many people, especially white people in Northern towns and cities were better off, with more leisure time than their predecessors. There was a confidence in the economic boom which encouraged people to ‘live in the present’ and spend their money; a fair proportion of disposable income was spent on sport and leisure activities. People made use of the availability of the motor car and expanding road network to travel more. Many young women in particular, were keen to make the most of new found freedom ( and independent incomes) spending money on new fashions, films and in speakeasies.

Question 20

Why did the popularity of jazz music increase in the Roaring 20s?

Answer 20

Partly because of the availability of radio and early gramophone records. By 1929, over 10 million homes in the USA,had a radio. Also, jazz and jazz clubs were frequented by the young who wanted to shake off old traditions. They were places to drink, socialise and sample new and fashionable (and often risqué) dances such as the Charleston, Black Bottom and tango.

Question 21

Which 1920s Hollywood heartthrob reputedly made women faint in the aisles of American cinemas with his bare chested performance in the silent movie classic ‘The Son of the Sheik’ (1926)?

Answer 21

Rudolph Valentino

Question 22

When and what was the first ‘talkie’?

Answer 22

‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1927, starring Al Jolson. It was the first movie with ‘talking’ i.e. audible dialogue. It marked the beginning of the end of the silent movie era.

Question 23

Which sorts of Americans did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s?

Answer 23

Many black Americans, especially those living in the southern states.
Poor immigrants, most of whom lived in squalid tenements in Northern cities like New York.
Workers in ‘old industies’ like coal, iron, textiles and steel, who faced extremely poor wages, long working hours and squalid living conditions.
The majority of farmers (except those who were producing speciality crops like lettuce). Over-production had resulted in extremely low prices for crops and livestock. Many farmed faced bankruptcy and ruin well before the Wall Street Crash.

Question 24

What was ‘moonshine’?

Answer 24

Home-produced and illegal alcohol during the time of Prohibition. Because it was illegal and unregulated it was often poorly made and dangerously strong.

Question 25

Who were ‘bootleggers’?

Answer 25

People, like Bill McCoy, who smuggled illegal alcohol into America, during the Prihibition.

Question 26

Who were ‘flappers’?

Answer 26

Young, unmarried women in the Roaring 20s who made the most of new freedoms for women. They frequented jazz clubs and speakeasies, drank and smoked, wore the daring new fashions of the time and revelled in the new dance crazes, like the Charleston and Black Bottom.

Question 27

Who were the KKK?

Answer 27

The Ku Klux Klan: a white supremacy group who formed at the end of the American Civil War, in 1865, largely from men who had fought for the South to keep slavery. They were WASPs (white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants) who used intimidation and violence, eg, lynchings to spread fear amongst black and immigrant communities. Many authority figures eg, judges, policemen and Southern politicians were members or supporters of the Klan and therefore, it was difficult to bring members to justice for their crimes. Klan membership and support rose dramatically in the 1920s, across USA, especially after the release of a white supremacist film ‘The Birth of a Nation’ in 1915.

Question 28

Who was Al ‘Scarface’ Capone?

Answer 28

A Chicago gangster who made a huge fortune from publicly breaking Prohibition laws and running massive gambling, alcohol, prostitution and protection rackets. Capone was probably the most notorious of all the gangsters of the Roaring 20s, achieving a celebrity status, arguing that he merely supplied a demand in America. Capone used bribery, violence and intimidation to control the authorities and escape justice. He had the police chief and mayor of Chicago ‘in his pocket’. Consequently, it was tax evasion that he was arrested and convicted for in 1931.

Question 29

What were the ‘Jim Crow laws’?

Answer 29

Laws approved by the Supreme Court in 1896, which allowed states to treat blacks as inferior people. These laws were used to reinforce segregation in the southern states of America.

Question 30

Why did many blacks migrate to the north, from the southern states in the 1920s?

Answer 30

To escape persecution and intimidation (eg, from the KKK) and to find work in the expanding cities. There were greater opportunities for blacks in the north, however there was still racial discrimination. Blacks and immigrants were often the lowest paid and first to lose their jobs in an economic downturn.

Question 31

Why did the growth of the Klan slow down after 1925?

Answer 31

Because of the trial and imprisonment of one of its leaders, Grand Wizard David Stephenson, in 1925. He was found guilty of the violent kidnapping, race and murder of a woman on a Chicago train.

Question 32

What percentage of US states were ‘dry’ (ie, had already banned alcohol) by the end of World War One?

Answer 32

Nearly 75% were ‘dry’ in 1918, so it was a fairly small step to extend this to the whole of America through the 18th Amendment.

Question 33

Who were Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith?

Answer 33

Two of the most successful Prohibition agents. They wore disguises to enter speakeasies. They raided 3000 speakeasies, arrested 4900 people and confiscated 3 million bottles of spirit in the first 5 and half years of Prohibition.

Question 34

Why was Prohibition an unpopular law?

Answer 34

• it criminalised ordinary Americans who wanted to drink.
• it encouraged the growth of mob and gangster criminal activity, leading to shocking acts of violence such as the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, in 1929.
• it led to a loss of respect, on the part of many ordinary Americans, for the law enforcement agencies, as it became clear that many policemen, Prohibition agents, politicians and local officials were corrupt and accepting bribes from gangsters to permit their lucrative, criminal activities.
• it resulted in job losses.
• it was seen, by many, to be an impossible law to fully enforce.
• it had not had the effect of improving society and eradicating child poverty, that its supporters had hoped that it would.

Question 35

Who said, in March 1929 that ‘We, in America today, are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before. The poor man is vanishing from among us.’

Answer 35

President Herbert Hoover.

Question 36

What did Herbert Hoover promise, in March 1929, that there would be in ‘every pot’ in America?

Answer 36

‘A chicken’

Question 37

What and when was ‘Black Tuesday’?

Answer 37

29th October, 1929. The 4th and worst day of the Wall Street Crash. Within hours all the increases from the previous year were lost. The price of shares plummeted. Investors sold shares for whatever they could get, and millions of investors were ruined.

Question 38

Why didn’t Hoover government do more in immediate response to the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 38

The Republicans were taken by surprise. Few had expected a crash (even after the Babson Break of Sept, 1929) and certainly a fall of this magnitude was unexpected. Hoover continued to believe in the Republican doctrines of Laissez-faire and Rugged Individualism. He argued that ‘prosperity is just around the corner’, demonstrating a misplaced optimism in the American economy and a lack of understanding of the severity of the ‘cycle of Depression’. He was forced to help the economy my by cutting taxes, but it was ‘too little, too late’ to avoid the Great Depression and mass unemployment.

Question 39

In 1928, how many Americans lived BELOW the poverty line?

Answer 39

42%

Question 40

In 1925, how much of the money made in USA went to the richest 5% of the population?

Answer 40

32%