T1 01-16 US starter Flashcards
Who was the first Democrat president of the time period 1913-1961?
Wilson
Between which years was Woodrow Wilson President of the USA
1913-1921
Contextually what was the significance of Wilson’s presidential terms?
He was President during the First World War.
What was unusual about Harding’s term in office?
It was not a full term.
What can you infer from Harding’s short term?
He died in office? He did, he suffered a heart attack and died
Who was the last president of the period 1913-1961?
Dwight D Eisenhowe
What process has begun during the 19th century that helped fuel the economic boom of the 1920s?
Mass production
How did the USA emerge from WW1?
Powerful, they had bank rolled Britain and were economically stronger
What was the assembly line?
A method of production using a moving conveyor belt. A product is gradually built as it moves along the line. Each person working on the assembly line completes one step of the production.
By 1924, how effective had Ford’s assembly line been?
10 million Model Ts had been built at Highland Park
How did the automobile industry help other industries to grow?
-Other factories copied the assembly line method, such as consumer goods like vacuum cleaners
-Industries hugely benefited cars used 90% of America’s petrol, 80% of the country’s rubber and 75% of its glass
Which political party were in power during the 1920s?
The Republicans
What were the names of the Presidents and when were they in office?
Harding 1921-1923
Coolidge 1923-1929
Hoover 1929-1933
What was the approach of the government towards the economy?
Laissez Faire
What effect did lack of regulation have?
Increased industrial expansion creating job opportunities. More jobs = more wage earners = more consumption = more expansion etc.
Business malpractice and exploitation.
What did Andrew Mellon introduce throughout the 1920s?
Tax cuts!
What was was Coolidge’s attitude to European war debt?
That it should be repaid. In full.
What was the Fordney-McCumber tariff?
A law that raised import duties on foreign goods (38.5%)
What approaches did the Republican government take towards the economy? (detailed)
Laissez-faire meant very little government involvement in policy. The free market was allowed to operate with minimal restrictions.
The belief in self help and individualism meant that people should create wealth for themselves, and that in a successful economy wealth would naturally trickle down.
Isolationism meant that the government tried to protect American industry, and did not want to get involved in issues abroad
What did the Fordney-McCumber Act 1922 do?
What did this mean for the market? (detailed)
It raised tariffs (tax) on imported goods meaning foreign goods were much more expensive to buy than domestic (American) goods. This meant American industry sold more of their goods.
Tariffs were on average 38.5% on dutiable products.
It had a negative effect on farmers who relied on foreign markets to export their surplus goods, and purchased their machinery from abroad.
5 years after the tariff was introduced, European countries began to retaliate
What did the reduction in regulations mean for business activity? (detailed)
Companies would fix prices to prevent fair competition
Workers could be easily exploited.
In the Southern textile mills, child labour was common, as was a 56 hour working weeks. Wages rarely rose above 18cents an hour.
What % of Americans lived below the poverty line?
60
What happened to the wages of workers in the construction industry?
They rose by 4% in the 1920s
How were most Americans paying for their goods?
They used cheap credit though Hire Purchase schemes.
How did prohibition impact farmers?
It reduced the demand for grain
What did the Agricultural Credits Act of 1923 do?
Offered cheap loans to farmers who agreed to join co-operatives.
Why did the Fordney McCumber Act negatively influence farmers?
Foreign powers retaliated and refused to buy American goods, leading to overproduction.
When was slavery abolished in the USA?
1865 - 13th Amendment
Name 3 US cities African Americans moved to during the Great Migration.
Detroit, New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia etc.
What was the Teapot Dome scandal?
A bribery and corruption scandal in which a member of Warren Harding’s inner circle, Albert Fall, took bribes and loans to give gas leases on naval reserves to speculators without a competitive bidding process.
What is a Trade Union?
An organisation of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment i.e better wages, working conditions etc.
How many women were working as domestic servants in the 1920s?
700,000
How was wealth distributed geographically across the USA?
Wages in the North Eastern Industrial cities: average $921 a month
Wages in rural South: average $361 a month
Wages in South Carolina: average $129 a month
What % of families lived on less than $2,000 a year?
60%
What was the Agricultural Credits Act 1923? What did it aim to do?
Small scale farmers were going bankrupt.
The Act funded 12 Credit banks to fund cooperatives - with the idea that small farms would join together.
However, this was a loan - which small scale farmers could not pay back - so big farms benefitted instead.
What were the yellow dog contracts / clauses?
Clauses in an employees contract which forbade them from joining a trade union.
What was the role of sharecroppers?
- Farmers allow tenant farmers to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop.
- Many black American families after the Civil War (1860s) did not have enough wealth to own their own farms, so many became sharecroppers working on the farms of white farmers.
- Many were living close to subsistence during the 1920s.
How was wealth distributed geographically across the USA?
Wages in the North Eastern Industrial cities: average $921 a month
Wages in rural South: average $361 a month
Wages in South Carolina: average $129 a month
