The Boom Flashcards
Republican Party
- Believed in Laissez Faire
- Didn’t believe in high taxes
- Had more support in the industrial richer north
- More conservative (traditional)
Democratic
- Ordinary people party- intervening in everyday lives
- favoured to help vulnerable people -poor and the elderly
- Support in poorer southern states
- liberal (wanted to change and accepted change)
What is the American government split into
- Central federal government
- State government
Central federal government
- Based in the capital - Washington DC
- Run by elected president who is elected every 4 years
- Oversees matter that affect the whole country - foreign affairs, army
State government
- Based in the capital of each state
- Each state has its own laws, police, court system and own governor in charge
Bill of rights
- part of the constitution and guarantees Americans freedom:
1. Freedom to vote
2. Freedom of belief
3. Freedoms of law - however, by 1919 people refused to recognise the freedom of women, African Americans and African Indians
Melting pot
By early 1900’s, America had over 100 different nationalities making the population 110 million. This made the USA a ‘melting pot’ as it contained different races, religions and culture
What did American society contain
- First Americans
- New immigrants
- Early immigrants
- African Americans
New immigrants
- new immigrants flooded to the USA from 1850 onwards
- mainly from Eastern and Southern Europe however some from Ireland, China, Japan and South America
- Many were poor and illiterate and they crowded industrial cities looking for work
- People saw them as a threat
First Americans
- also known as African Indians or Red Indians.
- lived in tribes before white settlers came and took their land
- white settlers came and forced them out of the land and made them live in reservations
- by 1900s, 250,000 red indians were there from 5 million before white settlers came and took their land
Early immigrants
- many white settlers began to arrive from Europe in 1600’s from Britain, Netherlands, and Germany
- fought many wars between themselves and African Indians.
- by 1900’s white English speakers had become the most powerful group in America and had the ability to get the best jobs, money and political powers
African Americans
- Millions of Africans were taken to work as slaves in south of America between 1600 to 1800
- slavery ended in 1865 and by 1920, there were 10 million of African Americans mostly in southern states
- limited freedom, no rights to vote, denied access to good jobs, decent housing and proper education.
- by early 1920, African Americans were among the poorest people in the country
American constitution
System of laws and principles that governs America
What is the economic boom
Where a country enter a period where businesses are doing well, sales are high, wages increases and unemployment is low which happened in 1920
Reasons for the economic boom
- WW1
- Role of republican government
- Consumer society
- Growing industries and mass production
- New ways to buy and sell
How did WW1 help the economic boom
- USA stayed out of the war at first and followed the policy of ‘isolationism’ which allowed the USA to prosper financially.
- American banks loaned money to Britain and allies to buy food, weapons and equipment which created jobs for American people
- skilled American inventors and businessmen were able to exploit USA’s resources and make fortunes
- America was the only major nation without huge debts in WW1
How did the Republican government help the economic boom
- Fordey McCumber tariffs put high taxes on imports, so foreign products were expensive. This meant American goods were cheaper and created more jobs from Americans
- Republican gov cut taxes paid by the rich people and their companies. As a result, the rich invented more money to start more businesses creating more jobs.
- taxes were low so people had more money to spend.
- Laissez Faire meant that businesses were left alone to get on with which created wealth
How did Consumer society help the economic boom
- Many US homes had electricity which grew rapidly by 70% in 1927.
- This meant that people could buy ultra modern electric powered gadgets like vacuum cleaners, telephones, record players, radios and refrigerators.
- These had high demands which meant that jobs were being created in factories in order to make these products
How did growing industries and mass production help the economic boom
- Growth of the motor industry boosted the US economy as car making needed to have US steel, rubber, leather and glass so more jobs were needed and created as more cars were made.
- Many businesses used the mass production methods developed in the motor industry, as companies got quicker at manufacturing, their goods became cheaper
How did New ways to buy and sell help the economic boom
- Colourful billboards, magazines and newspapers urged people to buy the latest gadget which boosted the sales.
- Catalogues made buying easy and the goods could be delivered at your door.
- ‘Buy now pay later’ schemes meant that buyers could pay for goods in small periods of time, 6 out of 10 cars were bought like this
Henry ford
By 1913, ford introduced a new method of production, assembly line
Assembly line
An electric conveyer belt which carries cars past workers who did 1 or 2 small jobs
Impact of the boom in the motor industry
For every worker, there were 10 more making the parts than cars needed. Jobs were needed to build the roads, highways and petrol stations
Positive social changes from the assembly line
Car owners felt free and didn’t have to live near their offices or work. They could buy houses out of town and drive into work
Negative social changes of the assembly line
More traffic was caused, accidentals and pollution
The ford model T
- the model was considered ugly and difficult to dive however it was very reliable,e and built with easy to change parts
- the product was made at the right time as people were very desperate for new gadgets
- by 1926, 20 million cars on americas roads and 1 in 2 were fords
