The Great Depression- USA Flashcards
What was the roaring 20’s
1920’s in the US. Time of liberation and rebellion against traditional values
What were some features of the roaring 20’s?
- more Americans in towns and cities than country
- average wage rose by 11%
- Jazz music was an obsession
- culture changed, ‘flapper’ emerged
- Major film industry developing
How did the expectation of women change during the roaring 20’s?
Women could wear short dresses and make-up, smoke in public instead of long dresses.
What policies were there in the roaring 20’s?
Laissez-faire, tariffs, low taxation, trusts
What was the Laissez-faire policy?
government stayed out of people’s lives allowing businesses to grow.
What are tariffs?
Made it expensive to import foreign goods, protected businesses against foreign competition.
What did the low taxes do for the roaring 20’s
brough benefits or ordinary working people, more to very wealthy.
What did trusts do?
allowed huge super-corporations to dominate the industry.
What were some of the causes of the Great Depression?
Overproduction, unequal distribution, corruption, Tarrifs, speculation, Laissez-faire, panic
How did overproduction cause the Great Depression?
Demand for consumer items fell leading to high supply and low demand
How did unequal distribution of wealth cause the Great Depression?
60% of people lived below the poverty line and therefore money wasn’t circulating.
How did tariffs cause the Great Depression?
Europe retaliated and imposed tariffs so it made it difficult to trade between the US and Europe.
How did speculation? cause the Great Depression?
Investors borrowed a lot of money from the bank, creating large debts/loans. Banks and investors lost money when the companies they had shares in collapsed.
How did Laissez-faire policies cause the Great Depression?
lack of regulation saw the opening of many small banks which could not remain profitable.
How did panic case the Great Depression?
people tried to sell their shares when banks were closing, causing a low demand and a high supply. No one wanted to buy them so no one made money. People kept money out of banks.
