The USA 1918-41 (IGCSE EDEXCEL) Flashcards
Economic Benefits of WW1
-35% growth in factory production
-steel industry; 1910: 26.1 million tonnes of steel VS 1920: 42.1 million tonnes
-beneficial to other industries such as; natural resources, transports, consumer goods
-Agriculture: prices for goods rose by 25% during the war, US supplied 30% of the world’s wheat and 55% of the world’s cotton
-American Workers: demand for goods caused employment to rise by 1.3 million over the last 2 years of the war, many workers received wage benefits, e.g. unskilled worker wages rose by 20% during the war, more opportunities for women and black Americans due to the need to replace fighters
Impact of Henry Ford and mass production on economic boom
- caused a tremendous drop in price of cars, causing an immense increase in demand for cars
- in turn benefitted other industries which produced the materials necessary for construction of a car (e.g.steel, rubber, glass)
-production of a Model T Ford happened every 10 seconds
Impact of credit on economic boom
- encouraged consumers to buy more goods
- in 1929, 75% of cars and 50% of electrical devices were bought with hire purchase
- caused increase in demand, and increased production in factories
Impact of advertising on economic boom
-1929, 2 billion dollars spent on advertising, 600,000 people employed in advertising
- created a “consumer society” which encouraged people to buy new products and spend more on brand names
Impact of consumerism on economic boom
- caused mass increase in buying of consumer goods, e.g. 5000 fridges sold in 1921, 1 million in 1929.
- shopping became a “leisure activity” which helped the economy to continue growing
Impact of stock market on economic boom
- Caused economy to continue growing initially
The Boom Cycle: Investment into stock market> more workers employed> more wages to spend> more advertising encouraging consumers to spend wages> more goods bought using hire purchase> more goods made using mass production>
Problems in farming in the 1920s
- as production rates were rising due to the prior demand from WW1, demand fell due to recovery of European agriculture
- caused many workers to go bankrupt and workers lost their jobs
Problems in older industries in the 1920s
- with the introduction of newer industries, older ones started to decline
- demand for goods lowered and they faced increased competition from products that could replace them
- large numbers of industry workers lost their jobs and unemployment rates rose
- cutting of wages and increase in number of strikes
Leisure Industry (cinema, jazz, dancing, sport, radio and motors)
- vast increase in net spend on leisure activities (1.8 billion more in 1929 compared to 10 years before)
- increase in popularity of films due to introduction of sound and colour
- radio became the equivalent back then of TV today (10 million in the US,1929)
Changing position of women
- Increase in employment of women due to availability of jobs during and after the war
- women were given the right to vote as per the 19th Amendment
-women were expected to cook, clean, and raise children in traditional households
-Flappers: a term used to describe women who lived an untraditional life
The (First) Red Scare
- event caused by the worry that immigrants from Europe were spreading communist values to the US
- The Palmer Raids; an event caused by the red scare, resulted in the arrests of thousands and the deportation of 600 radicals
Sacco and Vanzetti
-Two immigrants with anarchist connections were accused of a serious crime (arrested 1920)
-Prosecuted and discriminated against unfairly due to the anti-immigrant and anti-anarchist nature of the judge and jury (trial may 1921)
- sentenced to death by electrocution in 1927.
Experience of black Americans
- Black and white Americans were segregated by the Jim Crow laws in the south
- lynchings occurred frequently and govt. and police rarely stopped them, often joining in
The KKK
- Racist group formed to defend white supremacy over black people, restarted and led by William Simmons
- took part in violent crimes against black Americans, e.g. lynchings.
- contained some very notable members during the 1920s, e.g. senators, governors, mayors.
The monkey trial
-Trial over the sentence of John Scopes, who taught evolution in a school. (Trial: 10th July 1925)
- Trial turned into a debate of Fundamentalists VS Modernists (William Jennings-Brian VS Clarence Darrow)
- John Scopes found guilty by jury, but fundamentalists were mocked around the country
Prohibition
- The banning of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic drinks
- caused the health of Americans to improve and alcohol consumption to decrease
- caused an increase in gang and illegal activity with relation to transporting, manufacturing and selling alcohol. E.g. Al Capone
- many people attempted manufacturing alcohol at home i.e. moonshine.
Causes of the Wall Street crash (WSC)
-experienced investors began to withdraw their money from the stock market due to expecting prices to fall, causing large proportions of normal people to “panic sell”
-as the stock market was already artificially inflated, the entire market crashed
How Wall Street Crash turned into the Great Depression
-banks were unable to pay back people’s savings as they had invested it into the stock market, which had crashed
- reduction in consumer spending, caused newer industries to struggle to find buyers for their products
- businesses struggled, as they couldn’t get loans from banks, caused US economy to tank
Impact of Depression on cities
-businesses were hit hard, and cut wages/ fired employees, resulted in high unemployment rates in cities.
Impact of Depression on countryside/farms
- caused already low prices of goods to fall even more (60% worse than 1929)
- farmers were unable to pay off mortgages and other debts, which caused more than a third of them to lose their land
- environmental crisis ruined harvest of 1930
Hoover’s Reputation
- Hoover faced lots of criticism during and after the depression.
- many Americans believed he had not taken enough action to help them
-Hoover believed in a laissez-faire approach, however he understood that the crisis was so great that action was needed
Bonus Marchers
- 20,000 people who marched to Washington DC in 1932, camped across the river from the capitol
- made up of First World War veterans who wanted their bonuses earlier
-Hoover was against the idea, but offered $100,000 for the journey’s back.
1932 Election
- Democrat FDR was elected as president
- won by a vast majority, and had a democratic congress as well
- advertised a ‘new deal’ to solve the Great Depression
100 Days
- FDR formed the brain trust, a group of government officials who advised him on new deal policies
- Spoke to ordinary American citizens over radio about the policies he was going to implement, encouraging people to feel that he was on their side
- partly resolved the financial crisis by closing all banks for 4 days and only letting the financially sound banks reopen
Second New Deal
- A second new deal occurred after the impact from the first one had slowed
- included new alphabet Agencies such as the WPA
- aimed to; provide work for unemployed, provide for old during retirement, support workers in industry and improve their rights, help the rural poor get their own work
Assessing the New Deal
- introduced many different measures to help resolve the problems that the Great Depression had caused
- was rather successful in doing so, providing relief, reform, and recovery in many different areas of the country and people’s lives.
Opposition to the New Deal
- Supreme Court; majority of 9 judges that didn’t support FDR’s political views and had the power to stop new laws from being passed
- ## Republican Party; after winning lots of seats in the 1938 congress election, republicans managed to block new spending and cut relief programme spending, effectively causing the new deal to come to a stop
