Topic 1 - Boom and Crash Flashcards

1
Q

Changes in industry

A

Mass production → Moving assembly lines
Henry Ford → 1,250,000 cars made each year
Price of Model T fell from $950 (1914) to $250 (1925)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Changes in advertising

A

Advertisements targeted specific groups
‘Lucky Strike’ cigarettes targeted young women
Companies spent $3 billion each year

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Technological advances 1912-1929

A

Between 1912 and 1929, the number of electrical goods sold per year rose from 1.4 to 160 million

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

The automobile

A

Number of cars → 7.5 to 27 million → led to increased road building

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Tax Reductions

A

1924, 1926 and 1928 tax cuts by the Government
Mellon gave a tax reduction of $3.5bn to large businesses
These favoured the wealthy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Fewer industry regulations

A

Minimal government interference led to unfair practices
Labour rights unprotected → Children largely employed in Southern states with 56 hour weeks

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Advantageous foreign markets

A

Government encouraged foreign investment to enable technological advancements → United Fruit had a bigger budget in Costa Rica than its own government did

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

High tariffs (1922)

A

1922 Fordney-McCumber Tariff → 38.5% tax on imported goods → made goods cheaper to buy in the US rather than abroad

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Changes for farmers

A

Agriculture during WW1 → high demand, prices rose by over 25% → Agriculture at the end of WW1 → falling demand, prices fell from $2.5 to $1 per bushel

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Reasons for declining agricultural demand

A

Prohibition → reduced demand for grain used in alcohol
Machinery → More could be produced with less land
High foreign tariffs → reduced demand for US produce

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Changes for black Americans

A

85% still lived in the poor South
Some moved up North to industrial cities like Chicago → faced discrimination in employment and housing
Population in Harlem up → 50,000 (1914) to 165,000 (1930)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Unequal distribution of wealth

A

Per capita income in North was $921 and in the South $365
60% of families had incomes of less $2,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Overproduction

A

By 1920s more goods were produced than could be sold
Workers laid off → people couldn’t afford to buy goods
1920 → 80% of Americans lived close to subsistence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Land speculation (Florida)

A

Florida became more accessible → land values soared and people invested in development
BUT demand & values fell → 1926 hurricane

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

The Bull Market

A

Many bought shares on credit → if market collapsed left valueless but still have to pay off
Market unregulated → insider dealing (illegal selling)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Weaknesses of the Banking System

A

1913 Federal Reserve System → Banks given power to monitor themselves → operated in own interests
30,000 small banks issued own currency, often collapsed

17
Q

Immigration laws

A

1921 Emergency Immigration Law → Limited immigration from European countries to 3% of nationals living in the US
1924 Johnson-Reed act → Banned immigration from Japan

18
Q

The Red Scare

A

Mitchell Palmer (Attorney General) warned of a communist revolution in the US
Threats of violent revolution were blamed on ‘new immigrants’ from southern and eastern Europe
In the ‘Palmer raids’, 6000 were arrested on suspicion

19
Q

The extent of communist support

A

Some commentators put communist membership as high as 600,000 while others put it at 100,000
Many confused industrial action with communism

20
Q

Beliefs and methods (KKK)

A

Advocated white supremacy
Rallies and marches
Committed acts of brutality, including murder

21
Q

Influence (KKK)

A

100,000 followers by 1921
50,000 marched on Washington in 1926

22
Q

Impact on black Americans (KKK)

A

Led to migration of Black Americans to the North
Extreme violence → sympathy for victims
Many joined separatist organisations (e.g. UNIA)

23
Q

Collapse of the KKK

A

By 1929, membership had fallen to 20,000
Leadership scandals → corruption and criminal charges
Many felt it had gone soft, with less focus on politics

24
Q

Changes in politics for women

A

19th Amendment → given right to vote in 1920
1928 → women held 145 seats on state legislators
Only 2 / 435 delegates in House of Representatives women

25
Changes in employment for women
Film and fashion industry → though numbers were small Plentiful opportunity in office work, clerks and typists Rare to move to managerial positions → sacrifice family
26
Women’s issues
American Birth Control League raised attention Found government/conservative voices unsympathetic 1921 Sheppard Towner Act - federal aid for pregnant women
27
Flappers
Media interest → liberated young women, shocked people Attended public places unchaperoned, dancing, smoking Confined to large towns/cities - temporary phase
28
Support for prohibition
Women’s groups→ male drunkenness a problem Big business → drunkenness in the workplace Religious groups → alcohol is immoral
29
Crime and gangsterism
Prohibition led to organised crime and gang wars Al Capone → leading gangster in Chicago, made $70 million
30
Successes of prohibition
Rural and small-town areas stayed ‘dry’ Fall in number of road deaths, better safety in workplace
31
Failures of prohibition
Turned millions of people into criminals Working class saw it as an attack on them
32
The Jazz Age
Jazz became mainstream → heard on radio and records Nightclubs attracted young people, especially ‘flappers’ Older people felt it was immoral due to Black culture
33
The Harlem Renaissance
Harlem → Town in New York → explosion of culture Nightclubs like the Cotton Club became very popular Home of Black intellectuals → e.g. Fauset, a campaigner
34
The New Negro
Linked with the Harlem Renaissance Marcus Garvey → argued in favour of Black separatism and migration to the USA, opposed by the NAACP
35
American literature
Became very popular → e.g. The Great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald) and The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
36
Influence of radio
500 local stations in 1922 → led to rise of advertisement 50 million people listened to a boxing match in 1927 Spent on radio → $60 million (1923) vs $842 million (1929)
37
Influence of cinema
‘Household names’ become a thing 1920s → Hollywood was the 4th largest investment in the US 10 million cinema goers each day, esp. with sound in 1927
38
Moral corruption (cinema)
Growth in cinema → conservatives feared moral corruption Sex scandals among stars led to a censorship
39
Influence of sport
Mass spectator entertainment led to professionals becoming millionaires → Boxer Jack Dempsey made $10 million (career) Baseball became widespread but remained segregated → led to creation of the Negro National Baseball League in 1920