USa Flashcards
1
Q
Government structure
A
- Power divided between federal government and state governments
- Elected president who sets policy
- Elected Congress that makes laws
- Appointed Supreme Court that checks laws are in keeping iwth the constitution
- Republican party: Wanted governemnt to play a small role allowing busiensses to grow and succeed
- Democratic Party: Wanted government to play a larger role in the lives to tackle social problems
2
Q
Economic Benefits of WW1
A
- US offered loans to help Britain and France and sold them goods
- Created demand for American goods in Europe
3
Q
Economic Benefits of WW1
Industry
A
- Factory production grew by 25%
- 26.1m tonnes of steel in 1910 to 42.m tonnes by 1920
- Industries involved in coal, petrol, gas all grew quickly
- Shipbuidling increased to replace ships destroyed by submarines and railroads modernised to transport wwartime goods and soldiers
- American brands became popular in Europe
4
Q
Economic Benefits of WW1
Agriculture
A
- Many European farmers had to fight in the war and production was dropped creating demad
- US supplied 30% of the world’s wheat and 55% of its cotton
- Prices of their goods rose by 25%
- Average income of a farmer increased by 30%
- Farmer began to use machines on their farms and tractor sales increased
- More farmers took out loans to expand their farms
5
Q
Economic Benefits of WW1
Workers
A
- More workers needed
- Number of people in work increased by 1.3m during the last 2 years, reducing unemployment
- Most workers beenfitted from wage increases
- More opportunities for workers from a range of backrounds - needed to replace the men who had gone to fight in Europe
- Many women joined the workforce and balck Americans moved from agriculture in the southern states into industrial ones in the north
6
Q
Economic Benefits of WW1
Limitations
A
- Government contracts cancelled and European farming recovered by 1920 - Demand US goods dropped
- Returning soldiers re-entered the workforce - many new workers mainly women lost thier jobs
- Increased number of black workers in some industrial cities caused race riots
- Farmers who had borrowed money to expand production struggled to pay their loans, as demand began to drop
7
Q
Reasons for Economic Boom in the 1920s
A
- New production methods that allowed factories to produce at a faster rate
- Availability of credit to buy newly available consumer goods
- Advertising that encouraged people to buy newly available consumer goods
- Increased popularity of investing in stocks and shares
- Average income of an American rising while number of hours expected to work falling
- Unemployment low never rising above 3.7%
8
Q
Henry Ford and Mass Production
A
- Workers lined up along a continuously moving surface called a conveyor belt
- Each worker stayed in the same place and performed a single job
- Extremely boring for workers but production time fell
- A motel T car was produced every 10 seconds in one day
- Tremendous drop in price - $950 to %290
- Increase in demand for cars
- Construction of cars required the products of industries
- Use of car boosted demand for petrol and roads
9
Q
Hire purchase
A
- Helped people get products they wanted without having to save up for them
- Customer hired the product from the business, paying for it in instalments
- Once paid off the cost in full, the product became theirs
- Helped economy as it encouraged people to keep buying
- By 1929, 75% of cars and 50% of electrical devices bought using hire purchase
- Demand rose and factories had a reason to keep producing
10
Q
Advertising
A
- Overwhelm consumers with images of brands to change buying habits
- Big posters and colour pages
- Some companies went further creating new markets for goods
- Radio played central role in advertising
- By 1929, 618 radio stations and msot of these carried adverts or were sponsored by big brand names
- Americans spent leisure time listening to adverts
- $2 billion a year spent on advertising and 600,000 people emplyoed
- New advertising methods helped create a consumer society encouraging people to buy new products or sepnt more brand names
- Need for increased production
- More jobs meaning more money to spend
11
Q
Consumerism
A
- Advertising and marketing companies actively encouraged consumerism
- Shopping became leisure activity
- By 1925, there were 1395 department stores to choose from and sales of all sorts of goods rose rapidly
- 5000 regrigerators sold in 1921 - 1 million by 1929
- $850 million per year spent on radio equipment
- People now buying thigs they had not realised they neede a decade before
12
Q
Stock Market Popularity
A
- 1.5 ordinary Americans became involved in buying shares in the stock market
- Involved borrowing money from a bank or broker to invest in shares - pay back loan from shares sold - ‘Buying on the margin’
- Turned ordinary people into shareholders
- Helped the economy grow
- Led more companies to sell shares which would give them investment to develop their busienss
- 500,000 shares available in 1925 to 1.1 million by 1929
- Able to hire more people providing them with money to invest in sahres or buy goods with resulting in greater profit
13
Q
Social impact of the roaring twenties
A
- Cinemas
- Jazz and Dancing
- Sports
- Radio and advertising
- Motoring
14
Q
Position of women in 1918 - Jobs
A
- WW1 helped improve position of women in the workforce
- 20% of the workforce in work places such as weapons factories and steel mills
- Most women worked in jobs seen as female mainly in low paid service work
- Also expected that women unless they were from a poor backround, would not continue to work after marriage
15
Q
Position of women in 1918 - Rights
A
- Women’s political rights begun to improve
- Some states gave women the right to vote in local and state elections
- Many did not have the right to vote or the same employment opportunities, equal pay, and legal rights as men
16
Q
Position of women 1918 - Lifestyle
A
- Most thought that women should do the household jobs, follow their husbands instructions and behave respectably
- Many women spent their days doing household work
- If they went out, peopel expected them to be accompanied by a chaperone and not to drink or smoke
17
Q
Women in 1920s - Jobs
A
- More women workers
- Access to different types of jobs
- More married women worked - 1.9m to 3.1m
