USA: 1920s and the boom Flashcards
Which industries boomed during the 1920s and how?
Mass-produced cars
Steel, glass industries
Electricity - nearly 70% of Americans had electrical lights - the amount of electricity consumed doubled in the 1920s
Which household objects were most popular in the 1920s?
Flush toilets - from 20% to 51%
Vacuum cleaners - from 9% to 30%
Washing machines - from 8% to 24%
Refrigerators - from 1% to 8%
How did transport change in the 1920s?
Number of trucks tripled to 3.5 million
Civil flights in the 1920s, making 162,000 flights by 1929.
How did entertainment boom in the 1920s?
Newspapers and magazines production expanded, people began to love watching sports and going to the cinema.
Sport - 67,000 people watched a game in 1926
Cinema - In 1920, there had been 40 million cinema tickets sold each week. By 1930, it was 100 million.
Which features caused the boom in the 1920s?
Resources - USA had a great store of natural resources
Impact of WW1 - SInce the USA got out well after WW1, they had taken over many European markets overseas
Technological change - There were technological developments in many areas, a period of great innovation
The policies of Republican presidents - lowered taxes on income and company profits, tariffs on imported goods into the USA, didn’t interfere with business (Laissez-Faire)
They had great confidence
What were the Republican President’s policies?
Laissez - faire
Why was Henry Ford so popular?
Because he pioneered a totally new way of production - inventing mass production. He believed in hard work and always ensured that his workers were on task. He also created many meaningful charities
What was one problem with the way Henry Ford operated his business?
The work was too difficult, causing many employees to leave
Why was the Model T so popular?
It was America’s first affordable car, every 1 in 2 cars was a Model T
Which groups did not benefit from the boom?
Farmers, Blacks, New immigrants, people who worked in old industries.
How did farmers suffer during the boom?
New machines made farming a lot easier for farmers, but this led to overproduction, producing much more food than Americans needed. They had nothing to do with this food.
More than 3 million farming families were earning less than $1000 a year. They found it difficult to pay mortgage payments and some were evicted.
Only small farmers suffered, big ones boomed.
How did blacks suffer during the boom?
They were either sharecroppers or labourers. Three-quarters of a million black farm workers lost their jobs.
Many decided to move to the cities but still faced discrimination. 60% of black women worked as low-paid domestic servants in white households.
How did new immigrants suffer?
They took whatever work they could get because they were often less educated than other workers.
How did people who worked in old industries suffer?
They lacked the modern technology that most other factories had. Only industries where their materials were in high demand boomed. Prices dropped and wages fell.
How many Americans owned a radio?
40% of all Americans owned a radio, jass music became popular.
What became popular in the 1920s?
Clubs and dancing, jazz music, sex outside marriage, and the cinema.
How did women benefit from the boom?
They got the vote
An increasing number of women were working - by the end of the decade there were over 10 million women in paid employment.
How did women’s attitudes and clothing change in the 1920s?
Free, knee length skirts became popular, short hair, women were allowed to smoke in public and drive cars.
What was a flapper?
A liberated urban woman, identified by short skirts, bobbed hair and lots of make up
What was the ‘red scare’?
The Americans feared immigrants coming into the USA and brining their communist beliefs into their country.
Who were the ‘reds’?
The immigrants that they feared
How did the strikes play a role in the Red scare?
Some American workers went on strike. 3600 strikes involving 400,000 workers. The Americans believed this was because the immigrants were destroying their way of life.
What happened to the workers in the Red scare who went on strike?
They were locked out, sacked or starved
What were the Palmer raids?
Mitchell Palmer’s house got bombed, and he rounded up anybody he thought was a ‘red’.
4000-6000 communists were suspected and sent to jail, and 556 were deported.
