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History Paper 1 and 2 > USA Topic One - Boom and Crash 1920-1929 > Flashcards

USA Topic One - Boom and Crash 1920-1929 Flashcards

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1
Q

When was the Declaration of Independence? What did it state?

A
  • 1776
  • the new state should aim to enable ‘life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.’
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2
Q

What were the 1920s seen as a decade of?

A

unrivalled economic prosperity
- economic growth of 50% 1921-1925

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3
Q

What was GNP in 1929 compared to 1920?

A

1920: $73.3bn
1929: $104.4bn

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4
Q

What was the average annual growth throughout the 1920s?

A

around 2% per year

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5
Q

What was the unemployment rate in the 1920s compared to the 1910s?

A

1911-1917: average of 6.1%
1920s: never rose above 3.7%

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6
Q

What was the inflation rate in the 1920s?

A

never rose past around 1%

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7
Q

What did real wages rise by from 1922 to 1929?

A

approximately 13%

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8
Q

What did major US corporations see their profits increase by between 1923 and 1929?

A

1923-1929: 62% increase

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9
Q

What industry epitomised the 1920s boom in the USA?

A

the motor car industry

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10
Q

What company was significant in the motor car industry?

A

General Motors

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11
Q

How did General Motors’ profits increase from 1920 to 1929?

A

1920: $173 million
1929: $1.5bn

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12
Q

What were the five main reasons for prosperity in the 1920s?

A
  • Government Policy
  • Technical Advances and Mass Production
  • Development of Consumerism and Advertising
  • Easy Credit
  • Influence in Foreign Policy
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13
Q

Which four men were influential in shaping the economic, business and industrial events of the 1920s?

A
  • President Warren Harding 1921-1923
  • President Calvin Coolidge 1923-1928
  • Andrew Mellon as Secretary of State 1920s
  • Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce 1920s
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14
Q

What was the name of the economic policy adopted by the Government throughout the 1920s?

A

laissez-faire economics adopted

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15
Q

What were the main factors involved in Government Policy in the 1920s?

A
  • Fordney-McCumber Tarrif
  • tax reductions introduced by Mellon
  • deregulation favoured (fewer regulations )
  • didn’t interfere with banking or the stock market
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16
Q

What was the Fordney-McCumber Tariff, when was it passed?

A
  • 1922
  • a law which passed taxes on foreign goods imported into the US
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17
Q

What was the 1926 Revenue Act?

A

taxes on the rich were lowered:
1921: 50%
1926: 20%

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18
Q

How were taxes decreased from 1921-1932?

A

$3.5 billion in tax reductions 1921-1932

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19
Q

What was President Coolidge’s famous statement?

A

‘the business of America is business.’

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20
Q

How did Government Policy throughout the 1920s encourage prosperity?

A
  • businesses were allowed to operate largely unregulated
  • profits were raised
  • taxes decreased
  • The American Industry grew massively throughout this period as American Business was not being limited by government intervention
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21
Q

What were Technological Advancements and Mass Production in the 1920s?

A
  • mass production introduced
  • production lines
  • Scientific Management
  • Electrification
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22
Q

Who was Mass Production introduced by, and when?

A

Henry Ford in 1913- introduced mass production with his Model T assembly line

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23
Q

What types of workers were employed on production lines as part of mass production?

A
  • low skilled workers
  • semi-skilled workers
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24
Q

What was the impact of Henry Ford’s model of mass production?

A

1920: 8 million cars in US
1929: 26 million cars in US

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25
Q

What was Scientific Management?

A
  • invented by Freidrich W Taylor
  • a method for maximising worker productivity by rigorously routinizing their jobs rather than increasing their working hours
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26
Q

What were the impacts of Electrification in the 1920s?

A
  • by 1930: 80% of homes in cities had access to electricity
  • 1912: 2.4 million electrical appliances across the US
  • 1929: 160 million electrical appliances across the US
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27
Q

How did Technological Advancements and Mass Production encourage prosperity in the 1920s?

A
  • reduced production time and cost
  • lower prices = greater exports
  • productivity increased through reward-based incentive schemes for good workers
  • real wages for workers increased
  • It was only in the 1950s that everyone had access to an electricity supply
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28
Q

What was the development of consumerism and advertising in the 1920s?

A
  • America was becoming a consumer society
  • The American Dream seemed like a reality
  • It became more socially acceptable for people to live beyond their means
  • Improvements in advertising = increased demand for consumer goods
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29
Q

How much were American Companies spending on advertising by 1929?

A

$3bn every year

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30
Q

How did the development of consumerism and advertising encourage prosperity throughout the 1920s?

A
  • a greater demand for products led to greater production of goods
  • Growth of American Industry
  • helped to establish and maintain the Cycle of Prosperity
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31
Q

What was Easy Credit throughout the 1920s?

A
  • the use of consumer credit
  • this led to greater demand
  • loans often came with interest
  • repossession was possible
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32
Q

What was the impact of Easy Credit?

A
  • 60% of all furniture:
  • 75% of all radios:
  • bought on hire purchase
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33
Q

How did Easy Credit help to encourage economic prosperity throughout the 1920s?

A
  • more people could afford to take part in the consumer society that had been established
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34
Q

What was the trickle-down theory of wealth?

A
  • financial gain would trickle-down from big businesses to the everyday man
  • managers, salesmen and estate agents prospered greatly
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35
Q

What was limiting the effects of the Boom throughout the 1920s?

A
  • falling agricultural prices
  • over-production
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36
Q

What groups of people did not benefit from the economic boom of the 20s?

A
  • mainly poor share-croppers of the South, most of whom were black
  • farmers
  • black people
  • ethnic minorities
  • workers in traditional industries
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37
Q

What happened to share-croppers during the 1920s?

A
  • many chose to find a new life in the crowded ghettos of the North
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38
Q

How were farmers excluded from the Economic Boom of the 1920s?

A
  • farm income dropped dramatically
  • millions of farmers were forced off their land to seek unskilled, poorly paid work in the cities
  • farming communities lived in poverty and squalor
  • Europe bankrupted by WW1 meant they could no longer buy USA farm produce
  • Europe introduced Protectionist policies against the USA
  • Advancements in the farming industry led to a level of efficiency that led to over-production
  • massive competition from Canadian farmers
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39
Q

How were black people excluded from the Economic Boom of the 1920s?

A
  • highly limited job opportunities available to black people
  • black people suffered enormously in the 1920s
  • black people were poorly educated compared to white people
  • black people forced to live in poor acccomodation in the worst areas of towns and cities - ghettos
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40
Q

How were ethnic minorities excluded from the Economic Boom of the 1920s?

A
  • Native Americans lived on reservations which produced low crops due to bad land
  • Native American population had dwindled to just 250,000
  • Native American culture was dying because of white efforts to destroy their lives, beliefs and traditions
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41
Q

How were workers in traditional industries excluded from the Economic Boom of the 1920s?

A
  • Coal miners suffered from low pay, seasonal unemployment, and competition from new industries like oil and electricity
  • Old industries such as leather and textiles suffered heavy competition from new man made products
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42
Q

What were the 1920s predominantly a time of?

A
  • predominantly a time of boom and prosperity
  • for many though prosperity was merely a dream
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43
Q

What was the cultural identity like in rural America?

A
  • old-time rural America was largely white and protestant
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44
Q

What was the cultural identity like in American cities?

A

growing cities teemed with immigrants

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45
Q

What were ‘Evangelists’?

A
  • popular preachers
  • spoke about hellfire and damnation
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46
Q

What occurred in Dayton Tennessee in 1925?

A
  • “Monkey Trial”
  • Fundamentalists had campaigned
  • 6 states had made it illegal for evolution to be taught in school
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47
Q

What did the 1925 “Monkey Trial” highlight?

A

the difference between small town beliefs and those of many city dwellers

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48
Q

What type of immigrants did the USA welcome?

A

WASPS

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49
Q

How did Southern States exclude blacks from voting?

A

imposed literacy and tax qualifications needed to obtain the vote

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50
Q

How did the war impact racism and immigration?

A
  • created an atmosphere of fear and intolerance which contributed to the anti-immigrant legislation in the early twenties
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51
Q

How many workers went on strike in 1919 due to growing industrial unrest?

A

4 million

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52
Q

Why did people in the US fear striking and industrial unrest?

A

believed strikes were led by communists who sought to undermine traditional American values

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53
Q

Which two events heightened fears of anarchy in America?

A
  • WW1: heightened nationalism and suspicion of foreigners
  • Bolshevik Revolution in Russia created fears of an international conspiracy to overthrow Capitalism, an increased amount of immigrants threatened American ideals
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54
Q

Who was targeted by Italian anarchists in 1919?

A
  • Attorney General Mitchell Palmer
  • an Italian anarchist bomber blew himself up on the steps of Palmer’s home
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55
Q

What were the raids of late 1919 and 1920 known as?

A
  • the ‘Palmer Raids’
  • named after Attorney General Mitchell Palmer who made himself an easy target for assassination
56
Q

How significant were the Palmer Raids?

A
  • more than 5,000 arrests
  • more than 1,000 prosecutions
  • 500 deportations
57
Q

What was the mood like in America due to the ‘Red Scare’?

A

the mood at the time borded on hysteria

58
Q

What caused the ‘Red Scare’ to eventually die out?

A
  • Palmer announced there was to be a huge Communist demonstration in New York on 20 may 1920
  • this failed to materialise making Palmer lose all credibility
59
Q

How did wage earners reflect anti-immigration ideals in America?

A

it was widely believed amongst the working class that unrestricted immigration led to wage reductions

60
Q

What was the case of Sacco and Vanzetti?

A
  • two violent robberies in Massachusetts late 1919 and early 1920
  • Suspicion centred on the immigrant community
  • Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and sentenced to death in July 1921
  • The conduct of the trial in 1921 aroused considerable discontent: the evidence was dubious and Judge Webster Thayer was criticised
61
Q

Why were Sacco and Vanzetti significant?

A
  • the pair became icons for many socialist and anarchist groups
  • they were both executed in 1927
62
Q

When was the Wall Street Crash?

A

24th October 1929

63
Q

What were the main causes of the Wall Street Crash?

A

Banking
Industry
Agriculture
Stock Market

64
Q

What is the cycle of deflation?

A
  • Deflation
  • Job / income loss
  • Less consumption
65
Q

How many shares were sold on 24th October 1929?

A

12.8 million

66
Q

What had share value fallen by at the end of 24th October 1929?

A

$4 billion

67
Q

What did unemployment rise to from October - December 1929?

A

from 500,000 to 4 million

68
Q

Why was overproduction an issue with new industries?

A
  • over-producing to keep up with the high demand from the 1920’s
  • people already had consumer goods and didn’t need to purchase any more
  • Industries were making a loss and this lead to high unemployment
69
Q

What impact did overproduction have on traditional industries?

A
  • traditional industries such as coal-mining and textiles began to decline because of overproduction and falling demand
70
Q

How did over-production led to poor industrial relations?

A
  • mine owners attempted to respond to prices falling with wage cuts
  • led to vicious labour disputes
71
Q

How many days were lost to strikes in 1931?

A

2.2 million

72
Q

In 1931, what percent of the urban workforce lost their jobs?

A

15.9%

73
Q

How was banking in America run?

A

Ran by small, local banks rather than the Federal Government

74
Q

What did a lack of insurance schemes mean for banking in America?

A

People had to trust the banks entirely

75
Q

What was the Federal Reserve Bank and why was it unsuccessful in managing the hysteria of the banking crisis?

A
  • its decision making process was decentralised and ineffective
  • The Federal Reserve Bank couldn’t act without general consensus from the governors in each state who often disagreed and halted action
  • It believed that the boom was everlasting
76
Q

What is a ‘bull market’?

A

a market that is on the rise where the economy is sound

77
Q

What is a ‘bear market’?

A

A market that exists in an economy which is failing in which stocks are declining in value

78
Q

What is buying on the margin?

A

Investors buying assets such as stocks through money borrowed from a bank or broker

79
Q

The vast amounts of unregulated speculation on the stock market meant what for ordinary people who were buying on the margin?

A

Investors were running up huge debts which they assumed would become easily repayable as their stocks rose in value

80
Q

Between September and November 1929 industrial stock fell by what?

A

50%

81
Q

What had the debt level of agriculture risen to from 1910-1920?

A
  • 1910: $3.2 billion

- 1920: $8.4 billion

82
Q

What act introduced the Federal Farm Board?

A

The 1929 Agricultural Marketing Act

83
Q

What was the funding of the Federal Farm Board?

A

$500 million

84
Q

What was the purpose of The Federal Farm Board?

A

to buy, store and dispose of surplus farm supplies in an orderly way

85
Q

Why was the Federal Farm Board unsuccessful?

A
  • it had no power to order reductions in production
  • huge surpluses in 1931 and 1932 both and home and abroad saw prices fall
  • the corporations were paying above-market value for produce
86
Q

Why did the KKK re-emerge and develop rapidly in the 1920s?

A
  • increasing immigration and the 1915 film ‘The Birth of a Nation’ which was the first film to be shown in the White House and glorified the Klan of the 1860s
87
Q

What was the KKK’s aim?

A
  • wanted to defend rural America and the WASPs
88
Q

What was KKK membership by 1921?

A

100,000 members

89
Q

By 1925, what had KKK membership reached?

A

5 million across the whole of the USA

90
Q

Why was the KKK so powerful?

A

Had members in positions of power such as police officers, senators and judges

91
Q

Why did the KKK decline rapidly from 1925?

A
  • the Grand Dragon, David Curtis Stephenson, was convicted of the rape of a 28 year old
  • other scandals followed in other states’ Klans
92
Q

By 1930, what had KKK membership fallen to?

A

back to 200,000

93
Q

How was the KKK’s influence limited?

A
  • its influence varied geographically to a considerable degree
  • In its peak year of 1925: 40% of members were across only three states, with a further 25% in the old south
94
Q

What was the international impact of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917)?

A

caused a widespread panic in the USA which was known as the ‘Red Scare’

95
Q

Why did Americans fear immigrants?

A

Feared that they were ‘un-American’ and may try to overthrow the government

96
Q

What was the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, and what did it highlight?

A
97
Q

What was launched in 1920 which saw the arrest of 6,000 alleged communists?

A

The Palmer Raids

98
Q

When did the Red Scare die down?

A

In the mid 1920s

99
Q

Why was immigration increasing throughout the 1920s?

A

People wanted to live the ‘American Dream’ meaning immigration increased greatly, particularly from new areas such as Poland and Russia

100
Q

What did the 1917 Immigration Act do?

A

Denied entry to immigrants who couldn’t read or write in English

101
Q

What did the 1921 Emergency Immigration Act do?

A

Limited immigration to 3% of the total number already living in the US (approximately 357,000 each year)

102
Q

What did the 1924 Johnson Reed Act (Quota Act) do?

A
  • made the changes of the 1921 Emergency Act permanent and reduced the number further to only 2% (approximately 164,000 each year)
103
Q

What Amendment introduced prohibition and when?

A

The 18th Amendment was passed in 1919 and banned the sale, consumption and manufacture of intoxicating alcohol

104
Q

How did the 1920 Volstead Act build on prohibition?

A

Ruled all intoxicating alcohol as anything over 0.5% proof

105
Q

What were the anti-alcohol lobby groups?

A
  • Anti saloon league - middle class protestants who were critical of the immoral behaviours alcohol caused
  • Women’s Christian Temperance Union
  • Big Business
106
Q

Why did prohibition fail?

A
  • Geographical difficulties
  • Bootleggers
  • Industrial alcohol
  • Problems for treasury agents
  • Popularity of speakeasies
  • Divisions among supporters
  • Role of government
107
Q

How did prohibition develop organised crime?

A
  • it gave organised crime groups huge wealth

- allowed organised crime groups to become involved in other areas such as gambling, drugs and prostitution

108
Q

What was the most famous gang rivalry?

A

the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre between the Italian Capone gang and the Irish Moran gang

109
Q

How did the prohibition lead to an increase in crime?

A

Made criminals out of ordinary citizens as they broke the law in speakeasies and through drinking moonshine

110
Q

How did the 1920s effect women?

A

A period of considerable change for women

111
Q

What was a ‘flapper’?

A

young independent minded women who didn’t feel that a woman’s place was in the home

112
Q

How did the economic boom impact women?

A

Provided new opportunities for women

113
Q

How did prohibition impact women?

A

allowed women to drink in speakeasies alongside males

114
Q

What Amendment gave women the right to vote?

A

the 19th Amendment to the constitution

115
Q

What was the Prohibition?

A
  • a crusade against liquor inspired by the misery, poverty, depravity and violence that alccohol was perceived to produce
116
Q

What did the Anti Saloon League object to?

A
  • membership was drawn from middle class, Protestant, church going Americans
  • especially critical of behaviour and morality in big, crime-ridden cities such as New York and Chicago
117
Q

Why did Big Business owners support Prohibition?

A
  • Henry Ford
  • Frederich W Taylor
  • John D Rockafeller
  • all felt workers would be far more productive if their minds and bodies were free from the debilitating influence of alcohol
118
Q

What and when was the St Valentine’s Day Massacre?

A
  • 1929
  • a “turf war” as rival gangs struggled to control the supply of alcohol in an area
  • between the Irish Moran Gang and the Italian Capone Gang
119
Q

What was the annual income of Al Capone?

A

$60m by 1927

120
Q

What impact did the Prohibition have on organised crime?

A
  • it stimulated organised crime as gangsters exploited it for profit
  • the law triggered a significant rise in organised crime
121
Q

How can prohibition be argued to have promoted race and gender equality?

A
  • women were allowed to enter speakeasies and had greater access to social events
  • speakeasies became famous for their black jazz musicians
122
Q

Why was prohibition ultimately a failure?

A
  • it did not stop the drinking of intoxicating liquor
123
Q

How many speakeasies were there throughout the Prohibition?

A

32,000 illegal speakeasies in New York City - this was twice the number that had existed before the prohibition

124
Q

When did Prohibition end?

A

1933

125
Q

Where was the Ku Klux Klan first established?

A
  • KKK had its roots in small towns and rural communities
  • first established in Tennessee
126
Q

What was Doc Simmons’ saying for the KKK?

A

“Morality, Americanism, Protestantism and White Supremacy.”

127
Q

How did the Red Scare impact the KKK?

A

it provided the perfect breeding ground for bigotry

128
Q

What was life like for women before WW1?

A
  • middle class women led restricted lives
  • in most states women couldn’t vote
  • very few jobs open to women
  • working women were in low paid jobs like cleaning, dressmaking and secretarial work
129
Q

When did women get the vote in all states?

A

1920

130
Q

How did women’s role change throughout the 1920s?

A
  • the car made them freer
  • domestic work was made easier by labour saving devices such as the vacuum and the washing machine
  • women in urban areas took on more jobs
131
Q

How many more women worked in 1929 compared to 1920?

A

24% more

132
Q

How many more divorces were there in 1929 compared to 1914?

A

2 times as many divorces

133
Q

How were women still limited in the 1920s?

A
  • women were paid less than men for the same job
  • women did not achieve political equality to men
  • traditional religious and old country values restricted American women
134
Q

How many women were in domestic jobs by 1930?

A

Over 10 million

135
Q

Who was the ‘It Girl’ in the 1920s?

A
  • Hollywood star Clara Bow
  • she symbolised the changes in the freedoms of women
136
Q

How did the cosmetic industry grow in the 1920s? What did this show?

A
  • grew from being worth $17 million per annum to $200 million per annum by the end of the decade
  • women were taking control of their sexualities
137
Q

What did the National Women’s Party do in 1923?

A
  • it failed to get an Equal Rights Amendment accepted into law

History Paper 1 and 2 (13 decks)

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