economic boom

• What two things does this section aim to do?

  Raise awareness and evaluate the New Deal
• What natural resources fueled America's industry?

  Coal, timber, iron, and oil
• How did American businesses profit during World War I?

  Supplying arms and equipment, and loaning money
• How did the American economy compare to that of Britain, France, and Germany in 1918?

  It was stronger
• What did World War I give to Americans?

  Confidence and wealth
• What did the confidence and wealth allow them to do?

  Withdraw from international politics
• What were the 1920s known as in the USA?

  The boom years
• By the end of WWI, what was the USA?

  The world's greatest economic power
• What boosted the US industry after WWI?

  Wartime production
• Who did not share in the economic boom of the 1920s?

  Many black Americans
• What two factors was the economic boom based on?

  Invention and innovation, Republican policies
• Name three new materials that came into common use due to advances in chemicals and synthetics.

  Rayon, Bakelite, and cellophane
• What made consumer goods more widely available?

  Widespread availability of electricity
• Name four consumer goods that became widely available in the 1920s.

  Radios, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators
• What financial policies did the Republican governments of the 1920s follow?

  Policies favorable to industry
• What was the Republican government policy known as?

  Laissez-faire
• What did laissez-faire mean?

  The government favored non-intervention
• How did the Republican governments treat taxation?

  Taxation was kept low
• Why were high import tariffs introduced?

  To protect against imports and prevent competition
• Who used assembly line production in the manufacture of cars?

  Henry Ford
• What did the use of assembly line production lead to?

  A fall in prices
• What industry was central to America's economic success?

  The automobile industry
• Name four industries boosted by the car industry.

  Glass, rubber, steel, and leather
• By 1929, how many Americans owned a car?

  One in five
• What other businesses increased due to the car industry?

  Roadside filling stations, hotels and restaurants
• Name three advertising methods that were developed in this era.

  Radio, cinema, and billboards
• Where was new merchandise advertised?

  Magazines, newspapers, and mail order catalogues
• How could customers who couldn't afford a product outright pay?

  By installments under a hire purchase agreement
• According to Henry Ford, what should be taken to the man, not the man to what?

  The work
• On what was the boom mainly based?

  New industries
• As new industries boomed, what increased?

  The number of jobs
• What happened to wages for many Americans?

  Wages rose
• What feeling rose as the number of jobs increased?

  Confidence
• What could people afford with increased wealth?

  The new consumer goods
• What was the 1920s for building and construction?

  A golden age
• What required offices and showrooms?

  New businesses
• What was constructed along with new businesses?

  New roads
• Name two types of public buildings that were constructed.

  Schools and skyscrapers
• Why did steel production not suffer?

  Demands of the car and building industries
• What was the demand for clothes manufactured using?

  Synthetic materials such as rayon