usa 1920-73

• In 1922, the Fordney-McCumber Tariff put high taxes on imports, making foreign goods more expensive and boosting US business
• what beliefs did the republican party have?

  •laissez-faire

  •limited government intervention

  •low taxes
• what beliefs did the democratic party have?


  •intervene economically and in society when necessary

  •created policies to protect and support the vulnerable
• what was the economic boom in the 1920s?

  businesses making large profits

  low unemployment

  increased wages
• what caused the economic growth in the 1920s?

  •little wartime debt + took advantage of opportunities created by ruined european businesses + loaned money to allies after war

  •fordney-mccumber tariff put high taxes on imported goods meaning more american goods were being sold

  •laissez-faire

  •technological innovation - 63% of homes had electricity in 1927 meaning more electric goods were being sold

  •consumerism
• what is the cycle of prosperity?


  .

  
• how did mass production help economic growth?


  it lowered production costs and purchase prices which lead to increased sales and therefore more profit. this caused a demand for production which required more workers which meant people had more disposable income to spend on consumer items
• what businesses suffered during the boom?

  agriculture - farmers had taken out loans to help with european demand but machinery improved efficiency leaving them with a surplus and debt after european demand died down. by 1928, half of all usa farmers were in poverty

  traditional industries- overproduction and underconsumption
• which groups were disadvantaged in 1920s?

  african-americans - faced discrimination + economic inequality due to racism and injustice

  native americans - forced out of traditional land into reservations with infertile land. low life expectancy + poverty

  immigrants - forced to take low paying jobs due to discrimination

  elderly+disabled - suffered due to no national support system or pensions
• what politically changed in the position of women in the 1920s?


  •the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920

  however, women from disadvantaged groups may not have been able to vote due to the barriers such as literacy tests
• what socially changed for women in the 1920s?

  •birth control was increasingly used, but it was heavily restricted by the catholic church

  •women could get divorced more easily. divorce rates doubled
• what economically changed for women in the 1920s?

  •number of employed women rose by 25% over the 1920s.

  •most worked lower paying jobs and were paid less than men for the same job
• what were flappers?


  •women who broke many traditional boundaries of femininity

  •heavily influenced by fashion in hollywood films at the time

  •known for their short hair, wearing lipstick, and dancing, smoking and drinking in jazz clubs
• cinema in the 1920s


  by the middle of the decade, 50 million people a week went to the movies
• what were the reasons for prohibition?


  •campaigners worried about the social impact of drunkenness, crime, violence and domestic abuse

  •temperance societies opposed alcohol for religious and moral reasons

  •business leaders believed alcohol decreased their workers’ efficiency

  •anti-saloon league
• what was prohibition?


  •1919 volstead act implemented prohibition

  •became federal law thru 18th amendment in january 1920

  •illegal to manufacture, sell and transport alcohol
• why did prohibition fail?

  •it was unpopular and people ignored it

  •bootleggers smuggles alcohol into usa

  •moonshine was made

  •speakeasies were popular. in ny, there were double the amount of bars in 1929 than before prohibition

  •it was almost impossible to enforce due to lack of prohibition agents and them being open to bribery due to low pay

  •many offenders went unpunished or were protected by officials

  •difficult to prevent smuggling due to large borders
• how did prohibition cause organised crime?

  •alcohol trade offered huge profits for the gangs that controlled it

  •gangsters such al capone earned around $60 million by mid 1920s (£700 million today)

  •gangs used violence to dominate areas and protect their profits

  •most of this went unpunished due to widespread corruption
• why was life in usa difficult for immigrants?


  •poor living conditions due to discrimination when seeking housing or poor wages. many immigrant communities developed into slums

  •immigrant slums led to isolation and prejudiced views in society

  •many had little option other than to work in low status, low skilled jobs for low wages
• what caused backlash against immigrants?

  •ww1 causes extreme nationalism and gave rise to anti-german feelings

  •wasp were views as a threat to american society and its values

  •immigrants blamed for stealing jobs and causing a job shortage in 1920-21
• what were the laws restricting immigrants?

  •1917 immigration act used literacy tests to exclude immigrants with low reading ability, and banned immigration from middle east and southeast asia

  •1921 emergency quota act set limit of 357,000 immigrants per year

  •1924 national origins act reduced it to 150,000 per year. only 2% of total population of any overseas group already in usa in 1890 could immigrate
• what was the red scare?

  early 1920s paranoia about potential national threat of communism
• what caused the development of the red scare?

  •ww1 - increased nationalism lead to xenophobia

  •1917 russian revolution- fearing communism from russian/ eastern european immigrants

  •labour strikes - viewed as political radicalism which led to fears of a revolution

  •anarchist violence
• what were the palmer raids?


  •in 1919, anarchists send bombs to leading political figures

  •in july 1919, the us attorney general mitchell palmer’s home was bombed. palmer claimed there were communists in congress. this lead to raids of suspected political radicals and organisations, leading to thousands being arrested without trail.
• what happened in the sacco and vanzetti case?

  •charged with robbery and murder

  •italian anarchists

  •during their may 1921 trail, 107 witnesses placed them somewhere else at the time of the crime but the judge said that they were ‘morally culpable’ even if they hadn’t committed the crime. the jury found them guilty and sentenced them to death. this led to protests but they were given the death penalty in 1927
• what was segregation in the southern states?

  jim crow laws enforced:

  •african americans couldnt use the same facilities as white americans

  •segregated in us military

  •justice system protect rights of white americans and maintained segregation

  •sharecroppers were economically exploited and kept in poverty
• what was segregation in the northern states?

  •faced discrimination and exploitation

  •worked low paid menial jobs

  •wages didn’t match white peoples

  •lived in poorer parts

  •no jim crow laws
• what was the kkk?

  •klu klux klan was a racial terrorist organisation

  •believed in white supremacy

  •members committed acts of intimidation, violence and murder
• what was lynching?

  •done under claim of alleged offence but without holding legal trial

  •not investigated or stopped by police in most cases

  •over 400 black americans were lynched by the kkk throughout the 1920s
• what were the weaknesses of the us economy?

  •inequality

  •problems in agriculture

  •overproduction

  •decline in consumer good demand

  •foreign governments tariffs on us goods so couldn’t sell surplus

  •laissez-faire - no economic regulations or safeguards to deal with future problems
• what was the wall street crash of 1929?

  •24 october- 13 million shares sold on wall street stock exchange

  •29 october - 16 million shares sold as prices continued to fall

  •shareholders lost billions of dollars

  •people with bank savings lost savings

  •people unable to pay back loans to the banks so the banks went bankrupt
• what happened with banks and businesses during the great depression?

  •industrial production fell dramatically

  •some businesses forced to cut production, reduce working hours or shut down completely

  •banks ran out of money and closed. around 9000 banks closed between 1930 and 1933
• what happened with unemployment in the great depression?


  •businesses made less profit and couldn’t afford to pay workers so many lost their jobs

  •by july 1923, 23% of the working population were unemployed

  •people became homeless due to unemployment

  •people became reliant on charity due to no social welfare
• what happened to farmers in the great depression?


  •couldnt afford to pay debts or mortgages so lost their land

  •farmworkers lost their jobs

  •severe drought and soil erosion in the dust bowl made farming impossible there.
• how did hoover respond to the great depression?

  •1930 hawle-smoot tariff act added taxes to foreign goods to make us goods appear cheaper and make americans buy them to put money back into the economy

  •1932 reconstruction finance corporation to lend businesses money

  •made $300 million available for public works projects but only $30 million was used
• why was hoover unpopular?


  he was blamed for the hardships of the great depression

  people made shantytowns and called the ‘hoovervilles’ to mock him
• why was roosevelt popular in the 1932 election?

  •charismatic and effective public speaker

  •pledged a ’new deal’ which included relief for those in need, creating jobs and getting the economy back on track and measure to protect against another depression (relief, recovery, reform)
• what were the first new acts of fdr’s presidency?

  •1933 emergency banking act - closed all banks for inspection which restored people’s confidence

  •1933 economy act - cut government employees wages by 15% to fund new deal

  •ended prohibition which caused organised crime to decline and allowed alcohol to be taxed