USA: PAPER 2

• By 1920, there were over 3 million unemployed people in America
• Inflation rose by 50% between 1914-18, leading to wage cuts and unemployment
• The US government was not prepared to deal with the economic depression that followed WW1
• The unemployment rate was at its highest since the Civil War.
• 24th October 1929


  13 million shares sold on wall Street - 5 times as many as a normal day.
• Stock prices fell dramatically, wiping out $16 billion worth of investments overnight.
• Banks refused to lend money to businesses or individuals who had invested heavily in stocks.
• Many banks collapsed due to their heavy investment in stocks.
• Many banks failed because they had invested heavily in stocks and bonds.
• 29th October 1929


  16 million shares sold. Shareholders lost a total of $8 billion.
• 1930


  Hoover passes the Harley smoot tariff which taxed foreign goods. US exports fell sharply.
• 1932


  Around 13 million people had lost their jobs, 12,000 people every day.
• 1932


  25,000 unemployed ex soldiers marched to DC to ask for their pension early
• 1932


  Presidential election between Hoover (Republican) and FDR (Democrat). FDR wins by a landslide.
• 1933


  Prohibition comes to an end
• 1935


  Social security act is passed - America's first system of social welfare
• 1937


  Disneys Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released
• 1938


  Begining of Action Comics which included Superman
• September 1939


  Second world war begins. America remains isolationist
• December 1941


  Japan bomb American naval base pearl harbor. USA enter the war
• 1945


  Second world war ends