Who benefitted from the Boom?

• National prohibition


  The manufacture, sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks was banned across the USA in 1920. Prohibition was brought to an end by the 21st Amendment of the Constitution in 1933. Today, individual states determine their own drinks laws.
• Farmers


  • US agriculture boomed during WW1 – US agricultural prices rose by 82% 1913-1917
  • Post-war, European demand dropped, so prices did too
  • Technological advances – combine harvester – greatly increased cereal production, but reduced employment among farmers (but limited by migration to growing towns)
  • 1920s – south-eastern USA – cotton crop damaged by pest, reduced profits
  • National prohibition reduced wheat and barley demand
  • Attempts to aid farmers through legislation failed, due to laissez-faire economy
• Geography


  Some areas of the US would've benefitted more heavily than others
• Type of farming


  Depending on if you were a crop or an animal famer would've depended on your fortunes
• Black Americans


  • Majority of black Americans still lived in the south-east
  • Suffered legal and social discrimination
  • Many were sharecroppers (renting land for a portion of production) – suffered extreme hardship
  • Outside of the south-east, black Americans given lowly paid jobs, had poor quality housing
  • 1920s – biggest black migration to the northern cities e.g. New York/Chicago
• Geography


  Some areas of the US would've benefitted more heavily than others – cities in particular – 1m migrate to the north – south = escaping persecution
• Wages


  Whilst BA did benefit – they were paid low wages in comparison to WA – their jobs were also low-skilled
• Women


  • Did not enjoy improved opportunities under the boom
  • 1930 – only 150 women dentists, fewer than 100 accountants in the whole USA
  • 1920 – granted the vote (law passed in 1919)
  • 1928 – 145 women in state legislatures, but only 2 in federal government (House of Representatives)
  • Remained in low-paid work e.g. 700,000 domestic servants
  • College graduates dropped by 5%
  • Women not paid the same as men in the same job
• Geography


  Some areas of the US would've benefitted more heavily than others – cities in particular
• Wages


  Whilst women did benefit – they were paid low wages in comparison to men – their jobs were also low-skilled or admin
• Business Owners


  • As businesses grew, their owners became richer
  • Disliked the power trade unions – they encouraged their workers not to strike
  • Trade Union membership was low at 1 million
  • They benefitted from low taxation on behalf of the government
• Type of industry


  Some industries, such as ones that relied on mass production, benefitted far more than others
• The rich


  • The top wealthiest 5% of the population accounted for nearly 33% of America's national income. Examples - Henry Ford, Clarence Birdseye, Samuel Insull, Andrew Carnegie. Typically voted Republican due to their laissez faire policies, and low taxes!
• The rich were already rich before the boom


  The boom just enhanced their wealth
• Low skilled workers


  • Gained lots of new jobs in areas such as car production due to mass-production lines
  • The Car industry alone employed 375,000 workers. The introduction of $5 day meant better wages for us at a time of low inflation (real wages rose by 13% from 1923-1929).
• Geography


  Those living in industrial urban areas were far more likely to benefit from jobs in production
• Gender


  Men took many low-skilled jobs over women
• Ethnicity


  Whilst many ethnic minorities got jobs in low-skilled industries, they largely got them when there was no interest from white males.
• Leisure Industry


  • People had more leisure time due to higher wages.
  • More of people had cars, which was supported by the the government's new road building schemes
  • Seaside resorts like Atlantic City & National Parks did very well
  • More people went to the cinema
  • By 1930 100 million cinema tickets were sold every week.
• Geography


  Those living in close proximity to industrial areas/cities felt their leisure industries grow – had to be where roads were built