Contents
1920’S AMERICAThe Boom
Contents
CONTENTS
Contents
THE BOOMWhy was there a ‘Boom?’
Key Features of the Boom
Contents
WHY WAS THERE A ‘BOOM?’ Long Term:
… The US had lots of raw materials like coal, iron and oil
… US industry was already successful
… There was a large internal market to sell to because of the large population
Short Term:
… WW1 allowed the US industry to expand
The US supplied many goods to Europe
The US took over important industries like chemicals
The US trade took over world markets
The US investors had money from European loans to spend on US industry
… The Fordney-McCumber tariff protected US industry
Factors During the 1920’s:
… There was new selling techniques
… There was no restriction on business as Republicans were in charge
… ‘Taylorism’ was used. This is the use of mass production and assembly lines to make products cheaper. This was best used by Henry Ford on the Model-T car
Contents
KEY FEATURES OF THE BOOM
Contents
AMERICAN IDEAS AND FEARSProhibition
Left-wing Ideas
Contents
PROHIBITION
Contents
INTOLERANCE OF LEFT-WING IDEAS
Trade Union membership fell in the 1920’s
Ford banned his employees from joining trade unions
In some states it was illegal to teach Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Socialist were harassed
Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian Anarchists accused of robbery
… They were executed in 1927 based on little evidence because of a bias judge
Contents
WHO DIDN’T BENEFIT?Black Americans
Farmers
Others
Contents
BLACK AMERICANS
Contents
FARMERS
Farmers didn’t do well in the 1920’s
There was competition from Canada
Farmers did well during WW1 but European countries were growing their own food now that the war was over
Nearly all farmers were overproducing which made the price of food remain low
Foreigners couldn’t buy US food because high tariffs meant that they didn’t have any dollars to spend on food
Contents
OTHERS
Wage Earners
… Profits rose by 80% but wages only rose by 8%
Unemployed
… There was never less than 2million unemployed
… But many had been skilled workers replaced by mechanisation
New Immigrants
… They got the worst jobs; casual work, low pay
Workers in Old Industries
… Wages were low and faced world competition like coal and textiles
Top Related