T1: The Roaring Twenties - Economic Boom + Prohibition

Describe Laissez Faire

Government interferes as little as possible in lives of people, leave businessmen to do their jobs, close to "rugged individualism"

What is "rugged individualism"

Americans are strong and solve their own problems

Describe Protective Tariffs

Import tariffs, protected businesses against foreign comp, allowed US companies to grow more rapidly, nationalist

Describe low taxation

Kept taxes as low as possible, goal (if people had more money): spend on US goods, rich would invest in US industries

What are trusts

Huge corporations that dominated industry

Describe powerful trusts

Democrats against trusts (too much control), Republicans allowed - businessmen ('captains of industry') know better than politicians in business

Economic growth average __ a year during 1920s

4%

What are 'Flappers'?

Young women who gained new social freedoms e.g. drinking, smoking and dancing

How did USA make money?

Selling weapons + equipment to the allies Britain + France

'Silent Cal' Beliefs

That governments should keep out of business and people's lives

Describe The Roaring Twenties

emerging culture, "Jazz Age" - jazz, film + radio emerged, economic prosperity (affluent on consumer culture), technological advancements

How did a state of mind help cause the economic boom?

American's embraced optimism + consumerism. Belief in American dream encouraged spending + investment.

Example of a state of mind

Advertising campaigns for products (e.g. Hoover vacuum cleaner) convinced people that owning modern goods was a sign of success

How did WW1 help cause the economic boom?

USA mad money selling weapons to allies, war damaged European nations --> boosted US exports, US banks loaned money to allies, boosted aviation industry

Data for WW1 cause economic boom

Exports doubled due to selling weapons and aviation industry

How did republican policies help cause the economic boom?

Protectionism. warren Harding + Calvin Coolidge supported business thru low taxes and minimal regulation.

Example of republican policies helping cause economic boom

Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act 1922: imposed high tariffs of 400% on foreign made items

How did new industries help cause the economic boom?

Electricity, chemicals, and consumer goods industries grew rapidly

Example of new industries help cause economic boom

General Electric: expanded production of electrical appliances RCA: led booming radio industry, creating thousands of jobs + new markets

How did Resources and transport help cause the economic boom?

USA had vast supplies of coal, oil + iron and an extensive railway system. Goods easily transported

Example of resources and transport networks help cause e.b.

Union Pacific Railroad: transported goods efficiently across the country, supporting industrial expansion and national trade

How did cars help cause the economic boom?

Assembly line cut costs and made cars affordable (as well as more jobs). Cars boosted steel, rubber, galss, and road-building industries

Example/data of cars causing e.b.

Henry Ford's Model T used assembly line, 1929: over 23 mill cars on American roads, 75% glass production from cars

How did mass consumption help cause the economic boom?

Advertising and credit schemes encouraged people to buy more. Installment plans let people buy furniture/radios/fridges without paying upfront

Example of mass consumption causing e.b.

Sears Roebuck catalogues allowed Americans to order goods from home

What is the Lost Generation?

Generation of young people who came of age after the First World War

US presidents from 1913-53

Woodrow Wilson 1913-21, Warren Harding 1921-23, Cal Coolidge 1923-29, Hebert Hoover 1929-33, Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933-45, Harry Truman 1945-53

Farming problems - Declining exports

Post-war, Europe imported less food from USA. Europe poor + response to US tariffs

Farming problems - Overproduction

More land being farmed, improved machinery (fewer jobs) + imported fertilisers --> US farming more efficient. By 1920: production surplus (wages + prices fall)

Farming problems - New competitors

Struggling against efficient Canadian wheat producers. Pop. of USA was falling so less food was actually needed

Farming problems - Falling prices

Prices fell as desperate farmers tried to sell their produces. 1921 - most farm prices fell by 50%. 1920s - Hundreds of rural banks collapsed + 5x as many farm bankruptcies as there had been in 1900s and 1910s

Why did workers in traditional industries not share the boom?

Traditional industries growth slow + profits gradually declined e.g. textile industry NE USA fell from 190,000 --> less than 100,000. Skilled workers couldn't compete with machinery/cheap labour in S states. 42% of USA people lived below poverty line

Why did the unemployed and the poor not share the boom

Growth in industry didn't create many new jobs - companies electrifying and mechanising production. 5% unemployed at peak of boom. Boom of 1920s consumer led but many too poor to buy consumer products --> demand dwindle eventually

How women's lives changed - movements + vote

Suffragist movements throughout 1900s, Suffragists threw themselves in war effort. NAWSA - civilian + military organisations, NWP - demonstrations outside White House (hypocrisy of fighting in war while not allowed to vote)

How women's lives changed - political empowerment

Many (especially middle class) gained political education in campaigns e.g. Eleanor Roosevelt --> key roles in campaigns on social issues e.g. temperance

How women's lives changed - employment opportunities

WW1 - women entered workforce in traditional 'men's' roles, Women's Land Army + Red Cross, trend continued after war - urban areas, took on jobs, (electrical goods made home jobs easier) - typically in new industries. 1929 - 10 mill. in employment - 24% more than 1920

How women's lives changed - more money, greater freedom

As they had money, women became new group targeted by advertisers e.g. 1925 - Ford - make cars available in more colours, 'flappers', 1914 - 100,000 divorces; 1929 - twice as many

Women limitations - work

Women still paid less than men (even at same job) - employment of women increased while men didn't - cheaper employees. Lack of oppurtunities

Women limitations - politicis

Political parties wanted women votes but not as candidate - 'unelectable' - handful elected for Congress 1929

Women limitations - family

Most still conservative - raising family + keeping a good home for their husband = main priorities

Causes of prohibition

Women's Christian Temperance movements (damaged family life), 3000 child deaths by smothering, big breweries German owned - drinkers portrayed as unpatriotic, lawlessness + immorality, helped spread Communism, made people less reliable at work (supported by factory owners)

Why Prohibition failed - Gangsters

Made ~ $2bill. selling illegal alcohol, poor immigrant backgrounds, Dan O'Banion, Bugsy Moran, Lucky Luciano, Valentine's Day Massacre - 300 murders

Why Prohibition failed - Lack of Enforcement

Poorly paid - $2500/year + responsible for huge areas,

Why Prohibition failed - bootleggers and moonshine

1000 Americans died/year, hidden by: hip flasks, false books, baby carriages

Who are bootleggers?

Someone who supplies alcohol

What is moonshine?

Homemade alcohol using potatoes etc. Usually very strong

What are speakeasies?

Illegal bars that sell alcohol

Why Prohibition failed - speakeasies

Entry required a password, jazz music + flapper culture linked to gangs, 1925: more speakeasies in US cities than saloons in 1919

Why Prohibition failed - corruption

Roy Omstead fired for importing alcohol --> full time bootlegger, 1 in 12 agents dismissed for corruption, Senior officers and judges paid by criminals --> hard to convict

Relevant info to the Prohibition

Led to loss of tax revenue - Great Depression, Increased Government spending on enforcement, 21st Amendment - Prohibition repealed 1933 by Franklin D. Roosevelt

3 successes of Prohibition

Alcohol consumption fell by 30% by 1929, Deaths from cirrhosis fell by >1/3 between 1926 and 1929, Arrests from public drunkenness declined - 90% drop in Detroit

3 failures of Prohibition

Growth of powerful organised crime networks using violence to protect profits + murder rate increased a lot, Increased government spending, Decline in tax revenue