USA depth study

How did failing industries lead to the WSC?

Declining traditional industries like coal, textiles, and especially farming had been struggling since 1926. As profits fell, construction dropped by 40% between 1928 and 1933. This led to job losses, which meant people had less money to spend, causing demand for goods to fall. That meant lower profits, which triggered even more layoffs and unemployment — a vicious cycle.

How did overproduction lead to the WSC?

Factories and farms overproduced more than people could buy. As supply exceeded demand, prices and profits dropped. Businesses then laid off workers, which worsened unemployment and reduced demand even more.

How did speculation of stock market lead to the WSC?

Over 20 million Americans speculated in stocks, often using borrowed money. They bought shares on credit hoping prices would keep rising. But prices were artificially inflated. When confidence dropped, people couldn’t repay loans, and both investors and banks lost huge amounts.

How did panic cause the the Crash?

When stock prices began to fall, experienced investors started selling. This caused a wave of panic. Ordinary people followed, flooding the market with shares and sending prices crashing. Many lost everything overnight.

How were banks involved in the WSC?

Banks had loaned money to speculators. When stocks collapsed, loans weren’t repaid. Between 1930 and 1933, around 9,000 banks failed, including over 4,000 in 1933 alone. People lost trust in banks and withdrew savings, worsening the crisis.

How much money was withdrawn in total?

$1 billion dollars

How many stocks were dumped on Black Tuesday?

Over 16 millions shares and stocks were traded.

How much money was spent on advertising in an attempt to sell?

In 1929, companies spent $3 billion on magazine advertising to encourage consumption. But wages weren’t rising, so people couldn’t afford new products. Demand continued to fall.

How much did profits and wages fall between 1928 and 1933?

• Profits fell by 40%

• Wages fell by 60%

How much was total farm income

$5 billion

How much did the American international trade drop?

Went from $10 billion to $3 billion from 1929 to 1932

What is a bull and bear market?

A bull market is where stocks and shares rise over a period of time whilst a bear market is when stocks fall over a period of time.

How many people were admitted to the hospital from starvation and when?

In 1931, 238 people were admitted to the hospital from starvation/malnutrition

How many farmers lost their farms?

A fifth of farmers lost their farms in 1932

How many companies went out of business?

In 1932, 20,000 companies went out of business

How did rural Americans suffer during the Depression?

Farmers had already been struggling. During the Depression, falling prices meant many couldn’t repay mortgages and lost their land. Many packed up and travelled to find work. Black farmers were often hit hardest, losing their land first.

What was hunger like in rural areas?

Children died from starvation and malnutrition. Even though food like wheat and fruit was available, farmers couldn’t afford to take it to market, so it rotted.

What was the Dust Bowl?

Over-farming and drought turned topsoil into dust. Strong winds whipped it into massive dust storms, destroying farms across the Great Plains. Farming became impossible, forcing many families to migrate west to California.

How did some farmers react when their houses were seized?

Some organized themselves to resist banks seizing their homes by grouping up with pitch forks and nooses to scare sheriffs off. Others barricaded the highways.

How did urban Americans suffer during the Depression?

With no welfare system, unemployed people had to scavenge or beg. In New York alone, 45 people died from malnutrition. Formerly booming cities became centres of desperation.

What were ‘Hoovervilles’?

With 13 million unemployed, many were forced into shanty towns made of scrap materials. These were sarcastically named "Hoovervilles" after President Hoover, who was blamed for inaction. One in St Louis housed over 1,000 people.

What were Hobos?

Hoe-boys, aka Hobos were men travelling around usually illegally on freight trains. Between 1 and 2 million men travelled desperately looking for work.

What was the phrase used to insult president Hoover?

“In Hoover we trusted, but now we are busted”

Did any industries profit during the Depression?

Some modern industries like film, radio, and aircraft thrived due to global demand. People who kept their jobs benefitted from lower prices and increased buying power.

What did Herbert Hoover believe in?

Rugged individualism, where it was not the government’s job to interfere with business. He was regarded as the ‘do nothing’ president

What did Herbert Hoover do to help the economy?

• Tax cuts worth $130 million — had little impact

• Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930) raised tariffs to protect US industries but backfired. World trade dropped by 66% between 1929–1934, and US farmers couldn't export their goods.

What was the Hoover dam?

The Hoover dam was set up on the Colorado river, creating thousands of jobs but it was not enough to tackle the huge unemployment crisis over America.

What did Hoover do that failed as it wasn’t set in law?

He tried to encourage businesses to not cut wages or dismiss workers, but it failed as this was optional and not set in law.

How did Hoover try to help banks?

He set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, providing $2 billion in loans for failing banks and businesses, but it was not enough money to stop bank closures.

How did Hoover try to help farmers?

He tried to use the Federal Farm Board which used $500,000 to buy extra grain and cotton to stabilise prices, but food prices continued to drop due to overproduction and tariff wars against other countries.

What happened to the Bonus Marchers?

In June 1932, 40,000 protesters (incl. 17,000 WWI veterans) peacefully marched for early war bonus payments. After violence broke out, Hoover ordered in General MacArthur, who ignored instructions and used infantry, cavalry, and tanks to clear the camps. It caused national outrage and damaged Hoover’s reputation before the election.

How was Roosevelt different from Herbert?

Franklin D Roosevelt was a Democrat candidate, who believed in an “active government” to improve the lives of American citizens. W

What did Roosevelt promise?

He promised a New Deal, focusing on the 3 Rs: Recovery (of the financial system), Relief (for the unemployed and those in poverty) and Reform (of the financial system)

What experience did Roosevelt have previously

He was the Governor of New York, and his plans on spending public money to get people back to work had already been started there by persuading the state legislature to spend $20 million on helping the unemployed and introduced old age pensions.

What were the key traits of Roosevelt?

He was not afraid to ask for help, was optimistic and kept his message simple, radiated warmth and inspiring confidence.

What did Roosevelt do before the election?

He went on a train tour of the USA, attacking the attitude of Hoover and the Republicans. He made a 20,800km campaign trip, making 16 major speeches and 60 from the back of his train, promising a “New Deal”

How much did Roosevelt win by?

He won by 7 million votes

What is meant by the term ‘boom’?

The dynamic growth of the American economy in the decade after WWI, where the Americans believed in isolationism. They found faster and cheaper ways of making goods, so production went up and prices came down.

How were new industries a factor behind the boom?

The USA was rich in natural resources and raw materials, and the USA led t he world in most areas of industry. It was most developed in motor cars, telephones, electric lighting, chemicals, and electric lighting.

How did America benefit from WWI?

The US lent money to allies, selling foodstuffs to Britain and France.
The manufacturing of explosives during the war stimulated a range of by-products such as plastics. America soon became more advanced than Germany.
Aircraft technology was improved. In 1918 there were no civilian airlines, but by 1930 new aircraft companies flew 162,000 flights a year.
The US joined the war not long enough for the war to drain American resources, and they were also far away from conflict so suffered no war damage.

What was the Laissez-Faire?

Republicans believed that the government should interfere as little as possible and to leave businessmen to do their jobs, related to their belief in rugged individualism.

What are protective tariffs?

Import tariffs made it expensive to import goods. This protected the economy and businesses against foreign competitors and allowed American businesses to grow even more rapidly. These tariffs created a monopoly with no outside competition.

Give and example of a protective tariff

The Forndey-McCumber tariff was introduced by Warren Harding in 1922 to make imported food even more expensive.

How did low taxation contribute to the Boom?

Taxes were kept as low as possible, so if people could keep their own money they could invest their money in industries and further boost the economy. However, this led to no funds for the government (e.g healthcare) and benefited the rich more than the poor

How did powerful trusts contribute to the economic boom?

Woodrow Wilson and Democrats fought against trusts as they believed it was unhealthy for men such as Carnegie and Rockefeller to have almost complete control of one vital sector of industry. The Republicans allowed the trusts to do what they wanted, believeing that the ‘captains of industry’ knew better than politicians about what was good for the USA

What new industries came to America in the 1920’s?

Steel, chemicals, glass, machinery, and electricity were produced from the large resource of raw materials. Telephones, radios, vacuum cleaners and washing machines were mass-produced, so goods could be produced more cheaply and so more people could afford them

Give an example of how silk became more accesible

Silk stockings had once been a luxury item. In 1900 only 12,000 pairs had been sold, but in 1920’s a cheaper substitute for silk, rayon, was invented and in 1930 300 million pairs of stockings were sold to a female population of around 100 million

The car

By 1900 only 4000 cars were made. Henry Ford set up the world’s first moving production line in 1913, and every 10 seconds a new car was produced due to its efficiency in 1927. More than 15 million cars were produced between 1908 and 1925. In 1929, 4.8 million cars were made, and in 1925 they cost $290 which was only three months’ wages for an American factory worker, from $1200 before.

Number of people who owned cars in the US compared to the others?

One car to five people in the USA, compared to one to 43 in Britain and one to 7000 in Russia. It stimulated the growth of hundreds of other smaller businesses, such as hot dog stands and advertising bill boards to petrol stations and holiday resorts as it made it possible for people to buy a house in the suburbs.

What principles was Ford’s method of Mass Production based on?

1. Standardisation

2. Division of Labour

3. Assembly line

   Ford’s Model T was most popular in America, and by the mid 1920’s one out of every two cars sold was a Model T. It meant that other machines could be made more cheaply, like tractors and combine harvesters, which meant farmers could produce more food. By 1929 there were over 10 million radios in American and 20 million telephones.

What was the scheme set up to promote consumerism?

If people did not have the money to buy things, the “Buy now, pay later” hire purchase scheme was promoted. Eight out of ten radios and six of of ten cars were bought on credit.

How much did wages rise?

Between 1923 and 1929 the average wage rose by 8% which allowed workers to buy new consumer luxuries.

What were muckraking journals and why did they decline by 1914?

Muckraking journals like McClure’s exposed business and political corruption. Cheap printing and ad funding cut prices, boosting readership from 10,000 to 500,000. By 1914, readers lost interest and advertisers opposed reform content.

How did media and advertising reflect U.S. culture after WWI?

Magazines shifted from reform to consumerism. Ladies’ Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post (with Rockwell art) became middle-class staples. Time launched in 1923. Ads used movie stars and sports figures to sell products like Coca-Cola, linking buying to success. Tabloids like NY Daily News covered crime and scandals. Books like The Man Nobody Knows portrayed Jesus as a salesman, promoting the "right to prosperity" mindset.

Describe the Boom Cycle

Increased demand for goods

Production increased

More employment

More money available to spend on customer goods

Why was the stock market seen as central to 1920s prosperity?

Stock values rose steadily in the 1920s, especially in 1928–29. Buying and selling shares became common—even ordinary workers invested. It was said “even the shoeshine boy” was dealing in shares, showing how widespread speculation had become.

What was speculation and how did it work in the 1920s?

People bought shares hoping prices would rise, even borrowing money to invest. They paid a deposit (buying “on the margin”), then sold the shares at a profit, repaid the loan, and kept the rest—fueling risky, short-term investing.

How did share trading change in the 1920s?

In 1926, 451 million shares were traded. By 1929, over 1.1 billion shares were sold in a “bull market,” with up to 25 million Americans caught in the frenzy.

What was ‘buying on the margin’ and why was it popular?

Investors borrowed money to buy shares, hoping prices would rise so they could repay the loan and make a profit. High bank interest (7%) and advice from figures like Raskob encouraged speculation.

Why did US farmers struggle in the 1920s?

• Falling income: $22B (1919) → $13B (1928)

• Declining exports: Europe bought less due to poverty & US tariffs

• New competitors: Canada & Argentina

• Over-production: Better machines & fertilisers led to surpluses

• Falling prices: Prices dropped 50% in 1921; many bankruptcies

• Prohibition: Cut demand for wheat/barley used in alcohol production

Why did the coal industry struggle in the 1920s?

• Over-production lowered prices and profits

• Competition from electricity and oil

• Efficient tech meant less coal was needed

  • Strike (1928): Workers paid as little as $9/week for 70 hours

What problems did the textiles, leather, and shoe industries face?

• Not growth markets despite tariffs

• Competition from man-made materials

• Mechanisation replaced skilled jobs

• Low wages and rising unemployment

What happened to workers in older industries during the 1920s?

• Many lost jobs due to mechanisation

• Wages lagged behind company profits

• 42% of Americans lived below the poverty line

• Even employed workers struggled to afford essentials

What were the living and working conditions like for unskilled workers in 1920s Chicago?

Chicago was a hub for steel, meat, and clothing industries, employing many unskilled Polish and Italian immigrants. These jobs were unstable, with seasonal unemployment. Only 3% of semi-skilled workers owned cars (vs. 29% in richer areas). Workers avoided buying large items on credit, saving in case of job loss, though they did buy smaller items like radios on credit. Poor white workers avoided chain stores in middle-class areas, preferring local grocers who offered flexible credit.

Flop cuts

Farming - machinery and overproduction (a wheat bushel from $183 to 38 cents from 1920 to 1929). In 1929 average income of farmers was 40% of national average. 600k farmers went bankrupt in 1924.

Low demand - Overproduction led to lower demand. Cycle of depression

Poor Americans - 60% of Americans lived below the poverty line, 3% of semi-skilled workers actually owned a car. Unsustainable boom. 1 million African American farm workers lost their jobs, overcrowded and segregated community in New York’s black Harlem district with more than 250k citizens in small areas. ‘Rent parties’ were on Saturday nights to raise money to pay to landlord on Sunday

Cartels, trusts and monopolies - They ‘fixed the market’ and kept prices high and wages low. The Senate Committee set up after 1929 to investigate the Crash found that throughout the late 1920’s there was corruption and ‘insider trading’ between banks and brokers.

Unemployment - New technology caused unemployment to rise. 2 million throughout 1920’s

Trade Problems - Many countries retaliated against the US’s economic isolationism and introduced their own tariffs. US imports from Europe fell from $390m in 1929 to $1,334 in 1930

Speculation - “over-saturated/heating” market due to speculation. 600,000 speculators by 1929 and borrowed up to 90% of shares worth (buying on the margin) and borrowed 9 billion for speculating in 1929 and brokers’ loans trebled 1926-9

Unstable and firms floated shares for things that did not exist, but people bought them anyway as they expected profit in the ‘bull market’. Corruption and dishonesty.

How did entertainment change in the 1920s?

The 1920s saw a boom in cinema, jazz music, and radio. Hollywood rose as the centre of the movie industry.

What was the movie industry like before and after the 1920s?

Before 1927, films were silent and accompanied by live piano music. In 1927, sound was introduced with "talkies."

Which movie genres were popular?

Comedies, romance, and slapstick were common, especially in silent films.

Who were some famous film stars of the 1920s?

Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Clara Bow (the "It Girl").

Why was cinema so popular in the 1920s?

With economic prosperity, cheap ticket prices, more leisure time, and widespread car ownership, cinema became a dominant form of entertainment.

What was the Jazz Age?

Jazz emerged from African American culture and spread through cities like Chicago and New York.

What city was the centre of Jazz?

Chicago, with over 100 jazz clubs on the South side of the city, especially during Prohibition, which brought jazz into nightclubs run by gangsters

What is a famous dance from the Jazz Age?

The Charleston

What criticism did jazz music face?

Critics claimed it was immoral or "devil’s music" and blamed it for encouraging promiscuity. Racism also fuelled opposition as jazz was rooted in Black culture.

How did radio grow in the 1920s?

In 1921, there was 1 licensed radio station; by 1922, there were over 500.

What was the Hays Code?

A film censorship law introduced to uphold American morals, banning profanity, nudity, and glorification of drugs.

How did women’s rights change in the 1920s?

Women gained the right to vote in 1920, increasing their role in public and political life.

What were women’s lives like before WW1?

Very restricted—chaperoned outings, controlled relationships, few job opportunities, prohibited from sports or drinking in public, and limited freedoms.

How did life improve for women after WW1?

25% more women in jobs (though low-paid), doubled divorce rates, and the emergence of ‘flappers’ who embraced new freedoms.

Who were flappers, and why were they criticised?

Young women who wore short dresses, makeup, bobbed hair, drank and smoked at cinemas and jazz clubs using money earned from their jobs, and challenged traditional roles.
They shocked older generations who saw their behaviour as scandalous and a threat to traditional values.

What is a WASP

White Anglo-Saxon protestant

What is a phrase that could be used to describe the USA in the 1920s

A melting pot where immigrants lost their cultures and became US citizens

What was the Red scare?

the red scare was the nationwide fear/hysteria of a communist revolution particularly immigrants from Russia and Europe planning to overthrow the US government after the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. This led to laws being implemented to prevent immigration and to isolate the US.

What were the two main causes of the Red scare?

The belief that immigrants would overthrow the government led to a huge intolerance of Europeans, and there seemed to be a justified reason as over 400k workers went on strike in 1919 due to poor working conditions and pay, which some may have interpreted as the start of a communist revolution. There were also frequent bombings by anarchist groups, one of which who bombed the house of the attorney general Mitchell Palmer and killed 10 people in a church in Milwaukee

What was one immigration quota placed in response to the Red scare?

The emergency quota act introduced in 1921 limited the number of immigrants allowed in the states to 3% of the foreign born population

What was the other immigrant quota placed in response to the Red scare?

The National Origins act introduced in 1921 limited the number of immigrants to 150 per year and also banned Asian immigrants.

Why could intolerance be justified?

Immigrants were poor, unskilled and uneducated. They failed to integrate with American society and learn English. There was also an increase of crime rates as Italians connected to the mafia led to organized crime

What was the Sacco and Vanzetti case

Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of murder of Fred Parmenter on 5 May 1920. Their trial began a year later in May of 1921 and they were found guilty by Judge Thayers. They were executed by the electric chair in 1927 after many failed and rejected appeals.

Evidence against Sacco and Vanzetti

Vanzetti had previously been convicted of armed robbery in 1919, which was a cause for concern.

61 eyewitnesses identified the two men as the murderers and Fred Parmenter himself stated that the two suspects were thin immigrants with olive skin.

They were also carried guns, Sacco's pistol matching up with the forensic evidence on scene.

They lied in their statements and were known to be anarchists that hated the american government.

Evidence in defence of Sacco and Vanzetti

Vanzetti refused to take the stand as he was afraid that his political activities would be the main focus and he would be found guilty of that instead.

107 people also confirmed that they were alibis (but most of them were Italian immigrants who spoke poor English).

Some believe that the forensic evidence was rigged and statements from the 61 witnesses disagreed on major details.

Several other men confessed to the crime but they were not taken into account for

How were African Americans treated in America?

African Americans were treated as inferior, and by the time slavery ended in the 1860s there were more African Americans living in the South than whites. 41 state governments introduced measures to control black people in fear of their growing power.

What were the measures set in place to control African Americans?

These were called the Jim Crow laws, named after a song which portrayed African Americans as inferior. This law segregated white people from black.

How many people were lynched?

in 1919 at least 70 African americnas were lynched in the southern states

What was the Klu Klux Klan and what did it do?

This group terrorised black people and believed that white people were supreme. Most members were wasps, and the group died out after 1870 when the group was determined a terrorist organization. However, it revived in 1915 after a film released called "the birth of a nation", which depicted the Klan saving white families from African Americans. By 1920, they had over 100k members and claimed to have 5m in 1925

Who was James Cameron and what happened

In 1930, 16 year old James Cameron escaped a lynching by a mob as they miraculously let him free. He called it a 'miraculous intervention'.

Improvements for African americans

After the lynchings, African Americans started leaving the south to northern cities such as New York and Chicago. Numbers of Africans doubled there. A successful "black capitalist" movement encouraged them to start up business

How did African Americans respond to intolerance

They started a successful boycott of chain stores in Chicago, protesting that they would not shop there until African American workers were hired. By 1930 all shops in the North side had African American employees

What was the WEB DuBois

They founded the national association for the advancement of colored people (NAACP). It had 300 branches and 90k members in 1919 and they campaigned to end racial segregation and make lynching illegal.

Significance of Marcus Garvey

He founded the Universal Negro Improvement association and told african americnas to be proud of their race. He helped them set up their own businesses and by the 1920s there were UNIA grovery stores, laungry and resturants. The businesses eventually collpaesd du to hostility of authorities

Life expectancy for african amiercans

increased from 45 ears to 48 between 1900 and 1930 but it was 54 to 59 for whites. They had poorer housing but had to pay more and poor education and health services