USA-IGCSE EDEXCEL

What were the Roaring Twenties?

The period of economic growth, consumerism and changing lifestyles in the USA during the 1920s.

What were the four main reasons for the economic boom?

Mass production; hire purchase; advertising and consumerism; investment in the stock market.

What was mass production?

Manufacturing large quantities of identical goods quickly using assembly lines.

How did Henry Ford help cause the economic boom?

Ford used assembly-line production to make cars faster and cheaper, making them affordable to more Americans.

What was the Model T Ford?

A cheap car produced by Henry Ford that became widely affordable through mass production.

What was hire purchase?

A system allowing consumers to buy goods in instalments rather than paying the full price immediately.

How did hire purchase boost the economy?

It allowed people to buy expensive goods such as cars and radios even when they could not afford the full price.

How did advertising contribute to the boom?

Advertising encouraged people to buy new products, increasing demand and production.

What was consumerism?

The growing desire to buy consumer goods such as cars, radios and household appliances.

How did the stock market contribute to the boom?

People bought shares hoping to make profits, attracting investment and encouraging speculation.

What was speculation?

Buying shares in the hope of selling them later for a profit.

How did the First World War benefit the US economy?

The USA supplied goods and weapons to the Allies, increasing industrial production and profits; it also became a major creditor.

Why did the USA become a leading economic power after the First World War?

European economies were weakened by the war, while American industry expanded and the USA was owed money by European countries.

What was the leisure industry?

Businesses providing entertainment, including cinemas, radio, jazz, dancing and sport.

How did cinema change American life?

Hollywood films became popular entertainment and helped spread shared fashions and lifestyles.

Why was radio important in the 1920s?

It allowed millions of people to hear news, music, sport and advertisements in their homes.

How did jazz influence American culture?

Jazz became popular music, especially among young people, and was associated with changing social attitudes.

What was the significance of sport in the 1920s?

Sports stars became celebrities, and radio and newspapers helped make sporting events popular nationwide.

What was a flapper?

A young woman who challenged traditional expectations through shorter skirts, bobbed hair, smoking, drinking or greater social independence.

How did women's lives change in the 1920s?

Some women gained greater social freedom, entered employment and challenged traditional attitudes, although change was unequal.

When did American women gain the constitutional right to vote?

1920, through the 19th Amendment.

What was overproduction in farming?

Farmers produced more crops than consumers needed, causing prices and farmers' incomes to fall.

How did mechanisation cause problems for farmers?

Tractors and other machinery increased output and reduced the need for farm labour, while farmers' costs and debts could rise.

Why did American farmers struggle during the 1920s?

Overproduction, falling crop prices, foreign competition and debts made farming less profitable.

Which older industries declined during the 1920s?

Coal mining, textiles and parts of the iron and steel industries.

Why did older industries decline?

Competition, changing technology, falling demand for some products and the shift towards newer industries weakened them.

Why did not everyone benefit from the economic boom?

Farmers, some industrial workers and poorer Americans often experienced low incomes, unemployment or debt. Why did immigration become controversial in the 1920s?

What was nativism?

The belief that native-born Americans should be favoured over immigrants.

What was the Red Scare?

Fear of communism and radical political ideas, especially after the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Why did the Red Scare develop after the First World War?

The Russian Revolution, strikes, bomb scares and fear of communist revolution increased suspicion of radicals and immigrants.

Who was A. Mitchell Palmer?

The US Attorney General who organised raids against suspected radicals during the Red Scare.

What were the Palmer Raids?

Raids in 1919–20 in which suspected radicals were arrested; many were detained without proper legal safeguards.

What was the significance of the Palmer Raids?

They showed the strength of anti-communist fear and led to criticism of violations of civil liberties.

What were the Emergency Quota Act (1921) and Immigration Act (1924)?

Laws restricting immigration through quotas, with the 1924 law heavily favouring northern and western Europeans and excluding Japanese immigrants.

Why did the USA restrict immigration?

To reduce immigration, particularly from southern and eastern Europe, and protect jobs and traditional American identity.

Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?

Two Italian immigrant anarchists convicted of murder in 1921 and executed in 1927.

Why was the Sacco and Vanzetti case controversial?

Critics believed prejudice against immigrants and anarchists influenced the trial and verdict.

What was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)?

A racist, white supremacist organisation that used intimidation and violence against Black Americans and other groups.

Why did the KKK grow in the 1920s?

Nativism, racism, anti-Catholicism, antisemitism and fears of changing American society attracted supporters.

Who did the KKK target?

Black Americans, immigrants, Catholics, Jews and others it considered un-American.

How did the KKK affect Black Americans?

It used threats, intimidation and violence to maintain white supremacy and racial segregation.

What was segregation?

The separation of Black and white Americans in public facilities and society.

What was discrimination against Black Americans like in the 1920s?

Black Americans faced segregation, racism, unequal opportunities and racial violence, particularly in the South.

What was the Great Migration?

The movement of many Black Americans from the rural South to northern cities in search of jobs and greater opportunities.

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

A flowering of Black American art, music and literature, particularly in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s.

What was Prohibition?

The nationwide ban on the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic drinks under the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act.

When did Prohibition begin?

1920.

Why was Prohibition introduced?

Reformers believed alcohol caused crime, poverty and family problems.

Why did Prohibition fail?

People continued drinking illegally, enforcement was difficult and organised crime profited from illegal alcohol.

What were speakeasies?

Illegal bars where people bought and drank alcohol during Prohibition.

Who was Al Capone?

A Chicago gangster who became notorious for making money from illegal alcohol and organised crime.

How did Prohibition increase organised crime?

Gangsters made huge profits from illegal alcohol and used bribery, intimidation and violence to control the trade.

When did Prohibition end?

1933, when the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment.

What was the conflict over morals and values in the 1920s?

Traditional religious and rural values clashed with modern, urban lifestyles and scientific ideas.

What was the Scopes Monkey Trial?

The 1925 trial of teacher John Scopes in Tennessee for teaching evolution in a state where it was prohibited.

What did the Scopes Trial reveal?

The conflict between religious fundamentalism and modern scientific ideas in American society.

Who was John Scopes?

A teacher prosecuted in 1925 for teaching evolution.

What was the outcome of the Scopes Trial?

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, although the conviction was later overturned on a technicality. What was the Wall Street Crash?

When did the Wall Street Crash happen?

October 1929, with major crashes on Black Thursday (24 October) and Black Tuesday (29 October).

What were the main causes of the Wall Street Crash?

Speculation, buying shares on credit, overproduction, unequal wealth distribution and falling confidence.

How did speculation contribute to the Wall Street Crash?

Share prices rose beyond the real value of companies, creating a dangerous bubble.

What was buying shares on the margin?

Borrowing money to buy shares, hoping profits would cover the loan.

Why was buying shares on the margin risky?

If share prices fell, investors could not repay their loans and were forced to sell shares, worsening the crash.

How did overproduction contribute to the Depression?

Farms and factories produced more goods than people could afford to buy, causing falling prices, reduced profits and job losses.

How did unequal wealth contribute to the Depression?

Many Americans had low incomes, limiting their ability to buy the goods factories produced.

How did the Wall Street Crash cause a banking crisis?

Banks lost money from failed investments and unpaid loans, while frightened customers withdrew their savings.

How did the banking crisis affect businesses?

Banks reduced lending, so businesses struggled to borrow money, invest and pay workers.

How did the Depression affect American industry?

Demand fell, factories reduced production, businesses closed and unemployment increased.

How did the Depression affect agriculture?

Crop prices fell, farmers' incomes collapsed and many farmers lost their farms through debt or foreclosure.

What was foreclosure?

The seizure and sale of property by a lender when a borrower could not repay a loan.

How did the Depression affect ordinary Americans?

Millions lost jobs, homes and savings; poverty, hunger and homelessness increased.

What was unemployment?

The situation in which people who are able and willing to work cannot find jobs.

What were Hoovervilles?

Shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression, named mockingly after President Herbert Hoover.

Who was Herbert Hoover?

US president from 1929 to 1933, criticised for failing to provide sufficient direct federal relief during the Depression.

What was Hoover's approach to the Depression?

He supported voluntary cooperation and limited government intervention, although his government did take some action.

What was volunteerism under Hoover?

The belief that businesses and individuals should voluntarily cooperate to solve economic problems rather than rely on extensive government control.

What did Hoover do to help the economy?

He encouraged businesses to maintain wages, supported public works and signed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act in 1932.

What was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)?

A 1932 agency that lent government money to banks, railways and other businesses to support the economy.

Why was Hoover criticised despite the RFC?

Assistance mainly went to financial institutions and businesses, with too little direct help reaching unemployed individuals.

What was the Bonus Army or Bonus March?

A 1932 protest by First World War veterans demanding early payment of their promised war bonuses.

How did Hoover respond to the Bonus Marchers?

He ordered the removal of the protest camp; the army used force, damaging his public reputation.

Why did Hoover lose the 1932 election?

Voters blamed him for the Depression, unemployment, poverty and his handling of the Bonus Marchers.

What was the significance of the 1932 presidential election?

Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Hoover and promised a New Deal to tackle the Depression. Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)?

When did Roosevelt become president?

March 1933.

What were Roosevelt's main aims?

Relief for the suffering, recovery of the economy and reform to prevent future economic disasters.

What are the three Rs of the New Deal?

Relief, Recovery and Reform.

What was the Hundred Days?

The first period of Roosevelt's presidency in 1933, when Congress passed a large number of measures to tackle the Depression.

What were the Alphabet Agencies?

Government agencies created under the New Deal, commonly known by their initials, to provide jobs, regulate industry and support recovery.

What was the Emergency Banking Act (1933)?

A law allowing banks to be inspected and sound banks to reopen, helping restore public confidence.

What were Roosevelt's bank holidays?

Temporary closures of banks in March 1933 so they could be inspected before reopening.

What was the Glass-Steagall Act (1933)?

A law separating commercial banking from investment banking and helping establish the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

What was the FDIC?

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured eligible bank deposits to protect savers and restore confidence.

What was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)?

A New Deal agency that gave young unemployed men work on environmental and conservation projects.

What was the Public Works Administration (PWA)?

An agency that funded major construction projects to create jobs and improve infrastructure.

What was the Civil Works Administration (CWA)?

A temporary agency that provided jobs on public works projects during the winter of 1933–34.

What was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)?

An agency that paid farmers to reduce production to raise crop prices and farm incomes.

Why was the AAA controversial?

Reducing production could raise prices, but destroying crops and livestock while people were hungry attracted criticism.

What was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933?

A law intended to support industrial recovery through industry codes covering matters such as prices, wages and working conditions.

What was the National Recovery Administration (NRA)?

The agency responsible for promoting industrial recovery through codes intended to regulate competition, wages and working conditions.

What was the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)?

A 1933 agency that built dams, generated electricity, controlled flooding and supported development in the Tennessee Valley.