Miss Cowap’s Amazing Technicolour Revision Guide: America 1920-1973

Overview of America's History from 1920-1973

• This guide explores key themes of opportunity and inequality in America from the 1920s through the 1970s.
• It includes different historical aspects including the economic boom, the Great Depression, the New Deal, civil rights, and cultural changes.

American People and the Boom (1920s)

Mass Production and Ford Model T

• Mass Production:
  • Definition: Making large quantities of the same product using assembly lines.
  • Example: The Ford Model T car pioneered mass production. First Model T made in 1911 for $1200, later reduced to $295 by the 1920s.
  • Production Rate: A Model T produced every 10 seconds by the 1920s.
  • Employment: Ford employed 500,000 people regardless of race, equally paid.

Economic Prosperity – Credit and Shares

• Buying on Credit:
  • Definition: Hire purchase allowed consumers to buy products in installments.
  • Example: 80% of radios were sold on credit.
• Buying on Margin:
  • Practice of purchasing shares with only a fraction of the cost upfront; profitable if share prices rose but risked financial ruin if they fell.
• Cycle of Prosperity:
  • Factories producing more goods led to more jobs, higher wages, and increased consumer spending.
• Tariffs:
  • Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) raised import taxes to protect American goods, but retaliated by making American products expensive abroad.

The Roaring Twenties

Cultural Changes

• Invention and Innovation:
  • Landmark events include Charles Lindbergh's flight (1927) and the construction of numerous skyscrapers like the Empire State Building (1931).
• Entertainment and Leisure:
  • Music: Jazz emerged, with figures like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
  • Sports: Major competitions attracted huge crowds, led by sports stars like Babe Ruth.
  • Films: Introduction of sound in cinema with hits like ‘The Jazz Singer’ marks a key cultural shift.
  • Radio and mass media flourished, with households increasingly owning radios.

Women in the 1920s

• Flapper Culture:
  • Young women, known as flappers, challenged social norms through fashion and behavior, including smoking and driving.
• Voting Rights:
  • 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote, although few pursued political roles.
• Employment:
  • Increase in women working but still clustered in low-paying jobs; significant technological advancements made housework easier.

Who Didn’t Prosper?

• Farmers:
  • Excessive production post-WWI led to financial downfall; many lost farms and lived in dire poverty.
• African Americans:
  • Despite population increases, widespread unemployment and racial discrimination persisted. 1 million lost jobs in the 1920s.
• Economic Inequality:
  • 60% of Americans lived below the poverty line despite overall prosperity.

The Great Depression and the New Deal

Causes of the Depression

• Key Factors:
  • Overproduction in housing and industry, coupled with an unsustainable stock market.
  • Agricultural overproduction caused farmers to face plummeting prices and inability to repay debts.
• Economic Collapse:
  • Triggered by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, leading to widespread unemployment and homelessness.

President Hoover's Response

• Government Policies:
  • Republican ideology of minimal intervention struggled to effectively combat economic crises.
  • The Bonus Army incident (1932) reflected public discontent towards Hoover's policies.

President Roosevelt and the New Deal

• Introduction of New Deal:
  • Focused on immediate relief, job creation, and economic recovery.
  • Alphabet agencies like CCC, NRA, and PWA established to combat unemployment and poverty.
  • Roosevelt's “Fireside Chats” aimed to restore public confidence.

Impact of the New Deal

• Successes and Failures:
  • Helped to stabilize the economy but didn’t completely eradicate unemployment or make substantial changes for marginalized groups.
  • Created long-lasting reforms including Social Security and infrastructure improvements.

Civil Rights Movement

Key Events

• Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56):
  • Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest; led to a year-long protest against segregated buses.
  • Significant increase in MLK's prominence as a civil rights leader.
• Freedom Rides (1961):
  • Aimed to challenge non-enforcement of desegregation laws.
  • Met with violent opposition, drawing national attention to civil rights issues.
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954):
  • Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional.

Black Power Movement

• Emergence and Goals:
  • Focused on racial pride and self-determination; groups like the Black Panthers demanded social, political, and economic rights.
  • Eventual shift from peaceful protest to more militant stances among some activists.

Popular Culture Through the Decades

1930s and Beyond

• Cultural Reflection:
  • Cinema, music, and literature served as escapism during the hardships of the Great Depression, highlighting societal issues.
  • The civil rights movement influenced artistic expression and representation, including the Harlem Renaissance.

Consumerism and the American Dream

• Post-War Boom:
  • Economic growth after WWII fostered a consumer culture:
  • Rise of the suburbs and emphasis on homeownership.
  • Marketing and advertising targeted American families, promoting products as essential for the ideal American life.

Conclusion

• This period encapsulates a dynamic portion of American history marked by significant social, economic, and political challenges alongside notable achievements and cultural growth. The interplay between opportunity and inequality remains a persistent theme.