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Absence from WW1
Before WW1 U.S had grown in industrial strength ( had huge amount of natural resources like timer, wood and oil)
U.S didn't join war immediately due to Isolationism policies- when U.S delcined to interfere with foreign countries' affairs
U.S joined the war in 1917
During war U.S lent money to European countries + sold ammunition/ arms to Britain + France making U.S extremely wealthy! -
African Americans
Life was particulary hard for African Americans in Southern states.
3/4 of a million lost their jobs during the '20s.
Many AA's worked as farmer laborers/ were sharecroppers (pay to use land)
When the price of crops fell, AA's either sacked/ not given full wages.
As a result, 1000's of AAs moved to Northern states eg Chicago, New York + Detroit
AA's living in extreme poverty and areas called 'ghettos' which were the poorest parts of cities which had high unemployment and crime rates. -
Workers in old industries
Workers in coal, leather and textile industries did not profit from the 'boom'.
Traditional industries failed to respond to the mass-production methods of the 1920s
E.g price of coal fell due to availability to electricity + not enough people wanted to buy it
Cotton industry hit during boom as new synthetic fibres like rayon were being developed, which became a very popular substitute to cotton. -
Native Americans
Native Americans lost most of their land, which was seized by mining and ranching companies
Native Americans were forced to live on reservations- ( often the worst land, difficult to grow crops)
This also made it harder for NA's follow their traditional way of life
Most NA's lived in poverty and had lower quality education
NA also had shortest life expectancy than any other ethnic group in the U.S -
Republican policies
Republican presidents like:
WH, HH, and CC
were pro-business and their policies helped 'boom' continue
Republicans believed in:
Laissez-faire- government shouldn't intefere with people's everyday lives, businessmen should be free to make profit.
Tarrifs- R's wanted foreign goods to be more expensive than U.S goods helping industry to thrive
Low taxation- R's lowered taxes, and tax rates slashed from over 70% to less than 25% ppl had more disposable income, + stimulated the economy. -
Mass Production
Best e.g of mass-production is the car/automobile
Car production revolutionised by Henry Ford in the '20s
Ford hired 1000s unskilled workers on $5 average pay a day to make cars
More than 15 mil made between 1908-1925, came off production line at a rate of 1 every 10 secs!
Prices of cars dropped from $940 in 1920 to $290 in 1929
other industries like glass industry involed in production of cars
Car led to construction of roads and suburbs
By 1929, there were 1 mil miles of road and 26 mil cars. -
No. of millionares grow whilst others suffer
1920's saw a growing number of millionares in the U.S there were around 15,000 millionares by 1927. However, there were 6 million families living on less than $1000 per year. This was around 40% of the country -
Farmers
Farmers prospered during ww1, but suffered the most after war. Income of farmer was $275 whereas national average was $750. 1928, 50% farmers living in poverty
Main reasons farmers suffered during boom:
Overproduction- producing more than needed
New machinery- food more accessible price drops farmers make less money
Debt from banks - borrowed money in order to survive, by 1929, in crippling debt of $2 billion, forced to sell farms, roughlu 600,000 farmers losing land in 1924 alone. -
Consumer society
New goods available to Americans for the first time e.g the telephone, radio + vacuum cleaner Goods mass produced on vast scale made products cheaper
In 1920 60,000 radios sold this increased to 10 mil in 1929
Industries using new techniques to advertise their goods
Poster, radio advertisement,
Hire purchase- form of credit where customer paid for a good in instalments at interest rates
This led to an increased demand for goods
Boom in stock market ppl bought shares, (100,00s giving savings) -
New Technology
In 1914 30% of American factories had electricity, by 1929 this was 70%
It was believed that mass production was less effective without electricity
Electrification of America led to a new range of consumer goods such as radios and washing machines
Availability of credit meant more money for Americans to use their disposable income on electric goods
