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USA’s reaction to World War One
The League of Nations was the idea of the USA president. An organisation which ensure peace in the country was an explendid idea but USA never joined it.
Cheap European imports were seen as an economically threat so the USA president Warren G Harding raised tariffs to protect American industry.
Also immigration control was increased. -
Intolerance in the 1920's
Immigrants became less welcome and due to this appeared organisations against them as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) which was reformed and was expanded through USA. The KKK declined after 1925 but obviously intolerance and racism remained. -
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Prosperity in the 1920's
The motor industry leaded the way in USA and all people had a lot of money which spent on leisure and entertainment. But not everyone shared in the boom.
Alcohol was prohibited and organised bands took over the distribution of alcohol. The prohibition of alcohol finally ended in 1933.
With the boom people change manners and morals because for the first time in their lives they were rich.
Women gained more freedom and independence due to a more liberal mind but traditional views continued. -
The Wall Street Crash: Consequences
The Depression hit all walks of life. People didn't had food, couldn't pay their houses, they couldn't have leisure time... In summary, it caused terrible poverty.
Attempts were made to help people who didn't have nothing to eat or was in totally poverty. -
The Wall Street Crash: Causes
On Black Thursday share prices plummeted. Efforts to shore up prices failed because there wasn't money and there wasn't money because:
Overproduction: Companies produced more goods than they could sell
Speculation: Shares in the stock market was overvalued
Credit Inflation: Credits were gave but people didn't pay them
Dependence: As almost all the world economy depended on USA there was a big crisis when USA came into crisis. -
Election of Roosevelt
President Hoover failed to ease the Depression because his actions to promote the economy didn't worked so presinden Roosevelt was elected in 1932. FDR had 3 main aims:
Create more jobs (many were in construction)
Stimulate Economy (more money being circulated)
Introduce both social and economical reforms -
The ‘Hundred Days’
The Hundred Days were a series of laws passed by Roosevelt in the first Hudred Days of the Roosevelt's New Deal administration, in which he met with Congress for 100 days. It pretended the USA to go out of the Depression but the results weren't the expected. Problems remained. -
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The New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs which took place in the United States between 1933 and 1936, during the first term of President Roosevelt.
The New Deal had considerable success in achieving its main aims:
Give Aid to the Needy people.
Restore stability to America’s Banking and Financial System.
Reduce unemployment and restore prosperity. Finally the Second World War solved the Unemployment problem. -
The New Deal oppositors
Some people thought the New Deal had not gone far enough because USA's economy was still weak.
Others thought the New Deal had gone too far because of the hard laws the goverment had passed.
There was also opposition from the Supreme Court -
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The Second New Deal and the TVA
The Second New Deal was only a continuation of the reforms of the New Deal which started in 1935 and finished in 1936.
The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) was a New Deal agency created to generate electric power and flood control of the Tennessee River in a region covering seven states in the United States. Nowadays it continues working and it's the largest public power company in America. -
The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The WPA was the lead agency established under the New Deal. Its mission was to employ millions of unemployed across the United States, in order to make public works programs. -
The Wagner Act
The Wagner Act (or the National Labor Relations Act) was a act passed which guaranteed basic rights of private sector employers to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining for better terms and conditions at work, and take collective action including strike if necessary. It was a very popular law because it helped workers to have some rights as strike without being punished. -
The Social Security Act
The act was an attempt to limit what people were seen as dangers in the modern American life, including old age, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widows and fatherless children. By signing this act on August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt became the first president to advocate federal assistance for the elderly