Chapter 19 and 20 Reading Flashcards
(72 cards)
end of war
end of wartime; economic opportunities for women and African Americans; postwar adjustments
farmers
farming agricultural prices; difficult to pay debts; suffered under growing debt while crop prices were falling
inflation
rising prices
workers
struck for higher wages and shorter workdays
violence of some strikes attributed to the presence of
radicals among the strike leaders
emergence of the Soviet Union
communist nation; compounded fear of radicals and communists
communist ideology
international workers revolution
communist revolts in Europe
central and eastern; made it seem like the worldwide revolution was starting
red scare
widespread fear of suspected communists and radicals thought to be plotting revolution
A Mitchell Palmer
attorney general; mounted a series of raids; Palmer Raids
palmer raids
series of raids where thousands were arrested; some radicals and immigrants from southern or Eastern Europe; seemed to attack the liberties Americans held most dear
Warren G Harding
campaigned for president calling for a return of normalcy; won in a landslide; preferred a laissez faire approach to business; worked with Andrew Mellon to reduce regulations on businesses and to raise protective tariff rates making it easier for US producers too sell goods at home; admitted he liked playing golf more than governing and trusted his friends with important government positions; favored less restriction on businesses
US 1920
richest, most industrialized country in the world; largest creditor nation in the world
creditor nation
other countries owed you more than you owed them
result of WW1; Americas economy and political standing
in the world changed
mass production
enabled Americans to produce more goods in less time; economy boomed
automobile industry
played major role in boom
Henry Ford
introduced new methods and ideas that changed the way manufactured goods were made; hired scientific management experts to improve his assembly line; raised wages cut workdays; gave workers Saturday and Sundays off
model t
after assembly line made faster it became affordable for most Americans; automobile ownership boomed
automobile production stimulated
other industries; steel, gas, asphalt, wood, gasoline, insurance, and road construction
growth of industries led to
new, better paying jobs; spur national prosperity; flood of new, affordable goods became available to the public creating a consumer revolution
installment buying
enabled customers to buy goods by making a small downpayment on a product and paying the rest in monthly installments
Americans buying
stock on credit
stock prices soared in bull markets
people began buying on margin paying as little as 10% of the stock price upfront to a broker
