SAFFI- CHANGING QUALITY OF LIFE Flashcards
(63 cards)
causes of 1920’s economic boom
-increase in immigration: prepared to work hard hours for cheap
-development of new industry (electrical goods and man made fibre’s), increase in fast cheap production
-second industrial revolution of consumer goods, sold in millions to mass market: radio’s cars, telephones, vacuum cleaners
-german chemical industry held back after the war: the USA took the lead instead (making lead, plastics, fertilisers, dyes etc)
gov reponse to ww1 depression
- laissez faire prevented gov aid in reverting depression
- but republican tariffs pushed Americans to buy US goods
what consumer goods were beimg produced in the roaring 20’s (the new industries)
consumer goods, sold in millions to mass market: radio’s cars, telephones, vacuum cleaners
THESE INDUSTRIES USED ELECTRICITY FOR PRODUCTION
stats on 1920s mass production (cars)
Goods produced more quickly and cheaply, 1917-5 million cars, 1929- 23 million
which industries declined in the 1920’s as the new industries boomed
New industries boomed, but the old industries, such as coal, textiles, shipbuilding and iron and steel declined.
why did old industries decline in the 1920’s
-They either produced raw materials or very heavy goods like ships.
(fewer ships needed after ww1 as USA exported and imported less after war)
(Coal became less important as electricity and oil replaced steam power)
(Cotton and wool were replaced by man-made fibres.)
-therefore, they couldn’t benefit from henry ford’s fast and cheap methods of mass production
. The new industries were mainly producing consumer goods. As wages rose, they could sell more.
How did industrial workers not benefit from new industry
Although profits rose by 80%, wages rose by only 8%
immigrants got the worst jobs: casual work, on low pay.
-Henry Ford would not allow trade unions in his car factories. This meant that workers could do little to improve their conditions.
-made workers in old industry be fired and replaced by machines
impact of roaring 20’s on workers in old industry
Wages were low in old industries facing world competition, like coal and textiles
Mechanisation often replaced workers, especially skilled workers.
There were always 2,000,000 unemployed throughout the 1920s.
Negative impact of roaring 20’s on african americans
During the First World War, many black Americans had moved to the industrial cities of the north to find work, but when the war ended, they faced hostility and even race riots (violence in workspace)
Impact of the roaring 20’s on farming
Farming did not do well in the 1920s
-Foreigners could not buy US food because the high tariffs meant that they did not have dollars to spend.
During the 1920s, prices for agricultural produce dropped on average by 50%; 600,000 farmers went bust.
SOUTH
-boil weevil infestation killed crops 1921
-In parts of the South, farm labourers were only earning one third of the wage of industrial workers.
how much did agricultural produce drop during the roaring 20’s, and impact of boil weevil
During the 1920s, prices for agricultural produce dropped on average by 50%; 600,000 farmers went bust.
1921 Boll Weevil ate majority of crops
Buying on the margin
Buying shares with borrowed money to sell quickly at profit
What is a bull market and when did the stock market become a bull market
When share prices rise and are expected to continue rising- in the 1920s because shares went into their own boom cycle as many started to invest
impact of 1929 Wall Street crash on industry
If the stock-market had collapsed, what could be next? No one spent money, so demand for goods fell. Industry declined.
negative impacts of great depression on people
-unemployment hit 12 million
-homelessness, poverty
-people couldn’t pay off mortgages
-shanty towns ‘hoovervilles’
- little to no gov intervention until 1933 (hoover tried to set up agricultural marketing act and federal farm board, and 2 million was given to his finance corporation but this failed)
UNEMPLOYMENT DURING WALL ST CRASH
Ford fired 75% of the workforce,
1/3 of the population had no income at all,
AA were 6 times more likely than white to be unemployed
how much did car sales fall in great dep
car sales fell from 4.5m in 1929 to 1.1m in 1933
Roosevelts involvement in recovery
Roosevelt closed all banks to inspect and only reopen the ‘healthy ones’
ROOSEVELT RECESSION
1938-39
FDR ran up huge gov debts
-doubled gov debt
First New Deal successes
Restored faith in the economy, Alphabet agencies created jobs eg. 1929-49 the PWA employed over 3 million and constructed 13,000 schools
First New Deal limitations
ERA was made difficult to administer, in 1935 the average family on relief only had $25 monthly
Second New Deal successes
WPA employed 8.5million people
Second New Deal limitations
Limited scope to democrat areas, unemployment increase from 7m to 10m in 1 year
factors fuelling boom post ww2
-ww2 had lifted country out of depression (women workers made 28 million profits in 1943)
baby boom increased demand for all goods related to kids
-increased demand for consumer goods
-farm subsidies meant farmers began to do well
gov spending rose steadily throughout the period
