The Roaring 20's

Question 1

What were the effects of isolationism? (4)

Answer 1

• Tariffs imposed on foreign goods
• Gave power to Republicans
• Immigration reduced
• Fuelled racism/white supremacy

Question 2

What year was the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act imposed?

Answer 2

1922

Question 3

What was the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act?

Answer 3

It put tariffs on foreign goods, meaning American goods were cheaper and hence profited more.

Question 4

How many times did President Harding and Coolidge change the tariff rate?

Answer 4

37 times - it was raised 32 times though

Question 5

What were the short-term effects of the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act?

Answer 5

American industry boomed as it was protected from competition - farms and factories prospered.

Question 6

What were the long-term effects of the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act? (4)

Answer 6

• Poor people couldn’t afford goods.
• American firms became inefficient without competition.
• Countries put tariffs on American goods, causing problems for industries reliant on exports.
• No trade = no prosperity

Question 7

How did World War One contribute to the economic boom?

Answer 7

America sold weapons and food to Europe and its colonies which helped their economy to grow.

Question 8

What were the main Republican policies? (4)

Answer 8

• laissez-faire
• tariffs
• low taxation
• trusts

Question 9

How did Henry Ford revolutionise manufacturing?

Answer 9

He introduced large production plants, interchangeable parts and moving assembly lines.

Question 10

How much were Ford’s employees paid?

Answer 10

$5 for an eight-hour shift as opposed to the average $2.34 for nine hours.

Question 11

When was the KKK founded?

Answer 11

In 1866, after the American Civil War

Question 12

What tactics did the KKK use to scare minority groups?

Answer 12

Parades, beatings and lynchings

Question 13

What minority groups did the KKK oppose?

Answer 13

Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Divorced women, Southern and Eastern Europeans

Question 14

Where was the KKK mainly found?

Answer 14

In the deep South, where working-class whites competed with Blacks for unskilled jobs

Question 15

Describe the trend in Chicago and New York’s Black population during the 1920’s.

Answer 15

New York went from 150,000 to 330,000, Chicago from 110,000 to 230,000

Question 16

What were the advantages for Blacks living in the North? (3)

Answer 16

• better chance of jobs/education
• recognised culture (jazz, books, poems)
• higher life expectancy (still 10 years less than Whites)

Question 17

What were the disadvantages for Blacks in the North? (4)

Answer 17

• poorer housing for higher rents
• worse healthcare/education
• a lot of prejudice from Whites and other Blacks

Question 18

What law was passed in 1896?

Answer 18

The Jim Crow Laws

Question 19

What were the Jim Crow Laws?

Answer 19

They gave legal approval for segregation and treatment of Blacks as inferior.

Question 20

How many people moved to the North from the South in the 1920s?

Answer 20

Around one million people

Question 21

How many members did the KKK have between 1920 and 1925?

Answer 21

Five million

Question 22

What jobs did some KKK members have?

Answer 22

There were judges, policemen and politicians in the KKK

Question 23

Why did people join the KKK? (3)

Answer 23

• excitement
• pressured by neighbours
• some believed they were defending the American way of life

Question 24

What caused the influence and membership of the KKK to decrease?

Answer 24

The scandal of 1925 in which a leader David Stephenson was found guilty of abusing a woman on a train

Question 25

What were most WASPs' opinions on immigration?

Answer 25

They believed Eastern Europeans were Catholic, Communist, uneducated peasants while Southern Europeans were Catholic, uneducated and lazy.

Question 26

What law was passed in 1917?

Answer 26

One which imposed a literacy test on immigrants - which favoured educated WASPs

Question 27

What law was passed in 1921?

Answer 27

The Emergency Quotas Act

Question 28

What was the Emergency Quotas Act?

Answer 28

It limited annual immigration to 3% of the number of emigrants from each country in 1910

Question 29

What law was passed in 1924?

Answer 29

The National Origins Act

Question 30

What was the National Origins Act?

Answer 30

It limited annual immigration to 150,000 a year - only 2% of the number of emigrants from each country in 1890 were allowed in

Question 31

Who was rich in 1920's America? (6)

Answer 31

- motor industry (number of cars rose from nine million to twenty-six million) - industries related to motors (steel, rubber, glass, leather) - consumer goods manufacturers (radios, telephones, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners) - film industry (110 million people went to the cinema every week) - big business owners (Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc - there were 35,000 millionaires by 1928) - aviation industry (162,000 flights in 1930)

Question 32

Who was poor in 1920's America? (6)

Answer 32

- Blacks (1 million farmers lost their jobs) - farmers (750,000 unemployed) - rural areas (6 million people moved to cities) - coal miners (less demand due to oil and gas production) - cotton farmers (synthetic fibres like rayon reduced demand) - 71% of Americans (earned less than $2,500 p.a., the minimum requirement for decent lifestyle)

Question 33

What dance forms became popular in the 1920's?

Answer 33

Charleston, tango, Black Bottom and bunny hug

Question 34

What was the stereotypical 'flapper'?

Answer 34

- short, bobbed hair - flat-chested - wore a skirt rose to the knee - lipstick - smoked - drove Tin Lizzies

Question 35

Name a few celebrities of 1920's America

Answer 35

- Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic - Jack Dempsey, a boxer - Babe Ruth, a baseball player

Question 36

Who were two of the most famous jazz musicians?

Answer 36

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington

Question 37

Describe the trend in households with radios.

Answer 37

It rose from 60,000 in 1920 to 10 million in 1929

Question 38

What was the first talkie?

Answer 38

The Jazz Singer, featuring Al Jolson

Question 39

Name some famous Hollywood actors from the 1920's.

Answer 39

Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino

Question 40

What were the arguments in favour of Prohibition? (3)

Answer 40

- reduces violence - ensures families have more money - lowers death rate from drunk killers

Question 41

How many states were dry in 1914?

Answer 41

Twelve

Question 42

How many states were dry after the First World War?

Answer 42

75% of them

Question 43

Who were the main groups in favour of Prohibition?

Answer 43

The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League

Question 44

Who was the main group opposing Prohibition?

Answer 44

The Association against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA)

Question 45

Where was the main support for alcohol?

Answer 45

The North, especially cities

Question 46

What were the disadvantages of Prohibition? (5)

Answer 46

- goverment gets less tax - moonshine was dangerous - jobs lost in alcohol industry - two and a half billion dollars used to be spent on alcohol - rise in mafia

Question 47

How many children were reported to have been smothered by drunk parents?

Answer 47

3000 a year

Question 48

What act passed Prohibition?

Answer 48

The Volstead Act (1920-1933)

Question 49

What were the weaknesses in the American economy? (4)

Answer 49

- over-production - unequal distribution of wealth - tariffs - speculation

Question 50

What did economists say about the US economy in 1929?

Answer 50

It had reached a plateau of prosperity - no end to the wealth

Question 51

What were the four key events of the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 51

- 13 million shares sold on Thursday 24th October - $250 million shares bought by banks to encourage more buying - 9 million shares sold on Monday 28th October - 16 million shares sold on Tuesday 29th October