Topic 1 - 1920s U.S. Economy (Knowledge)

Question 1

How much did American industry grow in the 1920s?

Answer 1

It doubled

Question 2

What proportion of the American workforce was unemployed in 1921 (%)?

Answer 2

11.9%

Question 3

What proportion of the American workforce was unemployed in 1926 (%)?

Answer 3

1.9%

Question 4

What were the main natural resources America possessed?

Answer 4

Oil, coal, iron, gas

Question 5

How did America help Britain and France’s war effort during the early part of WWI (1914-17)?

Answer 5

Lent money to the Allies, and sold arms and munitions to GB and France.

Question 6

In which industry did America overtake Germany after WWI?

Answer 6

Chemicals

Question 7

Name three Republican government policies.

Answer 7

1. Laissez-faire
2. Tariffs
3. Low taxation

Question 8

Which Act was introduced in 1922, which increased tariffs higher than ever before?

Answer 8

The Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act.

Question 9

What allowed Americans to get consumer goods and pay for them later in regular weekly and monthly instalments (“buy now, pay later”)?

Answer 9

Hire purchase.

Question 10

What proportion of radios was bought on credit?

Answer 10

8/10

Question 11

What was the name of Ford’s most famous car in this period?

Answer 11

The Model T

Question 12

What was the price of a Model T when it was first produced in 1908?

Answer 12

$850

Question 13

What had the price of a Model T fallen to by 1925?

Answer 13

$290

Question 14

By 1924, what had happened to the time it took to build a Model T?

Answer 14

Fell from 12.5 hours to 1.5 hours

Question 15

By 1927, how often did a Ford car come off a production line?

Answer 15

Every 10 seconds

Question 16

How many cars were produced in 1929?

Answer 16

4.8 million

Question 17

How many workers were employed by the car industry in 1929?

Answer 17

500,000

Question 18

What proportion of Americans owned a car by 1929?

Answer 18

1 in 5

Question 19

Which other industries benefitted from the growth of the motor car industry?

Answer 19

Glass production (75% was used by the car industry)
Leather
Steel
Rubber
Petrol and petrol stations
Road-building
House-building in suburbs
Motels and holiday resorts

Question 20

Give 5 examples of new consumer products mass produced in the 1920s.

Answer 20

Washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners, radios and motor cars.

Question 21

How many radios were sold by 1929?

Answer 21

10 million (up from 60,000 in 1920)

Question 22

What three sales and marketing methods were used to encourage Americans to spend?

Answer 22

Poster and radio advertisements
Travelling salesmen
Mail-order catalogues

Question 23

What is the term for part of a company bought and sold on the stock market?

Answer 23

Share

Question 24

What was the term used for borrowing money to buy shares?

Answer 24

“Buying on the margin” (90% of the share price was borrowed)

Question 25

How did shareholders make money?

Answer 25

1. Gaining a percentage of the company’s profits. | 2. Selling their shares for a higher price.

Question 26

What happened to the value of shares during the 1920s?

Answer 26

They rose

Question 27

What was the term for shareholders who "bought on the margin" and then hoped to sell their shares for a quick profit?

Answer 27

Speculators

Question 28

How did the buying of shares help companies?

Answer 28

It gave them more money to invest so they could expand.

Question 29

What happened to total farm income between 1919 and 1928?

Answer 29

Fell from $22 billion to $13 billion.

Question 30

How many farmers went bankrupt?

Answer 30

500,000

Question 31

What was the major cause of famers’ financial difficulties in the 1920s?

Answer 31

Overproduction

Question 32

What led to Europe importing far less food from America after the war?

Answer 32

1. Tariffs | 2. Poor economy

Question 33

How much did most farm prices fall by in 1921?

Answer 33

50%

Question 34

Which pest destroyed cotton crops in the southern states?

Answer 34

Boll-weevil

Question 35

What was the name of farmers given a proportion of the crop to sell rather than a cash wage?

Answer 35

Sharecroppers

Question 36

How many black farm workers lost their jobs in the 1920s?

Answer 36

Approximately 1 million.

Question 37

What happened to many farmers who couldn’t pay back money they had borrowed (i.e. mortgage repayments)?

Answer 37

Their land was repossessed (taken away from them).

Question 38

Name two other industries which did not benefit from the boom.

Answer 38

Coal and traditional textiles.

Question 39

What did coal suffer competition from?

Answer 39

Oil and electricity.

Question 40

How much did a coal miner earn compared to the national average?

Answer 40

1/3

Question 41

What did leather and textiles suffer competition from (x2)?

Answer 41

1. Man-made materials e.g. nylon. | 2. Cheap labour in the southern states.

Question 42

What proportion of American families lived below the poverty line in 1929 (%)?

Answer 42

60%

Question 43

What was Republican policy towards unemployment and poverty?

Answer 43

Not to interfere ('rugged individualism')