USA 1917 - 1954 Overview
The main events of the edexcel specificaton of A2 History Unit 3 Option C
- Created by: BeccaS
- Created on: 27-05-13 15:35
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- USA 1917 - 1954 Overview
- First World War
- USA exports huge amounts of war materials to Britain and France
- German U-boats interrupt the supply chain
- USA exports huge amounts of war materials to Britain and France
- Attacking US ships and killing Americans (e.g. 182 Americans killed on the 'Lustiana' in 1917
- Political debate about possible involvement
- Majority of Congress (including President Wilson) against
- Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare (Feb 1917)
- April 1917 - USA declares war on Germany
- The 'Roaring Twenties'
- 1921 - Harding becomes President, promising a "return to normalcy"
- Andrew Mellon and Herbert Hoover appointed to cabinet
- Growth of new industries - cars, film, radio etc.
- Returning troops create pressure on the jobs market - leads to a post-war recession
- Easy credit
- 1923 - Coolidge becomes President after Harding dies
- 1929 - Harding takes over as President (but had different views on Government policy)
- 1921 - Harding becomes President, promising a "return to normalcy"
- The Darker side to the Twenties
- 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
- Minority of the Temperance movement prevailing
- Led to an increase in organised crime (bootleggers, speakeasies)
- Problems with enforcement
- First Red Scare (1919) fueled by Russian Revolution, industrial unrest, Boston police strike, assassination attempts
- Palmer Raids, establishment of the precursor to the FBI
- 1924 Quota Act on immigration
- Increases racial tensions
- Racism, segregation
- Increases racial tensions
- KKK membership reaches peak of 5 million in 1925
- Increases racial tensions
- Racism, segregation
- Lynchings
- Power and influence
- Increases racial tensions
- 1925 - "Monkey Trial" in Tennessee
- Rural vs Urban
- 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
- Minority of the Temperance movement prevailing
- Led to an increase in organised crime (bootleggers, speakeasies)
- Problems with enforcement
- 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
- Rural vs Urban
- Democratic Party is small (no broad, national appeal) and is split between Southern and Urban Democrats
- 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
- The Great Depression
- October 1929 - The Wall Street Crash
- Overproduction and under-consumption led to economic difficulties
- Economy based on vast capacity to consume
- Banking crisis
- Led to even less capacity to consume
- Develops into an international crisis
- 1931 - 'Bonus Army' march on Washington
- RFC created in 1932 by Hoover
- But taxes were raised making this almost obsolete
- June 1930 - Hawley-Smoot Tariff damaged international trade
- The US could not export
- Interest rates were increased thus making recovery more difficult
- The New Deal
- The 100 Days (March-June 1933); Democrats and Republicans worked together
- The Emergency Banking Act was the first measure created in order to prevent a second banking crisis
- Relief, Recovery and Reform
- 1934 - Midterm Congressional election gave Roosevelt more pro-New Deal Democrats in Congress and the Senate
- Can be seen as leading to the Second New Deal
- Second New Deal seen as both more radical and more conservative
- Can be seen as leading to the Second New Deal
- 1936 election; Roosevelt re-elected with more Democrats in Congress and the Senate
- September 1939 - European demand for arms helped to stimulate US economy - more effective than the New Deal?
- Opposition to the New Deal
- Opposition first starts to appear in 1934: Liberty League, Huey Long etc.
- 'Court Packing' Plan led to the "switch in time that saved nine"
- 1938 - New Deal begins to run out of steam: anti-lynching law defeated in Congress by Southern Democrats
- The Supreme Court and Huey Long posed the greatest challenge to FDR
- Supreme Court declared that the AAA and the NRA were unconstitutional
- Huey Long was the popular Governor of Louisiana, but he was very radical and was assassinated in 1935
- Second World War
- September 1939 - war in Europe starts
- US sells war materials to the Allies which helps to stimulate the US economy
- September 1939 - European demand for arms helped to stimulate US economy - more effective than the New Deal?
- US sells war materials to the Allies which helps to stimulate the US economy
- New Deal lost momentum
- 'Isolationism' was a powerful political philosophy that was popular at the time and was averse to the US helping the Allies
- 1930s Neutrality Acts passed by Congress stated what could be done in the event of a war
- US sells war materials to the Allies which helps to stimulate the US economy
- US began rearmament in 1940
- Acts passed to control wages and prices
- December 1941 - US joins the Second World war
- Caused by unrestricted German submarine warfare and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
- November 1939 - Roosevelt introduces "Cash and Carry" system for allies to buy equipment
- 1941 - Lend Lease Act
- Treatment of African-Americans
- Executive Order 8802
- September 1939 - war in Europe starts
- Post WW2 Prosperity
- 1949 - Second Red Scare
- Caused by worry after first nuclear bomb test in USSR, China becoming communist and the Korean War
- Cold War begins in 1949, triggering mass rearmament of US troops
- Unemployment at 1.9% in 1945
- In 1947 the US produced
- 62% of the world's oil
- 57% of the world's steel
- 43% of the world's electricity
- 50% of the world's manufactured goods
- Marshall Plan gave $13 million to European countries for rebuilding
- GI Bill (1944) offered grants to ex-servicemen to improve their education or set up a business
- 1940 - Alien Registration Act passed
- McCarthyism starts in 1950
- Number of cars rose by 21 million during the 1950s and there were over 80 million in the US by 1960
- Baby Boom - 76.4 million babies born between 1946 and 1964
- By 1953 the average family income was $4011 per year
- 1949 - Second Red Scare
- First World War
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