HISTORY REVISION

'Back to Normalcy'

After WWI Republican President promised to concentrate on making America prosperous and successful; 

The American economy had benefited from WWI and could now concentrate on raising standards of living;

Presidents associated with this are:

• Harding 
• Coolidge
• Hoover

They believed that government should not interfere in business but allow companies to get on with making money-- 'The business of America is business' They also believed in 'Rugged individualism' and that every Amercian could be come rich through their own hard work.

Tariffs 

1922 Fordney-McCumber Act put high import tariffs (taxes) on all foreign made good sold in the USA;

This was intended to protect American industries and encourage Americans to buy home produced good;

This would in turn produce more jobs for American workers;

This policy was later to backfire and damage exports.

Advertising and Hire Purchase 

Advertising encouraged people to aspire to 'The American Dream' with lots of consumer goods making life easier foe working people;

Billboards, radio adverts, home shopping catalogues;

Good could be bought by paying small deposits and then paying the rest in instalments; many people could buy lots of expensive goods in this way but end up owing huge amounts, which would cause problems if they lost their jobs.