The 'Boom' America 1920-1973:Opportunity and Inequality

Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act- high taxes (tariffs) on foreign goods

-Made people by cheaper USA on, supports countries industry 

-Government cut taxes paid by rich people + companies, start more companies + jobs 

Assembly Lines- products built bit by bit by different people

- lots of consumer goods: Radios, Telephones + oven, Mass Production

Advertiesment- Billboards, newspapers, magazines, cinemas + radios

-Have stuff delivered to your door 

-'Buy now, pay later', pay small amounts over time, 'hire purchase plan' 

Sport- Golden age of US Sport, Sport celeb 

- Radio broadcasts, newspapers + magazines brought games to the masses 

The Jazz Age- New form of music, fast tempo + lively rhythm, came with new dances

-From southern States among African Americans

-Appealed to the young, paved paths for black musicians i.e Louis Armstrong 

Cinema- Hollywood, Warner Brothers, Paramount

-audience of 100 million a week, due to Star system, promoted actors, not just movies

Women- Flappers, middle/upper-class women only

-older American rural areas 'evils of modern-day life'

- Woman gained the vote, still paid less than men, tend to work in less-skilled jobs 

Why was it introduced- prohibited any American selling, making or transporting any drink containing more than 0.5% alcohol

- Many years, strong campaign against alcohol, Anti-Saloon League, support from religious groups

- claimed it caused social issues; violence, addiction, poverty + debt, America would be healthier 

Enforcing Prohibition- 1500 'Prohibition agents' 

-locate places that sell or make alcohol, arrest + confiscate the alcohol 

-Impossible task of stopping smuggling, as not enough officers for the miles of coastline 

Impact on society- Never work, people still wanted to drink, prepared to break the law

-Criminal gangs willing to sell alcohol, ran illegal bars 'speakeasies', sold moonshine 

Impact of organized crime and prohibition- Made millions from bootlegging and speakeasies 

-Made enough to bribe + intimidate police, lawyers, judges  

-Racketeering, got business to pay money to stop the gangs from smashing up their premises 

Al Capone- made $10 million a year from Racketeering, ruled Chicago, 1930 vowed to Jail him, declared no.1 public enemy, killed his enemies 

End of Prohibition- It had resulted in the opposite of what it was trying to achieve 

-Increase of alcohol offenses during prohibition 

-AAPA argued, threat to the people's right to choose to drink

-if Alcohol legalized, lots of jobs would be created 

-Government could make money by taxing alcohol, instead of the gangs 

-1933, FDR got rid of prohibition 

Fear- increase in immigrants sparked fear due to bringing 'un-American' ideas to the country

-Feared that communist would take over as it had in Russia, American Communist Party set up in 1919

Palmer Raids- Bomb ripped through Alexander Mitchell Palmer's house in July 1919

-He vowed to get rid of American communist ('reds')

-6000 suspected communist were arrested and put in prison across 33 cities 

Anarchists- greatly feared in 1920s

-Countries should not be ruled by organized governments with set laws

-Ruled by a system where everyone rules themselves through voluntary cooperation

-In 1901 US President McKinley was shot dead by Lein Franz Czologsz 

Disaster Looms- American factories were overproducing, making goods faster than they were sold

-Struggling to sell goods abroad due to foreign governments putting tariffs on them 

-People began to doubt whether their investments would keep making the money they had during 1920s 

-September 1926, cautious people began to sell their shares

-Word spread and 24 October 1929, 13 million shares were sold on the New York Exchange on Wall Street, some investors called it 'black Thursday' or 'Crash' 

-Tuesday 29 October, another mad panic to sell shares, they just wanted cash, 16 million shares were sold that say, shareholders lost a total $8000 million

Bank go Bankrupt - Americans had borrowed money to buy shares, intending to pay back their loans when share prices rose

-Share prices fells, investors couldn't sell shares for enough to repay their loans fully

-Lots of customers couldn't pay so they went bust

-Ordinary people who had saved money in the banks lost all their money

-IN 1929, 659 banks went bust

Music + movies- Jazz remained popular

-Radios continued to be the main way to listen to music

-gramophone sales increased in the 1930s, as vinyl records became more common 

Comic books-1st ones appear after 1933

-1938, Publication of Action Comics, which included Superman

-Bright, cheap and easy to read

Artist-FDR was keen to keep musicians,writers,artist + actors in work

- Set up Works Progress Administration (WPA)

-Provided work for unemployed artist of all kinds