History - USA

Recap Timeline

1919 : Congress refuses to join league.

1920 : Republican Warren Harding elected as President.

1928 : Herbert Hoover - new President.

1929 : Wall Street Crash

1930 : Franklin Roosevelt elected.

1939 : WW2 begins in Europe.

1941 : America join the War.

5 reasons for the boom :

• Industrial Strength
• World War 1
• Republican points
• New Industries/Methods
• State of Mind

Industrial Strength

• USA was a vast country, rich in natural resources and a growing population.
• It didn't need to import many raw materials and it didn't need to export all its goods.
• The home market was large and growing.
• By WW1, America led the world in most areas of industry.
• It had massive cal, steel and textile industries - leading oil producer.
• It developed cars, telephones and lighting.
• American agriculture had been the most effective and productive in the world.
• It became so successful that farmers had become able to produce more than they could sell.

World War 1

• America tried to stay out of 1st World War but they lent money to the Allies for the war. 
• They sold massive amounts of food, which gave this 'one -way' trade, America a massive boost.
• The Americas joined in 1917, fortunately, they were not in the war long enough for it to drain resources the way it did in Europe. 

Republican Points

• Republicans believed the government should interfere with the citizens every day life as little as possible = 'Laissez - Faire'
• After Wilson, Harding promised to keep a 'normday' of USA and keep European matters separately.
• Set up tariffs which made it expensive to import foreign goods in the USA.
• Republicans kept taxations as low as possible, this bought benefits to the middle class but even more to the wealthy. 
• Harding died in 1923 but his successor was republican. 

New Industries/Methods

• These new methods bough an enormous boom in consumer goods - telephones, radios, vacuum cleaners.
• Big industries used sophisticated sales and marketing techniques to get people to buy their goods. 
• Mass nationwide advertising.
• By now - pay later schemes.
• In 1929, 4.8 million cars were made.
• In America, cars were more common :
• America : 1 in 5 owned a car
• England : 1 in 43 owned a car
• Russia : 1 in 7000 owned a car

A State Of Mind

• Most Americans believed they had a right to prosperity
• Consuming more seemed more American. 
• Main Aims in life :
• - Have a nice house
• - Good job
• - Plenty to eat
• - Home to be filled with the latest goods

Problems in Farming

• Farm income dropped from $22 billion (1919) to $13 billion (1928)
• Reasons why farmers had problems :
• 1) Loss of European Market : had shipped millions of tons of grain to Europe but due to WW1, Europeans could not afford it. Also, the tariffs made grain more expensive.
• 2) Competition with Canada.
• 3) Overproduction : From 1900 to 1920, more and more land was being farmed. Improved machinery made US agriculture…