Consequences of the Economic Boom in America in the 1920’s
Things seemed to be going well for the USA. There was hardly any unemployment, so people had money to spend in the shops. There were new and attractive things to buy. Mass production meant radios, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, fridges and cars, which only the very rich could have bought in the past, could now be made more cheaply. Hire purchase meant that people could get these things straight away and pay for them in the following months or years. Advertising on the radio and at the cinema tried to get people to buy these new cheaper goods. As so many goods were being bought more people were employed to make them. These workers in turn had their wages to spend, so they bought more things, so more workers were needed to make the things that they bought. There seemed to be no reason why this cycle of prosperity should stop.
Cycle of Prosperity and Economic Confidence
With more money to spend people invested on the stock market.
President Hoover’s aim:
“a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage”.
Many Americans were confident about the economy.
Share prices were going up fast.
People were getting richer.
Stock Market Manipulation.
American industry booms, price of shares rises.
Investors sell their shares at higher prices and make huge profits.
History of the United States in the Twentieth Century
America in the 1920s and 1930s
USA at the start of the 20th Century – Causes of the Economic Boom – Impact of Economic Growth in the 1920’s – Agriculture in the 1920’s – The “Roaring” Twenties – Prohibition – Ku Klux Klan in the 20’s – Causes of the Wall Street Crash – Consequences of the Wall Street Crash – The Great Depression – The New Deal – Opposition to the New Deal – Evaluation of the New Deal
The United States c1945-1971
The Red Scare – Impact of the Second World War on Civil Rights – Civil Rights in 1950 – Brown v Topeka Board of Education – Little Rock High School – Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Protest – Martin Luther King Jnr – Nation of Islam and Malcolm X – The Black Panthers – Ku Klux Klan in the 1960’s – March on Washington – USA: Civil Rights Acts in the 1960s – Immigration Act of 1965 – Chicano movement and Civil Rights for Hispanic Americans – College Sit In’s and Student Protests – Women’s Rights – Native Americans and Civil Rights