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America
Industrial Strength
Population Between 1920 and 1930, despite the excessive loss of life that occurred in the First World War, the population of America, at the time made up of just 48 states (currently there are 50), increased dramatically, as shown in the diagram on the next slide. Whilst only one state experienced a decrease in population, 47 others did not, and many had 25%+ growth within this period. This dramatically increased the US workforce, and allowed for a great rise in production. By 1923, there were some 123 million inhabitants, an impressive feat for a country that had only been inhabited by westerners for a little over three hundred years. Cities As a result of this rise in requirement for jobs and homing, cities began to expand rapidly. Working in the cities, in industry and commerce among others, city-dwellers could earn far higher wages than their country counterparts. As they now had more money to spend, these people became an important market for American industries, who with such a large customer base at home had little need to export or liaise with international markets. Industry Being such a vast and varied country, America had and still has an impressive array of natural resources. Therefore, it was capable of using its own raw materials for industry, and had little need to import from other countries. This made it very independent in the world scene. Industries such as coal, oil and textiles were huge in this period, with the US the worlds leading oil producer. As a result of this, America was also greatly involved in innovation. Cars, telephones and the electric light bulb were all invented on American soil. Furthermore, this innovation led to the growth of new industries, such as chemicals. America was also huge on entertainment. The new film industry was growing in speed and momentum annually, with 100 films being churned out by busy Hollywood each week at its peak in the 1920s. Agriculture was also another huge industry for America. With huge vast expanses of land ideal for farming, America was incredibly capable of sourcing and producing her own food crops. However, the sheer amount of land and farmers meant that overproduction was common, and would become a serious problem in the future.