Sunteți pe pagina 1din 8

the post-war boom years

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.

The Republican Party


Following their success in the 1920 General Election, the Republicans were voted into power. From 1920 to 1932, all American presidents would be from the Republican party. They were very traditional, and held specific political policies and aims. These included: Laissez-faire The Republicans believed in the French political term, laissez-faire, meaning leave things alone. This involved the government and president staying out of all economic matters, and thus allowing the average American businessman to do his job without government interference. However, this often meant that the poor suffered as a result of a lack of social welfare; laissez-faire also meant that the poor should help themselves. Tariffs The Republicans also wanted to protect American industry from the threat of cheaper goods produced internationally. They decided to stunt this by heavily taxing all imports to the US. This meant that foreign food became very expensive, and allowed American industries to grow rapidly. Taxation As a way of encouraging home turf economic growth, the Republicans kept taxation incredibly low. This was good for the everyday person, allowing them more money to spend on luxury goods, but even better for the rich and for industry. It was believed that if American people had more spare money, they would spend it back on American industry, thus speeding up the cycle of prosperity. Trusts The Republicans encouraged the setting up of trusts; these were huge super-corporations that dominated industry. The Democrats, as previously led by Woodrow Wilson, did not believe in them, as it meant that some men could entirely have control over one aspect of industry, such as Carnegie with steel and Rockefeller with oil. However, the Republicans gave such men free reign, believing that these industry leaders knew better about what was good for the USA than the politicians themselves!

New industries, new methods


The 1920s were a time of great advancement for American industries. For the first time on a considerable scale, America was able to exploit her vast array of natural resources to mass produce items, such as oil, steel, chemicals, glass and machinery. One of the largest uses of these resources was for the newfound market of luxury goods. Luxury goods With the American economy greatly booming in the early 1920s, everyday citizens began to find that they had an excess of money to live their normal lives off of. Luxury goods, such as the vacuum cleaner and the car were introduced as a way for people to spend this money. Mass production One of the greatest evolutions within manufacturing occurred in America in the 20s with the introduction of mass production. This allowed products to be made more quickly, cheaply and efficiently than ever before. The decrease in price meant that these new luxury items were now within the reach of everyday citizens. Marketing As well as being able to create these new products, companies also had to find innovative ways of selling them in great numbers. Many companies learnt how to efficiently advertise through their production of wartime propaganda. Agencies were set up to sell tobacco, cars, and even clothing. Travelling salesmen, wireless adverts and print were all used to lure in consumers. During this period of great economic growth, in addition, loans were easily accessible to almost all. Therefore, even if people did not have the money to actually outright purchase some of these items, they could still borrow the money. Many companies also had buy now pay later schemes in which consumers could make manageable monthly payments against the purchase of some goods. This was good for the consumer as it allowed them to be able to purchase things slowly and also good for the company as they could earn extra money from the added interest.

The Wall Street Crash


We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land Herbert Hoover Considered one of the greatest understatements of the 20th century, this statement by the new Republican president Herbert Hoover preceded the greatest stock market crash in world history. October 24th, now nicknamed Black Thursday was the first day of catastrophe; 11% of the markets value was lost at the opening bell. October 28th, or Black Monday saw a 13% loss, and the following day, October 29th or Black Tuesday saw another 12% loss. As a result of the anxiety held by stockholders, millions of shares were traded, resulting in the greatest volume of trading experienced at the New York Stock Exchange ever (at the time), a record that was held for over 60 years. The crash signalled the start of the Great Depression, an event that lasted over eight years, consisting of poverty and hardship. The wall street crash is often considered to be the result of the introduction of a new form of gambling, called speculation. Speculators would take out loans, buy shares, sell them when they gained in price, pay back loans and keep the difference. However, the value of many of the shares being traded at this time was artificially high. Therefore, it was believed that the market would have to reach a peak and then would have to fall. But people continued to trade. The American economy was also weakening during this period. Traditional industries such as agriculture and textiles were greatly suffering as a result of the introduction of new industries.

The Great Depression


The great depression was the result of the economic downturn that occurred following the Wall Street Crash. As America had been booming in the late 1920s, production in many industries was increased dramatically. However, supply was beginning to be much greater than demand. Farming was an industry that particularly suffered because of this. Demand meant that farms began to only grow one type of crop, and maximised production levels. This meant that the soil was not varied as crop rotation was rarely utilised. This made the land infertile, and farmers could no longer sell it when the crash occurred in 1929. Much property was seized during this period, but farmers were greatly resistant, and often came together to stop their land from being repossessed. Unemployment was also very large during this period. Industries such as steel needed to lay off workers, and in Cleveland, Americas steel capital, up to 50% of workers were unemployed by 1932. Many families were evicted from their homes, and with little place to go, formed shanty towns at the outskirts of cities, with appalling conditions, and little to eat. The 1932 election was a great turning point. Republican presidents had governed America for all of the 20s, and for the first time in over a decade, a Democrat president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt, or FDR, made several promises to get America back into prosperity. These included: Getting Americans back to work Providing welfare and support for the sick, old and unemployed Protecting the property and savings of Americans Returning American industry and agriculture to prosperity FDR won a huge landslide victory, and went on to win several subsequent elections.

The New Deal


One of Roosevelts first achievements was the introduction of the New Deal. Roosevelt set up numerous acts and organisations aiming to return America to economic prosperity. He set up Alphabet Agencies which all helped to make their own change: CCC The Civilian Conservation Corps This set up jobs for young men working in agriculture, for those who were unable to find work. Most of the work was concerning regeneration in national parks. The scheme helped some 2.5 young men. AAA The Agricultural Adjustment Administration This administration aimed to solve the long term problems experienced by farmers. Quotas were set to stunt overproduction, and to increase prices. Modernisation was also a key element of it, helping farmers to improve their work, but it did have the result of taking many unskilled labourers out of work. NIRA The National Industrial Recovery Act This set up the two administrations detailed below: PWA The Public Works Administration This used government money to build new infrastructure for the country, including roads, airports and schools. In the short term, this created millions of jobs, but the buildings and infrastructure itself would be essential when America finally recovered. NRA The National Recovery Administration This outlawed child labour and set out to improve working conditions worldwide. Fair wages were set, and quotas again were set to ensure overproduction did not occur again. It was voluntary, but it was a good association for business owners to have. TVA - The Tennessee Valley Authority This was set up to build a series of dams along the Tennessee River, bringing power to the masses, and also irrigating areas of land for use by farmers. This also created thousands of jobs.

S-ar putea să vă placă și