what areas did most people live in 1920?Where was most the oilWhere was most the coal?Where was most the iron and gas?Where was all the cattle? What does this tell you these areas were like?Where are the towns?

America: the Land of hope and Glory!Find out why their economy was

booming you need to do some investigation work now…

You need to find out the exact reasons behind America’s rise to the most powerful and richest country in the worldcreate a power point presentation which they need to explain how the following factors helped the Boom in the USA in the 1920s:New IndustriesRepublican policiesWWIIndustrial strengthPeople’s state of mind

Industrial Strength The USA is a very large country which fortunately has lots of natural

resources (oil, Coal, Iron, Gas, Farmland) as well as a large population which was growing fast (123 million by

1923) Most of the population were on the east and west coast living in the

cities earning high wages in the factories Town people had most money and were the biggest buyers of

manufactured goods USA did not need to import or export as they had everything they

needed in USA By WWI USA was biggest producer of oil and new inventions like

cars, telephones, and electrical lighting - these were key to the boom Had biggest film industry in the world – huge stars like Charlie Chaplin USA began to sell goods outside of the USA (Europe, far east, Latin

America) which brought in more profits for businessmen

WWI The USA lent money to the Allies during the war

They also sold them guns and bullets along with food

This one-way trade made USA massive profits

Britain and France could not trade with the countries they used to because they were too busy fighting so USA took over this trade instead

Before the war Germany had the leading chemical industry in the world but the war stopped this and USA took over –they also developed explosives and sold them to the allies

USA joined the war in 1917 so it didn’t drain their resources like it did for others who were in the war for 4 years

Republican Policies Republican presidents from 1920-32 and gov dominated by

republican. Republicans believe: Laissez-Faire: government stays out of people’s lives as

much as possible – leave businesses to make profit Tariffs – they put high tariffs on foreign goods so it was

cheaper for Americans to buy American products – US businesses make a lot of money

Low taxes – they felt that if people had more money they would spend it on US goods/invest on US businesses

Trusts – huge companies that dominate industry egRockefeller (oil) left to ‘run’ it as they know best

The Constitution was written by the founders of USA and says how the government should operate

The federal system – states look after their own internal affairs (eg Education) but Congress deals with national/international affairs (eg War)

PresidentElected every 4 years Congress and the Supreme Court watch over him to make sure he is

not abusing his power

Congress Has the Senate and the House of Representatives

Supreme Court Made up of judges who make sure that the government o not pass unfair laws or laws that go against the constitution

New Industries The 1920s saw the introduction of mass-produced goods

which could be made faster and in large quantities, making them cheaper to buy

This saw more people buying radios, hoovers, washing machines, cars etc

Advertising (radio and posters)became the new way to sell products - this had extended from the war advertising to get people to support the war – now used to sell cars, cigarettes and clothing

People who did not have money could borrow it or they could hire goods – 8/10 of radios and 6/10 cars were brought on credit

http://www.ilovehistory.co.uk/?page_id=20

New Industries……the Motorcar In 1890s blacksmiths made cars by hand - this made them

expensive – by 1900 only 4,000 cars made

Along came Henry Ford – in 1913 he created the worlds first production line in Detroit

Production line meant that a car shell goes past workers who have one specific job to do on a car and they do this repeatedly car after car.

Most popular car was the Model T Ford (15 million produced between 1908 and 1925) one car came off the production line every 10 seconds

The motor industry employed hundreds of thousands, but also indirectly created millions of jobs such as those in leather, glass, steel and rubber, road manufacture, oil production

‘without the new automobile industry, the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible’

How far do you agree with this statement? (10 marks)

Answers discuss the impact them motor car industry had on the economic boom in the USA in the 1920s (1-3 marks)

Answers discuss the impact them motor car industry had on the economic boom in the USA in the 1920s along with another factor that helped cause the economic boom (3-6 marks)

Answers discuss the impact them motor car industry had on the economic boom in the USA in the 1920s along with a number of other factors that helped cause the economic boom (6-8 marks)

Answers discuss the impact them motor car industry had on the economic boom in the USA in the 1920s along with a number of other factors that helped cause the economic boom and concludes as to which was the most significant factor and why (8-10 marks)

Factors include:People’s state of mindNew IndustriesRepublican policiesWWIIndustrial strength

You are the agricultural minister for the US government. you have received a letter from a very unhappy farmer at how his life has changed for the worse in the 1920s and would like the governments help to improve the situation.

You and the rest of the government thought that everyone was profiting from the 1920s so you now have to investigate what is going on with farmers and submit a report to the government.

Dear US Government.

I am writing to you today to plead with you for help! I am an extremely hard working farmer and father of four living in Tennessee. Before the war I was one of the most highly respected farmers within the state and as a result I had lots of business both at home and abroad. I was selling more crops and vegetables than I could produce. I had to hire extra help just to keep up with the demand!

However since the war the demand has completely dried up and has left me with a massive amount of stock that I have been unable to sell and now it has gone bad and I have lost a fortune on it. I even halved the price of my goods to try and get rid of it, I was practically giving it away but this still didn’t help the situation! I have had to get rid of my workers as I cant afford to pay them and I am very close to going bankrupt myself. I hear all this talk about people now living the American Dream and earning fortunes in the cities but this is not what it is like for us farmers.

Please can you help us farmers get back to what life was like before the war, otherwise our families and us farmers will never get out of our American Nightmare!

Please don’t let us down!

Mr John Sanders

Persuasive writing skills

You need to create your most persuasive argument possible using evidence available and your use of language

Think about what evidence you use, what evidence you will leave out and how will you present the evidence to make the strongest argument

Statement:

Living in the USA in the 1920’s was like living in heaven/hell for Americans.