USA – The Roaring 20’s Pub Quiz Revision!

Draw the Cycle of Prosperity Increased demand for goods Increased production Increased employment More money to spend

What were the details of the 1921 Emergency Quota Act? Total number of immigrants limited to 357,000 per year Total people coming to the USA could not exceed 3% of the number from that country already living in the USA

Which amendment to the US Constitution banned public consumption of alcohol? 18 th Amendment What did the Volstead Act define an alcoholic drink as? Any drink with more than 0.5% alcohol

Why didn’t the Fordney McCumber Tariff work? High prices made life difficult for poorer people No foreign competition made US firms inefficient Other countries put import tariffs on US goods, harming US exports Slowdown in global trade helped to damage economies and was a long term cause of depression

Why did the Stock Market boom in the 20’s? More people had more ready cash The stock market became fashionable – more people wanted to play Buying ‘on the margin’ allowed people to invest large sums and profit Government’s laissez faire attitude enouraged investment A bull market that never went down

What were the great cultural and social changes in the decade? Jazz music Cinema and movie stars Flappers and role of women Technology – cars, fridges, radios Rise of organised crime Greater divide between the rich and poor, urban and rural populations, black and white people

What were the benefits of production lines? Increased efficiency One person doing one job Simple structure and organisation Mass production easy to achieve Consistency of product Consistency of manufacture

Why did the US Economy collapse? Overproduction Over-exposure on the stock market – people couldn’t pay back the ‘on the margin’ loans Unequal distribution of wealth High tariffs crippled exports – unbalanced economy Depression had hit farmers and other poorer groups by the mid 1920’s

Rise of the KKK Mainly in the south and central areas of the US – not nationwide Popularity grew quickly in the early 1920’s due to fears about immigration and US policy of isolationism Targeted black people, Jews, Catholics, Communists and other ‘undesirables’ – KKK were ‘WASPS’ The film ‘Birth of a Nation’ popularised them in culture – 5 million members by 1925 Had influential people in the police, judiciary and politicians March in Washington showed their popularity

Fall of the KKK Immigration reforms passed – no longer a need More extreme violence – beatings, lynchings – were unpopular Opposition from Northern States and politicians Leaders (Stevenson) became too violent and were imprisoned Went against the social modernisation of 1920’s USA By 1929 the movement had lost a lot of power

Why was prohibition passed … and repealed Concerns about the affects of alcohol on family life – domestic abuse, unsafe at work Driven by Women’s Christian Temperance Union and Anti- Saloon League – religious aspect to the opposition 1919 – 18 th Amendment made Prohibition the law of the land Not popular – drove alcohol underground into speakeasies Some people home brewed – moonshine – but health impact was worse Alcohol smuggled in – no way to stop the sale of liquor and no way to regulate it safely Repealed in 1933 by President Roosevelt

Organised Crime and Al Capone Prohibition was a lucrative money maker for criminals – they organised themselves into crime industries for bootlegging, gambling, prostitution and racketeering They used legal businesses as fronts for the illegal activities They influenced police forces and judges It was a multi million dollar business Al Capone was the most famous gangster of the time – he became a celebrity and seemed ‘untouchable’ St Valentines Day Massacre – he organised the murder of the rival Bugs Moran gang He was eventually jailed for tax evasion

Examples of Isolationism Fordney-McCumber Tariff Immigration Laws Sacco and Vanzetti Not joining the League of Nations Republican Presidents elected on isolationist platform The Red Scare