Mass production Cycle of Prosperity: Mass production>Goods cheaper>people could afford>hire purchase>advertising>more people employed to make goods>more wages Goods sold on credit Lots of natural resources e.g. coal/oil Model T Ford – lots of jobs available with good pay; affordable cars; more free time Technological developments e.g. production lines/mass production; new machinery (but bad for farmers) Laissez-faire Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act (protectionism) in 1922 – American products cheaper than foreign imports – boost economy Taxes lowered – encouraging investment in businesses Ordering from catalogues/delivery vans>countryside Loans from WW1 repaid Stock market – loads of people buying stocks and gambling on price rises Ticker-tape machine

CHANGES IN AMERICAN CULTURE: TECHNOLOGY MOVIE POPULARITY LEISURE TIME DISPOSABLE INCOME TRANSPORT SEX APPEAL JAZZ POPULARITY FLAPPERS RADIOS SPEAKEASIES DANCING Women had more time because they bought domestic goods (vaccum, washing machines) so less time cleaning. Oscars awarded to actors Charlie Chaplin was a star Sensors in the Hayes Code of no nudity, kiss length limited Ruldolf Valentino- people committed suicide when he died of appendicitis Clara Bow was a flapper- some people thought sex appeal was outrageous and showed bad morals Mass production of the assembly line = women could travel in “Tin Lizzies” Clubs, Dance Music Charleston, Black Bottom, Shimmy

Organised crime and corruption Gangs (Al Capone – Chicago) valentine’s day massacre Smuggling (bootleggers) Bribes – men in power (prohibition agents (Eliot Ness) poorly paid) Gangsters earned $1 billion a year Prohibition ASL & CWTU Alcohol poisoning – 25,000 died 100,000 speakeasies in NY – more than saloons pre-prohibition Moonshine and bootleg liquor Government corruption Albert Fall – member of Warren Harding Ohio gang Teapot Dome Scandal – sold navy oil to Edward Doheny and Harry Sinclair. Fall made $409,000 (bribes) and in trial was fined $100,000

Religious and Racial Intolerance In the Southern states there was the Bible belt where it was illegal to teach Evolution in schools and in 1924 a teacher called John Scopes challenged this law and was fined $100. He introduced the modernists versus rationalists argument, for this reason it is remembered as the monkey trials. Native Americans were forced to live on reservations, other Americans tried to abolish their culture and assimilate them into society e.g. face paint was not allowed and men could not have long hair. Children had to go to boarding school and were encouraged to mock their parents value. The KKK who believed in white protestant superiority, had a rebirth in the early 1900’s due to a the film The Birth of a Nation and rising opposition to immigration. They had 5 million members by 1925 and they carried out lynching and murders. Jim Crow made black and white people ‘separate but equal’. Black people were forced to use different facilities such as hospitals and schools. It also stated that black and white people could not marry. To combat these laws were two organisations: UNIA – led by Marcus Garvey  they were more militant and wanted Black people to return to Africa. NAACP –led by William du Bois –> set up in 1909 they were a non violent organisation they did things such as marches and demonstrations.

Sports, Heroes and Crazes in the 1920s Sports: Radios made sports more popular Lots of new stadiums, swimming pools and baseball pitches were built Baseball, boxing, American football, tennis and golf became very popular Due to an increase in disposable income people flocked to live matches Heroes: Babe Ruth was a famous baseball player, world series champion 7 times, 714 home runs Jack Dempsey was a very popular boxer Gene Tunney was Dempsey’s rival and 120,000 watched their fight Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly over the Atlantic Ocean Gertrude Ederle was the first person the swim the channel Amelia Earhart was the first women to fly across the Atlantic Ocean Crazes: Dance marathons, including black bottom, chicken scratch and the turkey trot, Alma Cummings danced for 27 hours Games became more popular, the crossword was invented Flagpole sitting Live goldfish eating

Women in the 1920’s Flappers- older generation was outraged ( creating of the anti-flirt league) More employment- eg. In radio, 90,000 in the army own job = own disposable income Disposable income was spent on shopping Role models- e.g. Clara Bow was a movie star Political- given the vote in 1920 in the 19 th amendment Marriage- the divorce rate increased by 100,000 from , married women tended to have fewer children This all excludes rural women, who kept to their traditional roles of cooking, cleaning and caring for children

End of Prosperity Overproduction Factory owners didn’t realise there was a limit to what American consumers would buy Retaliatory Tariffs (Protectionism) Collapsed in 1926 – this caused negative equity Boom in Floridian property prices Over-speculation on the stock market Credit Loss of confidence – experts sold their shares in a panic People brought ‘on the margin’ OverproductionLess sales Lower wages for workers – less employment No money  Too many banks Falling demand Wall street crash 29 th October 1929 Black Tuesday Couldn’t sell goods abroad Laissez-Faire Minimal government interference bad in bad times