1. War & Prosperity: Part 1 US HISTORY
Week 2-3
Ms. Lyons

2. We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting. - W. E. B
We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting. - W. E. B. Du Bois

3. African American Migration!
African Americans migrated North
WHY?
More jobs in the North!
Factories needed workers to replace soldiers

4. President Harding Catchphrase: “Return to Normalcy”
US should go back to isolationism
don’t count on other countries’ goods

5. President Coolidge “Laissez-faire”
He thought government should help businesses make money, not regulate them
Economy recovered: increase in standard of living
“Coolidge Prosperity”

6. Pro-American Business
Lowered taxes for rich & businesses
Raised tariffs (tax on imports,) so people would buy American goods

8. Laborers (factory workers)
Things got worse!
Less strikes
many workers couldn’t afford to buy the products they were making

9. Farmers
During war: big farms bought machines & produced way more food than was needed
Small farms went out of business
Less farms
More food

10. Native Americans
1920’s: highest unemployment rate & shortest life span
Most had no heat or running water

11. Stock Market Many invested Some put in life savings
Made money for a while…
BUT stocks were traded “on margin”
buyers only make small down payments & pay the rest with profits
How do you pay when you stop making profits?

12. Homogenization of American Culture
1920’s: cars, electricity, radio, movies
Everyone sees/has the same things.
Regional differences erased, more conformity, less individuality

13. Assembly Lines Henry Ford – assembly line
Costs less to produce goods
Goods bought with credit card
Suburban growth attracted people from cities (1/2 of US living in cities)
Drive to work