American Prosperity In The 1920's

America as a Land of Prosperity in the 1920's is the story of Americans who searched for equality. Yes, for some individuals America was a land of prosperity in the 1920's. The First World War sparked Americas rise in prosperity. As no fighting took place on American soil there were virtually no reparations to be paid, also America had entered the war late and therefore, had not spent nearly as much money as the big European countries such as France, Britain, and Germany. This left America in a very prosperous position. Another key reason to Americas rise in prosperity was a man named Henry Ford. Henry Ford was a car producer who thought of the "mass production" method. This method used assembly line techniques, whereby each stage of the car
By the mid-1920's America was booming. Sales of items, which were once, were considered a luxury such as radios, cars, and other new-on-the market items had rocketed, as had both the average and the minimum wage. The average annual wage for that decade was $1236.00, a huge increase. Perhaps the fact that highlights most America's rise in prosperity is between 1919 and 1929 Americas GNP rose from 72.4 billion (1919) to 104 billion (1929) which is around a 75% increase. The boom also led to record low unemployment levels. This was due to the growth of many other businesses and the demand for more workers. The 1920's also saw the construction of towering skyscraper such as the Chrysler building for the first time. However, not all businesses and cultures shared in this "prosperity". The farming industry was hit hard, particularly in the south, as some northern farmers found prosperity due to the increase in the demand for fresh fruit as more people could afford, no thanks to the rise in wages. The farmers earned very little money as a result, lived a very poor lifestyle with poor housing; no fresh water and some even faced eviction from their homes. The farmers did not share in the prosperity mainly because of the loss of the foreign markets. (The Fordney-Mcumber tariff act, put tariffs on imported goods at an all time high causing foreign countries to apply the same tariffs to America) Many blacks did not share in the prosperity either. They were discriminated by the White Americans who claimed they were "polluting their country". As a result of this, many black people living in slums or "ghettos" as they were named. In 1926 a survey found that there were over 200,000 unemployed black people in the south alone. America even had its own low-grade facilities for black people and white people to use. For example, white and colored drinking