The 1920s: Coping with Change
Chapter 23
The 1920s: Coping with Change (1920-1929)
I. Economy A. Booming business 1. Unemployment as low as three percent, steady prices, and the GNP grew by 43 percent from 1922 to 1929 2. Consumer goods such as home appliances (vacuums, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) i. Sixty percent of US homes electrified by mid 1920s 3. Automobiles i. By end of decade, automobile industry accounted for about nine percent of all wages in manufacturing and stimulated other industries 4. Soaring stocks set market up for disaster in 1929 5. Capitalism abroad i. US meatpackers in Argentina ii. Anaconda Copper acquired Chile’s biggest copper mine iii. United Fruit Company established processing plants across Latin America B. Tariffs 1. The Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) and Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930) pushed US import duties to all-time highs, benefiting domestic manufacturers but stifling foreign trade 2. Manufactured goods, less than half the value of total US exports in 1913, rose to 61 percent of the total by the end of the decade C. Workers 1. Wage rates rose 2. Women workers, blacks, Mexican-Americans, and recent immigrants clustered at the bottom of the wage scale i. Blacks were “last hired, first fired” 3. Higher wages would promote productivity – Henry Ford started it D. Farmers 1. Did not share in prosperity 2. Grain prices plummeted when army purchases dwindled 3. High tariffs reduced exports 4. Large surpluses and weak prices 5. Had to pay back debts and loans E. Assembly-line production 1. Discouraged individuality 2. Fordism F. Business consolidation 1. Corporate giants dominated the major industries 2. By 1930, 100 corporations controlled almost half of US business G. Chain stores accounted for about a quarter of all retail sales by 1930 H. Advertising 1. Used celebrity endorsements, promises of social success, and
The 1920s: Coping with Change (1920-1929)
I. Economy A. Booming business 1. Unemployment as low as three percent, steady prices, and the GNP grew by 43 percent from 1922 to 1929 2. Consumer goods such as home appliances (vacuums, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) i. Sixty percent of US homes electrified by mid 1920s 3. Automobiles i. By end of decade, automobile industry accounted for about nine percent of all wages in manufacturing and stimulated other industries 4. Soaring stocks set market up for disaster in 1929 5. Capitalism abroad i. US meatpackers in Argentina ii. Anaconda Copper acquired Chile’s biggest copper mine iii. United Fruit Company established processing plants across Latin America B. Tariffs 1. The Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) and Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930) pushed US import duties to all-time highs, benefiting domestic manufacturers but stifling foreign trade 2. Manufactured goods, less than half the value of total US exports in 1913, rose to 61 percent of the total by the end of the decade C. Workers 1. Wage rates rose 2. Women workers, blacks, Mexican-Americans, and recent immigrants clustered at the bottom of the wage scale i. Blacks were “last hired, first fired” 3. Higher wages would promote productivity – Henry Ford started it D. Farmers 1. Did not share in prosperity 2. Grain prices plummeted when army purchases dwindled 3. High tariffs reduced exports 4. Large surpluses and weak prices 5. Had to pay back debts and loans E. Assembly-line production 1. Discouraged individuality 2. Fordism F. Business consolidation 1. Corporate giants dominated the major industries 2. By 1930, 100 corporations controlled almost half of US business G. Chain stores accounted for about a quarter of all retail sales by 1930 H. Advertising 1. Used celebrity endorsements, promises of social success, and