Boom-The Roaring Twenties (AQA GCSE History: The Period Study (Paper 1: Section A)): Flashcards

Many Americans were isolationists who did not want to get involved in other countries’ conflicts or risk American lives abroad.

After the First World War, the USA recalled its loans to Europe, increasing US wealth.

The First World War allowed the USA to recall loans from Europe and sell goods to countries rebuilding, increasing US wealth and exports.

Buying shares on the margin means purchasing shares with borrowed money and only a small amount of your own funds.

Confidence in the economy encouraged more people to buy shares, increasing personal wealth and the amount of money circulating in the economy.

Mass production is the large-scale manufacture of goods using standardised processes, allowing products like cars to be made quickly and cheaply.

The motor car industry led to the expansion of cities and the development of suburbs.

By 1929, there were around 23 million cars in the USA.

Motor car production supported other industries by increasing demand for parts and materials such as steel, glass, and rubber.

The Golden Age of Hollywood refers to the period in the 1920s when cinema became very popular and major film studios produced many influential movies in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

False.

Tickets were cheap, costing less than 25 cents, making cinema affordable for all social groups.

By 1929, around 110 million US citizens visited the cinema each week.

Cinema became popular because tickets were cheap, cinemas were comfortable, and people idolised film stars.

Jazz music is a high-tempo musical genre that originated in the southern USA, developing from African-American blues and ragtime.

Many jazz musicians performed illegally in speakeasies due to bans in some cities.

Some cities, such as New York and Detroit, banned jazz music because lawmakers believed it threatened traditional values and was associated with crime.

Radio was the most popular entertainment medium in the 1920s, providing music, news and live sporting events to people across the USA.

Radio gave people in remote settlements access to news and new ideas more quickly, even if they were illiterate.

By 1929, around 10 million homes in the USA had a radio.

True.

Radio covered live sporting events such as baseball, allowing people to follow teams without travelling to arenas.

To be modest before the First World War meant that women were expected to behave in a reserved and respectable manner, avoiding public displays of affection or behaviour seen as inappropriate for women.

Before the First World War, most women did not work outside the household, but those who did had stereotypical jobs such as being a seamstress or a maid.

Most women before the First World War were expected to be modest and respectable.

The First World War changed the roles of women in the USA because men left to fight and women had to take on male-dominated jobs such as working in munitions factories, heavy industry, and as conductors or police officers.

Suffrage means the right to vote, especially in political elections.

Women in the USA gained the right to vote in 1920, with the passing of the 19th Amendment.

During the 1920s, the number of women in employment increased by 25%.

The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in the USA in 1920.

A flapper was a young woman in the 1920s who rebelled against traditional expectations by dressing boldly, cutting her hair short, and engaging in behaviours like drinking, smoking, and dancing.

In 1929, around 10.9 million women worked outside of the home in the USA.

False.

Not all American women experienced the same changes in the 1920s. Many women, especially in rural areas, continued traditional roles and did not benefit equally from social, political, or employment changes.

The Flapper movement mainly affected urban places, while rural women continued to marry and have children at a young age.

Florence Kelley and Alice Paul were key suffrage campaigners, but apart from them, few women went into politics after winning the vote.

The Anti-Flirt Association was a group that promoted ‘decent’ behaviour for women and opposed the attitudes and lifestyles of flappers in the 1920s.

Many women in the 1920s were paid less than men for doing the same job and were mostly in low-skilled jobs.

Prohibition was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the production, sale, and distribution of alcohol was made illegal across all states in the USA by federal law.

The 18th Amendment made the sale of alcohol illegal in the USA.

The Volstead Act classified ‘alcohol’ as any drink with over 0.5% alcohol.

Religious groups like the Methodists and Baptists pressured the government to introduce Prohibition because they believed alcohol was a sin.

The Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union blamed alcohol for causing poverty, crime, and broken marriages.

World War I contributed to the introduction of Prohibition because many alcohol companies were owned by German immigrants, and buying alcohol from them was seen as unpatriotic.

A speakeasy was an illegal bar or club where people could buy and drink alcohol during Prohibition in the USA.

One major reason Prohibition failed was the increase in crime, especially organised crime and gangster activity.

Prohibition led to widespread corruption among law enforcement and officials.

False.

Prohibition lacked widespread public support as many people continued to drink in illegal speakeasies.

The US government was losing out on $11 billion in potential revenue from taxing alcohol sales, which contributed to the end of Prohibition.

In 1933, President Roosevelt repealed the 18th Amendment, ending Prohibition.

They opposed Prohibition due to its negative social impact, particularly the high number of arrests caused by the law.

No, after Prohibition ended the ban on alcohol became a state decision, so some states continued the ban while others did not.

Businessmen stopped supporting Prohibition because it increased crime and legalising alcohol would create more jobs during the Great Depression.

Al Capone was a notorious gangster in Chicago, known for running a large bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling empire during Prohibition.

Al Capone was finally arrested in 1931 for tax evasion, not his violent crimes.

The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws in the southern USA that enforced racial segregation and discrimination against African-Americans.

False.

Despite the US Constitution stating that all citizens should be treated equally, African-Americans did not have civil rights and faced discrimination, especially under the Jim Crow Laws.

African-Americans had to pay poll tax and pass a literacy test to vote.

An open-door policy was a US government approach that encouraged immigration by allowing people from other countries to enter the USA with few restrictions.

The 1917 Immigration Law required all immigrants to prove they could read English, pay an $8 fee, and banned immigrants from Asia.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited the number of immigrants from the eastern hemisphere to 3% of those already living in the USA by 1910.

The Red Scare was a period of widespread fear of communism in the USA during the early 20th century, especially after the Russian Revolution.

Many US citizens were afraid of communism after 1917 because they associated it with loss of freedom, government control, and the violent events of the Russian Revolution.

The Palmer Raids were when Mitchell Palmer ordered the deportation of 10,000 people suspected of being communists or anarchists.

Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists who were accused of armed robbery and murder in 1920, and their trial highlighted discrimination against immigrants in the USA.

False.

Sacco and Vanzetti did not receive a fair trial; there was strong public prejudice and a biased judge against them due to their status as immigrants and anarchists.

Sacco and Vanzetti were accused of armed robbery and murder in 1920.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a racist organisation in the USA that promoted white supremacy and used violence and intimidation against African-Americans and other minorities.

Two problems African-Americans faced in the 1920s were the Jim Crow Laws (enforcing segregation) and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan (violence and intimidation).

Many African-Americans lived in poor-quality houses in ghettos and were often victims of race riots.

A sharecropper is a farmer, often African-American in the 1920s USA, who farms land owned by someone else and pays the owner with a share of the crops instead of rent.

True.

Many African-Americans in the South worked as sharecroppers, meaning they farmed land owned by others and paid with a share of their crops.

In the 1920s, 40% of people in the USA were living below the poverty line.

Consumer goods are products made for personal use by consumers, such as cars, radios, or washing machines.

The introduction of motor cars led to the development of suburbs, as people could live further from their workplaces.

Large farming businesses benefited because they could diversify their crops and use better technology, like combine harvesters, to increase their profits.

Workers in older industries faced falling wages and unemployment because the growth of new industries and alternative resources reduced demand for traditional products like coal and textiles.

In 1924, 600,000 farmers lost their farms in the USA because of debts.

Hire-purchase schemes allowed urban middle classes to buy consumer goods and pay in instalments, making expensive products more affordable and increasing their standard of living.

Segregation is the separation of people based on race or ethnicity. In the 1920s USA, Black Americans often lived in segregated communities like Harlem.