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DEPH STUDY USA (1919 - 1941) · How far did the USA economy boom in the 1920īs? 1. On what factors was the economic boom based? 2. Why did some industries prosper while others did not? 3. Why did agriculture did not share the boom? 4. Did all the Americans benefit from the boom? Some of the reasons by which the economic boom started were because of the USAs industrial strength, the impact of the First World War, the Republican policies, the new industries and the new methods and the state of mind. Some industries prosper much more than others. One example was the moto-car industry, which boomed around the 1920īs. It all started with Henry Ford, who set up the first moving production line in the world, in a giant shed in Detroit. By the end of the 1920īs, the motor industry was Americas biggest industry. But the boom of the car industry not only benefited itself, as dozens of other industries, which were required to build the cars, such as glass, leather, rubber, steel, and petrol industries, among others grew all the same. But the moto-car industry was not the only one to grow. By the 1920īs skyscrapers were built in New York. There was more new building going on the USA than ever before. Also, like many cars were produced and sold, many more roads had to be constructed. These new roads gave rise to a new truck industry. In 1918 only a few homes had electricity, but by 1929 almost all urban homes had it. There were virtually no civilian airlines in 1918, but by the year 1930 the new aircraft companies flew over 162,00 flights a year. In the 1920īs a new substitute for the silk, which had once been a luxury item reserved for the rich, had been invented: rayon. Also, during the 1920īs movies became a multi-billion dollar business and it was estimated that a hundred million cinema tickets were sold per week. As I have already mentioned, almost all the industries of America boomed and grew starting on the 1920īs onwards. The number of cars in 1919 triplicate by 1929; the number of radios multiplied its number by 16 in a period of 9 years; the number of telephones doubled between 1915 and 1930; and in 1921, there was one fridge for every one, while by 1929 there were 167. But, in spite the growth of all these companies and big industries, there was still one that not only did not share the boom, but was hit by it. Farm income dropped from $22 billion in 1919 to $13 billion in 1928. This lost was due to four main causes: · The First World War had so bankrupted Europe that few Europeans could afford buy American farm produce any longer. Besides, the tariff barriers put up by the Republicans to protect American industries made Europe poorer sill so it could not afford American produce. · Farmers were also struggling against competition from the highly efficient Canadian wheat producers. All of this came at a time when the population of the USA was decreasing, and there were fewer mouths to feed. · Overproduction also created a huge problem in farming. From 1900 to 1920, while farming was doing well, more and more land was being farmed. The result was that by 1920 it was producing surpluses of wheat, which nobody wanted. · Farmers were not just a small part of the USA population. Almost half of it lived in the rural areas, mostly working on farms or in business, which sold goods to farmers. In 1920, six million rural Americans were forced of the land. Many of these unskilled workers migrated into cities, where there was a little demand for their job. Thats why I can tell that not all the Americans benefit from he boom. None farmer did benefit from it, but at least they could move to the cities and try to find any work, although they knew it was little for them they could do there.
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