Modern_History__America_1919-1941_Writing_Task

Modern History: America 1919-1941 Writing Task From 1919-1941 in America, it foresaw times of great prosperity as well as the worst economic down turn in history. These two times were noted as The “Roaring 20’s” and the Great Depression, the 20’s saw a significant growth and affluence for America, this was all due to the high amount of urbanisation and industrialisation occurring. While in the 30’s this all changed as the impact was of post war proportions. This rapid growth and decline had a serious impact on all throughout the country, resulting in the growing inequality; consumerism and the decline of the farming industry. Some may ask how something so positive became so negative. The Great Depression that occurred was caused by the very things that caused the prosperity, such as some aspect of industrialisation as overproduction, government policies had all been contributing factors, as one would put it, ''all good things must come to an end.'' Firstly, growing inequality was a major concern of this time as the prosperity and glory of industrialisation was not spread evenly throughout. The lassez-faire approach set by Republican policies, ultimately favoured the rich rather than the poor. The lower tax rates and reduced regulations favoured large businesses, and saw the growth of colossal industries, e.g. the car industry. This lack of government intervention saw a majority of workers never receiving any benefits, as they were often exploited within companies such as Ford. Ford like many other corporations lacked stringent safety regulations, often having none at all, contributing to the 25 000 workers killed and 100 000 disabled per year. All this was possible, often without much retaliation, as there were no unions to represent workers. Many companies were anti-unionist during the 20's, often deeming it as communism. As many like Ford banned any union involvement as they often had informers within their own factories! If any strikes were to occur employers were allowed to break it up by force, completely taking away the power of the worker. Without unions or pressure groups, employers effectively had complete control over their factories along with their workers, allowing them to keep wages low, hence increasing their own profits. Creating an ever growing barrier between the rich and the poor, by the end of the 20's 63% of the country lived under the considered decent standard of living. While the richest 3,600 earned the total income of the poorest 18 million, this only worsened in the coming years of the Great Depression. This gap although did not stop the growing consumerism, consumerism saw the introduction of mass marketing, as giant billboards were seen everywhere, within newspapers and magazines, no one was safe. All with the one aim to make the consumer need their item, often through catchy phrases and jingles. The result of industrialisation along with easy credit saw the price of cars, refrigerators, and radios all becoming affordable to the masses. Easy credit was an important feature of consumerism as many could borrow money to purchase items, often living well above their needs; this was due mainly to the lack of government regulation within the banking industry. From 1920 to 1929 the rise in department stores raised to accommodate the growing demand from 312 to 1,395 almost a 4 fold increase, in addition business profits alone rose 80%, making US the first mass consumer economy, becoming the envy of many other countries. This growing consumerism however was not positive within the stock market, as speculation covered the marketplace. ''The get rich quick scheme'' was on everyone's mind, as many bought on the margin, effectively borrowing large sums of money to gamble. The stock market had rose from $3.5 million to $8.5 million within the 20's, eventually leading the Wall Street crash, one of the triggers of the Great Depression. After WWI the decline of farmers in the US was imminent, as they were significantly affected from the roaring 20s, due to the increasing amount urbanisation and industrialisation. The internal migration that took place saw 10 184 000 people move from the countryside to the city to become a part of the prosperity, hence accelerating their growth. The introduced policies by republican presidents such as protectionism and the prohibition saw their total income fall from $10 billion to $4 billion, as nearly 6 million farmers only earned an average of $200 per year. Due to industrialisation new synthetics were introduced like rayon to replace cotton along with the growing competition of agricultural goods from Canada and Argentina, seeing decline of 500 000 farmers. The combination of both industrialisation and urbanisation saw their decline as a whole, as they lost overseas markets, faced increased competition, and faced internal migration; never truly recovered until the end of the depression. Finally, the Great Depression that occurred in 1929 was a mixture of all of the events above as numerous events occurred at once, like a line of dominoes; the first domino was the Wall Street crash. As the economy began to slow, the many weaknesses in the USA's economy took over. The rise and fall of the American economy from 1919-41 had seen significant prosperity for some and severe poverty for others, as urbanisation and industrialisation reached its peak. As seen in points stated above, farmers and workers were the most negatively affected, workers faced large amounts of inequality, faced exploitation and found themselves victim to the Republican policies of the time, while farmers had felt the impact of both industrialisation and urbanisation first hand. Consumerism was another feature of the time, as many began to speculate in the economy borrowed to buy lavish items as goods became cheaper than ever before. This all being said the impact of urbanisation and industrialisation upon America had ultimately in the end led to the Great Depression, The over-production, uneven distribution of wealth, banking system and consumerism had a detrimental impact. In which it never truly recovered until WWII in 1939.