Compare The Winners And Losers In The Roaring 1920's

2005 Words9 Pages
Who were the winners and losers in the roaring 1920’s? Between 1922 and 1929 the annual Gross National Product of the USA increased by 40%. The average income per head increased by 27%. By the beginning of the 1920’s the United States of America was already the world’s largest industrial power. Highlights of the boom included; Consumer boom – growth of personal possessions (Woolworths, hire purchase, commercial travellers). Because goods could be produced in greater numbers and at much lower prices, more people were able to afford them. This led to huge increases in the sales of products such as cars, refrigerators, radios and cookers. Innovation in production methods, especially in the motor industry (by 1925 Ford were producing a car every…show more content…
Factories became automated. Machines and other improved manufacturing techniques meant that huge amounts of goods could be made at a fraction of the cost. The age of mass production had arrived. In the decade of the 1920s economic output increased by a staggering 50%. Communications revolution – number of telephone doubled/ number of radios increased from 60,000 to 10 million. Stock market – Wall Street boomed (a 'bull' market) with many people buying shares to make a profit. Many new businesses were 'floated' on the stock market such as skyscrapers, highways and urban development. Skyscrapers became a symbol of wealth and boom in America in 1920’s this was showing that the prosperity was shared across the country The industry boomed for several reasons such as; Population growing rapidly increased demand for consumer goods. Abundant raw materials such as coal iron and oil allowed cheap…show more content…
For example Irish Americans, French Canadians and German Americans were well off. Many of these groups were well settled and were well established immigrant groups. Then there were the Italian and eastern European groups who were not looking for permanent stay but trying to make some money to send back home. At the bottom there laid the blacks and Mexicans. Foreigners were easy targets. For example in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial the two were arrested in 1920 on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. People in power abused this power to discriminate the immigrants. Although Vanzetti did not commit the crime he was blamed as he was enemy of the ‘existing institution’. They were convicted on flimsy evidence. After 6 years they were executed. This trial was a clear example of discrimination. These men were convicted for where they are from rather than for what they did. Even though the women of America benefited in countless number of ways from the boom. It is also easy to discern that they were still restricted in certain aspects of life. For example women were still paid less than men even if the work was the same. In politics women in no way achieved equality with men, they had no access to political
Open Document