The second most important reason for many people being prosperous in the 1920’s was the government policies at the time. This was another long term cause which really helped business men. They believed that “the business of America was business”. Businessmen believed that, if taxes were low, people would have more money to invest which would help industry expand even more. The government also helped fend off foreign competition. This also helped Americans sell their own products in America without other companies coming in from foreign countries and selling their products at lower prices. This was a big part in American business men being so successful.
The third most important reason for Americans being prosperous in the 1920’s was the war. Again this was a long term cause. During the war, the Americans had hardly been affected by the fighting and yet they got massive benefits from it. Firstly the USA had been able to take over export markets from Britain. Also American industry had supplied Britain and France with materials. This greatly helped the industry. Also US farmers became hugely prosperous as during the war exports to Europe had increased by 300% and banks had lent large sums of money to Britain and Italy. These were repaid with interest which meant that they made huge amounts of money. This also meant that US investors did well. After the war there were a lot of rich people so a lot of money was put back into the country. This was another reason why the US was so successful in the 1920’s.
The only short term cause and another reason for America being so prosperous is the high rate of employment. This was because industry had increased by so much there were many more jobs. This meant that more and more people were earning wages. There was also an increase in wages but prices remained the same or even fell. Examples of this are that the motor car price fell by 60% after the introduction of the assembly line. Overall this mean that people bought more consumer goods so therefore put more money back into industry. This also led on to the new use of credit. This meant that if someone wanted to they could purchase something over and extended length of time and they wouldn’t have to pay on the spot. This made many products more affordable. Both the increase in employment and the use of credit defiantly made the 1920’s a time of prosperity.
The 1920’s was also not a very prosperous time for some people. I believe that there were four main reasons for this. These can be divided into long term and short term causes.
The first long term cause was that old industries declined. The reason for this was that because of the new industries there was no longer as much demand for some of the older industries. These were industries such as coal, textiles, ship building and iron. They declined because firstly the old industries were not able to benefit of the new methods of production. These industries either produced raw materials or ships which were too big to use this method. Also there was less demand for ships after the First World War. This was because the US became more self dependant do therefore needed to import and export less. The coal industry declined because oil and electricity replaced steam power. This was because it was much cheaper and more efficient. Finally textiles were replaced by man made fibres. All of these reasons put together meant that a lot of people were a lot less prosperous in the 1920’s.
The second reason for some Americans being less successful in the 1920’s were the low wages that some industrial workers were getting. Some industries were doing very well at this time and profits went up by as much as 80% but yet many of the wages only rose by 8%. Also wages were very low in places that weren’t so successful. Also another big problem at this stage was that machines were starting to replace humans. This was mainly in industries such as the car industry. Finally in 1920’s America there were many immigrants. These were the people who got it the worst. They got the worst jobs and were on the lowest pay. This was the most obvious reason for some Americans being less successful in the 1920’s as they couldn’t afford the new way of living.
The third group of people that suffered in the 1920’s were farmers. They really suffered from over production which meant that they had to sell at discount prices. This meant that their income was much lower and they struggled to pay off debts which came mostly due to the purchase of machinery. This led to unemployment as many farmers couldn’t afford to keep their farms so they sold them and then all of the farm workers would be unemployed. Those that could afford to keep their farms open; they lived in very bad conditions. This affected the south more than the north. This affected a lot of people and therefore is a big reason why many Americans did not prosper in the 1920’s.
In the 1920’s there was a great amount of prejudice towards black Americans. Although they had been freed from slavery they still lived in poverty where there was also a great amount of segregation. This was very obvious in the cities where black Americans had separate restaurants, cinemas, busses, parks, hair dressers and many other things. They also suffered greatly at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. This was an organisation which tried to preserve white supremacy over Black Americans. Their aim was to strike terror into all black Americans which included things such as night time raids. The 1920’s really was a time of poverty for black Americans.
I conclude that for most people in the USA the decade of the 1920’s was a very successful one but for the minority it was a time of low wages, poverty and segregation. Even though this was the case America was the wealthiest and most developed country in the world.
