Welcome to Life in the USA, 1920-1968!
Hello! This chapter is all about incredible change in America – a rollercoaster ride covering booming economies, devastating poverty, a World War, and a monumental fight for equality. This period (1920–1968) is crucial because the challenges faced then shaped the modern world we live in today. Don’t worry if some of the concepts seem big; we will break them down into easy steps!
Remember, this study is part of "Studies in Change," so your focus should always be on how things changed and why they changed.
Section 1: The Roaring Twenties – Prosperity and Social Conflict (1920–1929)
The Economic Boom: Why the USA was "Roaring"
The 1920s saw the USA become the richest nation on Earth. This massive growth was driven by a few key factors:
- Mass Production (The Assembly Line): Pioneered by Henry Ford for his cars (the Model T). This process made goods much faster and cheaper. Imagine a conveyor belt building your phone—that’s the assembly line!
- New Industries: Huge growth in electrical goods (radios, fridges, vacuum cleaners), which made life easier for middle-class families.
- Credit and Hire Purchase: People could buy expensive items immediately and pay them off in small weekly or monthly installments. This is like getting a loan. This increased demand massively.
- Advertising: New, persuasive ways to sell products created a powerful consumer culture.
Quick Review: The economy boomed because goods were cheap, and everyone could afford them (using credit).
Social and Cultural Change
The prosperity led to massive cultural shifts:
- The Jazz Age: New music and dancing became popular.
- Changing Role of Women (The Flappers): Young women, known as Flappers, challenged traditional rules. They wore shorter dresses, smoked, drank, and went out unescorted. They gained the right to vote in 1920.
- The Great Migration: Millions of African Americans moved from the rural, segregated South to industrial cities in the North and West looking for work.
Deep Divisions and Conflict
Not everyone was celebrating. The 1920s were also full of tension:
1. Prohibition (1920–1933):
The government banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol (due to pressure from moral groups).
Common Mistake: Prohibition did not stop drinking. It led to organised crime (like Al Capone) controlling illegal liquor sales (bootlegging) in hidden bars (speakeasies).
2. Racism and Intolerance:
- The Ku Klux Klan (KKK): This white supremacist group experienced a massive revival. They terrorized Black Americans, Catholics, and Jews.
- Immigration Restrictions: Laws were passed (like the Quota Acts) to severely limit the number of immigrants, especially those from Southern and Eastern Europe, based on fear and prejudice.
Did you know? Many farmers did not share in the prosperity. Increased production during WWI led to massive overproduction later, causing crop prices to collapse throughout the 1920s.
Key Takeaway for Section 1: The 1920s were defined by economic growth and fun, but this masked deep social problems like racism, intolerance, and crime.
Section 2: Crash and Depression (1929–1933)
The good times came to a sudden, terrible end.
Causes of the Great Depression
The boom rested on shaky foundations:
1. Overproduction and Under-consumption: Factories produced more goods than people could afford to buy. When demand dropped, factories cut staff.
2. Unequal Distribution of Wealth: A small percentage of the population held most of the wealth. Most ordinary people couldn't keep buying goods once their credit ran out.
3. The Stock Market Speculation: Many people invested in stocks, hoping to get rich quickly. They often bought 'on margin' (borrowing money to buy shares). This created a speculative bubble.
The Wall Street Crash (October 1929)
Fear spread, and everyone tried to sell their shares at once. Since no one was buying, prices plummeted. People who bought 'on margin' were instantly bankrupt.
Analogy: Imagine a crowd rushing for the single exit door in a cinema. Everyone panics, and the chaos makes things worse. The market crash spread fear and panic across the whole economy.
The Impact on Americans
The crash spiraled into the Great Depression:
- Bank Runs and Closures: Banks lost money in the crash and went bankrupt. Millions of people lost their life savings overnight.
- Mass Unemployment: By 1933, over 13 million people (about 1 in 4 workers) were unemployed.
- Homelessness: Families lost their homes and were forced to live in shantytowns (slum areas) nicknamed Hoovervilles (named after the President, Herbert Hoover, whom they blamed).
- The Dust Bowl: In the Mid-West, years of poor farming practices combined with severe drought created massive dust storms, destroying farms and forcing thousands of families (Okies) to migrate west.
President Hoover’s Response: Hoover believed in Laissez-faire—the idea that the government should not interfere and that the economy would fix itself. This slow, cautious approach failed badly, leading to massive public anger.
Key Takeaway for Section 2: Economic weakness (overproduction and speculation) caused the crash. The depression brought widespread poverty, and the government's initial refusal to intervene made the suffering worse.
Section 3: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was elected with a promise of "a New Deal" for America. He believed the government must take direct action to save the economy.
The New Deal Philosophy: The Three Rs
The New Deal was a series of emergency laws and programs designed to deliver:
- Relief: Giving direct aid (money, food) to the hungry and homeless.
- Recovery: Getting the economy going again (e.g., creating jobs and supporting industry).
- Reform: Changing the system so a depression could never happen again.
Key New Deal Programs (Relief and Recovery Examples)
- Banking Reform: FDR declared a "bank holiday" to close all banks and only allowed sound banks to reopen, restoring public confidence.
- The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): Gave jobs to young, unemployed men doing conservation work (planting trees, building parks).
- The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): Built dams to provide hydroelectric power and control flooding in a very poor region. This created thousands of jobs and modernized the South.
Key New Deal Programs (Reform Example)
The most important reform was the Social Security Act (1935), which provided old-age pensions, unemployment benefits, and support for disabled people. This was a massive step in creating a welfare state in America.
Why was the New Deal Revolutionary? It fundamentally changed the relationship between the American people and their government. The government was now expected to protect citizens from economic catastrophe.
Challenges and Criticism
- Conservatives/Republicans: Argued that the New Deal was making the government too powerful and expensive, and that it was moving towards socialism.
- The Supreme Court: Ruled several key New Deal programs unconstitutional, forcing FDR to modify them.
- Impact: While the New Deal eased suffering, it did not fully end the Great Depression. It took the massive spending of World War II (starting 1941 for the USA) to truly restore the economy.
Key Takeaway for Section 3: FDR reversed Hoover’s approach by using active government intervention (Relief, Recovery, Reform). While heavily criticized, the New Deal set the groundwork for modern American social security.
Section 4: The Affluent Society and Conformity (1945–1960s)
World War II pulled the US out of the Depression, transforming its industry and military power. The post-war period was one of massive economic success and suburban growth.
The Post-War Boom
- Economic Prosperity: The US dominated world trade. Wages increased and inflation remained low.
- The Baby Boom: Millions of babies were born between 1945 and 1960. These families needed bigger houses and more consumer goods.
- The Growth of Suburbs: Mass-produced, affordable housing developments like Levittown enabled white, middle-class families to move out of crowded cities.
- Consumer Culture Returns: New products (TVs, washing machines, cars) were essential status symbols in the new suburban lifestyle.
Social Change and Conformity
The 1950s is often described as a time of conformity (everyone trying to be the same):
- Traditional Gender Roles: Women were often expected to return to the home after the war, focusing on domestic duties and raising children.
- Teen Culture: Teenagers, for the first time, had money and cultural influence. Rock and Roll music (e.g., Elvis Presley) challenged parental authority.
- The Cold War: Fear of Communism led to widespread suspicion and a desire for social and political uniformity.
Did you know? While the suburbs represented the American Dream for many, they were often highly segregated. Restrictive covenants often legally prevented non-white families from buying homes in these areas.
Key Takeaway for Section 4: The post-war economy created an affluent, suburbanized society dominated by consumerism and strong social conformity, though these benefits were often restricted along racial lines.
Section 5: The Civil Rights Movement (1945–1968)
Despite economic growth, millions of African Americans still faced systemic racism, especially in the South under Jim Crow laws (laws enforcing racial segregation).
Segregation and Discrimination
- De Jure Segregation: Segregation enforced by LAW (especially in the South: separate schools, restrooms, buses).
- De Facto Segregation: Segregation existing by custom and practice (especially in the North: housing discrimination, unequal job opportunities).
The Legal Fight (1940s–1950s)
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) used the courts to challenge segregation.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): The Supreme Court ruled that 'separate but equal' in public education was unconstitutional. This overturned the 1896 ruling (Plessy v. Ferguson) and ordered the desegregation of schools.
Step-by-Step Example (Little Rock, 1957):
1. Nine Black students tried to enroll at a formerly all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2. The state governor used the National Guard to block them.
3. President Eisenhower intervened, sending federal troops to protect the students, showing that the federal government would enforce desegregation.
Direct Action and Non-Violence (Late 1950s–1960s)
Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), activists used peaceful resistance (non-violence and civil disobedience).
- Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956): Triggered by Rosa Parks, this year-long boycott crippled the bus company and led to the Supreme Court ruling bus segregation unconstitutional.
- Sit-ins (1960): Students sat at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until served. This action spread across the South, attracting huge media attention.
- Freedom Rides (1961): Activists rode buses through the South to test desegregation laws. They met violent resistance, forcing federal intervention.
- The March on Washington (1963): A massive demonstration where MLK delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, placing intense pressure on politicians in Washington.
Legislative Victories
Following the March and the assassination of President Kennedy, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, pushed through key laws:
1. The Civil Rights Act (1964): Outlawed segregation in all public places (e.g., restaurants, cinemas, restrooms) and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or origin.
2. The Voting Rights Act (1965): Outlawed literacy tests and other methods used to prevent African Americans from voting, allowing millions to register for the first time.
Changing Focus (Mid-1960s)
Despite these successes, poverty and de facto segregation persisted in inner cities. Figures like Malcolm X and groups advocating Black Power (like the Black Panthers) grew in popularity. They criticized MLK's non-violence, demanding immediate change and, sometimes, racial separatism.
The period ends tragically with the assassination of MLK in 1968, marking a shift in the movement's tactics and goals.
Key Takeaway for Section 5: The Civil Rights Movement used legal challenges and non-violent direct action to force the government to end de jure segregation through the landmark Civil Rights (1964) and Voting Rights (1965) Acts.