USA 1917 - 1954 Overview - Mindmap in A Level and IB History

Created by: BeccaS
Created on: 27-05-13 15:35

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USA 1917 - 1954 Overview
- First World War
  - USA exports huge amounts of war materials to Britain and France
  - German U-boats interrupt the supply chain
    - USA exports huge amounts of war materials to Britain and France
    - Attacking US ships and killing Americans (e.g. 182 Americans killed on the 'Lustiana' in 1917
  - Political debate about possible involvement
    - Majority of Congress (including President Wilson) against
  - Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare (Feb 1917)
    - April 1917 - USA declares war on Germany
- The 'Roaring Twenties'
  - 1921 - Harding becomes President, promising a "return to normalcy"
    - Andrew Mellon and Herbert Hoover appointed to cabinet
  - Growth of new industries - cars, film, radio etc.
  - Returning troops create pressure on the jobs market - leads to a post-war recession
  - Easy credit
  - 1923 - Coolidge becomes President after Harding dies
  - 1929 - Harding takes over as President (but had different views on Government policy)
- The Darker side to the Twenties
  - 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
    - Minority of the Temperance movement prevailing
    - Led to an increase in organised crime (bootleggers, speakeasies)
      - Problems with enforcement
  - First Red Scare (1919) fueled by Russian Revolution, industrial unrest, Boston police strike, assassination attempts
    - Palmer Raids, establishment of the precursor to the FBI
  - 1924 Quota Act on immigration
    - Increases racial tensions
      - Racism, segregation
  - KKK membership reaches peak of 5 million in 1925
    - Increases racial tensions
      - Racism, segregation
    - Lynchings
    - Power and influence
  - 1925 - "Monkey Trial" in Tennessee
    - Rural vs Urban
      - 18th Amendment (1920) enforced Prohibition
        Minority of the Temperance movement prevailing
        
        Led to an increase in organised crime (bootleggers, speakeasies)
        Problems with enforcement
  - Democratic Party is small (no broad, national appeal) and is split between Southern and Urban Democrats
- The Great Depression
  - October 1929 - The Wall Street Crash
  - Overproduction and under-consumption led to economic difficulties
    - Economy based on vast capacity to consume
  - Banking crisis
    - Led to even less capacity to consume
    - Develops into an international crisis
  - 1931 - 'Bonus Army' march on Washington
  - RFC created in 1932 by Hoover
    - But taxes were raised making this almost obsolete
  - June 1930 - Hawley-Smoot Tariff damaged international trade
    - The US could not export
  - Interest rates were increased thus making recovery more difficult
- The New Deal
  - The 100 Days (March-June 1933); Democrats and Republicans worked together
  - The Emergency Banking Act was the first measure created in order to prevent a second banking crisis
  - Relief, Recovery and Reform
  - 1934 - Midterm Congressional election gave Roosevelt more pro-New Deal Democrats in Congress and the Senate
    - Can be seen as leading to the Second New Deal
  - Second New Deal seen as both more radical and more conservative
    - Can be seen as leading to the Second New Deal
  - 1936 election; Roosevelt re-elected with more Democrats in Congress and the Senate
  - September 1939 - European demand for arms helped to stimulate US economy - more effective than the New Deal?
- Opposition to the New Deal
  - Opposition first starts to appear in 1934: Liberty League, Huey Long etc.
  - 'Court Packing' Plan led to the "switch in time that saved nine"
  - 1938 - New Deal begins to run out of steam: anti-lynching law defeated in Congress by Southern Democrats
  - The Supreme Court and Huey Long posed the greatest challenge to FDR
  - Supreme Court declared that the AAA and the NRA were unconstitutional
  - Huey Long was the popular Governor of Louisiana, but he was very radical and was assassinated in 1935
- Second World War
  - September 1939 - war in Europe starts
    - US sells war materials to the Allies which helps to stimulate the US economy
      - September 1939 - European demand for arms helped to stimulate US economy - more effective than the New Deal?
  - New Deal lost momentum
  - 'Isolationism' was a powerful political philosophy that was popular at the time and was averse to the US helping the Allies
    - 1930s Neutrality Acts passed by Congress stated what could be done in the event of a war
    - US sells war materials to the Allies which helps to stimulate the US economy
  - US began rearmament in 1940
  - Acts passed to control wages and prices
  - December 1941 - US joins the Second World war
    - Caused by unrestricted German submarine warfare and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour
  - November 1939 - Roosevelt introduces "Cash and Carry" system for allies to buy equipment
  - 1941 - Lend Lease Act
  - Treatment of African-Americans
  - Executive Order 8802
- Post WW2 Prosperity
  - 1949 - Second Red Scare
    - Caused by worry after first nuclear bomb test in USSR, China becoming communist and the Korean War
  - Cold War begins in 1949, triggering mass rearmament of US troops
  - Unemployment at 1.9% in 1945
  - In 1947 the US produced
    - 62% of the world's oil
    - 57% of the world's steel
    - 43% of the world's electricity
    - 50% of the world's manufactured goods
  - Marshall Plan gave $13 million to European countries for rebuilding
  - GI Bill (1944) offered grants to ex-servicemen to improve their education or set up a business
  - 1940 - Alien Registration Act passed
    - McCarthyism starts in 1950
  - Number of cars rose by 21 million during the 1950s and there were over 80 million in the US by 1960
  - Baby Boom - 76.4 million babies born between 1946 and 1964
  - By 1953 the average family income was $4011 per year

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USA 1917 - 1954 Overview

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