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Unlock This CourseThe 1920s are remembered as the 'Roaring Twenties', a time of cars, radios and rising wages for many Americans. But the boom was uneven. Millions of people worked in farming and in the older industries, and for them the decade was a struggle.
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During the First World War, farms in Europe were damaged and many farm workers became soldiers. European countries bought huge amounts of American wheat and other food. Prices were high, so American farmers borrowed money to buy more land and new machinery, and they grew as much as they could.
After the war the good times ended. European farms recovered and countries such as Canada and Argentina were also selling grain, so Europe needed much less from the USA. At the same time, high American tariffs, including the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922, made it harder for other countries to sell goods in the USA. Some countries answered with tariffs of their own, which made American farm goods harder to sell abroad. Farmers had lost important export markets.
Farmers kept growing as much as they had in wartime. With less demand, there was a surplus. Prices fell sharply in 1920-21 and stayed low through the decade. Many farmers grew even more to earn the same money, which pushed prices down further.
Tractors and combine harvesters let one farmer work far more land. The number of tractors on American farms rose from roughly a quarter of a million in 1920 to over 900,000 by 1930. This increased the surplus, and farm labourers lost their jobs.
Machines cost a great deal. Large farms could afford them. Small farmers often could not, so they could not compete, and they were left growing the same crops for less money.
Many farmers had taken out mortgages in the war years to buy land and machines. The repayments stayed the same, but their income dropped as prices fell. They fell into debt. When they could not pay, banks took back the farms through foreclosure. Thousands of small country banks also failed, because so many of their farming customers could not repay their loans.
Some farmers lost their land and became tenants, or left for the cities to look for work. Farm families were far poorer than city workers. Yet the Republican governments of the 1920s believed in leaving the economy alone and did little to help.
Farming was not the only trouble spot. Some of the oldest industries also suffered.
Too many mines had opened to meet wartime demand. In the 1920s factories, ships and homes began to use oil, gas and electricity instead of coal. Demand fell, mines closed and miners faced wage cuts and lost jobs.
Cotton and woollen mills struggled. Cheaper mills in the South took business from the old mills of New England, and new man-made fibres such as rayon competed with natural cloth. Many mills closed or cut wages.
Millions of Americans now owned cars. Buses and lorries also carried people and goods. The railways lost passengers and freight, and some lines closed.
In all of these, workers were paid less and often lost their jobs. They could not afford the new cars and radios, so they were left out of the consumer boom described in the earlier lessons of this investigation.
Question: Why did farmers fall into debt?
Cause: In the war they borrowed to buy land and machines. Change: After the war prices fell because of over-production and lost export markets. Result: Their income dropped but their repayments did not, so they could not pay the debts.
Describe TWO features of EITHER the problems faced by American farmers in the 1920s OR the decline of the older industries in the USA in the 1920s. [6 marks]
(Farming) One feature was falling prices caused by over-production. During the First World War, farmers grew as much as they could for Europe. After the war European farms recovered and demand fell, so there was a surplus and prices dropped sharply. Farmers earned much less for the same crops.
Another feature was debt. Many farmers had borrowed money to buy land and machinery in the war years. When their incomes fell they could not keep up the repayments, so banks took back farms through foreclosure, and many small rural banks failed.
What lifts it to the top level: each feature is clearly named, then developed with accurate detail on how and why it hurt farmers, not just a general comment that farming was poor.
Write two separate paragraphs and pick the option you know better. One feature alone, however good, can score no more than half marks.