America during the 20's

 America in the 20's

• After WW1, durieng the 20's, the USA entered a period of economic boom which made the envy of the world, this exciting time is know as the « roaring twenties » :                                                                                                                                              →  USA were high profits  and a social revolution.                                                                        → Huge numbers of people acquired mobility through cars and knowledge from the movies      an their newly acquired radios.

• It was also a decade of problems : After WW1 americans began to turn their minds away from the outside world. This inward thinking created a policy of isolationism. The introduction of prohibition in 1919 didn't cure America's socials problems and led to further violence and corruption.

I- The roaring twenties

A- The economic boom

The USA was very rich in these years : During WW1, USA made huge loans to the allies and during the 20's these loanswere being repaid with interests and so, banks had plenty of money to permit to industrialiststo invest in new factories and new ways of producing.

1) Mass production and car industry

assembly line : travail à la chaine

mass production : americans buisnessmen set an assembly lines and produced goods at speed and in huge quantities

Hoover : vaccum cleaner

stoves : cuisinière

The car industry

In an assembly line, each worker stood beside and had a number of small jobs to do as the car moved past : it was quick and efficient.

             It was possible because the car produced were identical, it's called standardization.

The majors cars firms /companies Ford produced 23 millions cars by 1933 almost enough for 1 for each american familyusing this system of production.

At the same time, the electrical industry prospered : it made hundred of thousands of refregirators, vaccum cleaners, stoves and radios.  → It's a new way of life appeared consequently to this mass prod.

USA : 1st consumer society : 1st nation in history to build its way of life on selling vast quantities of goods that gave « ordinary » people easier

Bads consequences of mass production (Modern times by Charlie Chaplin)

Workers are compared to sheeps : workers don't think,so, they are stupid, they're all brainless. Charlie is destroyed by the machine but he's able to destroy this stupidway of work.

The boss is lazy, never moves from his desk chair (does puzzle). He doesn't want to be mixed with the workers.

2) A new way of life, the 1st consumer society

To sell all these next products, industries used sophisticated propaganda tu persuade americans too buy consumer goods.

Adds managed to convince people to consume using :

• Famous succesful characters in order to make people follow those figure
• Positive figure like family

Advertising through radios, newspapers, billboards

Businessmen became populars heroes : the american president Calvin Coolidge said « the man who built  a temple », for him the businessmen are as importants as priests.

B- Changing life style, the birth of popular culture

With more spare time americans began to look more and more toward leisure pursuits (radio is the most popular) :

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