Who didn’t prosper in the 1920s?
While there were many ‘winners’ in this period, the boom did not have the same impact on everyone.
Farmers in wheat-growing regions
The bulk of farming was still connected to grain growing and faced problems after World War One. Many farmers had prospered during the war by exporting their crops to Europe, where there had been the promise of great profit. Some borrowed money to buy new equipment to maximise their production. However, the end of the war saw these opportunities disappear. This was because the Europeans restarted their own farming sector. Additionally, European governments responded to One of the two major American political parties. Republicans tend to hold a more conservative viewpoint on politics and society.A tax or charge placed on imported or exported goods and services. with tariffs on American goods.
These were not the only problems. Argentinian and Canadian farmers became more competitive, meaning that Agriculture, or farming, is the cultivation of crops and animals to produce food and other products. prices had declined. Farmers continued to The production of more of a product than is wanted or needed. leading to further collapses in agricultural prices. Farmers faced loan repayments they could not afford. They appealed to the government to help them in 1927 and 1928. However, laws designed to protect their prices were The official power to stop new laws being passed or reject courses of action. by President Calvin Coolidge.
Unskilled workers in rural areas
Despite a growing trend towards A growth in the urban population, usually resulting in the extension of towns or cities. at the start of the 1920s, over 60 million people worked in farming. Many employed in this sector were not large farmers but unskilled labourers, including vegetable and fruit pickers. These workers were Farmers who had to pay to use land by giving a proportion of their produce to the owner. and usually lived in poverty. Millions were forced to leave the land because farm owners at first cut wages and then made workers redundant because of falling prices. Many workers travelled to the cities to seek employment.
African Americans
The 1920s was not a boom time for African Americans, who suffered socially, politically and economically. Economically, many African Americans lived in poverty. The majority in the South were sharecroppers. The collapse in agricultural prices saw many move north to find other work.
Socially and politically, African Americans also suffered. In the South, they lived This meant that white people and black people had to live separately. The areas of society affected by segregation included churches, hospitals, theatres and schools. lives under the The laws that introduced segregation in the US South (the laws that kept black people and white people apart). This meant that they were separated from white people in their work, education and leisure activities. They also had inferior housing. Additionally, there was discrimination from groups such as the A white supremacist organisation that used violence and intimidation to target black, immigrant, Jewish and Catholic people. Its members believe, based on incorrect and unscientific ideas about evolution, that white people are superior and should therefore hold the power in society. who challenged anyone who sought to change the separation of the races or tried to improve life for black Americans.
Many black people moved north to cities such as Chicago and Detroit. This was known as the The movement of six million African Americans between 1916-1970 out of the rural south into the urban cities of the North and West. However, even in these northern cities they were forced into ghettos and unofficial segregation.
People employed in traditional industries
The 1920s were difficult for traditional industries such as coal mining, ship building and textiles. These industries suffered due to overproduction and A decrease in demand for a product so any extra production cannot be sold. This leads to lower prices. Their workers experienced similar issues to those faced by farmers.
| Industry | Effect |
| Coal mining | People were demanding more electricity, but oil had become a more popular way of producing it. The coal industry was producing too much coal, and not enough people and countries wanted to buy it. As a result, the price of coal went down and many coal mines closed. |
| Ship building | This industry had to make thousands redundant due to a reduction in the demand for new ships. |
| Textiles | Cotton production suffered because of the invention of new synthetic materials such as rayon, which could be produced in factories with a lower number of workers. New tastes in fashion also saw a reduced need for fabric, with shorter hemlines and thinner materials. |
| Industry | Coal mining |
|---|---|
| Effect | People were demanding more electricity, but oil had become a more popular way of producing it. The coal industry was producing too much coal, and not enough people and countries wanted to buy it. As a result, the price of coal went down and many coal mines closed. |
| Industry | Ship building |
|---|---|
| Effect | This industry had to make thousands redundant due to a reduction in the demand for new ships. |
| Industry | Textiles |
|---|---|
| Effect | Cotton production suffered because of the invention of new synthetic materials such as rayon, which could be produced in factories with a lower number of workers. New tastes in fashion also saw a reduced need for fabric, with shorter hemlines and thinner materials. |
The unemployed
With the problems of overproduction and under-consumption faced by some traditional industries, unemployment remained an issue throughout the period. However, it rarely went above 4 per cent. In the textile industry, some northern business owners took advantage of lower wages in the South by relocating their businesses from New England. This caused unemployment in the north.
Where unemployment was an issue, certain sectors of society were more likely to lose their jobs. Women, Hispanic people and African Americans were all heavily overrepresented among the unemployed. Poverty was a significant problem, with around 6 million families living on less than $1,000 per year. This was less than half of what many believed was the The estimated minimum level of income needed to secure the necessities of life. in this period.
Native Americans
Most Native Americans lived in extreme poverty. Despite being the original inhabitants of America, in the 19th century they were dispossessed of large amounts of their land. By the 1920s, they had been largely forced off their traditional lands to areas called An area of land governed by Native Americans, who report to the US government, not the state the reservation is located in. This land was often unfertile and desolate. For Native Americans, life expectancy was extremely low and life was overshadowed by poverty.
