HSC Modern History. Year 2017 Mark Pages 24 Published Apr 5, Option I: USA Notes. By Sophie (99.5 ATAR)

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1 HSC Modern History Year 2017 Mark Pages 24 Published Apr 5, 2018 Option I: USA Notes By Sophie (99.5 ATAR)

2 Powered by TCPDF ( Your notes author, Sophie. Sophie achieved an ATAR of 99.5 in 2017 while attending Riverside Girls High School Currently studying Bachelor of Physiotherapy at The University of Sydney Achievements: 2017 HSC Premiers All Rounder State rank of 14th in HSC Biology Principal's Award for Academic Excellence HSC Distinguished Achiever in all subjects Sophie says: Hey! My name is Sophie, a Premiers All Rounder for the 2017 HSC with an ATAR of 99.5 and a State Ranking in Biology. I attended Riverside Girls High School, receiving a mark of 93 (Band 6) or above for all of my HSC subjects. I believe there are many tips and tricks that allowed me to ascertain my ATAR of 99.5, which I am extremely keen to impart through my concise summary notes. Having graduated from a non-selective, public school, I understand the importance of high internal rankings and am able to provide year-long assistance to achieve optimal rankings and results in an accessible, relevant manner.

3 USA NOTES 1. POLITICS IN THE 1920 S 1.1 REPUBLICAN ECONOMIC POLICIES Three successive Republican Administrations took the US from a state of recession after to WWI into a decade of apparent prosperity through industrial and manufacturing products All presidencies favoured large corporations, propelling a recession in agricultural farming Established a false sustenance of prosperity as rampant consumerism slowed down Central Tenets Warren Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Return to normalcy resounded The business of America is Rugged individualism positively with war-weary voters business capitalist focus Policies No regulations or subsidies Low taxes 77% to 24% taxes Limited international trade Imposed measures to curtail trade union activity Emergency Tariff Act 1921: established tariffs of up to 50% on imports to protect US business from foreign competition Fordney-McCumber Act 1922: undermined foreign companies Other Capitalised on immense feeling of nostalgia Encouraged the shift from Progressivism to laissez-faire economics/capitalism Extended Harding s policies with further tax cuts for expensive business and corporations Low interest rates for businesses and the wealthy Incites frugal government expenditure Further raises import tariffs McNary-Hayden Bill vetoed price support scheme for farmers overproduction too interventionist underpins output Civil Rights not occurring at this point poverty is overlooked government apathetic Introduces graduated income tax as opposed to flat rate Continued high tariffs, tax cuts, help for farmers and upheld Prohibition Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930): imposed import duties to highest ever rates (up to 40%) Acknowledged poverty and aimed to banish it 1.2 LONG-TERM CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION The Great Depression affected every industrialised country and was extremely psychologically damaging - stark contrast to prosperity of 1920s Underlying the new wealth of the 1920s was entrenched poverty in the cities and rural areas of the US The Depression appeared to signal the final, inevitable collapse of an economy that had been beset for at least fifty years by overproduction and an excess of competition Cause Effect Statistics Speculative investment on stock market led to evaporation in business confidence as bankruptcies and bank failures multiplied reliance on credit Continued to rise throughout 1920's even though economy was in trouble People borrowed to invest in fortunes of the stock market, thinking they would make good return and pay back loans People were buying shares in companies where the value was merely an illusion From early 1928 to September 1929, Dow Jones Index (measure of investment in stocks and shares) rose from 191 to 381 points (99%)

4 Company profits did not translate into higher wages for workers manufacturing sector had a fundamental flaw macroeconomic problem of insufficient demand and high unemployment Once investors saw this they became disillusioned and panicked, selling their shares Workers who couldn t afford to buy goods outright bought them on credit Banks over-extended credit and savings were drying up US government did nothing to diversify industrial base of the nation or move to stop monopolies being created (Dennett) Little profits that were made were directed at increased production and company expansion rather than workers' salaries, creating a surplus of consumer products few could afford to buy Modern techniques of mass production outstripped the capacity of the public to consume (Fordism) still had large desire to buy Those lucky enough to engage in full time work saw their average earnings fall by a third Many only employed part time Farmers suffered more than anyone as prices collapsed US trade fell from $10 billion in 1929 to $3 billion in 1932 By mid-1932 industrial output had dropped to half the 1929 level By 1929, 60% of all car purchases and 80% of all radio purchases were based on 'hire purchase' credit Income plummeted from $6 billion to $2 billion from Production increased 4 times more than increase in wages Capitalist system Competition permeated American industry; price-cutting was rife while economic contraction outstripped expansion Free-market economy failed to operate at a level that allowed most Americans to attain economic success Weak banking system Too many small banks unable to cope with sudden rush to withdraw savings that took place in autumn 1929 simply unable to return money culmination of speculation evolving into paranoia Lack of regulation didn t manipulate interest rates Called in loans and refused to make new ones saw little investment With the collapse of various banks, citizens lost their entire life savings High tariffs Restricted European imports, creating more capital wealth for America (more profit kept inside US) Outstripped capacity to buy + high tariffs limited the ability of businesses to sell overseas and displace product Unable to sell exports to the US, European nations found it more and more difficult to pay back wartime loans USA was unable to sell surplus of supply overseas due to high tariff retaliation American capitalism is unstable with a strong bias toward depression John Kenneth Galbraith According to Galbraith and David Kennedy the agricultural sector had been in a recession since 1919

5 Powered by TCPDF ( Chaotic financial situation after 1918 In 1920's USA provided Germany with massive amounts of short term loans used to pay reparations to Britain and France Eventuated in a situation in which American goods were being purchased in Western Europe with borrowed American money Near collapse of American banking system led to sudden recall of these loans devastating impact on economies of Western Europe Created a social/political/economic vacuum 1.3 THE GREAT CRASH OF 1929 The Great Crash of 1929 reverberated through the financial system, annihilating billions of dollars in asset values and forcing bank closures, raising a mighty cry for the reform of Wall Street (Kennedy) Cardinal affliction pervasive, systemic ignorance blanketed Wall St like a perpetual fog Symbolic of the long term causes of the great depression badly impeding to the efficient operation of market Between 1929 and the Presidential election of 1932 the US national income fell from $87.4 billion to $41.7 billion Almost businesses went bankrupt 5000 banks failed Unemployment reached 4 million in 1930 and then doubled by 1931 According to David Kennedy there is a lack of clear empirical evidence to establish the Wall St Crash as a cause of the Great Depression Economic experts at the time including John Maynard Keynes described the crash as a healthy correction in the market that would free up capital for more productive uses o Stock market crash did not send people into bankruptcy apparent recovery Crash reflected the volatility of public confidence stems from recognising the imbalance of consumption and production US went into state of paranoia Mellon argued it was a good and normal occurrence Signified the development of a fundamental, permanent crisis in the economic and social relations of American capitalism Lewis Corey David Kennedy: there is a lack of evidence to establish the Wall St Crash as a cause of the GD 2. THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND ITS IMPACT 2.1 EFFECTS OF THE DEPRESSION ON DIFFERENT GROUPS IN SOCIETY: WORKERS, WOMEN, FARMERS, AFRO-AMERICANS 1920s are often presented as a decade of hedonism and prosperity acts as a homogenous generalisation Societal Effect group Workers Became resentful of high costs of living, long hours and unsympathetic management - led to an increase in strike actions Workers who remained in employment faced low wages and the constant fear of losing their jobs Statistics Unemployment rose from 8.7% in 1930 to 26.7% in 1934 At least 20% of the male workforce was unemployed 1.5 million husbands could not cope with loss of status and walked out of families Average incomes fell from $681 to $495 per year