After World War 1 the Americans who were run under a Republican Government decided to return to a policy of isolationism. The nine years that followed 1920 were often called the Roaring Twenties. It was a time when cheap cars, radios, refrigerators and many other advances in electrical equipment changed American lives, and when skyscrapers began to rule the skyline. The American public found themselves in an economic boom.

During the 1920's America was governed by three Republican Presidents : Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. Coolidge was very much in favour of business and the stock market. He thought that Americans should concentrate on making themselves prosperous- by investing money, setting up companies and working hard. This was summed up when he was quoted as saying, 'the business of America is business'. Hoover had views on business which were very similar to Coolidge's views. He believed in 'rugged individualism', where people worked hard for themselves. The Republicans' policy was one of the many reasons for the massive economic boom.

The greatest boom that took place in the 1920's was in the car

There was a massive increase in shopping outlets as the new inventions became more popular. For example 'JC Penneys' department stores increased from 312 to 1395 outlets in just nine years. This large increase also provided thousands of jobs.

industry. The Industry had three rival manufacturers - Chrysler, General Motors and Ford. Henry Ford pioneered mass production using assembly lines and was therefore able to sell his cars a lot cheaper. A 'Model T' car that would have cost $1200 in 1909, when it would have been hand built, cost only $295 in 1928 through mass production. Ford also standardised this model(one engine and one colour) which dropped prices even more. By 1928 one in three families owned at least one car.

During the 1920's many small farms that had made agriculture America's largest industry before 1920, were being sold. This was because food prices fell to the advantage of the customer. The reason for this was because farmers were now using new machinery like the combine harvester and the tractor. Using these meant that you could produce more food at a quicker rate. This advancement proved to be a major problem as the farmers were producing more food than the nation could eat. Farmers were getting paid a lower income as surplus food caused prices to drop. T he food was also being sold at large supermarkets at the cheapest prices ever.

Six million families-42% of the total- had an income of less than $1000 a year. With such a low average pay, nearly half of the nation could afford new cars and inventions.

Although there was a drop in employees as mass production began, the car industry did in fact help the employment problem in America to make the USA more prosperous. The manufacturing of cars used up 20% of the Nation's steel, 80% of her rubber, 75% of her plate glass and 65% of her leather industry. This great demand for these resources meant that a huge amount of jobs were created. Many other industries thrived off the car industry. The main example of this is the oil industry. The Oil producers of Texas were made rich as cars on the road used seven billion gallons of petrol a year. As the amount of cars on the road increased new roads had to be built which provided many jobs for the public. In this period thousands of garages, petrol stations, 'motels', restaurants all emerged along the vast amounts of new road. All of these public services provided employment.

America and her people were no longer prosperous and faced a great depression.

Around one million people were investing in shares in 1928. You made money on the Stock Market by selling shares you bought for a higher price. The only problem with this was that it could only work if (a) share prices kept rising and (b) people wanted to buy shares. As su

Some common words found in the essay are:
National Product, America USA, Al Capone, Stock Market, Hoover Coolidge, Henry Ford, Roaring Twenties, Alcohol Secret, Republican Government, Crash America, stock market, surplus food, car industry, mass production, tariff barriers, assembly lines, 'rugged individualism', cars road, economic boom, alcohol consumed,
Approximate Word count = 1945
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)