Transcript The Roaring Twenties

Today’s Questions
1. What were the government’s beliefs
during the Roaring Twenties?
2. How did Henry Ford’s assembly line
affect business?
3. What did Americans spend their
disposable income on in the Twenties?
The Roaring Twenties
An Introduction
Calvin Coolidge
• Hands off government
• Laissez faire
economic theory
– If the government left
business alone, with
no regulations,
business would benefit
the nation
Calvin Coolidge
• It wasn’t the
government’s job to
help people with
social and economic
problems
– Farmers
• New machinery helped
them produce more
food in less time
• Coolidge vetoed bill that
would buy the extra
food
Disposable Income
• National income rose by 35%
– $522 to $716
– Americans had more money to spend
• Bought goods
• Did things for fun (leisure activities)
Henry Ford and His
Model T
Henry Ford and His Model T
• Assembly line
– Sped up production
– Lowered cost to make
– Lowered price to buy
• 1914
– Ford cut workday from 9 to 8 hours
– Increased workers’ pay to $5 a day
– Effects
• Guaranteed plenty of workers for plants
• Created new customers who could afford Ford cars
Henry Ford and His
Model T
• Produced 1 million in
1920
• Cost to consumer
$335
• By the mid-1920s one
every 10 seconds
Technology and its Effects
• Products created faster and cheaper
– Installment buying
• repaying the amount borrowed in
small monthly payments
• Mostly only white middle class that
could afford the new products
Technology and its Effects
• Petroleum and electricity widely available
– Electric vacuum cleaners
– Washers
– Sewing machines
– Toasters
– Fans