USA Depth Study: January 2011 Questions 4 and 6

4) a) This poster was published to persuade people to support the Anti-Saloon League in their efforts to pass prohibition (purpose). This is shown in the cartoon by the man spending his ‘week’s wages’ in a saloon whilst his wife is unable to afford to feed their child because they don’t have enough money (source level 3 – 3 marks). This poster was produced by the Anti-Saloon League who were an organisation seeking to introduce prohibition into America during this period. They believed that many men were spending all their money in saloons, rather than taking their wages home to feed their families. In fact, they also claimed that 3000 infants were smothered each year by drunken parents rolling onto them, highlighting another reason for passing prohibition (context. Level 5 – 6 marks). As such, the poster was produced to persuade people that prohibition was a good thing and that they should support it.

4)b) This source clearly proves that prohibition was successfully enforced because it shows a prohibition agent pouring bootlegged liquor down a drain. Bootlegged liquor was alcohol that was being illegally smuggled across America. We know that prohibition was successfully enforced (as shown in this photo) because Issy Einstein was able to find illegal alcohol in New Orleans within 35 seconds of arriving there (he was offered a bottle of whiskey in a taxi!). This is further supported by the fact that 11,860,000 gallons of illegal spirits were seized in 1929 by prohibition agents. (Explanation with context of info in the source. Level 2 – 4 marks)

However, this source does not show all the facts. In fact, William McKoy was able to make $70 million smuggling whiskey during this period (identification of failure of prohibition enforcement. Level 3 – 5 marks). This demonstrates that prohibition was not entirely successfully enforced since Mckoy was able to make so much money illegally. This was further shown by the fact that there were more Speakeasies in America by 1929 than there had been Saloons in 1919, clearly the production and consumption of illegal alcohol was not being stopped (explanation with context of factors not in the source. Level 4 – 6 marks).

Overall, it is clear that this source does not prove that prohibition was successfully enforced. In fact this is probably produced by the government to persuade people that it was being successfully enforced. In reality, too many officials were being bribed to turn a blind eye to the production of illegal alcohol for it to be effectively enforced. (Judgement as to how far. Level 5 – 7 marks)

4)c) This source does not surprise me since I know that more and more Americans were speculating on the Stock Exchange during the 1920s, in fact by 1929 there were 600,000 speculators on the US Stock Exchange. Many women were able to take advantage of the increased opportunities available in the economic boom from the 1920s and as a result were able to invest in the stock market. (Explanation of not surprise, using the source and context. Level 3 – 4 marks)

On the other hand, this source does surprise me because there were large areas of society not effected by the boom. For example, women living in the country were not able to take up these opportunities, in fact farm profits fell by 50% in 1921 alone. (Explanation of surprise with context. Level 4 – 6 marks)

6) a) As a result of the Wall Street Crash many people went bankrupt, as they were unable to pay back the money that they had borrowed from the bank to buy their shares (1 mark). As companies tried to save money they made many people unemployed (1 mark), this meant that many people could not pay their mortgages, so they lost their homes (1 mark). As a result, many people ended up living in Hoovervilles (1 mark) these were shanty towns made of scrap metal and named after the president of the time (1 mark). Many banks also went bust as they tried to get their money back from people who couldn’t pay (1 mark) (4 mark maximum)

6) b) Speculation helped to cause the Wall Street Crash because it meant that more and more people were starting to gamble on the Stock Market. Speculators were people who were looking to make quick money, rather than investing in the companies that they were buying shares in. By 1929

there were 600,000 Speculators on the Stock Market and many of these were ordinary people who didn’t really have any idea of what they were doing. This helped to continue to drive up the price of shares before the crash, and as a result people lost even more money when the Crash occurred. (One reason explained in detail. Level 2 – 4 marks)

A second reason was people ‘buying on the margin’ which meant that they were able to buy shares with less money paid up front. Unfortunately this meant that they still owed the full amount when the crash happened. The quick profit that they were hoping to make turned into a debt of the full amount. (Second reason explained. Level 3 – 5 marks, not as detailed)

4)c) One of the main reasons for Roosevelt’s victory in the Presidential election of 1932 was due to President Hoover’s unpopularity. Hoover had become unpopular because he had become known as a ‘do nothing’ president after the Wall Street Crash. The Wall Street Crash had caused mass unemployment across America with cities like Toledo seeing unemployment hit 80%, but Hoover believed in ‘rugged individualism’ (the idea that the individual should help themselves, and government shouldn’t get involved) and as a result got a reputation for not helping people in need. In fact Hoover kept claiming that ‘prosperity is just around the corner’ and didn’t get involved in supporting people out of Hoovervilles (slums named after the president, which shows how unpopular he was). This failure to support people was best shown by his treatment of the Bonus Marchers who were WWI veterans asking for their pension bonus to be paid early. Hoover allowed General MacArthur to burn their camp down and accuse them of being Communists. He had developed a reputation as someone who had nothing to offer people and this meant that no-one wanted to vote for him, this helped Roosevelt. (One side explained. Level 3- 6 marks)

On the other hand, Roosevelt offered people a ‘New Deal’, he was very keen to emphasise the contrast to Hoover. Roosevelt was keen to ‘do something’ and this included promises of more jobs, help for agriculture and solving the banking crisis. This meant that people were keen to vote for him because he had something to offer. This was further supported by Roosevelt’s proactive campaign which saw him travel over 20,800km to spread his message and give over 16 major speeches on his campaign. This seemed to back up his message of wanting to do something and meant that people were more willing to vote for him, unlike Hoover, who had little to offer. (Other side explained. Level 4 – 8 marks)

In conclusion, it is clear that Roosevelt had something very different to offer from Hoover and this helped him to get elected. However, without the Crash itself, and the weak reaction of Hoover, Roosevelt would not have been able to offer something different. Had Hoover done something rather than trying to avoid getting involved, then Roosevelt would not have found it so easy to persuade people to vote for him. In fact, it was only because Hoover had become so unpopular, and had such a poor reputation that Roosevelt was able to persuade people to vote for him with vague promises. (Direct comparison in conclusion. Level 5 – 10 marks)