The USA 1919–1948: The People and the State (J410/06) - The ‘Roaring Twenties’ — OCR GCSE History
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The USA 1919–1948: The People and the State (J410/06) - The ‘Roaring Twenties’ explained
This topic examines how far the 1920s brought prosperity and how far it brought division.
Read the full explanation
Learn Republican policies and ideology: low taxation, tariffs, laissez-faire and support for business, which encouraged mass production and consumer spending. Then sort winners from losers: booming car, electrical and construction industries, plus some urban white-collar workers, against struggling farmers, Black Americans, many immigrants and some older industries. Cover government and women, including women's rights movements and the Sheppard-Towner Act, which funded maternal and infant health care. Trace prohibition's causes, aims, implementation and failure. Study prejudice through Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan, the Red Scare with the Palmer Raids and Sacco and Vanzetti, immigration restrictions, and attempts to combat prejudice by the NAACP and UNIA.
Your focus
- Identify Republican policies and ideology that shaped the 1920s economy
- Distinguish groups and industries that did and did not experience prosperity
- Recognise key features of prohibition, the Red Scare, prejudice and attempts to combat it
The USA 1919–1948: The People and the State (J410/06) - The ‘Roaring Twenties’ exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies Republican policies and ideology such as low taxation, tariffs and laissez-faire as factors shaping the 1920s economy
- Distinguishes industries and social groups that prospered from those that did not during the 1920s
- Explains the role of the US government and women in the 1920s, including women's rights movements and the Sheppard-Towner Act
- Outlines the causes, aims, implementation and failure of prohibition
- Describes prejudice and discrimination in US society, including the Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan
- Explains the Red Scare, including the Palmer Raids and Sacco and Vanzetti
- Identifies restrictions on immigration throughout the 1920s
- Describes attempts to combat prejudice, including the NAACP and the UNIA
Examiner Tips
- 💡Read each option fully before choosing, since distractors often swap one group or policy for another
- 💡Link each key term to a specific example, such as the Palmer Raids to the Red Scare
- 💡Check whether a question asks about causes, aims, implementation or failure of prohibition before answering
Common Mistakes
- Treats the 1920s as uniformly prosperous; recognise that farmers, Black Americans and many immigrants did not share the boom
- Assumes prohibition succeeded; explain that it failed through widespread evasion, organised crime and enforcement problems
- Confuses the NAACP with the UNIA; keep their different leaders and aims distinct
- Ignores the Sheppard-Towner Act; include it as government action affecting women and children