Edexcel IGCSE History: The USA, 1918–41 — Revision Notes

Quick-recall notes for Historical Investigation A3 of Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History 4HI1 Paper 2, “The USA, 1918–41”. Full explanations are in the A3 study guide; practise the source questions with the A3 practice questions.

Syllabus coverage (4HI1, Investigation A3)

Key topic	Core content
1. Roaring Twenties	War benefits, boom, Ford, hire purchase, advertising, stock market; farming, old industries; leisure; women
2. Social tensions	Immigration, Red Scare, Palmer Raids, Sacco and Vanzetti, black Americans, KKK, Monkey Trial, Prohibition
3. Depression, 1929–33	Crash causes and effects, Hoover, banks, farms, Hoovervilles, Bonus Marchers
4. Roosevelt and the New Deal	Aims, Hundred Days, Alphabet Agencies, TVA, Second New Deal, 1935 Acts, achievements, limits
5. Opposition	Supreme Court, Republicans, business, Liberty League, Long, Coughlin

Timeline

Date	Event
1919–20	Red Scare; Palmer Raids
Jan 1920	Prohibition begins
1920	Women gain the vote (19th Amendment)
1921	Emergency Quota Act
1924	Immigration Act tightens quotas
1925	Scopes “Monkey Trial”
1927	Sacco and Vanzetti executed; The Jazz Singer
Oct 1929	Wall Street Crash
1932	Reconstruction Finance Corporation; Bonus Army dispersed; Roosevelt elected
Mar–June 1933	Hundred Days
Dec 1933	Prohibition repealed
1934	American Liberty League founded
1935	Second New Deal: WPA, Social Security, Wagner and Banking Acts; NRA struck down; Long assassinated
1936	AAA struck down; Roosevelt re-elected
1937	Court-packing plan fails; recession begins

Alphabet Agencies

Agency	Year	Purpose
CCC — Civilian Conservation Corps	1933	Outdoor work for young unemployed men
AAA — Agricultural Adjustment Act/Administration	1933	Paid farmers to cut output to raise prices
NRA — National Recovery Administration	1933	Codes on wages, hours and prices
PWA — Public Works Administration	1933	Large building projects
TVA — Tennessee Valley Authority	1933	Dams, flood control, electricity in a poor region
WPA — Works Progress Administration	1935	Jobs on public projects, arts and writing
REA — Rural Electrification Administration	1935	Electricity for farms

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Laissez-faire	Government leaving business alone
Mass production	Making standardised goods quickly on an assembly line
Hire purchase	Buying goods in instalments
Buying on the margin	Buying shares with borrowed money
Nativism	Hostility to immigrants
Bootlegger / speakeasy	Illegal alcohol supplier / illegal bar
Voluntarism	Hoover’s belief that relief should be voluntary, not federal
Hooverville	Shanty town of the homeless
Fireside chats	Roosevelt’s radio broadcasts
Court-packing	Plan to add judges to the Supreme Court (1937)

The boom: who gained and who did not?

Gained	Missed out
Car, electrical and construction industries	Farmers (over-production, debt)
Middle-class consumers	Coal and textile workers
Investors (until 1929)	Many black Americans and recent immigrants
Young urban women with jobs	Most rural women

Worked example: describe two features

Describe two features of Prohibition. (6 marks)

1. The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol from 1920, but enforcement was weak, with few federal agents for a huge country.
2. Organised crime grew rich from bootlegging and speakeasies; Al Capone controlled much of Chicago’s trade, and violence such as the St Valentine’s Day Massacre (1929) turned opinion against the law, which was repealed in 1933.

New Deal: achievements and shortcomings

Achievements	Shortcomings
Banking crisis ended; confidence restored by the Emergency Banking Act and fireside chats	Unemployment never fell below about 14% in the 1930s
Millions given work through the CCC, PWA and WPA	Recession of 1937–38 after spending cuts
TVA and rural electrification modernised poor regions	AAA payments helped landowners more than sharecroppers
Social Security and the Wagner Act created lasting reform	Black Americans and women often received less help
Federal government took responsibility for welfare	Full recovery came only with rearmament

Common mistakes and exam traps

• Calling Hoover “do-nothing”. He did intervene (the RFC), though not on the scale needed.
• Confusing the First and Second New Deals. Social Security, the WPA and the Wagner Act are 1935.
• Treating opposition as one group. Some thought the New Deal went too far (Liberty League, Supreme Court), others not far enough (Long, Coughlin).
• Using the Crash as the only cause of the Depression. It was the trigger; over-production and weak banks were deeper causes.
• Missing provenance. A government poster for the NRA or a Republican cartoon will give a one-sided view — use this when cross-referencing.

Frequently asked questions

Why did the Crash happen in 1929? Speculation and margin buying pushed prices above real values; when confidence went, panic selling followed.

What was the TVA’s importance? It showed how federal planning could transform a poor region with dams, jobs and electricity.

Why did the Supreme Court oppose Roosevelt? It ruled that some New Deal laws gave the federal government powers the Constitution reserved to the states.

Source

Pearson Edexcel International GCSE History (4HI1) specification, Issue 5, February 2026, Paper 2, Historical Investigation A3.