O Level World History: Depth Study D, The United States 1919-41 (Cambridge 2147)

Depth Study D follows the United States from the end of the First World War, through the boom and bust of the 1920s, to Roosevelt’s New Deal and the eve of war in 1941. Cambridge O Level History (2147) sets four key questions: how far the economy boomed, how far society changed, what caused the Wall Street Crash and what it led to, and how successful the New Deal was. Most questions ask “how far”, so you must show both sides.

Where this fits in 2147

Depth Study D is examined in Paper 1, Section B: two questions are set on each Depth Study and you answer one, worth 20 marks (4 + 6 + 10). There is no coursework or alternative paper at O Level. Related pages: Depth Study D revision notes, Depth Study D practice questions, and the US containment topic in Core Content Option B via the Twentieth Century study guide.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE O LEVEL HISTORY (2147), 2024-2026 – DEPTH STUDY D: THE UNITED STATES, 1919-41

• 1 How far did the US economy boom in the 1920s? Factors in the boom; prospering and declining industries; agriculture; whether all Americans benefited. Content: government policies, mass production of cars and consumer goods, older industries, credit and hire purchase, the decline of agriculture, weaknesses by the late 1920s.
• 2 How far did US society change in the 1920s? The Roaring Twenties; intolerance; Prohibition and its repeal; women’s roles. Content: film and media, Prohibition and gangsterism, immigration restriction, the Red Scare, religious intolerance, discrimination against Black Americans, the Ku Klux Klan, women.
• 3 What were the causes and consequences of the Wall Street Crash? Speculation; economic and social impact; Roosevelt’s 1932 victory. Content: the Crash and its effects, Hoover’s reaction, the 1932 election and both candidates’ programmes.
• 4 How successful was the New Deal? The 1933 New Deal; changes after 1933; opposition; persistent unemployment; was it a failure? Content: the inauguration and the Hundred Days, the alphabet agencies, opposition (Republicans, the rich, business, the Supreme Court, radicals such as Huey Long), strengths and weaknesses.

Key question 1: How far did the economy boom?

Why there was a boom. The USA had lent money and sold goods to the Allies during the war and emerged richer, with huge natural resources. Republican governments kept taxes low, regulation light and imports out with high tariffs, and believed that “the business of America is business” (a phrase associated with President Coolidge). Mass production on Ford’s assembly line made cars affordable; by the mid-1920s a new Model T cost less than $300. Electricity reached most urban homes, creating demand for radios, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. Advertising and hire purchase encouraged people to buy on credit.

Who did not prosper? Coal mining lost out to oil and electricity; cotton textiles suffered from competition and new artificial fibres; railways lost business to cars and lorries. Farmers faced falling prices after European demand dropped and over-production grew; many fell into debt. Black Americans in the South, Native Americans, and many recent immigrants remained poor. A large share of families lived on low incomes, which limited how much they could buy – a weakness by the late 1920s.

Judgement point: the boom was real for industry, the urban middle class and investors, but narrow – it rested on credit and on the spending of the better-off.

Key question 2: How far did society change?

The Roaring Twenties. Jazz spread from New Orleans to Chicago and New York; dance crazes, radio stations and cinema reached millions; film stars such as Charlie Chaplin became national figures. Cars allowed young people new freedom.

Intolerance. Fear of communism after the Russian Revolution led to the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids (1919-20). Immigration was restricted by quota laws in 1921 and 1924, which favoured northern Europeans. The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti (executed 1927) suggested prejudice against Italian anarchists. Religious intolerance showed in the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” over teaching evolution in Tennessee. The Ku Klux Klan reached a membership of several million in the mid-1920s, attacking Black Americans, Catholics, Jews and immigrants; segregation and lynching continued in the South.

Prohibition. Introduced in 1920 because of pressure from the Anti-Saloon League and churches, beliefs that alcohol caused crime, poverty and family breakdown, and wartime anti-German feeling (many brewers were of German origin). It was repealed in 1933 because it was widely ignored, created speakeasies, bootleggers and gangsters such as Al Capone, corrupted police and politicians, and lost the government tax revenue badly needed in the Depression.

Women. Women had the vote from 1920. Urban “flappers” smoked, drove, wore short skirts and went out without chaperones; more women worked in offices and shops. But most women, especially in rural areas and among the poor, kept traditional roles and earned less than men.

Key question 3: Causes and consequences of the Crash

Causes. Speculation: millions bought shares “on the margin” with borrowed money, expecting prices to keep rising. In October 1929, as confidence faltered, prices fell sharply, culminating on 29 October. Deeper causes: over-production and falling demand; unequal wealth; unregulated banks that had lent to speculators; the farm crisis; and tariffs that cut foreign trade.

Consequences. Banks failed, savers lost everything, firms closed and unemployment rose to about 13 million by 1933. Homeless families lived in “Hoovervilles”; farmers in the Plains were hit by the drought and dust storms of the 1930s. Hoover believed recovery would come through business confidence and voluntary action; his measures, such as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, came late, and his treatment of the 1932 Bonus Army of war veterans made him seem uncaring.

Why Roosevelt won in 1932. He promised a “New Deal”, direct government action and an end to Prohibition; he had a reputation for energetic action as Governor of New York; and voters blamed Hoover and the Republicans.

Key question 4: How successful was the New Deal?

1933: relief, recovery, reform. In his first Hundred Days Roosevelt closed the banks and reopened sound ones (the Emergency Banking Act), spoke to Americans in “fireside chats”, and set up agencies: the CCC (work for young men), FERA (relief money to states), the AAA (farm prices), the TVA (dams and electricity in the Tennessee Valley) and the NRA (fair codes for industry).

After 1933. The Second New Deal (1935) emphasised reform: the WPA created jobs on public projects, the Social Security Act introduced pensions and unemployment insurance, and the Wagner Act protected unions.

Opposition. Republicans and business leaders saw it as wasteful and close to socialism; the rich disliked higher taxes; the Supreme Court declared the NRA and AAA unconstitutional; Roosevelt’s attempt to add judges (1937) was defeated. Huey Long argued it did not go far enough and proposed sharing out the wealth of the rich.

Was it a failure? Unemployment remained around eight to ten million for much of the decade and rose in 1937-38, and only war production ended it. But the banks were saved, millions were given work or relief, lasting reforms were made, and Americans regained faith in democracy at a time when other countries turned to dictatorship.

Worked example: a (b) answer

Explain why Prohibition was repealed in 1933. [6]

1. It was unenforceable: speakeasies and bootlegging meant drinking continued, so the law was mocked.
2. It created organised crime and corruption – Capone’s Chicago – so it seemed to cause more crime than it stopped.
3. The Depression made legal alcohol attractive for jobs and tax revenue, so Roosevelt promised repeal and the 21st Amendment was passed in 1933.

Common mistakes

• Saying “everyone was rich in the 1920s”.
• Blaming the Crash only on speculation.
• Mixing up agencies from 1933 (CCC, AAA, TVA, NRA) with 1935 (WPA, Social Security).
• Judging the New Deal only by unemployment figures.

Frequently asked questions

Who were the three Republican presidents? Harding (1921-23), Coolidge (1923-29) and Hoover (1929-33).

What was hire purchase? Buying goods by paying a deposit and then regular instalments – it increased sales but also debt.

Is the New Deal’s opposition a likely (c) question? Yes. Know at least three groups and why each objected.

Official syllabus

Cambridge O Level History (2147) syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026 – cambridgeinternational.org (Depth study D, focus points and specified content). Always check the current syllabus before an exam.