The Usa, c1920-55: Boom, Bust and Recovery | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

The Usa, c1920-55: Boom, Bust and Recovery

155 questions
16 subtopics
Paper 2: the depth study, one option of sixteen
Paper 2

A Paper 2 depth study of the United States from the post-war boom to the eve of the civil rights movement, covering the prosperity and social tensions of the 1920s, the Crash and the Depression, the New Deal and its limits, the transformation brought by the Second World War, and the affluence and anti-communism of the early 1950s..

It covers the economic boom of the 1920s, causes of the crash of 1929, changes in American society in the 1920s, cultural change in the 1920s, the spread of the depression, 1929–32, hoover’s response to the depression, 1929–33, roosevelt and the First New Deal, 1933–35, the Second New Deal, 1935–38, the New Deal and the economy, the New Deal, the war and ethnic minorities, social and cultural changes, the war and the economy, 1941–45, economic transformation, the end of post-war euphoria, cultural change and the changing status of minorities.

Sample questions from The Usa, c1920-55: Boom, Bust and Recovery

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The economic boom of the 1920s

What was mass production and who pioneered it?

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The moving assembly line, developed by Ford, which cut the time to build a Model T from twelve hours to about ninety minutes and made cars affordable.
Changes in American society in the 1920s

How did immigration policy change in the 1920s?

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Quota laws in 1921 and 1924 sharply restricted immigration, favouring northern and western Europeans.
The spread of the depression, 1929–32

What happened to the banks?

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Around 9,000 banks failed between 1930 and 1933, wiping out the savings of millions of depositors and destroying credit.
Roosevelt and the First New Deal, 1933–35

What was the Hundred Days?

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The session from March 1933 in which Congress passed fifteen major measures, including banking reform, relief, agricultural and industrial recovery legislation.
The New Deal and the economy

How did the New Deal change the role of government?

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It established federal responsibility for economic management, employment and welfare, permanently expanding the state's role and the presidency's.
Social and cultural changes

How did the WPA support the arts?

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Through the Federal Writers', Theatre, Art and Music Projects, which employed thousands and produced murals, guidebooks, plays and recordings of folk music.
Economic transformation

What was the Treaty of Detroit?

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The five-year contract agreed in 1950 between the United Auto Workers and General Motors, trading freedom from strikes for pensions, health cover and cost-of-living rises.
Cultural change

How did television shape American culture?

Show the answer
It created shared national programming, made advertising central to domestic life, and portrayed an idealised suburban family that shaped expectations.

The 16 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The economic boom of the 1920s	Recall questions on mass production and the motor industry, the new consumer goods, hire purchase, advertising, government policy, and who was left out.	10
Causes of the crash of 1929	Recall questions on overproduction and weak farm incomes, the bull market and buying on the margin, the Florida land boom, banking weakness, and why the Crash became a depression.	10
Changes in American society in the 1920s	Recall questions on the Red Scare and immigration restriction, the revived Ku Klux Klan and its collapse, Prohibition and organised crime, and the Scopes Trial.	10
Cultural change in the 1920s	Recall questions on the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, the flapper and the reality behind the image, cinema and radio, spectator sport, and the Lost Generation.	10
The spread of the depression, 1929–32	Recall questions on the scale of unemployment and the fall in output, the bank failures, the Dust Bowl and the Okies, and the effect on black Americans.	10
Hoover’s response to the depression, 1929–33	Recall questions on rugged individualism, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Bonus Army, and how fair his reputation is.	9
Roosevelt and the First New Deal, 1933–35	Recall questions on the Hundred Days, the Emergency Banking Act, the CCC and the AAA, the NRA and the TVA, and who opposed the New Deal.	9
The Second New Deal, 1935–38	Recall questions on why it was needed, the Wagner Act and union growth, the Social Security Act and its exclusions, the WPA, court packing, and the 1937 recession.	10
The New Deal and the economy	Recall questions on whether it ended unemployment, what it built, how it changed the role of government, financial regulation, and the conservative and radical criticisms.	10
The New Deal, the war and ethnic minorities	Recall questions on the Indian Reorganisation Act, the uneven treatment of black Americans, the Bracero programme, Japanese American internment, and minority war service.	10
Social and cultural changes	Recall questions on the WPA arts projects, women's work in the 1930s, Eleanor Roosevelt, the effect on family life, radio, and social realism in film and photography.	10
The war and the economy, 1941–45	Recall questions on the collapse of unemployment, the doubling of production, the War Production Board, how the war was financed, and the second Great Migration.	10
Economic transformation	Recall questions on the shift to white-collar work, the GI Bill, government support for growth, Levittown and suburbanisation, consumer credit, and the baby boom.	9
The end of post-war euphoria	Recall questions on HUAC and the Hollywood blacklist, the loyalty programme, the Hiss and Rosenberg cases, McCarthy's rise and fall, and the effects on public life.	9
Cultural change	Recall questions on the spread of television, Hollywood in the Cold War, the origins of teenage culture, rock and roll, and the critics of 1950s conformity.	10
The changing status of minorities	Recall questions on Truman's executive orders, the Dixiecrat revolt, Brown v. Board and the resistance to it, Emmett Till, and how little had changed by 1955.	9

The Usa, c1920-55: Boom, Bust and Recovery is 155 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.