Edexcel A-Level History 9HI0
The Crusades, c1095–1204Paper 1
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and ReligionPaper 1
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and SettlementPaper 1
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and ReformPaper 1
Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to YeltsinPaper 1
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96Paper 1
Germany and West Germany, 1918–89Paper 1
Britain Transformed, 1918–97Paper 1
Anglo-Saxon England and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, c1053–1106Paper 2
England and the Angevin Empire in the Reign of Henry II, 1154–89Paper 2
Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55Paper 2
The Dutch Revolt, c1563–1609Paper 2
France in Revolution, 1774–99Paper 2
Russia in Revolution, 1894–1924Paper 2
The Unification of Italy, c1830–70Paper 2
The Unification of Germany, c1840–71Paper 2
Mao’s China, 1949–76Paper 2
The German Democratic Republic, 1949–90Paper 2
India, c1914–48: The Road to IndependencePaper 2
South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’Paper 2
The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy, c1911–46Paper 2
Spain, 1930–78: Republicanism, Francoism and the Re-Establishment of DemocracyPaper 2
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and RecoveryPaper 2
The USA, 1955–92: Conformity and ChallengePaper 2
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399–1509Paper 3
Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors, 1485–1603Paper 3
The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750Paper 3
Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain, 1759–1928: Forging a New SocietyPaper 3
Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780–1939Paper 3
Britain: Losing and Gaining an Empire, 1763–1914Paper 3
The British Experience of Warfare, c1790–1918Paper 3
Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780–1928Paper 3
Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923Paper 3
The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and RealityPaper 3
Germany, 1871–1990: United, Divided and ReunitedPaper 3
The Making of Modern Russia, 1855–1991Paper 3
The Making of Modern China, 1860–1997Paper 3
Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850–2009Paper 3
Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882–2004Paper 3
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery
- 16 subtopics
- 48 things to know
- Paper 2
- Paper 2 depth option, chosen from sixteen
What The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery covers
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.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Depth study with sources, one option of sixteen.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 16 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The economic boom of the 1920sRecall questions on mass production and the motor industry, the new consumer goods, hire purchase, advertising, government policy, and who was left out.Open →
- Causes of the crash of 1929Recall 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.Open →
- Changes in American society in the 1920sRecall questions on the Red Scare and immigration restriction, the revived Ku Klux Klan and its collapse, Prohibition and organised crime, and the Scopes Trial.Open →
- Cultural change in the 1920sRecall 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.Open →
- The spread of the depression, 1929–32Recall 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.Open →
- Hoover’s response to the depression, 1929–33Recall questions on rugged individualism, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Bonus Army, and how fair his reputation is.Open →
- Roosevelt and the First New Deal, 1933–35Recall 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.Open →
- The Second New Deal, 1935–38Recall 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.Open →
- The New Deal and the economyRecall questions on whether it ended unemployment, what it built, how it changed the role of government, financial regulation, and the conservative and radical criticisms.Open →
- The New Deal, the war and ethnic minoritiesRecall questions on the Indian Reorganisation Act, the uneven treatment of black Americans, the Bracero programme, Japanese American internment, and minority war service.Open →
- Social and cultural changesRecall 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.Open →
- The war and the economy, 1941–45Recall questions on the collapse of unemployment, the doubling of production, the War Production Board, how the war was financed, and the second Great Migration.Open →
- Economic transformationRecall questions on the shift to white-collar work, the GI Bill, government support for growth, Levittown and suburbanisation, consumer credit, and the baby boom.Open →
- The end of post-war euphoriaRecall 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.Open →
- Cultural changeRecall 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.Open →
- The changing status of minoritiesRecall 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.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What did the first hundred days achieve?
What was the revived Ku Klux Klan?
What were the 'alphabet agencies'?
What was the Wagner Act of 1935?
What was the Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934?
How did the war change women's roles?
What was Levittown?
Who were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg?
What lay behind American prosperity in the 1920s?
What caused the Wall Street Crash of 1929?
What was overproduction and why did it matter?
What was Prohibition?
What was the 'Jazz Age'?
What was the Harlem Renaissance?
How far did national output fall?
What happened to the banks?
What were Hoovervilles?
What did the Smoot-Hawley Tariff do?
What did the Social Security Act of 1935 create?
Did the New Deal end unemployment?
What was the effect on the banking and financial system?
What were the race riots of 1943?
What was the Fair Employment Practices Commission?
How did the war reshape American industry and population?
How did the Second World War affect unemployment?
What was the GI Bill?
What was McCarthyism?
What lay behind the origins of teenage culture?
What was the significance of the paperback and the LP?
What role did the NAACP play?
What was the Brown v Board of Education ruling of 1954?
Which groups did not share in the 1920s boom?
What was the bull market of the late 1920s?
What was the 'Red Scare'?
Why is the 1920s called the Jazz Age?
How were workers affected by the Depression?
How is Hoover's response usually judged?
What did Roosevelt promise in 1932?
Why was a Second New Deal needed?
How is the New Deal assessed overall?
What was the 'Double V' campaign?
How did the Depression affect family life?
How did the war transform American industry?
What was the baby boom?
What was HUAC?
What criticisms were made of 1950s culture?
How was Brown implemented?
Take The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Hire purchase vs 'Red Scare'
Hire purchase: buying goods on credit in instalments, which fuelled a surge in consumer spending. 'Red Scare': Fear of communism after the First World War, leading to the persecution of radicals and immigrants.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What lay behind American prosperity in the 1920s?
Model answer
Mass production such as Ford's assembly line, new consumer goods, credit through hire purchase, and laissez-faire government policy.
- 2
What was hire purchase?
Model answer
Buying goods on credit in instalments, which fuelled a surge in consumer spending.
- 3
Which groups did not share in the 1920s boom?
Model answer
Farmers, black Americans and many unskilled workers.
- 4
What was mass production and who pioneered it?
Model answer
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.
- 5
How did the motor industry drive the wider economy?
Model answer
It consumed steel, rubber, glass and oil, generated road building, garages, motels and suburbs, and by 1929 employed directly or indirectly one worker in twelve.
- 6
What new consumer goods spread in the 1920s?
Model answer
Radios, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and telephones, bought increasingly on instalment credit.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery revision questions
- What does The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery cover in Edexcel A-Level History?
- 16 subtopics: 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. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery organised?
- By the Edexcel 9HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and Recovery, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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