The Development of the USA 1929–2000

The Great Depression (1929–1933)

The Wall Street Crash (October 1929) triggered the worst economic collapse in American history. By 1933, 13 million Americans were unemployed (25% of the workforce); banks failed; farmers lost their land; "Hoovervilles" (shanty towns named mockingly after President Hoover) appeared in every city.

Hoover's response was limited — he believed in "rugged individualism" (that government should not interfere in the economy) and feared that direct relief would undermine self-reliance. His failure to act decisively made him deeply unpopular.

Roosevelt and the New Deal (1933–1941)

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) won the 1932 presidential election promising a "New Deal" for Americans. His approach rested on the "Three Rs": Relief (immediate help for the unemployed), Recovery (rebuilding the economy), Reform (preventing future depressions).

Key New Deal agencies and measures:

• The Hundred Days (March–June 1933): Emergency Banking Act, Agricultural Adjustment Act AAA, National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC — provided jobs planting trees, building parks).
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): Built dams across seven states to provide electricity, control flooding and create jobs.
• Works Progress Administration (WPA): Employed millions to build schools, roads, bridges, airports; also funded writers, artists and musicians.
• Social Security Act (1935): Created state pensions for the elderly and unemployment insurance — a foundation of the American welfare state.

New Deal opponents: Conservative Republicans argued it was too expensive and socialist. The Supreme Court struck down the NIRA and AAA as unconstitutional. Critics from the left (Huey Long — "Share Our Wealth") argued it did not go far enough.

Did the New Deal work? It gave hope and relief, reduced unemployment from 25% to 14% by 1937, but unemployment remained high until WWII rearmament (1941) brought full employment.

The USA and the Second World War (1941–1945)

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941) brought the USA into WWII. The war transformed the American economy — unemployment ended as men joined the military and women entered factories ("Rosie the Riveter"). The USA became the "Arsenal of Democracy."

Japanese-American internment: Over 110,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps — a major civil liberties violation (Executive Order 9066, 1942).

The Cold War (1945–1991)

The USA's post-war foreign policy was dominated by the Cold War — ideological conflict with the Soviet Union. Key events:

• Truman Doctrine (1947): US would support free peoples resisting communist takeover (began with Greece and Turkey).
• Marshall Plan (1948): $13 billion to rebuild Western Europe — and keep it from communism.
• Korean War (1950–53): Fought under UN flag; ended in stalemate at the 38th parallel.
• McCarthyism (1950–54): Senator Joseph McCarthy led a "Red Scare" against alleged communists in government and Hollywood. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) ruined careers on the basis of accusations alone.
• Vietnam War (1955–75): US intervention deepened under Kennedy and Johnson (Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964). Despite vast military power, the Viet Cong's guerrilla tactics and the Ho Chi Minh Trail were decisive. The My Lai Massacre (1968), growing anti-war protests, and the Tet Offensive (1968) turned US public opinion. Nixon's "Vietnamisation" gradually withdrew US troops; Saigon fell to North Vietnam in 1975.

The Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968)

Black Americans faced systemic discrimination enforced by Jim Crow laws in the South and de facto segregation in the North.

Key events:

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional.
• Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56): sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest; 381-day boycott ended bus segregation; Dr Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the movement's leader.
• Little Rock (1957): Eisenhower used federal troops to enforce school integration in Arkansas.
• Sit-ins (1960): Greensboro; spread across the South.
• Freedom Rides (1961): Testing desegregation of interstate transport; met with KKK violence.
• March on Washington (August 1963): "I Have a Dream" speech.
• Civil Rights Act (1964): Outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin.
• Selma to Montgomery marches (1965): "Bloody Sunday"; Voting Rights Act (1965) followed.

Limits: Northern de facto segregation; Black Power movement (Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X); assassination of King (April 1968); riots in cities.

WJEC Exam Technique

Component 1 tests knowledge depth and analytical skill. Source questions (AO3) require provenance analysis. Extended essays (AO2 + AO4) require balanced argument — always support with specific evidence and reach a justified conclusion.