Corruption In The 1920s Essay

467 Words2 Pages

The 1920s was the most influential decade in U.S. history because of corruption in the government. Corruption occurs in a government when politicians are bought out by private companies. These companies would pay the politicians large sums of money and in return, the politicians would do political favors for the companies. According to United States History and New York History: Post-Civil War to the Present, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, "… accepted large sums of money and valuable gifts from private oil companies... Fall allowed the companies to control government oil reserves." This situation, which became known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, shows the process of corruption. Albert Fall was given money from oil companies, and in exchange, …show more content…

history because the government cut taxes for rich Americans. Tax cuts mean that people would be able to keep more of their money instead of giving it to the government. Having more money on hand allows people to spend more. Some invested in stocks. United States History and New York History: Post-Civil War to the Present says that tax cuts would "give the wealthy an incentive to invest... the economy created new, better paying jobs." This shows that the tax cuts for the wealthy class of America allowed them to invest into businesses. With all of the investments, companies would be able to expand and pay their workers more money. With more money, workers can buy good from other companies, thus creating a chain reaction that would benefit everyone, The wealthy can continue to invest and once they sell their stocks, they can turn a profit. The workers get paid more which means they can buy from other businesses. Of course, the large amounts of investing that people did during the 1920s also had a bad effect as it created an economic bubble. Much like an actual bubble, it can burst once the stock markets failed. Once the prices started to drop, the bubble burst which would lead to the Stock Market Crash of 1929. The tax cuts for the rich allowed for businesses to succeed but it also created an economic bubble which lead to the Great