The Decrease Of The Automobile Industry In The 1920's

The roaring twenties is often a decade known for economic prosperity. The “roaring twenties” portrayed a new lifestyle among Americans with the abundance of cars and the rise of the nation’s economy however it covered up the intolerances of the decade and the unprosperous lives of citizens. In the 20s, there was an in increase production due to the formation of big companies like General Motors and Ford, leading to an abundance in jobs for most people. The automobile companies expanded and developed the nation by stimulating the expansion of steel, rubber, oil production and road construction (Foner 764). The increase of the automobile industry led to economic growth but this only covered up the poverty of citizens in the rural areas of America.

The decline was due to mechanization and the increased usage of fertilizer and insecticides which led to a fast rate of agricultural production even when the government subsidies ended and with the end of WWI, world demand of supplies stagnated leading farmers earning less and less (Foner 767). This in turn would become a domino effect to the rural parts of the country to become more poor. Around 3 million citizens migrated out of rural areas in seek for jobs wherein most of them moved to Southern California (Foner 768). The rapid advancement of technology led to a decline in rural farming which in turn would boost urbanization in America. With the abundance of jobs in cities, dominant businesses were making a huge amount of money that they were able rake in lot of money without taking much in return from their profit hence making them richer while the poor became poorer. Most of the small auto companies that had existed have been swallowed up by the big companies like General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler which controlled four-fifths of the industry (Foner 767). Small businesses were getting closed due to huge monopolies furthering the disparity between the rich and the

Government policies were mostly pro-business due to the fact that business lobbyists dominated national conventions of the Republican Party (Foner 773). The working class could not keep up with the unfair demands of business owners. With business lobbyists in control, they often called on the federal government to lower taxes on personal incomes and business profits, maintain tariffs, and support employers’ continuing campaign against unions, weakening the strength of labor unions (Foner 773). The influence of businessmen in the government played a huge role to the country’s disparity between the working and upper class. The gap between the influence of the working class and the upper class towards the government can be seen in the government’s corruption. The teapot dome scandal became a symbol of corruption and intolerance wherein Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall accepted nearly $500,000 from private businessmen for oil reserves at teapot dome (Foner 774). This shows the reckless usage of power of government officials who used their positions for their own personal gains. Moving away from the government, citizens also played a role into shaping this decade as a decade of