America 1920-1973Topic Summary
Topic Summary: Key Dates and Statistics — America 1920-1973
Part of Key Dates and Statistics — GCSE History
This topic summary covers Topic Summary: Key Dates and Statistics — America 1920-1973 within Key Dates and Statistics for GCSE History. Revise Key Dates and Statistics in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 0 flashcards. This topic appears less often, but it can still be a useful differentiator on mixed-topic papers. It is section 15 of 15 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
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Section 15 of 15
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Topic Summary: Key Dates and Statistics — America 1920-1973
Key Terms
- Boom (1920s): WCRAM — War, Credit, Republican policies, Advertising, Mass production
- Three Rs: Relief, Recovery, Reform — FDR's New Deal framework
- Jim Crow: System of segregation laws in South, 1877-1965
- Non-violent direct action: Civil Rights movement tactic — peaceful law-breaking to expose injustice
- Double V: Victory abroad (fascism) AND at home (racism) — Black WW2 campaign
- McCarthyism: Anti-communist persecution 1950-54 — careers destroyed by unverified accusations
Key Dates
- 1929: Wall Street Crash — Great Depression begins
- 1933: FDR's New Deal begins — Hundred Days
- 1935: Social Security Act + Wagner Act (Second New Deal)
- 1941: US enters WW2 — Depression ends
- 1954: Brown v Board — school segregation unconstitutional
- 1963: Birmingham + March on Washington
- 1964: Civil Rights Act
- 1965: Selma + Voting Rights Act; Malcolm X assassinated
- 1966: "Black Power" coined; Black Panthers founded
- 1968: MLK assassinated (April); RFK assassinated (June); Fair Housing Act; Nixon elected
Key People
- FDR: New Deal president; 4 terms; pragmatic reformer
- Hoover: Laissez-faire president; failed to respond to Depression
- Martin Luther King Jr: SCLC leader; Birmingham; March on Washington; Nobel Peace Prize 1964
- LBJ (Lyndon Johnson): Signed Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965)
- McCarthy: Anti-communist senator 1950-54; censured by Senate
- Thurgood Marshall: NAACP lawyer; won Brown v Board; first Black Supreme Court justice
- Malcolm X: Nation of Islam; "by any means necessary"; evolved after Mecca; assassinated 1965
- Stokely Carmichael: SNCC chairman; coined "Black Power" 1966
- Nixon: Won 1968 on Southern Strategy; mixed civil rights record; resigned 1974
Must-Know Statistics
- Model T: $850 (1908) → $290 (1925) — mass production
- Cars by 1929: 27 million; 60% bought on credit
- Peak unemployment: 25% / 13 million (1933)
- CCC: 2.5m; WPA: 8m employed by New Deal
- Unemployment: 14% (1937) → 1.2% (1944, WW2)
- March on Washington: 250,000 (August 1963)
- Mississippi Black voters: 7% (1965) → 67% (1966)
- Black school funding: $43/pupil vs $179/pupil (white)
Cross-Topic Links
- → Topics 3-4 (America 1920 & Economic Boom): The "BOOM" phase of BOOM-BUST-DEAL-WAR-RIGHTS-BACKLASH — the WCRAM causes and the credit-driven consumer society are the foundation of everything that follows; the statistics here (Dow Jones 63-381, 60% cars on credit) are the evidence for those topics' exam answers.
- → Topics 10-14 (Depression & New Deal): The "BUST" and "DEAL" phases — the statistics (25% unemployment, CCC 2.5m, WPA 8m) and the key facts (unemployment still 14% in 1937, only WW2 ended it) are the most commonly tested numbers in the entire unit and must be known precisely.
- → Topics 16-19 (Segregation through Voting Rights): The "RIGHTS" phase — the arc from Plessy v Ferguson (1896) through Brown v Board (1954) to Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) is the key chronological framework; knowing dates and what each law did is essential for every civil rights question.
- → Topics 21-22 (Black Power & Legacy): The "BACKLASH" phase — Black Power, urban riots, Vietnam, assassinations, and Nixon's Southern Strategy explain why legal victories did not translate into economic equality; the statistics here (58% income gap, 1,500+ Black officials, 25% combat deaths) are the evidence for assessment questions.