America 1920-1973Exam Focus
How to Write About Inequality (History Writing Skills)
Part of Wealth and Inequality — GCSE History
This exam focus covers How to Write About Inequality (History Writing Skills) within Wealth and Inequality for GCSE History. Revise Wealth and Inequality in America 1920-1973 for GCSE History with 10 exam-style questions and 12 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 5 of 11 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Topic position
Section 5 of 11
Practice
10 questions
Recall
12 flashcards
✍️ How to Write About Inequality (History Writing Skills)
Weak writing: Lists facts without connecting them
"Some Americans didn't benefit from the boom. Farmers were poor. Black Americans faced discrimination. 60% were below the poverty line."
❌ This is just a list — no argument, no causation, no analysis
Strong writing: Uses evidence to build an argument
"The 1920s boom was fundamentally unequal. Farmers, who had expanded during WW1, found themselves trapped when European agriculture recovered and prices collapsed — wheat fell from $2.50 to just $1 per bushel. This wasn't just bad luck; it was a structural problem. 600,000 farmers went bankrupt, showing that the boom's benefits simply didn't reach rural America. Meanwhile, Black Americans faced systematic discrimination, earning on average half of white wages for the same work. With 60% of all American families living below the poverty line, the economy was dangerously unbalanced — most people simply couldn't afford to buy the goods that factories were producing. This inequality would prove disastrous when confidence collapsed in 1929."
✓ This builds an argument: inequality → instability → explains the Depression