Why+Roaring+20's?

media type="file" key="why roaring.mp3" width="240" height="20"  The years between the Great War and the Great Depression are often nicknamed "The Roaring Twenties." This term reflects the freedom and excitement that many people felt at the time. The economy was certainly roaring - at least for some people. Along with this new wealth came a desire to break free of the past.

The Roaring Twenties was a time when the Canadian economy expanded faster than it ever had before and then contracted even more dramatically in the Crash of 1929. These are the basic facts about the 1920s boom and bust:

Natural resource industries and manufacturing grew very rapidly. Investors poured money into energy, pulp and paper and mining projects. Mining exploration opened the Canadian North. Cheap hydroelectric power encouraged the growth of Canadian Industry. This provided many new jobs for Canadians, wages grew somewhat, but there was still a vast amount of poverty.

1. Why do you think it might have cost so much to create mines in remote places in Northern Ontario? What would have cost so much?

 American investment in Canada surpassed British investment. By the 1920's the US was already Canada's chief trading partner and had been for a long time. This was sensible of course, as America is next door! The change came with the amount of money being spent as investment in Canadian businesses (giving money in the hopes of getting a larger return of money). In this area, US investment soared in the early 20's, while British investment dropped.

 American manufacturers built branch plants here to avoid tariffs. Tariffs were taxes imposed on foreign products coming into Canada that were made for less money in other countries. General Motors is a HUGE company that has factories in Oshawa. Ford has a factory in Oakville. This had the side effect of killing of Canadian car manufacturers. At one time, as many as 70 Canadian companies were making their own cars. But as the "Big Three" automakers, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-set up branch plants in Ontario, they drove these smaller Canadian firms out of business. The last to fold was the Brooks Steam Motor Company of Stratford, Ontario, which closed in 1926. This brought a large number of manufacturing jobs to Canada, but they were really already here, just spread around many different companies. It did drop the prices of products, which is good for consumers, but the profits all went back to the US. The decisions were also made in the US at the head offices, without Canadian interests in mind (what's good for the US is not always good for Canada!).

 The Atlantic region and several social and cultural groups in Canada did not share in the general prosperity of the 1920s. Many people had absolutely no benefit from the economic boom. In fact, many employers made life for the workers even worse by not giving them raises in pay that matched the rising prices of goods like food and clothing.

 The Great Crash of 1929 affected economies around the world. The US was the largest economy of the world. When it fell, so did much of the rest of the world.

2. What do you think it meant for Canada that we started having a closer business relationship with the US rather than Britain? 3. If you were to guess, what province do you think benefited the most from the economic boom in the 1920's? Why did you guess that province?

 For some people life was like the video below...Mrs. T will describe it for those that need it...

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