Social Studies 11 Online

with Mr. Mleziva

Values of the 1920s

Women's Rights Movement

- WWI saw women active in the work force
- pressure groups helped to get women the vote

- demand for equal rights started

Union Consciousness

- unions start largely due to hardship after WW I (i.e. lack of jobs, lower wages)
- Winnipeg General Strike 1919: lasted one month , ended by police

- workers wanted better wages and the right to form a union

Prohibition

- liquor sales outlawed until 1924 when most provinces had abandoned prohibition (it continued in the US though)

Materialism

- more people "bought into" the idea that money could bring happiness

- greater interest in the lives of the rich and famous

Awe of Science

- belief that science could solve all mankind's problems

Pleasure and Leisure Time

- entertainment and pleasure became a higher priority

eg music, dancing, sports, radio, fashion

Moral Decay

- family structure loses some of its dominance
- divorce on the increase

- higher crime rates

Reasons For Economic Growth in the 1920s

Note: 1921: depression conditions in Canada; afterwards improvement

Why did Improvement Occur?

- growing demand for Canadian products i.e. wheat, lumber, minerals

- opening of mining in northern Ont., N. Que., SE BC

- stock market boom: Americans invest huge amounts of money in Canada through the stock market. America becomes the biggest foreign investor in Canada

- invention of the assembly line system makes cars affordable for Canadians. Many new jobs are created as most Canadian families buy a car (i.e. roads built, steel industry production up, etc.).

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