1920's Transformative Decade

As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. As immigrants fled from Europe, the economy improved, and new machines offered convenience and luxury from the kitchen to the streets. However, with all change comes opposition. The 1920s revealed a conflict between traditional America and the new attitude and lifestyle through the changing role of women, continued dominance of Christian values, and racism.

Newspapers had once been the only mass communication & entertainment. The demand for new products that emerged in the 1920s created a new industry, advertising, which enticed buyers to purchase new products, and now that the radio had emerged, advertising was integrated into this media outlet . Radio shows like Amos n' Andy, became a nationwide hit. The advertising industry grew with the emerging industries of mass culture, especially radio and cinema. For the first time, from coast to coast, Americans experienced the same shows and used the same advertised products due to mass culture. The first commercial radio station aired in 1920 and broadcast music to a few thousand listeners. By the end of the decade, thirty-three

During the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, the United States underwent a series of changes that had a drastic effect on people across the nation. As the economy began to slow to a halt, millions of people were left broke and without jobs. As the country’s farmers were paralyzed with debt, food prices increased radically (McElvaine). During the mid-1930s, a series of droughts coupled with poor agricultural methods led to years of soil erosion and dust storms known as the Dust Bowl, a catastrophe that destroyed farms throughout the Southern Great Plains (Shafer, Low). As a result, many farmers were forced to abandon their land to seek employment elsewhere. These migrant workers, attracted by the fertility and familiarity of the area, traveled to California towns such as Salinas, where they labored tirelessly for wealthy planters (Cayton, Gorn, Williams). The events of the Great Depression Era, following years of difficulty and poverty, paved the way to an entirely new way of life for Americans.

The 1920s, or better known as the roaring twenties changed the lives of women in America politically, physically and mentally. Women were granted more freedom, the right to vote, changed their physical appearance, and focused on materialistic goals instead of moral values. Before World War I, women would wear a high collar, long straight skirts below the knee and long hair that was tied loosely. The roaring twenties brought along swing dancing and jazz which changed the way women dressed and danced. Not only did the roaring twenties bring along flourishing taste in music, but flappers came into play. Flappers were women who wore short sparkly dresses, cut their hair into a bob, wore heavy make-up, drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and partied all night.

The Roaring Twenties started in North America and spread to Europe as the effects of World War I diminished. In Europe, the years following the First World War (1919-1923) were marked by a deep recession. Europe spent these years in rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. Unlike in the aftermath of World War II, the United States did little to try to rebuild Europe. Instead, it took an increasingly isolationist stance (Answers, 2006).

Although the 1920’s is often categorized by widespread prosperity and pleasure, there was no lack of tension. Struggles revealed themselves between those who were beginning to form a new approach to the world, and those who wished to stick to traditional ideals. The rise of consumerism, technological advancements, and conditions in a post-war society all caused America to change in different ways; leading to either support of this change or a desire to preserve the past. As both sides fought to have their way, this strain regarding the role of women, rights of minorities, religious teachings, and the growth of industry manifested itself in a variety of ways, including physical violence and government legislation.

The 1920s was often referred to as the "Jazz age", or the "Roaring Twenties". Not only was American culture 'roaring' in terms of social trends and style, but the economy was 'roaring' as well. This related to the economic booming period of rapid expansion and changed social attitudes. The 1920s impacted American Society and economy because of Laissez-Faire, farm crisis, and consumer credit/installment plan. Society was discovering new found freedoms and becoming less regimented. This lead to new technologies disasters and a booming economy. However, hidden behind the optimistic views on the economy, there were significant structural problems, which led to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the notorious stock market crash of 1929.

The progressive era during the 1890’s and 1920’s in the Unites States saw an economic expansion with the aid of the industrial capitalists, a growing population with immigrants coming to the United States seeking a better life through labor with American industrialization, and government corruption being eliminated progressively by political reforms like the Sherman Antitrust Act. This era also had complications such as racial tension between immigrants, poor working and living conditions amongst the American public, society division based on different characteristics such as ethnicity and average working revenue. As the works of Howard Zinn, Thomas C. Leonard, and David Montgomery specify the endeavor America as a society underwent during the Progressive Era. Through the economic expansion during the Progressive Era companies wanted to keep costs down while maintaining profits high with low wages, poor working conditions, and long hours at the expense of immigrants. The underrepresented individuals faced with these problematic issues consisted of blacks, whites, Chinese, Europeans, and female labors. Wages in America during the Progressive Era had been based on race, sex, and social class. Mary Stovall author of the article “The Chicago Defender” further expands on the issue of class favoritism by elaborating in his work how “blacks were charged higher rents than whites for comparable housing” . These problematic matters often caused a heated argument and in some instances

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring 1920s were a time period where things changed in the US. After World War 1, there was a lack of inspiration in the US, according to the lost generation with the rising racial tension to the everyday roots for employement, things were not great during the early 1920s. In the late 1990ss, labor unions were popular during the war fought back for their rights with the increased number of strike in 1919. Largest included General of all workers in Seattle and Strike of the entre American Steel industry, which affected 100 of 1000s workers and consumers. Those workers returned to work when the owners threatened them of violence. Due to that unemployment in 1920-21 had increased by 11% but things changed after the changes made by Commerce Secretary, Herbert Hoover, as he convinced Industrial leaders to voluntarily increase wages and production to remove the economy from the debt of World War 1.

The Progressive Era in America lasted from the 1890’s to the 1920’s. During this time, The United States underwent several changed, or reforms. These reforms helped to shape our nation into what it is today. There are 10 reforms I’m going to discuss in this essay including the reforms on civil rights, conservation, government reform, health and medicine, labor reform, radical trade unionism, socialism, temperance, trust busting, and women’s rights.

The videos I viewed all show the different events that happened in the 1920s. In conclusion historians can develop a clear idea of what the circumstances were surrounding the 1920s and how it affected history, the people and the places surrounding it. Historians also use photos and videos to help them see a picture of how things really were during a specific time and at a specific location. Historians can then take all these and consider them alongside other relevant information they have, and share and discuss information they found with other historians, who then can go on and share what they’ve learned with others. Therefore listening to noises or sounds it gives the historians an idea of what was happening at the time and the surrounding

For American farmers, the Great Depression began not with the stock market crash in 1929 but with the collapse of agricultural prices in 1920. Thus the entire decade of the 1920s was a time of poverty and crushing indebtedness, leading to ever-rising foreclosures of family farms. More than 90% of American farms lacked electricity, and the proportion of farms with access to a telephone actually decreased over the course of the decade. Furthermore, rural Americans overwhelmingly native-born, white Protestants found the modern, sexualized, multi-ethnic culture of the cities deeply offensive to their traditional beliefs. Their antagonism toward the perceived cultural excesses of the "Roaring Twenties" fueled a political backlash that allowed a

The 1920s was a drastic shift for young people’s choices and future consequences. The years of the 1920s represented a new type of freedom for women, young adults, African Americans, and immigrants. A group of people support dogmatic, old-slow rural life, religious belief, and did not care for education, while the others embraced modernism and preferred urban living, contributing to technology, continuing education, urban development, science, and a brighter future.

Question #1: After reviewing lesson 22 create a newspaper headline or post an image that highlights one of the significant movements of the 1920’s that you learned about. Please provide a brief summary about the image and the impact it had on 1920’s life and culture.

The decade of the twenties and sixties was full of social transformations and an example was that society was more open to talk about sexuality and everything is thanks to Sigmund Freud who in his work explains the import, development, and instinct of Sexuality, among others. Women were more exposed to the public sphere by having more opportunities and independence, gaining the right to vote and changing their dress by introducing a new style of clothing called the Flapper style. Ordinary women began to wear makeup. The goods and publicity had a great increase and the silent films became popular. On the other hand, in these decades there was also repression and prohibition an example was that the crusaders of purity wanted for the exhibition