Bill Bryson Biography

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.

The 1920s, often referred to as the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great change and a time of powerful enthusiasm in many areas of society. The world had just finished the biggest war in history, the First World War, and the United States was left almost unharmed by the war. The United States was able to experience a decade of peace and success following the war. During this decade, America became the wealthiest country in the world (Trueman, 2000). The people in the United States went through a colorful period during the twenties. However, at the same time the 1920s was also a very rebellious and difficult time for many. The culture of the 1920s has influenced the culture of America’s society today.

The 1920s was a major turning point in American history. Known as “the roaring twenties”, the citizens of the United States enjoyed the new found wealth from the economic turnaround. The United States’ wealth more than doubled as the nation turned into a consumer society. Not all Americans were fond of the changes in society, and not all of the changes were good.

The strong economy also created the right environment for many important changes in the day-to-day social life of Americans. The nineteen twenties are remembered now as an exciting time that historians call the "Roaring Twenties” , but maybe it was only “roaring” because things were so corrupt.

The 1920s was a distinctive time in American history set between World War I and the Great Depression. In 1931 an author named Frederick Lewis Allen published a contemporary history on the 1920s titled Only Yesterday in which he describes what it was truly like during that historical time. It was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, that really captured the carefree time known as the roaring twenties. The Great Gatsby reflects America in the twenties because it portrayed various characteristics of what it was really like in the 1920s.

Fitzgerald superbly describes the era due to the fact that he himself lived a life of grandeur, he married his wife Zelda Sayre in 1920 and had a “raucous honeymoon in New York City’s famous Biltmore Hotel” (F. Scott Fitzgerald: An American Icon). Soon after the wedding, they rose significantly on the social scene of New York. Fitzgerald originated from St. Paul’s, Minnesota, he attended Princeton University and was a great writer from an early age, he enlisted in the Navy during The Great War. Five years into his highly dysfunctional marriage he conceived one of America’s most significant works of literature. The splendid story Fitzgerald composed closely mirrored his own life, it is because of this that he was able to accurately depict the feelings and behavior of an era. Many sought pleasure through the form of materialism and happily indulged in the vices of mankind, Fitzgerald beautifully captures this all whilst enduring personal hardships of his own. He lived the life of a sensualist, just like the characters he wrote about in his magnum opus. Fitzgerald’s participation in setting the atmosphere of the decade and embodying the Roaring Twenties is the gift that he has bestowed to American literature, without it there wouldn’t be a text that can as precisely sum up some of America’s greatest years. Another major literary figure in the 1920s, though they had their differences, was a close friend of Fitzgerald nonetheless.

The USA in the 1920s is remembered as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, an age of new life, of hedonism and opportunity following the horrors the Great War. The decade is synonymous with wealth, materialism and unprecedented freedom. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby provides an insight into the exciting and prosperous lives of the American people as they embark on the limitless potential of the American Dream and therefore it conveys a picture of 1920s American society. With

While leading his very public life as a student journalist, Charles pursued, more quietly but just as intrepidly, the study of politics. His senior thesis, a precocious work of political biography, became the starting point for the book (his first) you are now reading. Why Coolidge Matters marks the appearance of a major new conservative talent - and the reappearance of a major old one.

In the 1920s, Americans were trying to figure out what was everyone’s role in society. During this time women started to take on bigger jobs then housekeeping and African Americans are finally standing up for their race. Once 1929 hit, Herbert Hoover, America’s newest president, was viewed as an ‘American Superhero’ at that time because of everything he promised society; however, America gets hit by the Great Depression leaving society in a hole. While banking systems were unstable and overproduction were leaving people bankrupt, Herbert Hoover was blaming Europe and was failing to keep society financially stable. As his presidency went on, filmmakers made film cycles and gangster pictures like Little Caesar that portrayed America’s corrupt society during the Great Depression. By the end of his campaign, Hoover was known as the worst American ever which led to the rising of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt saw the struggling society as an opportunity to help his campaign in which he created the New Deal. America was given an opportunity that allowed them to look forward to the future. During Herbert Hoover’s presidency, America did not support the federal government, but after Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for president and promised a New Deal, they began to look more favorably on the government.

‘The 1920’s was a decade of reform in almost every aspect of society. Things were becoming modernized, and despite many objections to progression, Women’s rights to new music genres and to sports being better than ever, and new cars such as the model t being in production. The 1920s brought alot of high social and cultural trends. By the end of the decade there was almost one car per family in the united states.s and comportment, the new consumer’s society, the Harlem Renaissance and the new principles of this decade paved the road for Henry Ford’s new Model T, and a whole new America’(Weinberg). The 1920s was a good decade for people back then.with everthing to new music genre and to sports being

There is a controversial debate about the 1920s, whether it was “roaring” or whether is was destitute. In the perspective of some historians, the 1920s brought a rapid increase in urbanization and boom in the economy, however, these historians fail to see the evident terrors that the 1920s brought. The positive uproar on the 1920s did not stand a chance against the rising negative roar of residential schools, the Stock Market Crash, and credit debt. Due to these tragic events, 1920s was brought a dark and negative atmosphere rather than one of contentment.

The 1920s was a time of economic growth, inventions, and spending money. During the 1920s, America was renamed as “new society” and “new standard of living” (Foner, 773). Little did society know was that the 1920s was the reason for the Great Depression in the 1929. This time era had a rough start because there was a prohibition on manufacturing and selling alcohol (Foner, 742). There also an awakening of what America was really like for the immigrants, for example, the convictions of two Italians, Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco. Vanzetti and Sacco were accused of partaking in an armed robbery and murder of a security guard (Foner, 768). This raises about the corruption of the government, and how it destabilized basic American freedom because these men were seen as threats to the American Life (Foner, 769). There were no evidence against Sacco and Vanzetti, yet they still got the death penalty (Foner, 769). The 1920s were also famous for the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties (Foner, 769, 770). The flappers were women who were young and sexually liberated (Foner, 770). The speakeasies were nightclubs

The 1920s was a memorable era in time. It was filled with crime, parties, bootleggers, flappers, a scare amount of jobs and greed. The 1920s was different from any era. It was an era that changed the U.S. Throughout the entire 1920s the prohibition took place. Many protested and broke the ban against alcohol. That’s where the black market originated from. (Nash). Excessive usage and greed was relevant. I read two books about the 1920s. The first one was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the second book was The Razors Edge by M. Somerset Maugham. The common theme between these two descriptive books set in the 1920s and the 1920s is greed over powers morals.

The 1920’s was a great and important decade for the United States. After World War I, the United States went through events and changes that, overall, made the United States a much better place to live. New advances in technology and industry improved American life in more ways than just one. Americans had better wages during this time, more leisure time, and overall, had a better life than ever before. In addition, the 1920’s advocated social and cultural change as well. During this time period, the United States did not return to Normalcy, and instead developed attitudes that changed the life of the people of the United States forever thanks to social changes, cultural changes and changes in technology.

“The Roaring Twenties” most accurately depicts the 1920 era for three main reasons, the progression in politics, advancement in technology, and because of how the lifestyle was changing. Starting with the election of William G. Harding, to the invention of movies and the radio and finally with the creation of the flapper. The 1920s sure were roaring!