Traditional Values Conflicted with a Modern Era in the Roaring Twenties

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.

Technology played a vital part in helping America become the great economic and cultural success that it was during the 1920s. New advancements, new discoveries, and new inventions improved American lives in every imaginable way but not without a few negative side-effects. As mentioned earlier, the automobile really came into play during the 1920s by making traveling a common thing for anyone who could afford a car (Trueman, 2000). Henry Ford started the Ford Motor Company, which began to mass produce affordable automobiles known as the Model-T. Ford's Model-T car became such an irresistible success that by the end of the decade, there was almost one car per family in the United States (Bruce, 1981). The automobile seemed to give people a type of new freedom, but the automobile also proved to be a dangerous item in the hands of many irresponsible people who loved to drink during the 1920s. The washing machine, telephone, and radio made their arrival during the twenties. People were discovering life to be far easier than the previous generations because of technology, but they were also slowly being driven into an industrial nation. People were lured

In the years following World War I, the United States was comfortable with returning to its prior state of traditional values. In the government, this was reflected as the 1920 election was won by Republican candidate Harding, who ran with the slogan “A Return to Normalcy.” Americans simply wanted to recuperate after the intense global conflict that had just ended; however, changing and new attitudes were at battle with their desire of normalcy. It was movements like “New Morality” that contested traditional stances of those who sought security in their lives. As a result of the constant battle between old and new values, tensions were mounting between citizens. The Roaring Twenties was a time of innovation in American life; however, tensions surfaced between traditional and new values, shown through court rooms, national politics, grass roots campaigns, and media revolutions, due to a rise in differing theological views, women’s fight for independence, racial conflict, technology, and advertising.

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 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

The 1920s were a time of advancement and prosperity in America. The end of the first world war caused America’s economy to boom resulting in a large increase in industrial output and credit. In addition to this, the invention of the assembly line made the automobile much easier to produce making it possible for most middle class families in the United States to be able to afford one which changed the concept of transportation. Modern advertising caused Americans to desire stuff that they didn’t necessarily need. Working conditions at this time were still poor but there were major improvements from the way it was at the beginning of the century. Due to welfare capitalism workers were much less inclined to strike which also helped the booming

The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, was a time period of great prosperity. During the 1920s, major changes occurred. The Twenties marked the start of a new lifestyle for the world, in which styles such as appearances were different, the system of money changed, and things were viewed much differently than they were in past generations. There was a major shift in living conditions when people went from living in rural areas to urban areas, in which the “big city” became the center of affairs. Although the 1920s were a new and exciting time period, they caused much conflict for the people of past generations who were not used to this great change.

The 1920’s, also known as the “roaring twenties” consisted of multiple movements and changes in attitudes about the formerly traditional values society held during this time period. Shifts with women's suffrage, equality amongst races, and the ending of traditional household roles were prevalent through the years, sparking controversy between those who valued the old and those who valued the new. Significant changes amongst the way women’s suffrage and traditional household values were viewed began to occur during the twenties (Document B). Women were finally seen on the same playing field as men, and although they weren’t considered “equal” by any means, they were making notable progress.

The era of the 1920s has been depicted as the Roaring Twenties, a time of glamour and glitter with the rise of parties, the dance of the “flappers,” the culture of the Jazz Age, and the consumption of pleasures and indulgence in leisure. But the 1920s were more than just the trend of looking good or listening to the blues, it was also a time of conflict, the fight and struggles of women and race, amongst others. By reading two distinct focuses of the after war era, the period could be thoroughly discussed and presented for what it really was, what events really followed, from the excitement of the envisioned grand parties to the underlying issues that lay beneath the “roar” of the twenties.

J. Paul Getty describes the 1920s as “ … the period of that Great American Prosperity which was built on shaky foundations.” The 1920s was an age that consisted of many social and political changes throughout America. The changes occured dramatically in these three different topics: economics, racism, and women’s suffrage. It created more jobs and more opportunities for the American people, fixed the major problems of racism against African Americans, and changed women's norms by making the “housewife” perspective less common, and driving more women towards a rebellious era. These three changes of the 1920s made it to become famously known as “The Roaring ‘20s.”

The 1920s (better known as the "roaring twenties" or the "decade of prosperity") was a decade of rapid change and thrilling innovation. After the end of the first World War a sort of 20th century Renaissance, specifically in America, shortly followed wherein everything seemed to be

     The technology and science during the twenties was very important. Many new ideas and inventions were introduced to Americans that influenced their lives. Henry fords automobile changed American life. Ford wanted to “democratize the automobile”. He wanted to everyone to be able to afford an automobile and have one. To help this he paid his workers five dollars a day, for doing this he was known as the friend of the worker. Ford also lowered the price of his cars. The model t ford became the “family pet of the nation” (Gales research, 1998). By 1929, 23.1 million passenger cars were in use in the United States. The privacy and mobility offered by the car would transform the Americans lived. The spread of technology affected consumerism. The United States economy went through a steady growth and expansion during this time. The radio became very popular in the twenties. By 1922, 3 million Americans households had radios. Many new electric appliances such as: vacuum cleaners, toasters, washing machines, televisions and refrigerators were introduced. These appliances helped the American housewife. Women became America’s greatest consumer. People started going to see motion pictures. The first movies were called silent screens.

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 1920s was a huge time period for the United States. Modern technology such as automobiles, radios, and advertisement had taken America by storm. Rural areas were on the decline. American cities had attracted not only rural and urban citizens, but also people from all over the world. In America during the 1920s, citizens struggled with accepting other races and ethnicities into their widely populated country.

by prosperity, leisure, technological advances, consumerism and major shifts toward modern values. The decade witnessed a titanic struggle between an old and a new America. Things such as immigration, race, alcohol, evolution, gender politics, and sexual morality all became major cultural battlefields during the 1920s. Wets battled drys, religious modernists battled religious fundamentalists, and urban ethnics battled the Ku Klux Klan. The contrast between the new and changing attitudes and traditional values was clearly present during the 1920's.