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Social changes in the 1920's
American period of prosperity in the 1920s conclusion
Social changes in the 1920's
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During the 1920’s despite the Great Depression the United States economy demonstrated impressive growth during this time. The time was often called the Roaring twenties because of the rapid economic expansion. During this time more and more people were living in the city rather than on farms. Society during this time was discovering new freedoms and becoming less regimented. Although the boom in the economy did not extended to all areas, agriculture took a big hit and many farmers were going bankrupt. With the Depression lasting about a decade the economy began to diminish. The preliminary decline of the Depression was mild, but after the crash of the stock market is when it was really affected. But with these new products such as cars, household …show more content…
appliances, and housing was being spread widely through the population. With these new products it brought new markets. Also during this time period it became a time for increasing conveniences for the middle class. Products which had been too expensive before were becoming affordable. Household work was becoming easier with all the new products. But Americans were becoming overcome by the rise in modern consumer culture. Consumer debt more than doubled during this time because with all the advertising consumers wanted it all. Electricity and the telephone became symbols of the consumer economy, more and more households were getting electricity which brought other new appliances such as toasters, and refrigerators just to name a few. But these items did bring some controversy, whites believed that they deserved these new things but blacks did not. The enticement of consumer culture often times created friction. Married women resented their husbands who spent large amounts of cash but expected their wives to make do. Poor families were taking advantage of the “buy now, pay later” idea by stretching their incomes and borrowing with auto loans and installment plans. Anyone no matter how rich could get into extreme debt. These types of borrowing ended up contributing to the bust in 1929. Because of the increase in these new necessities older industries such as textiles, railroads, and steel were declining rapidly. Also during the twenties most Americans had some extra cash, so they began to spend it on things like ready to wear clothing. Ready to wear clothing was also becoming big during America’s growing consumer economy. During the war the government defined the standard clothing sizes to help meet the demand for military uniforms which meant that it was now possible to mass produce ready to wear clothing. The widespread production of the automobile really changed the rural and urban landscapes of America. America began mass producing vehicles during the twenties. An assembly line was used during mass production which cut down the cost to an affordable level. Before the war having a car was a luxury, but it was becoming more common to own a car. In the 1920’s owning a car became the norm for many middle class families. The automobile industry contributed to highway building, new housing, and motels. Expansion of the auto industry had positive and negative effects on the economy. Petroleum and steel were in high demand. It provided many jobs. Owning a car stimulated the growth of the suburbs. Although the cars were becoming more affordable, they were still expensive for some which made them purchase their vehicles on credit. With this it not only created risks for the buyers taking out debt but also for the economy. When buyers could not afford their cars anymore banks were left holding unpaid loans. Automobiles also contributed to peoples social lives as well. Instead of people sitting inside during the weekends with the growing popularity of the car, people were able to drive around and use them for recreational purposes. The automobile even changed the dating practices during this time, because vehicles were being made larger to accommodate two people comfortably. Many of important features of modern American culture occurred during this time such as the radio, spectator sports, and talking pictures were just some of the popular forms of mass entertainment.
Also during this time many artists, musicians, and writers were among the most creative in our country’s history. With the invention of the radio, it drew America together through bringing the news, and entertainment to the American people’s households. The phonograph was also just as important as the radio. With the popularity of the phonograph growing so did the popularity of jazz, and blues. The phonograph fueled the music boom. The most significant instrument of mass culture were the movies. Attendance for the movies soared during this time. Hollywood really boomed, after the movie making industry moved to California to take advantage of its cheap land, and year round sunshine. It soon became the movie capital of the world. Hollywood produced almost ninety percent of all films. Large theaters began featuring full length movies which attracted the middle class as well as the working class audiences. Like the radio movies created a new culture of speech, dress, and behavior. Spectator sports also attracted large audiences in the twenties. People were longing for heroes and sports provided them. Although sports teams were flourishing, the American people were also focusing on individual superstars. College football sprung interest in the people first, which then attracted fans to professional football. But baseball had drawn bigger crowds than football had. With all this mass culture some Americans were uncomfortable with the new urban changes which sometimes brought more
conflict. This era had a huge impact on the United States with all the patriotism after the war, jazz music, the large scale use of automobiles, the new household appliances, and the changes in lifestyles and culture. This time marked economic prosperity for the country. Although during this era the United States did face some hardships like the Great Depression which brought worldwide hardship, but ultimately we came out of the depression even stronger.
In Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1939: Decades of Promise and Pain, author David E. Kyvig, creates historical account of the Great Depression, and the events leading up to it. Kyvig’s goal in writing this book was to show how Americans had to change their daily life in order to cope with the changing times. Kyvig utilizes historical evidence and inferences from these events and developments to strengthen his point. The book is organized chronologically, recounting events and their effects on American culture. Each chapter of the book tackles a various point in American history between 1920 and1939 and events are used to comment on American life at the time. While Kyvig does not exactly have a “thesis” per se, his main point is to examine American life under a microscope, seeing how people either reacted, or were forced to react due to a wide range of specific events or developments in history, be it Prohibition, the KKK, or women’s suffrage.
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
During the 1920's America experienced an increase like no other. With the Model T car, the assembly line, business skyrocketed. Thus, America's involvement in World War II did not begin with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Starting in October 1929, the Great Depression, the stock market crashed. It awed a country used to the excesses of the 1920's.
America as a Divided Society in the 1920s America was born from immigrants and during the 1920's it was called a. melting pot due to the increase in social, political and economic. differences from all these new races. During the 1920's, America went. through a number of test cases to determine to what extent America was. divided.
Following the relatively prosperous era nicknamed the "Roaring Twenties" came the Great Depression. Unemployment skyrocketed and good times were hard to be found. In the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" - we see the transformation from stability to utter chaos.
Republicans dominated the 1920's political scene. During this time period, many changes occurred in the United States. Both culturally and economically. This period is known as the roaring twenties.
Sports were in rising popularity before and throughout the 1920’s. The economy was working astonishingly well, and the common American had substantially more disposable income that they did not have before. This gave numerous people the money to pay for the cost of entertainment services. Baseball was by far largest in popularity, with stars such as Babe Ruth. The 1919 World Series caused much commotion during this time, and slingshotted the popularity of Baseball and subsequently the popularity of other college and professional sports. New innovations such as the Radio and Television, made it easier to listen and keep track of sports and news across the country. This created a common culture with Americans and gave
This source describes how the 1920’s era displayed the beginning of modern America. The site discusses the economy and how technology played an instrumental role during this time. The source also gives information regarding the presidential administrations and the stock market during the 1920’s.
The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force. Women being giving the responsibility outside the home gave them a more independent mindset, including the change of women's wardrobe, mainly in the shortening of their skirts.
History is an abundance of movements that demonstrate the changes in societal ideals and beliefs, it also conveys the struggle many people had to maintain conservative ideas. The 1920s was a major time frame when many changes occurred and began, it is the epitome of the struggle between a changing nation and the Conservatives who want it all to stay the same. The power struggle between the Conservatives and the rebellious members of society had been going on for years but it was the passing of the Volstead Act, which had kicked started the Prohibition, that created an explosive change throughout the society. Drinking became fashionable, everyone wanted to do it because it was forbidden. With one law being broken people began to break the societal norms; woman drank and smoked in public, blacks were becoming popular in society, and even the accepted religious facts were called into question. This disregard for the norms caused an uproar throughout society and were the main tensions between old and new ideal; the tension stemmed from the ideals about women, blacks and religion.
Life Changes of Americans in the 1920's In the 1920's many American lives were improved greatly, but some lives were as bad as they had been before. The economy was booming, with cars being mass produced, and many other consumer goods such as radios, were widely available. Also more jobs became available, and many people recieved a par rise. However there were bad things such as racism about. Many ethnic minority groups were treated poorly.
During 1928, the stock market continued to roar, as average price rose and trading grew; however as speculative fever grew more intense, the market began to fall apart around 1929. After the stock market crash, a period began that lasted for a full decade, from 1929 to 1939, where the nation plunged into the severest and the most prolonged economic depression in history - the Great Depression. During this inevitable period, the economy plummeted and the unemployment rate skyrocketed due to poor economic diversification, uneven distribution of wealth and poor international debt structure. The United States began a period of uninterrupted prosperity and economic expansion during the 1920s, coining the term, the roaring twenties. Automobiles and construction became the most important and excessively relied industries in the nation as a result of the assembly line and other innovations.
The 1920's was a time of change in the United States. “The Roaring Twenties” had an outstanding impact on the economy, social standards and everyday life. It was a time for positive results in the consumer goods industry and American families, because of higher wages, shorter working hours, and manufacturing was up 60% in consumer goods. But it was also a time of adversity and opposition for others, such as immigrants and farmers. Immigrants had lots of competition when they were looking for work and they weren't treated fairly by Americans, depending on where they came from and what they believed.
Events that occurred in the 1920s altered society greatly, becoming an important part of modern day reality. The way society thinks in the 1920s is quite similar to modern society, illustrated through the ideology of the “American Dream”. During the 1920s, people aspired to grow to their fullest through achieving a high social status, and wealth. Likewise, in modern society, people continue to carry this idea as they aspire to have a good job; earn money; and obtain a high social status. This idea of opportunity of prosperity and success has continued on into the modern society, having a great impact. These impacts are also visible through the lessons carried on from events that occurred in the 1920s. Many mistakes were made in this era which are
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.