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. Probibition during the 1920s is one of the many examples of dichomoty. During Prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages was restricted or illegal. Prohibition was supposed to lower crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. Instead, Alcohol became more dangerous to consume, organized crime blossomed, courts and prisons systems became overloaded, and endemic corruption of police and public officials occurred. The dichotomy in this is prohibition vs. legalization. Before prohibition went into effect, it was perfectly okay for people to have alcohol. But as the result of decades of effort by the temperance movement, alcohol was prohibited and the eighteenth amendment was adopted to the U.S. Constitution. After the war, issues of race weren't ignored. Black men had come back from a war were they were treated like men. They still weren't treated as equally as whites, but they were treated better during the war than they were back home where they were treated like objects. This gave them more motivation to demand equality when they returned. But after the war, white hostility towards blacks increased. This became a dichotomy when there was competition for low wage jobs between the blacks and whites. There was also black encroachment into white neighborhoods. The whites d... ... middle of paper ... ...ductivity shaped the development of the American economy in the 1920s. The nation’s industries shifted from coal to electricity. Mass production, electrification, and other innovations increased American productivity and established industries flourished while new industries developed. One of the most signigicant inventions during this time was the assembly line. This made hard work become less tedious and forever changed the lives of factory workers. Overall, the 1920s was a critical turning point in America's history.The dichotomies of the 1920s are examples of how things can change tremendously and have an effect on a whole nation. Most Americans started to think differently.They were tired of the normality. Even though some Americans wanted to reinstitute the normality before the World War 1, their ideas could not withstand the ideas of those with new values.
The 1920’s is a period that defines the United States. Conflict and opposing values were increasingly prevalent in the American society. The country was torn between new political practices, views on the role of women, religion, social and artistic trends, science and more traditional beliefs. These were ideologies that were surfacing during the 1920’s. Much tension between the 'new America' and the 'old America' was caused by a number of wars and outbreaks (Lyndon).
The 1920s were a time of change for the United States. Following the First World War there was a rush of new cultural, social, and artistic dynamism, partly fuelled by the Progressivism movement that was cut short when American entered the Great War. This decade was defined by a change from more rural farm life to industrialism in big cities. The shift from the frugality and traditional family values or previous generations to the happy-go-lucky consumerism and metropolitan life occurred more rapidly than any other social shift in living memory. These swiftly changing tides caused cultural clashes and confrontations throughout the decade as America struggled to define for itself a fresh national identity in the wake of its new position as a world power.
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.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of production, it was the age of destruction, it was the epoch of nativism, it was the epoch of racism, it was the season of skepticism, it was the season of anti-communism, it was the spring of gain, it was the winter of loss – in short, it was the 1920's. Indeed, the decade of the 1920s was a truly “roaring” and prosperous time, but at the same time, it was a period of chaos and conflict. The events that happened during this decade influenced the world as we know it today. More importantly, the thought that the 1920’s was an era of major change in the United States, both positive and negative, is indeed fascinating and it deserves thorough examination.
Prohibition was the eighteenth amendment. It prohibited the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages. People would have never thought of “excoriating” alcohol until the 19th century (Tyrrell 16). During this time widespread crime and dismay arose. Some beneficial things did come out of this period of chaos such as women were able to prove themselves as people their temperance movements. During this time many things happened that led to Prohibition’s strongest point and to its fall. Prohibition proved to be a failure from the start,. Prohibition was scarcely adhered to and also widely defied but out of this women had a chance to voice their opinions and prove themselves.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
Technology played an important role in the daily lives of Americans in the 1920s. Many inventions and new developments occurred during this time. A large number of items that are used today were invented by individuals and teams in research laboratories. This technology brought many conveniences such as electrical power and indoor plumbing into the home. Radios gave people access to the news and provided entertainment. Mass culture was also born and the automobile became the largest consumer product of the decade. By 1929, one in five Americans had an automobile on the road. America experienced a decade of economic growth due to the impact of technology in the 1920s.
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
As well as, family began to take long vacations which didn't happen before the automobile. This led to Americans being able to see different areas of the country they lived in first hand. The automobile also helped the development of an educated population from an early age because student could access school multiple grade levels and went to school longer. To conclude, Shannon believed that manufacturing changed the 1920’s not social rebellion by
Lindop, Edmund, and Margaret J. Goldstein. America In The 1920s. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group Inc., 2010. Print.
The 1920s was an era of great cultural, technological, and economic expansion. It was a prosperous time for the upper and middle classes. This time period named the “New Era” because the United States seemed to be on the cusp of great change and fortune. The 1920s seemed to be a prosperous time for America but looks can be deceiving.
“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty, death rates, and improve both the economy, and the quality of life for all Americans. These goals were far from achieved. The prohibition amendment of the 1920's was ineffective because it was unenforceable. Instead, it caused various social problems such as: the explosive growth of organized crime, increased liquor consumption, massive murder rates and corruption among city officials. Prohibition also hurt the economy because the government wasn’t collecting taxes on the multi-billion dollar a year industry.
The 1920s was a changing time in America. There we so many new concepts brought to the day to day lives of citizens in America and with that said the 1920s were the more important to America. The advancement in transportation technology, credit, and women's freedom gave people the self independence they needed.
In the real world, life has its ups and downs. In the 1920's, corporations started to take better care of their workers than they had in the past. Workers were paid higher wages and worked shorter hours. With more time and money on their hands, workers turned into consumers, which caused an increase in the production of consumer goods. One of the most popular consumer goods was the automobile. To keep up with the high demand, the automobile industry had to create a way to make a lot of cars in a short amount of time, at a low price. The solution was the assembly line. With the assembly line the time to create one car dropped from 12 hours to 90 minutes. The price of the automobile fell greatly also, which further increased the demand. The automobile industry inspired other industries to form, such as the steel, rubber, petroleum, machine tools, and road building industries. But life wasn't just peaches and cream in the 1920's. Immigrants and farmers were facing some serious adversity. After World War I, the United States began to put a cap, or put a quota, on how many immigrants could come into the country.
The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a devastating war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions.