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The Roaring Twenties: 1920-1930

American Civilization 1700 April 23, 2013 Julia Foley

The 1920s was a decade of great political, economic, and social changes culminating in an era known now as the Roaring Twenties. It was full of controversy and prosperity. Legends were born. Men like Babe Ruth and Charles Lindberg defied limits. It was the beginning of jazz, radio, and full length talking films. Women were finally recognized and given the right to vote. As they entered the work force, they were also introduced to new fashions and more freedom with their bodies. They went from courting to dating. They showed the public they were equal to men in their openness with drinking and smoking in public and also with the way they dressed. John Scopes introduced evolution to school aged children in a small town in Tennessee and challenged Americas way of thinking. The 20s were also known for many problems of the times, such as prohibition, gangsters, immigration and living outside ones means on credit. This decade, filled with so much hope and success, ended in 1929 with the devastating stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. This decade is the most significant decade because America moved more into the modern times with new inventions in industry, new roles for women, and new cultural phenomenons such as radio, jazz, and movies. On January 17th, 1920 the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the production, transport and sale of alcohol, was put into effect. The Volstead Act set down the standards of enforcing and defining the amendment. The Eighteenth Amendment was the result of decades of effort by the temperance movement in the United States and at the time was generally considered a progressive amendment.1 Suddenly the police and courts were filled with new criminals and organized crime had control in major cities. Police were often corrupt and owned by these gangsters. The passing of the 18th Amendment was significant because it was passed due to the
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Hamm, Richard F. 1995 Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment: temperance reform, legal culture, and the polity, 1880-1920, (Chapel Hill & London, UNC Press Books, 1995), 228.

temperance movement. They wanted the violence and actions of people who drank stopped, yet prohibition created even more violence and disregard for the law. Alcohol was illegally available and people would pay and do what they needed to in order to obtain it. Prohibition was just one area in the political scene where changes were being made. Throughout the history of America, immigrants from all over came to America to seek freedom, escape persecution and improve their economic condition. In 1924 The National Origins Act was passed and this put an end to nearly four decades of almost unlimited mass immigration. This law blatantly discriminated against immigrants from eastern and southern Europe and excluded Asians almost entirely. The fear of immigrants taking over American jobs had a place in bringing this law about. The new quotas for immigration were so strict for the people from southern and eastern Europe that in 1924 there were more Italians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Spaniards, Chinese, and Japanese that left the United States than those who arrived as immigrants.2 It encouraged racism throughout the United States and it wasnt until 1965 that the act was abolished. This first major immigration legislation left a lasting impact because it created a distinction between Americans and new immigrants coming in. It caused a racial society towards anyone who was different and that would become the normal for many years to come. Cities were growing rapidly which led to an increased economy. Henry Ford introduced the affordable automobile. This boosted the economy by creating millions of jobs. With the creation of the assembly line, production in many different industries was now affordable and employed Americans in the factories. Advertising on the roads now reached many people and
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Steven G. Koven, Frank Gtzke, American Immigration Policy: Confronting the Nations Challenges, (Springer, 2010) 133.

was a great new market. This addition to American culture gave birth to the concept of credit. Home appliances, clothes, cars and whatever you needed could be bought now, paid later. By 1927, 75% of all household goods were bought on credit.3 Americans were living above their means and could not foresee the end of the Roaring Twenties coming with the devastating stock market crash in 1929. This consumer society is significant and helps make this decade the most significant because it was the beginning of mass production and mass distribution. This created millions of jobs for many Americans and set the standard of how we are able to purchase and receive things instantly and at times without even paying for it outright. This is still how many Americans live today. Changes in womens rights were another feature of the Twenties. Cities like New York welcomed the modern woman. These women broke all the traditions. The 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote was passed in August of 1920 and it gave women a freedom they never had before. They were expressing their rights as legal citizens for the first time legally with their vote. With prohibition, jazz music, dancing and careless spending, women were letting go of the inhibitions of the female generations before them. Drinking, smoking, new fashions and freer sexuality were part of crossing those boundaries. At the forefront of this movement was birth control activist Margaret Sanger who spent time in prison for propagandizing birth control. She promoted the joys of sex and ridiculed the traditional sense of sin.4 It was a conflicting time

Boom to Bust The Century: Americas Time, Documentary, American Broadcasting Company, 1999

Miller, Nathan. 2003 New World Coming the 1920s and the Making of Modern America. Simon and Schuster, New York, 21

for America between those who wanted the new found freedoms and liberty and others who still craved for the comfort of what they had always known. Traditions and values were changing throughout America. New ideas and sensationalism were being expressed throughout the country. In Dayton, Tennessee in 1925, a teacher named John Scopes was charged with violation of Tennessees Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. He was found guilty and fined $100. His court case was referred to as the Monkey Trial and became a media circus. It was one of the first examples of how to use the media for tourism and economic security. This feeding off drama through the media was a preface to widely established practices in America today. The twenties was a time, just after World War I, when people were looking hope and heroes to look up to. Masses of people came out in droves to watch the home run king Babe Ruth break the world record which he held until 1961. Boys dreamed of becoming the next major league ball player. Babe Ruth became an icon of the significant social changes which marked the early 1920s.5 In May of 1927, a little known pilot named Charles Lindbergh, flew the first nonstop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York to Paris, France in 33 hours. This unbelievable feat of the times gave him instant, worldwide fame and caused the world to believe that anything was possible. American heroes such as Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh brought the people together and all cheering for the same thing. It created a new era and a significant decade. The Roaring Twenties came to a crashing end on October 29th, 1929. Also known as Black Tuesday, stock market prices on Wall Street collapsed. The crash began a ten year

Montville, Leigh. 2006 The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth. Broadway Books, New York, 106-107

depression that affected the United States until the beginning of World War II in 1941. According to analyst Richard M. Salsman Anyone who bought stocks in mid-1929 and held onto them saw most of his or her adult life pass by before getting back to even6 The devastation of the stock market crash set off a domino effect throughout the economy which led to the Great Depression. Americans suddenly found themselves extremely poor and created a social unrest to an already troubled society. In conclusion, the Roaring Twenties was a time of great changes, some of which were positive and others negative. Lasting effects of this era can be seen in a continued interest in womens rights and involvement of women in the work place. Economic and cultural changes have carried forward in todays world of fashion, style and consumerism. Immigration issues continue to be of primary concern to many people. The feats and limits that were surpassed in the Twenties were amazing for those times. Equally and greater changes occurring in subsequent decades have all built upon and added to our great American legacy.

Salsman, Richard M. "The Cause and Consequences of the Great Depression, Part 1: What Made the Roaring '20s Roar", The Intellectual Activist, ISSN 0730-2355, June 2004, p. 16.

Bibliography Hamm, Richard F. 1995 Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment: temperance reform, legal culture, and the polity, 1880-1920, UNC Press Books, 228 Koven, Steven G., Gtzke, Frank, American Immigration Policy: Confronting the Nations Challenges, (Springer, 2010) 133. Boom to Bust The Century: Americas Time, Documentary, American Broadcasting Company, 1999 Miller, Nathan. 2003 New World Coming The 1920s and the Making of Modern America Simon and Schuster, New York, 21
Montville, Leigh. 2006 The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth. Broadway Books, New York, 106-107

Salsman, Richard M. "The Cause and Consequences of the Great Depression, Part 1: What Made the Roaring '20s Roar", The Intellectual Activist, ISSN 0730-2355, June 2004, p. 16.

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