Essay Sample on Roaring '20s: A Decade of Growth & Change in America & Beyond

The years between 1920 and 1929 was an era of great growth and change in the social, economic, technological, and political environment in America and globally. Historians note that the 1920s was a decade of exploration and learning, leading to the change and growth of the society. It is in this period of time America became a global power and shaded off the title that it was just a former British colony.

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The true American culture came into existence as movies, books, and theatre works from America were exported to the rest of the world (Roark, 1998). Now that World War I had ended, Europe's economy was on the decline while America was on the rise, and through creativity, inventions, and industrial development, the American society and economy developed to a position of respect globally.

The 1920s was referred to using many names, including the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, the Turbulent Twenties, and the Dollar decades. But due to the different changes in cultural, social, and economical, the era brought about, in my opinion, the Roaring age is the most accurate name to refer to the era. The era was roaring as there was prosperity in the economy and a distinctive cultural change in Europe and the United States while in France the decade as termed as the 'crazy years.'

During the 1920s, there was a rapid growth in technology. There was a large scale development in the use of radios, automobiles, electrical appliances, and telephones. During the age, there was a mass production of technological and electrical appliances that made technology affordable to the middle class. The use of radios was the first mass broadcasting medium and proved revolutionary as a mode of entertainment.

For the first time, people in America could gather and listen to global and national news, music, and comedy. The radio led to the development of the entertainment industry, and music, movie, and comedy expanded. Jazz music became popular in the period between the 1920s and 1930s.

The Jazz dancing styles gained increasing fame in the United States and parts of Europe. The genre of Jazz music was a fusion of both European and African music. Jazz music played a significant role in people's culture during the era. The culture of young people was intertwined with music. Amongst the influences of Jazz music is that the young generation used it to rebel against the previous generation's traditional culture. It led to the changes in their lifestyles. For instance, there was a shift in fashion; women could smoke cigarettes, cut their hair short "bob," and would wear short dresses and skirts without the society's criticism. The youthful generation could freely talk about sex, and new radio concerts emerged.

It is during this era that the aviation industry greatly expanded and became a business. The world has had most of its business done conveniently by the invention of airplanes. Americans could fly for fun or for business across the world in the shortest time possible. The Roaring twenties was a significant year to our modern age as it is the backbone of the consumer demands, industrialization, and lifestyle changes we have. With the development in technology, there was a great improvement of the aircraft used in World War I.

Before the 1920s, very few people had used the aircraft or used the aircraft for transport. Most of those who had used an aircraft were military people and some few others who were branded as barnstormers or daredevils. In 1924, an American Federal agency, the United States Air Service, flew across the globe using different types of planes.

In 1927, people could take solo flights to long distances across the globe for example in May 1927, Charles Lindbergh took a solo flight from America to Paris while Amelia Earhart became the first woman to take a solo flight from across the Atlantic Ocean. By the mid-1920s commercial passenger, air traveling had begun across many cities in America to other parts of the world.

The young women changed her social standing in society. The flapper or "unladylike" status was first noted. The young woman adopted new social standing, and society accepted the changes. The roles of the woman also changed in the society, and as part of making women get greater identity in the society, jazz music encouraged the right of women to vote and taking roles in the workforce (Burke, 2019). The number of women increased in the entertainment industry. Bessie Smith was a famous female musician who emerged during this era.

There were critics from traditionalists that jazz music was from people who had no skills or training. The Roaring age, on the other hand, led raise to major world problems such as drug abuse and crime. The vice of alcohol and narcotics became popular during this period, which also affected society. Traditionalists felt that the shift in culture during the Jazz age brought a decline in society's morality.

The older generation perceived Jazz music as the core cause of promoting promiscuity in society. However, the American government also noted the need to provide an opportunity for the changed woman into the American workforce. The 1920 19th Amendment guaranteed women access to white-collar jobs making the era a real roaring twenties to women in economic development.

The new culture in America had brought about a freestyle of living and drinking of intoxicating liquor increased. However, in January 1920, there was the Volstead Act that required the closure of all saloons, bars, and taverns in the United States in line with the 18th Amendment ratified in 1919 banning the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquors across America. The closure of saloons, bars, and taverns in the United States led to the advancement in the production and sale of intoxication beverages in America. The business was under the control of nominally illegal speakeasies.

High-level racketeers, bootleggers, and other organized crime gangs and figures like the Al Capone Chicago gangsters who had over 1,000 gunmen and over half of the Chicago police force was in its payroll controlled the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors across Chicago. The prohibition of intoxicating liquors across America was a means of exerting control over the middle-class and the unruly immigrants who crowded most cities drinking and became unruly (Zinn, 2018).

Drinking was a growing vice in the growing modern cities of America, and there was a growing number of "Drys" beers, also referred to as the "Kaiser brews," were turning the development clock of America backward. Thus, in the 1920s, there was the increased creation of organized crime gangs to control the intoxicating liquors business that was in high demand, but the government had banned making the era really roaring twenties for the organized crime gangs.

There were many political changes that were noted between 1920 and 1929 across the globe. There was a rise in radical political movements like fascism and communists, and this was a result of the just-ended World War I and the fact that the European economy was crumbling as well as the stock market had crashed.

Many people immigrated to America since it had a promising economic growth, but in 1924, America amended its Immigration Act to restrict immigration to ban Africans, Indians, and East Asia immigrants as well as have quarters for immigrants who are from European countries.

One of the cultural changes during the 1920s was the influx of immigrants into the United States. The Immigration act of 1924 had an immigration limit to the fraction proportionate to the ethnic's grouping done in the 1890s (Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage and Lawson, 2011). The main goal was to freeze the ethnic composition, and in my opinion, racism might have started developing in the American political class in the 1920s for the restrictions targeted the Africans, Indians, and East Asia immigrants.

It was also in the 1920s when laws were amended to allow women to take part in voting through the Nineteenth Amendment that was passed on August 18. During this time, women in North Carolina voted for better education and roads in the State. It is between 1920 and 1929 that America had four sitting presidents and one lady president, the wife to Wilson, who sat for Woodrow Wilson when he was sick and could not make decisions for America.

During this period, America was experiencing growing pains. There was a struggle in adapting to changing culture and societal structures. The changing morality and changes in the position of the world age was received with mixed reactions. For instance, some of the world war soldiers who came back from European countries were shocked by the carnage they saw. They felt the society had eroded the true American traditions they had left (Hardt, 2019). It was during this period that there was a presentation of the rite of passage for American society and culture. For the first time, the use of contraceptives to control birth was allowed so that women could plan childbearing and working.

However, there was social tension that was attributed to the great migration where African American immigrants moved in large numbers from the southern to the Northern part leading to a cultural civil war in the Northern cities. The increased visibility of the Jazz, which was linked to the African American culture from the southern countryside, led to discomfort by some of the Americans in the Northern cities. According to Gordon (2017), the Ku Klux Klan was formed as a movement against the social and cultural changes and was out to tramp the new values developed in the 1920s.

Another significant challenge experienced in the 1920s was the growth of anti-communist movements like the Red Scare, which advocated for nativism, hysteria, and anti-immigration. The conflict that the group caused led to the development of the National Origins Act of 1924, which was part of immigration restriction laws.

There were many conflicts between the native whites and the African Americans from the south; a concept historian refers to as a cultural Civil War during the Roaring Twenties. In conclusion, the 1920s was a roaring age as reshaped the social, economic, technological, and political environment in America and globally.

Conclusion

Technology played a great role in the world's economy, for the total American economic growth doubled between 1920 and 1929. Notable things in the 1920s were the development of radio, telephone, and the aviation industry. Industries in tobacco, furniture, and textile production expanded. The women changed in lifestyle and roles in the community and also participated in economic activities. Politically, there were many new laws to empower women and to restrict immigration and the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Not the whole of the American community fully embrace the change, but some saw the change as a conflict other than celebration.

References

Burke, P. (2019). What is cultural history?. John Wiley & Sons.

Gordon, L. (2017). The second coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American political tradition. Liveright Publishing.

Hardt, H. (2019). In The Company Of Media: Cultural Constructions Of Communication, 1920's To 1930's. Routledge.

Roark, J. L. (1998). The American promise: A history of the United States. St Martins Press.

Roark, J. L., Johnson, M. P., Cohen, P. C., Stage, S., & Lawson, A. (2011). Understanding the American promise, volume 2: from 1865: a brief history of the United States (Vol. 2). Macmillan.

Zinn, H. (2018). You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History. Beacon Press.