The 1920's

The 1920's

The 1920's where a time of conservatism, it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world to politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century.

The eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, which made alcohol illegal. It was called the Prohibition Amendment. This was known as the "Noble Experiment". All importing, exporting, selling, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol were illegal. The older people favored this amendment. They felt that alcohol was bad because of the way people behaved after drinking. People thought that crime, death rates and poverty would decrease now because alcohol was illegal. The younger generation did not like this amendment. Many people did not really listen to the law. The law actually increased the amount of people drinking alcohol. Some people would try and make alcohol in their own homes. This was called "bathtub gin". Alcohol would be smuggled from Canada during the twenties (Microsoft Encarta, 1999). Saloons that used to serve liquor were now called speak-easies. Instead of reducing the crimes rates, crime was actually greater. Organized crime was developed because of Prohibition. Sometimes police were bribed and went along with what was going on and would not do anything. The death rates were much higher than before. "Prohibition destroyed legal jobs, created black-market violence, diverted resources from enforcement of other laws and increased prices people had to pay for prohibited goods" (Thorton, Mark 1991). Al Capone was one of the most powerful bootleggers in Chicago, there were many gangs rivales due to prohibition the people who were bootlegging became wealthy because many people wanted alcohol.

In the 1920's, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which gave women the right to vote. During this decade women became strong and more independent. Women were accomplishing a lot more than they had before. Women started going to college so she could earn her own living. More women started leaving the home and working at a factory or as a secretary. Women were discriminated at the work place. They received lower wages then man did. In the 1920's, the term flapper was introduced. It was first used in Britain after World War 1. Young women were labeled as flappers who wore makeup shorter skirts. Flappers were more reckless and took risks. Women's behavior started changing. She would drink and smoke in public like men did. The women in the twenties became much more provocative. In general, women sought greater personal freedom and equality with men in her social life (Gales Research 1998).

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.

Revolutionary changes in family behavior led to the rise of the new idea of family called the "companionate family" (Gales Research, 1998). The new companionate family viewed husband and wives as "friends and lovers" and parents and children as "pals". In the 1920's the families became smaller. There were also fewer youths than before. Now there were more adults per youth and less pressure on the kids to take on adult responsibilities. The youth had more time to themselves and the adults had a greater concern for taking care of their children. More people were making efforts to try and legalize birth control, allow divorce and establish programs in marriage counseling, sex education and child guidance.

Sports were very popular during the 1920's. The decade of the 1920's was referred to as the "golden age for sports"(http://www.albany.edu). Baseball, boxing and football became very popular sports. Sports such as golf that was only for the upper class now became available to the middle class. Schools started to make sports teams for the children. Many records were broken during this time. Babe Ruth was one of the famous athletes in the twenties. He broke the old baseball home-run record in 1927 with 60 home runs. Another famous athlete was jack Dempsey. In the twenties he was the greatest heavy weight champion. Dempsey and Ruth were probably the most well known athletes of the e1920's. They were looked up to and idolized by many. Technology made the nation able to enjoy sport events. The radio allowed Americans to follow what was going on with sports in their home (gales research, 1998).

During the twenties there were scandals and corruption. Harding's administration started it off. The Secretary of Interior, Albert B. Fall, is remembered for the worst scandal during this time. Fall had accepted bribes from wealthy oil companies, He leased these company's government oil reserves from California and Wyoming. This was known as the Teapot Dome scandal. Harding had no idea what Fall was doing. Fall was caught and trailed by the Senate. He was found guilty.

While Coolidge was president the economy was very good. Businesses were doing well. The assembly line helped man big companies. Businesses were making things in mass production, which made things cheaper. People were working for higher wages and less hours. There were less people in labor unions. Now people were spending more money. The big businesses tried to concentrate on the industry by limiting competition. There were more chain stores now. The big companies were not disliked anymore because they helped the people instead of trying to be the most powerful company in the country. Now the stock market was not limited to just the wealthy business owners. Anyone could buy stocks if