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Dramatic social, economic and political change
- The Roaring Twenties was a period in American history of dramatic social, economic and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and gross national product (GNP) expanded by 40 percent from 1922 to 1929.
www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/roaring-twenties-historyRoaring Twenties: Flappers, Prohibition & Jazz Age ‑ HISTORY
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- Americans leave farms in favor of cities. Thomas Jefferson wrote that the United States was a nation of “yeoman farmers,” but by the 1920s, more Americans lived in cities than on farms for the first time.
- Indoor plumbing and sewer systems became common. Before the 1920s, most Americans were resigned to heading to the outhouse or to using a chamber pot, and washing weekly in a tub filled manually with water.
- The loosening of the corset. After centuries of confining their waists in tight corsets to give the appearance of a small silhouette, American women began finally ditching their corsets in the 1920s.
- The electrification of America. At the beginning of the 1920s, only 35% of American households had electricity. By the end of the decade, that figure would reach a whopping 68%; 85% of Americans living on farms were counted out of the tally.
- Flappers: The 'New Woman'
- Fashion, Fads and Film Stars
- The Jazz Age
- Prohibition Era
- Immigration and Racism in The 1920s
- Early Civil Rights Activism
- Sources
Perhaps the most familiar symbol of the “Roaring Twenties” is probably the flapper: a young woman with bobbed hair and short skirts who drank, smoked and said “unladylike” things, in addition to being more sexually “free” than previous generations. In reality, most young women in the 1920s did none of these things (though many did adopt a fashionab...
During the 1920s, many Americans had extra money to spend—and spend it they did, on movies, fashion and consumer goods such as ready-to-wear clothing and home appliances like electric refrigerators. In particular, they bought radios. The first commercial radio station in the United States, Pittsburgh’s KDKA, hit the airwaves in 1920. Two years late...
Cars also gave young people the freedom to go where they pleased and do what they wanted. (Some pundits called them “bedrooms on wheels.”) What many young people wanted to do was dance: the Charleston, the cake walk, the black bottom and the flea hop were popular dances of the era. Jazz bands played at venues like the Savoy and the Cotton Club in N...
During the 1920s, some freedoms were expanded while others were curtailed. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1919, had banned the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors,” and at 12 a.m. on January 16, 1920, the federal Volstead Actclosed every tavern, bar and saloon in the United States. From then on, it was illegal to sell...
Prohibition was not the only source of social tension during the 1920s. An anti-Communist “Red Scare” in 1919 and 1920 encouraged a widespread nativist and anti-immigrant hysteria. This led to the passage of an extremely restrictive immigration law, the National Origins Act of 1924, which set immigration quotas that excluded some people (Eastern Eu...
During this decade, Black Americans sought stable employment, better living conditions and political participation. Many who migrated to the North found jobs in the automobile, steel, shipbuilding and meatpacking industries. But with more work came more exploitation. In 1925, civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph founded the first predominantly ...
What Caused the Roaring Twenties? Not the End of a Pandemic (Probably). Smithsonian Magazine. The Roaring Twenties. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The Roaring 20s. PBS: American Experience.
The Roaring Twenties: How did American Culture and Attitude Change in the 1920’s? The Roaring Twenties, a decade marked by seismic shifts in American culture and attitude, stands as a testament to the nation’s ability to embrace change and define a new era.
Sep 9, 2024 · Date: 1920 - 1929. Location: Europe. United States. Roaring Twenties, colloquial term for the 1920s, especially within the United States and other Western countries where the decade was characterized by economic prosperity, rapid social and cultural change, and a mood of exuberant optimism.
The Roaring Twenties were a period of rapid economic growth and social change. Read about flappers, Prohibition, the Harlem Renaissance and more.
A potent force in American politics in the mid‐1920s with between three and eight million members, the Klan controlled the legislatures in Indiana, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas and was key to the election of several governors and numerous local officials.
The 1920s saw dramatic innovations in American political campaign techniques, based especially on new advertising methods that had worked so well selling war bonds during World War I. Governor James M. Cox of Ohio, the Democratic Party candidate, made a whirlwind campaign that took him to rallies, train station speeches, and formal addresses ...
