Cultural Changes In The 1920s Essay

In 1919, Congress passed the 18th Amendment which banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in America (Doc B). Prohibitionists overlooked the tenacious American tradition of strong drink and of weak control by the central government. Thus, there was tension between the modernists and the traditionalists. Although the amendment was passed, alcohol was still distributed illegally. Actually, prohibition spawned many crimes, such as illegal sale of alcohol and gang wars.

A “cultural civil war” ensured as some supported the resulting “liberation” from America’s past, while others objected to the “decaying” morals that supposedly accompanied such changes. Although Americans conflicted over a number of different issues, they were especially divided over three issues in particular: immigration, alcohol consumption, and race. The cultural clashes over the issues of immigration, race, and alcohol consumption fueled the “cultural civil war” of the 1920s and deeply divided Americans, the remains of which can still be seen to some extent today. Immigration was one of the

This caused America to flourish with new inventions, for example the automobile, household machinery, television, etc. Even old inventions and ideas were improving, like the radio, movies, and the use of advertising. The radio, movies, driving, and buying the various new products became a part of the daily lives. These inventions created a sense of ease for daily lives in America in the 1920s. It made life, jobs, and experiences easier.

Throughout Prohibition it was enormously controverse. Also the Volstead Act has not shown much effectiveness considering its main goal was to take away workers spending on alcohol, as well as keeping domestic violence of alcoholics out of the home. Yet, all the law brought was insanely higher amounts of spending on alcohol and brought the violence to the streets in a immense form of federal criminality. Even though many people wanted to dispose of the Eighteenth Amendment it was so unlikely to happen because never before in U.S. history has persevered and later on wanted to reverse. McGirr quotes George K. Statham when she writes “‘the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment is about as likely as the repeal of the Thirteenth Amendment, the return of dueling, or gladiatorial combats….The world moves, and it has never yet taken a great moral or social step forward and afterwards retraced its step.’ Five years later, the Twenty-First Amendment broke the Eighteenth Amendment’s record speed for ratification…”(pg.233) Many reasons were given as to why the Eighteenth Amendment was revoked.

With the ending of World War 1 came an era of change and social agreements. Many amendments and acts were passed during the progressive era. For instance, the Prohibition also known as the Volstead Act and the 19th amendment were in effect during this time period. Prohibition advocates considered alcohol America’s National Curse and they had believed that banning alcohol would strengthen families, lower crime rate, and generally improve national character but it weakened the economy and thousands of jobs were eliminated (history.com staff). The prohibition of alcohol was very influential and important because it displayed that suppressing something such as alcohol can have the opposite effect intended and make wanting it more sought after.

The Islamic Gunpowder Empires, which were the Mughals, The Ottomans, and the Savafids, all had different reasons for declining in power, while the European powers had their own reasons for growing in power. The Mughals declined in strength because religious intolerance led to revolts, the Ottomans declined in power because their economy weakened due to new European trade routes, and the Savafids declined in power because they were outcompeted by neighboring nations with guns, what they believed to be “unmanly” and stopped using. The European powers grew because new trade routes allowed for more cultural diffusion, leading to new innovation and technology, and a population increase due to the introduction of new foods. The Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Savafid Empire, known as the “Islamic Gunpowder Empires,” had

The Causes, Effects, and On-going Results of Prohibition in America In the wake of World War 1, the Roaring Twenties was an era for celebration, renewal, and a number of glamourized activities. Between flappers, the Charleston, organized sports, and jazz music, the people of the twenties lived joyous lives—until one of the most common activities came to a legal standstill on January sixteenth, 1920. Defined as the historical 1920-1933’s ban on the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of intoxicating beverages, the Prohibition marked the beginning of a corrupted decade for the American people, in which immense change and frequent debate ruled over achieving the American dream (Wikipedia). While the topic of

The women’s suffrage movement paved the way for equal voting rights for all women throughout the twentieth century. Many strong and inspiring women fought for the rights that we now have today. One of them, including Alice Paul. Paul played a major role in pressuring Congress to pass the 19th amendment. Instead of sitting quietly in peaceful protests and campaigns, she refused to be a small voice in a sea of power-hungry men and oppressed women and made herself and women’s struggles known to America.

Thus, despite immigrants being accepted into America, those immigrants were still treated far worse than white citizens between the 1840s and 1920s, for the prejudice against them was obvious even in the laws created. During the 1840s-1850s Americans saw a huge increase in the number of immigrants arriving in America, and this only lead to white American citizens fearing them during that period. There was fear for many reasons, the main reason being Americans feared that immigrants would steal their jobs. Namely these jobs were in New York city and other large coastal

The 1920s was an era in American history where many cultural trends began to emerge in American society that we would consider pop culture and the American economy was in good shape. For example, the 1920s was an era when the government had taken a backseat to the economy and adopt a laissez-faire approach to it. People during this time was tired of progressive reforms and their country trying to interfere in world affairs, so they adopt a policy of isolationism in world affairs and stop demanding for progressive change in their society from their