Pushing Boundaries In The 1920s

The “Roaring” 20s In the early 1920s, people were celebrating. World War I ended in November of 1918, and many people were overjoyed. About 4.7 million American men served in the military, and the United States suffered a total of 436,516 casualties, with 116,516 dead. World War I is often referred to as “The Great War” and “The War to end all Wars”. World War I was difficult for many Americans, and everyone was happy to be moving forward in the 1920s. During the 1920s, there was a lot of “pushing boundaries”. There were both technological advances and social advances. Though there was some conflict over these developments, and it is also possible to think of the 1920s of “warring”, the advances outweighed the struggles in the decade. Overall,

One of the industries most impacted by this was the automobile industry. As cars became cheaper to make, they also became much more accessible to the public. Between 1908 and 1924, the cost of a Ford Model T dropped by nearly $600. Cars gave people the freedom to travel and see more of their town and the country. People were able to expand their knowledge of the world around them. Automobiles changed the physical landscape of the United States as well, and how people lived. More people began to move from the country to cities and suburbs. The federal government funded the building of highways, roads, and tunnels. Roadside advertising also transformed the cultural landscape in America, which led to credit, which was the idea of “buy now, pay later”. Consumerism became a much bigger part of life in the

Some of the new advances in the 1920s caused controversy and anger from other groups. One example of this “warring” is the Scopes Monkey Trial. In Dayton, Tennessee, John T. Scopes was accused of teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution, which was outlawed in Tennessee. It represented the clash between religion and modern science, and people all over the country had to decide their stance. Another example of “warring” in the 1920s was the prominence of the Ku Klux Klan. Between 1922 and 1924, the KKK gained over 3.8 million members. Many white Americans, especially in the South, felt threatened by African Americans. Many people were threatened so that they would join, and the KKK was often violent. The prominence of the KKK shows how many people were still against pushing these social boundaries, and demonstrates corruption during this time as