Why Is Prohibition So Important In The 1920s

The 1920’s was an interesting time in American history. This era was also known as the roaring twenties. Although it is remembered as a fond time before the Great Depression there was also a lot of conflicts arising, Cultural conflicts in particular were at the center. Prohibition and Immigration were two of the main cultural conflicts during this time period.

The 1920’s, or “The Roaring 20’s”, was a decade that witnessed exciting social changes. It was a time of prosperity and dissipation, bootleggers and jazz dancers, and most importantly, it was a decade of The Prohibition Era. The Prohibition Era is basically an era which banned the manufacture, transportation, import and export, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to reduce crime, corruption, and social problems and increase the overall hygiene of America. However, this social and political experiment failed.

Prohibition played a large role in the rise of organizes crime. With the belief that alcohol was a dangerous drug and the route to disruption in the communities and family structure, prohibitionists pushed to ban the sale of alcohol. They believed it was responsibility of the government to intervene and prohibit its sales (Lyman 2015), thus subsequently creating the National Prohibition movement. With alcohol now banned, it created a high demand in the black market and created a gold mine for crime (Lyman, 2015).

The 1920s was a time of entrepreneurship, big spending, and partying. At the heart of these parties was the popular 1920s activity of drinking, Which was threatened by prohibition. The law of prohibition came into effect on January 16, 1920 and was intended to end drinking and drunkenness. However this policy backfired and sent the American alcohol industry into black market functions.

In 1874, Susan B. Anthony wrote a petition to Untied States Congress requesting: “that the fine imposed upon your petitioner be remitted, as an expression of the sense of this high tribunal that her conviction was unjust." (Anthony) Anthony believed the fine $100 USD was unjust because she and her friends were just trying to fight for an amendment that would guarantee women’s voting rights. NWSA kept on with their steps to achieve their goal. In 1878, the Women Suffrage Amendment, later became the Ninth Amendment, had first introduced in the Congress of United States. “Susan B. Anthony: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

The Roaring Twenties, characterized as a progressive era toward changes and advances, it was a start for freedom and independence for women. Women gained political power by gaining the right to vote. They changed their traditional way to be, way to act and dress to gain respect, and the liberty of independence. Society had different ways of ideals and the ways women were willing to do were disapproved of, and it was wrong for lots of different people, including women from the older generation. In the 1920’s women went through a lot of changes that made them a free spirit, changes that made them what they are now and having the liberty of being independent.

To further elaborate, the 1920s was the first decade when women started going to college and started driving. Going to college would expand women's education, which means they could now get a higher paying job. Furthermore, learning

The 1920s carried much change in society. Some of these changes were more rights for women, jazz music, and prohibition. The people of the 1920s were disillusioned by society lacking in idealism and vision, sense of personal alienation, and Americans were obsessed with materialism and outmoded moral values (The Roaring Twenties).Cultural changes were strongly influenced by the destruction of World War I ending 1918. America needed to recover and with it youth rebelled against the norms of the older generations.

The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, was an exhilarating time full of significant social, economic, and political change. For most Americans, it was full of the prosperity and peace that followed World War I. Middle-class life was full of leisure and class. For others, this time period was filled with hardships and challenges. Many immigrants and African-Americans faced discrimination and segregation from the rest of the United States. One notable, positive aspect of the 1920s was its booming economy.

The Woman’s Suffrage movement began in 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. “For many years, under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other women’s rights pioneers, suffragists circulated petitions and lobbied Congress to pass a Constitutional Amendment to enfranchise women.” (The National Women’s History Museum) According to document eight, Susan B. Anthony argues people who formed the Union, men and women, should both be allowed to vote. And in 1920, “due to the forces of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the 19th Amendment, enfranchising women was finally ratified, so they could vote.

And their traditional roles included staying home, rearing children and looking after their families. Women were not granted the right to vote until August 18th 1920 (The 19th Amendment, n.d.). The 19th Amendment to the U.S Constitution granted American women the right to vote—a right known as woman suffrage. This was only less than a hundred years ago, while men have been given that right since the beginning

Socially, Congress passed the 19th Amendment which allowed women the right to vote. Economically, the introduction of the automobile, radio, and the airplane brought prosperity in America. Culturally, the 18th Amendment banned the sale and drinking of alcohol in America. The dawn of the 1920s brought many social changes in America.

The Roaring Twenties was a prime era for women. Because of the toils of many strong women, ideals were flipped on their head, to America’s benefit. In the late 1800’s, two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, quickly realized that women would not be able to share their political views unless given the right to vote. Because of the fact that women had basically no other societal roles besides housework, they were not respected during this time period.

In the 1920s women succeeded well but not without some struggles. Along the way with 19th amendment being so hard for them gaining the right to vote, women’s roles seeing that there not good enough for other than housework and the fashion or style movement with being able not to express yourself the way you should. The 19th Amendment better known as the women’s suffrage era 1920 of the united states

19th Amendment said anyone whoever is citizen could vote including women which became part of the Constitution two years later. (127. Carrie Chapman Catt, Address to Congress on Women's Suffrage (1917) textbook Ch.19, pg.