Roarin' 20's
The 1920's was the time right before the Great Depression when the US was in great prosperity. Within these 10 years, the country's economy doubled and the United States became a "consumer society". This meant that there was more money to spend on things like clothes, appliances, radios, and most importantly, cars. The first Ford Model T was introduced in the 20's, and this made it much easier to move from place to place and also gave people more freedom and independence. There was also drastic changes in the social and political aspects of society. The nation as a whole became much more connected because all over the US, they had the same chain stores, dances, advertising, slang and music. Music and dancing were both big parts of the "Roaring 20's". In this time, jazz music was introduced, which was easy to dance to and became popular with mostly young people. This was a time that especially young people just wanted to have fun, which was a big change in the mannered, proper and sophisticated society that the United States was just a couple years before. In this time, many women became "flappers", which were women that rejected this "ladylike" mold that the women in previous years were supposed to live up to. These mostly young women wore short skirts, smoke, drank and partied. But, during this time, the 18th Amendment was passed, which made it illegal to make or sell achohol. This resulted in the popularity of speakeasies. While some people embraced all these new changes, there were others that were completely against it and wanted the more simple ways of life of previous years. This was the "Cultural Civil War". This was the battle between people that lived in cities and farms, blacks and whites, and the new way of life vs the old fashion. Overall, the Roaring 20's marked a big change from the simple, proper life of years before. Many of these social changes, in a more modern way, are still effecting us today.