Discuss how the 1920s represented social, economic, and cultural discord among Americans.

The 1920s, also known as the "Roaring Twenties" was a time of cultural innovations. The decade expierenced transformations that affected the nation's youth, its African-American population, and women. Though the "Roaring Twenties" were a culturally prosperous time, there were still its negatives. Women were still subordinated alongside Blacks and the nation was led by conservative presidents representing social,cultural, economic, and political status quo. Also, political relations prevailed, bringing radicals and trade unions in direct confrontation with government. Four of the most important and influential aspects of the 1920s would include mass consumerism, urban versus rural attitudes, science versus religion, and navatism versus immigration.

Mass consumerism has had a lasting effect on American today. Purchasing on credit was introduced during the 1920s and has prospered since. It created a system where people could "buy now and pay later". Though it was great in allowing many people to buy things they could originally not afford such as home appliances, it left a plentiful amount of Americans in debt. Catalogs such as Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, made it possible for people to order commodities they were inable to access before. Also the introduction of radio allowed a new form of entertainment, news, and advertisement. Also, the production of the automobile boomed. Twenty percent of Americans owned cars by 1930. It was by the mid 1920s where Americans began associating their social status with the car they owned.

Social scientists view the 20s as a time when modernism clashed with tradition. One conflict drawn from this was urban versus rural conflicts. Rural America viwed the natons citied as covered in "vice and sin". It just so happened that as the 20s came along, the 18th Amendment banned alcoholic beverages leading to illegal distribution and the rise of crime lords such as Al Capone, who got his start through illegal distribution of alcohol. It was said that liquor caused crime, poverty, poor health, and broken families. Speakeasies began to pop up throughout cities due to prohibition. There, it was required to know the secret code word to enter and jazz would burst on the inside, also known as "devils music". Rural America also looked down upon city womens' clothing. It was considered as provacative, promiscuos, and innapropriate. City women were known to where short skirts known as "flappers" that went against the original view of a Victorian comportment for women.

Another major conflict was science versus religion. In 1925 a Tennessee teacher was arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution, despite the law. It became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. It was then that Christians silenced those whom questioned the divine theory of creation as described in the Book of Genesis. It yet again put urban America against rural America. Urban America was known to hold its own modern views on religion. Rurual America sticked strictly to Protestant tradition. It was then that the teaching of religion became an issue. It is still an issue to this day and even illegal in some cities.

America developed a strong sense of anxiety when it came to the immigratoin issue. Restrictions began to rise. The Literacy Test Act of 1917 required immigrants to pass a literacy test in English or their own native tongue. Emergency Quota Act of 1921 reduced southern and eastern immigration. The Immigration Act of 1924 provided a national origins plan that restricted immigration to 2% for each nationality in the 1890 census. It was based on the idea that immigrants from easter and southern Europe were more dificult to assimilate. Last, the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 limited Asian immigration which was not changed until 1965.


The 20s are practically a direct reflection of today. As rap music and urban city now could be compared to jazz and urban city then. The music has only gotten louder and the skirts shorter. Unfortunately the 20s came to an immediate halt once the stock market crashed. It immediately brought down the nation's economy. Also, America entered the Great Depression as lives began to deteriorate. Lives that were prosperous in the 1920s would be completely opposite come the next decade. Overall, As,four of the most important and influential aspects of the 1920s would include mass consumerism, urban versus rural attitudes, science versus religion, and navatism versus immigration.