The Roaring Twenties

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920's, better known as, the roaring twenties. If you're like me and have been taking social studies over the summer for the past three years, the only thing you really remember about the 20's is flappers and prohibition (I'm sure Leonardo DiCaprio's face pops up in your memory as well). Before diving into this classic, I decided to re-educate myself on this era to greater understand the text, and to be able to recall more than just frilly dresses and a ban on alcohol. Without further ado, here's what I found...

The 1920's was an age of huge political and social change. For the first time more Americans were living in cities rather than farms.  On top of that economic growth was through the roof, the nation's total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929. America became a "consumer society", and people from coast to coast were able to buy the same goods, listen to the same music, and even use the same slang. Contrary to common belief, the 20's brought on more conflict than celebration, many American's weren't used to this new, urban, and sometimes racy culture that was quickly emerging.  

In 1919, the 18th Amendment of the Constitution banned all 'intoxicating liquors'.  On January 16th, 1920, the federal Volstead Act closed every bar, saloon, and tavern in the United States. As you can imagine people were not very happy, this act gave birth to illegal speakeasies controlled by bootleggers, racketeers, and other organized crime figures such as Al Capone. Aside from prohibition, the Ku Klux Klan gained many followers in the 1920's. There was also an anti-Communist 'Red Scare' in 1919 and 1920 that lead to a widespread anti-immigration hysteria. 

At this point in my research the 1920's weren't lookin' so hot. So I decided to look into the more musical and expressive side of the 20's. The jazz age gave younger generations a new type of freedom on the dance floor, that was sometimes seen as vulgar by the older generations (surprise, surprise). Some of the dance moves created include: the Charleston, the cake-walk, the black bottom, and the flea hop. In the 1920's many American's had extra money to spend, so they spent it on clothes, electrical appliances, and especially radios. By the end of the 20's more than 12 million households had a radio! This helped spread all the new fun musical culture the roaring twenties had to offer. 
I would like to thank history.com for enriching my knowledge on the 1920's, I couldn't have done it without you!  If you would like to learn more click on this link http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties