Honors History #3

The Roaring Twenties

American society in the 1920’s, also known as the roaring twenties, was the start of the modern era. It was the time in which our nation had many major changes in our economy, technology and culture. Some of the changes included the construction industry that was absolutely booming, new technology such as the automobile and also the way that women were looked upon and their new image.

           

            With the growth of construction, many people were successful with finding a job and bringing in a good income. Jobs involving construction started bigger business with steel, concrete, lumber, home mortgages and insurance companies. After the war was when the increase of construction grew really big. The big cities of the nation were getting bigger and the stress of having more were put upon the construction industry as well. The major cities started having buildings built that were over 20 stories tall and in those days, that was unheard of. Suburban growth was increasing the most of all. More and more people were moving from the cities the suburb and a need for more housing was definitely growing. In Grosse Point near Detroit, the suburbs increased by 700 percent. That incredibly large number was topped by Beverly Hills which increased in the suburban area by 2500 percent. The construction industry was very beneficial to the modern era and helped many people by giving them a job.

            While construction industry was growing larger and larger, the automobile industry was the one that hit the jackpot. The automobile industry was the company that was absolutely flourishing and grew bigger day by day. Before the 1920’s, automobiles hadn’t quite made their grand entrance on the popularity scale but by 1920 there were 10 million automobiles in America. By the end of the 1920’s, the numbers had increased to 26 million. Automobiles became more popular in the 1920’s because they were more affordable with the good economy. “Henry Ford made it possible by pushing standardization and mass production to such ruthless extremes that the automobile became affordable.” The price for Ford’s Model T was $290, which was an unbelievable low price from the original price of $845. The economy was doing so well in the 1920’s that automobiles could be sold $600 less than the original pricing of them. The advance of the automobile changed America by the large spread of paved roads and a new roadside economy.

            The women of the 1920’s were the “new women” of America. Fredrick Lewis Allen called it the “revolution in manners and morals” of the 1920’s. Before World War I, there were many restrictions on women and once the war ended, all of the restrictions were lifted. Pre-war, women could have been arrested for smoking cigarettes, driving automobiles without a man in the car with them, using profanity and even for going to the beach and not wearing stockings. After the war women were free to do just about anything they wanted. The 1920’s began a time where women could be rebellious and express themselves openly. The women of this time period became known as “the flappers” and were known for wearing makeup, tight outfits and hats. Another reason that the 1920’s produced a kind of “new woman” was because birth control became very popular. Once again, before the war birth control was not allowed but after the war birth control was allowed and it gave women the comfort of having sex and knowing they had a very good chance of not getting pregnant.

           

            The roaring twenties resulted in a time where life was carefree and the economy was absolutely booming. The 1920’s was a time where the businesses were skyrocketing, women were looked at differently by their actions and it was easy enough to just go for a stroll in a new automobile. The beginning of the modern era was where change began to take place and the culture of America changed as well.