What was it like to live during the 1920's in USA?

Mark Cranshaw

10P

History essay

What was it like to live during the 1920’s in USA?

The USA had been reluctant to get involved in the aftermath of the Great War. Woodrow Wilson put forward his 14 points plan. He did not believe Germany deserved to be punished for her efforts in the war. Wilson helped set up the League of Nations. When the treaty of Versailles was ratified to the senate of the US they rejected it. They just wanted America to get back to normal. If they had accepted it then America would have been committed to help the League of Nations. As a result of the rejection Wilson was furious and humiliated. The senate wanted to “return to normal icy” this period is known as the era when USA went into isolationism. America after the war had great power. They had the best trade were very rich in raw materials. They were confident and had great stores of wood, iron, coal, minerals, oil and land. They led the world in chemicals, fertilisers and man made famous. America was the superpower.

In 1920 there was an election in the US. The two main parties were; the democrat party and the Republican Party. The leaders of the two groups were: Woodrow Wilson, democrat party (known for being racist) and Warren Harding, Republican Party. Wilson supported the League of Nations and Harding supported the senate, (“return to normal icy”). Warren Harding gathered the majority of the votes. The republicans were in power, (1920-1933).

Warren Harding brought with him two policies when he was in power of America. The first was called “Laissez-faire” this was a “laid back approach” that meant the government could not interfere. This gave many Americans the chance to be rich and live the American dream of land, hope and opportunity. Just as many people benefited from this law as people who did not. There was no dole over this time. This meant that the poor were getting even poorer. The whole point of this new attitude was to help the rich and give them a freedom of enterprise. The second policy brought by Harding was named “Rugged individualism” this was basically a statement by the government which said that “it is up to the individual to make his future” this was really the survival of the fittest. If you work hard enough then you will succeed.

USA had a great time in the 1920’s in a number of ways, which I intend to discuss.

Entertainment blossomed during the booming 20’s the latest invention was the cinema. During the era visiting the cinema became the most popular leisure pursuit. Hollywood was one of the most famous cities during the roaring 20’s and became the movie making capital. On average three new films per week were leaving Hollywood. There were nickelodeons in almost every town; they charged a price of one nickel. $100,000,000 per week was being made via cinemas across the US. Towards the end of the golden 20’s film stars became even bigger. Charlie Chaplin was perhaps the biggest star of the day. He was an English film actor and director he made it big in America and sign a $1,000,000 contract in the 20’s. Another big name was Mary Pickford, otherwise known as Gladys Mary Smith. She was Canadian born and stared in many films (silent and non silent). She formed united artists with Charlie Chaplin and D W Griffith. Rudolph Valentino was the screen idol of his day. He was an Italian born US actor and dancer. The Oscars were started in 1929 and are still going today.

During the golden era newspapers and magazines rapidly expanded. Catalogues were invented, as too were credit cards. Another famous man of this time was Charles Lindbergh he was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean non-stop. He did so in 33.5 hours and earned himself a nice £25,000 prize in the process. He most famously remembered because his young son Charles Jr was kidnapped and murdered. 10 magazines claimed circulation of over 2,500,000. America’s first radio station was introduce (KDKA) many people listened to music (Jazz and Blues) via the radio.

The introduction of catalogues ...

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During the golden era newspapers and magazines rapidly expanded. Catalogues were invented, as too were credit cards. Another famous man of this time was Charles Lindbergh he was the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean non-stop. He did so in 33.5 hours and earned himself a nice £25,000 prize in the process. He most famously remembered because his young son Charles Jr was kidnapped and murdered. 10 magazines claimed circulation of over 2,500,000. America’s first radio station was introduce (KDKA) many people listened to music (Jazz and Blues) via the radio.

The introduction of catalogues gave a good reason for shopping (along with everything else) to boom. Department stores got bigger. Two of the first were “Blooming dales” and “Hustlers”. Clothing was in high demand. With new clothing came new fashions, especially with the women. They were named “Flappers” and they look the look of men. New electrical equipment and appliances became available including: telephones, cars, radios, fridges, washing machines, irons and hovers. All of these changed household routines. Some kitchens were changed to accommodate for these new appliances. In the advertising category radios and billboards were introduced.

Henry Ford was possibly the greatest inventor of this time. His inventions (car) benefited everyone and ideas would have a major effect on people’s lives in the future. At first he started off slowly building just 20 cars in 2 years, but in 1911 he built a family car, the model-T. This was the right product, which was the right size, which was released at the right time. 10,000 model –T’s were sold in the first year, one of the most successful cars of all time which had a 50% proportion of cars owned in this era. During the golden era Ford was able to make up to 20 cars every 3 minutes via his new assembly line workforce. This method was introduced to make good faster, cheaper and more efficient. Ford would also have a major effect on the Second World War. He produced bombers and tanks. He owned a newspaper and drove his cars in races. Ford did not drink but he helped the environment. He built schools and hospitals. He was though an anti-Semite. Overall he was a great car manufacturer; he introduced mass production, assembly lines, and gave out top wages. His new invention- the family car, opened up new experiences for people.

New and more cars on the roads meant that there was to be a massive change in the infrastructure of towns. Roads had to be made wider and bigger for the new cars that were becoming available. American industry boomed. There were lots of new buildings; banks, factories, office buildings, insurance companies, advertising companies and car show rooms. The Americans wanted to build everything bigger and better than before. This was the age of skyscrapers. Everything became more advanced. There were many more hospitals built homes for the first time had electric lights. The car gave people a freedom to travel. They could now go wherever they pleased, to the beach or holiday for example. The car also opened up a whole new vision of crime. The car was handy for criminals. Paved roads and passenger planes were introduced. Americas aim was to have “a car in every garage and a chicken in every pot”.

Women during the roaring 20’s were different than before. They were liberated. They got new employment. For example there were many nurses and some women worked in chemical plants. The women of this era gained the right to vote for the first time. Women were allowed to drive cars, make up and for the first time contraceptive advice was given to them. Women became more educated, they were no longer considered to be less intelligent. Women’s magazines soared. Women had a new fashion “the flapper” they took the look of men and for the first time women could smoke in public. Cheap fashions became available.

During the 1920’s there was a massive growth in sport. Baseball, American football and boxing were among the most popular sports. Babe Ruth was the base baler of this era and is still regarded as one of the greatest base balers of all time. He played for the New York Yankees and was the best hitter in the game. The Yankee stadium is known as the “house that Ruth built” this is because of the money that he brought to the club. Babe Ruth played 2,503 games, achieved 2,174 runs and had an average of 714 home runs.

The most famous fight of the 20’s was between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney. 145,000 people witnessed the fight that Gene Tunney won. This figure gives us an idea of how big sport was becoming. Sport was more important to some people than their families. After jack Dempsey lost his world heavyweight title he famously quoted to his wife:

“Honey I Just forgot to duck!”

Gene Tunney won the fight and also won the rematch, which was in 1927. He quit whilst champion with 47 knockouts.

The jazz age took America by storm. Black music dominated, black people prospered but this was the only place where blacks did well. It was a wild era a romantic era. Popular types of music were jazz, soul and blues. Dancing became popular, as too were dance clubs and halls. Dancing was seen to be sexual and therefore was damned by the church. Louis Armstrong was a famous US jazz cornet and trumpet player and singer. He had a warm and pure trumpet tone. He was good at improvisation and had a quirky, gravely voice. He stared in films and was very popular. Edward “Duke” Ellington was another famous US musician. He played the piano.

Although many benefited and prospered from the golden 20’s many more did not. In 1929 the president of the US, president Hoover quoted:

“We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land”

The real facts came out later that year. 42% of the country was on the bread line border. These consisted mainly of; textile workers, miners, poor farmers, new immigrants and Black cropper families. 750,000 black farmers lost their jobs. They later moved north in search of work. Another fact was that 3,000,000 American families were earning less than $1,000 per year. Raw materials became derelict during the 1920’s this was the reason for the black farmers losing there jobs. Also farming in general declined. Immigrants who moved to the land of hope provided cheap labour for the employers. In many cases the new immigrants were discriminated against. Also unemployment levels grew. Another bad side to the golden 20’s was the growth of the KU LUX KLAN. It was stated in 1864 and its aim was to terrorise blacks. With a membership of 5,000,000 in 1925 it grew rapidly. It saved white peoples lives and rescued whites from black gangs. The KLAN started to decline when the leader of the KLAN was found guilty of raping a white woman. He eventually went to prison but the only reason he was convicted was because the victim was white. If she had been black justice would not had been prevailed. Hoover was far from accurate with his statement. Many gained from the booming 20’s but many more suffered.

There was also a dark side to the 1920’s. This was mainly because of prohibition, the 18th amendment. It was started on 16th January 1920. It was introduced to stop the consumption of alcohol. It lasted 13 years until 5th December 1933. The dries (people who supported prohibition) thought that it would reduce crime and corruption levels, stop gambling and improved the lifestyles of the Americans. All that the law did was create an easy route for gangsters to make a lot of money (sometimes in excess of $5,000,000) at the expense of the average family man. Anything that was over 0.5% alcohol was classed alcoholic and banned. This is known as the Volstead act. The law-excluded medical use. Prohibition failed. It actually increased alcohol consumption and increased crime rates. People drank alcohol in gangster owned speak easy pubs. They were positioned inside shops, basements, behind closed doors and bookcases. Alarm systems were fitted in the bars and by 1925 there were over 100,000 speak easy’s in New York. As a result of the illegal consumptions the government employed 1550 prohibition agents. They were employed to stop people from drinking alcohol and smuggling it. But the agents lived in fear of their lives by the gangsters. They were easily bribed. Barely 5% of alcohol was seized, bootleggers made money smuggling and gangsters made money selling alcohol. In total the gangsters made over $2,000,000,000. Alcohol was made in people’s homes and was sometimes stolen from factories. President J. F. Kennedy’s son made a lot of money via illegal alcohol sales. As to did one of the most famous gangsters of all time, Alphonse Capone. Al “Scar face” Capone was the man of the time. He was a huge gangster and supplied New York and Chicago with alcohol. He power over the police and therefore was very hard to convict. He was born in New York in 1899 and was part of the Italian-Americans who boot legged alcohol. They were peaceful people who just wanted to provide a service. Capone was a generous man. He helped fund projects in Chicago. He gave to the needy, helped the elderly and was great with kids. He famously quoted;

“I have been accused of every death except the casualty list of the world war!”

He was imprisoned at Alcatraz, for tax invasion- the only crime that could be sustained against him. He is most famously remembered by the St Valentines day massacre. Capone ordered some of his gang members to disguise themselves as policemen and go and kill members of his rival gang. In total 7 of the Bugsy Moran gang were murdered. The whole event was a conflict over the control of alcohol trade. Alphonse Capone died in 1947 aged 48 of syphilis. Al Capone’s brother was a prohibition agent. He was a good man who was passionate about his job. He did not except bribes, but was forced to leave his job by his brother. Al Capone did not wish to kill him but just to stop him from working with his enemy, the law.

There were two groups who helped to introduce prohibition; anti-Christian union and the anti-saloon league. They wanted alcoholic consumption banned. They used lots of propaganda to convince people that alcohol was bad. They used German beer advertisements. They said that people who drank German beer were un patriotic. They said that families were getting poorer because of the father of the family drinking away all the money at night. In some cases this was true.

Alcoholic beverages were made legal via the health service. As a result of this 95% of people wanted alcohol from the health service. The alcoholic death cases went up from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1926 despite the introduction of prohibition. Prohibition was a disaster.

To live during the 1920’s would have been fun and exciting. There were many new things and inventions. Most people had lots of fun and it seemed that everyone was progressing and getting richer. There were many people having amazing times but there were just as many who were not. Lots of people lost jobs, industries became derelict and declined away. For the black people it was no fun as the Ku Klux Klan terrorized them. During this period there were some vast improvement on many stages. I think that despite a lot of poverty and prohibition etc, the 1920’s would have been an enjoyable and exciting period to live through.