How Has The 1920s Changed American Culture

Sean Ashley
H2332: US history
Ruane
4/12/15

The Roaring Twenties Most people would say that the 1920’s changed the culture of America for years, and decades to come. “The 1920’sheralded a dramatic break between America’s past and future,” said historian Joshua Zeitz. The culture changed completely in the 20’s, from the women’s right movements to the racial groups that formed and resurfaced such as the Ku Klux Klan, and the religious groups. From the economic crises and the beginning of the great depression, to the ending of WW1 which ended in 1918. Businesses began booming in the early 1920’s, such as Ford building cars cheap and effectively using the moving assembly line, which made more vehicles faster and for cheaper, (Foner). The prohibition

The KKK was founded in 1886 by old Confederate soldiers who did not believe the Reconstruction act of the Civil War. The clan demised slightly, then resurfaced in 1915. Prior to the 1920’s, the clan only focused on Africa-Americans. But during the twenties they not only focused on the hatred of African-Americans, but they also began to focus on the hatred of Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. (6) The leaders were, white Protestant, and you were not welcomed to the Klan if you did not believe in their beliefs. During the peak of the reemergence of the clan, it reached up to 4 million Klan members nationwide (6). The Klan burned crosses in front yards of houses to scare the people that they hated. The cross also represented the Klan’s religious views. The Klan used “lynching” to show the African-Americans what will happen to them if they do something wrong. The term lynching was the hanging of a black male and hung in public area where everyone could see. After the peak of the Klan in1925, the Klan began to decline in

To this day there are still laws in effect to help the direction of America. There are still problems that were experienced then, that we are experiencing now. Such as the prohibition with all of the speakeasies, hiding, and smuggling. Which can be portrayed as the street drugs or marijuana that many people do the drugs and hide them from the law. It is against the law to use or possess the drug just like in the twenties it was illegal to have or consume alcohol. With the inventions that were made in the twenties, it was guided to someone the inventions we see today. With the television being invented in the twenties, and the refrigerator, it changed the way we use things that we take for granted in our daily lives. The first commercial airplane and other ways of transportation were invented, helping to make traveling easier, and we see all of this in the world today. From jet airplanes, to commercial airlines, and trains, moving faster than before. The law was corrupted back in the twenties as it is now, with murders not convicted, and racial crimes not being looked into. It can be portrayed as it is in society today, with the white policemen having power and killing people, mostly African-Americans, that can be seen as a view of