Negatives Of The 1920s Research Paper

Paradise on the Earth? Ah, the 1920s, the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the Golden Twenties, or so they thought. Is it paradise on earth? What about all the contradictions, the troubles, and the crimes? Many people think the 1920s were all sunshine and rainbows, but it was far from it. Although there were numerous positives during this decade, there were still several negatives. Some of the primary conflicts of the 1920s were prohibition and nativism. Prohibition was a contradictory move made by the federal government to ban the manufacture, trade, and sale of alcohol, which would lead to many other benefits for domestic life. This move occurred as a result of the religious revivals of the 1820s and 30s that called alcohol a “national curse.”

As a result of this legislation, people have found more ways to buy and sell alcohol illegally. The term became known as “bootlegging.” Throughout the 1920s, crime rates increased dramatically as a consequence of the ratification of the 18th Amendment. According to history.com, “A growing number of Americans came to blame prohibition for this widespread moral decay and disorder.” The purpose of the prohibition movement was to stop the effects of drunkenness and unethical behavior of that time. The ban on alcohol was hypocritical in correcting the issues in domestic and civilian life. The amendment was supposed to lower crime rates and improve people’s financial struggles, but it had adverse effects. This contradiction implied that during this time it was, in fact, not paradise on Earth. Famous mafia bosses amassed great fortunes with the sale of illegal substances. The most well-known mafia leader was Al

They were Jewish or Catholic, not Protestant like most Americans (Schimmel). Consequently, this led to the rise of nativism in the United States. Nativism is, according to encyclopedia.com, “favoring inhabitants already living in the country over immigrants coming to the country.” Life is altering for Americans with the soaring numbers of immigrants coming into the United States. Americans were being introduced to new cultures and values. David Morrison from ENotes states, “Nativism was their response to what they perceived as the prevailing social and cultural malaise.” Before, in the late nineteenth century, immigrants were taken into the United States with open arms. The United States was supposed to be home to refugees and anyone who needed to escape their homelands. Now immigrants are facing poverty, prejudice, and mistreatment by their fellow Americans for their backgrounds and religious diversity. It is a contradiction because before, immigrants could come into and live happily in the country, and now they were being forced out and persecuted for their differences. Nativism is just another contradiction that justifies that the United States is not paradise on