ipl-logo

Pros And Cons Of The 1920s

810 Words4 Pages

The era of the 1920s in America is debated over and talked about by many people throughout the world, and for many decades. Barry Hankins in his book Jesus and Gin describes this era as a period of “culture war” in America. “The 1920s saw a culture war between those who believed that community values preceded individual rights and those who believed that individuals had rights that the community could not violate.” These culture wars consisted of political scandal, prohibition, and religious controversies, including norms on what to teach children in schools. “Scandal was part of what made the 1920s roar…” This quote is certainly true for that era, especially with president Warren Harding. He had prolonged affairs with Carrie Phillips …show more content…

Many people even today would debate the merits of prohibition and its’ benefits on society. “If the goal of Prohibition was to eliminate drinking in America, then it failed. If the goal was to significantly reduce drinking and reduce the influence of the saloon in American culture, then Prohibition was a success.” Prohibition did reduce drinking, but it also made crime bosses wealthy. Many other critics of Prohibition gave additional reasons against the law. Stanwood Lee Henderson “argued that Prohibition was responsible for corruption of women and degrading public decorum.” Michael Monahan “blamed Prohibition for religious bigotry, crime, drug addiction, and a general decline in “social happiness.” The 1920s expressed itself through prohibition primarily with flappers and drinking, leading to rebellion and moral …show more content…

Also, a man by the name of Clarence Darrow, who was a strong advocate in the Scopes trial, had been in an interesting case called the Leopold-Loeb murder case. “...he defended two Chicago teenagers who had engaged in a thrill killing just to see if they could get away with it. At the trial he urged that the young killers’ lives be spared because they were not responsible for their actions.” He claimed it was the society’s fault that these two boys committed murder. This shows how morally corrupt these times were and how people were not willing to take the responsibility needed for their

Show More
Related
950 Words | 4 Pages

Daniel Okrent’s book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition is a thorough history of the Prohibition era. Okrent’s narrative is an easy to follow and enjoyable read. During the first few pages of his book, Okrent clearly lays out the themes and ideas he will explore throughout. While Okrent demonstrates that January 17, 1920 brought Prohibition after the ratification of the 18th Amendment the year prior that banned the manufacturing, sale and transportation of alcohol, he also argues that the prohibition was far more complex than this amendment. Okrent argues that the 18th Amendment was a culmination of social and political movements, leading to the dryness of a country.

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

By 1932, Americans had reversed the approval and disapproval making the disapproval rating had gone higher. Americans disapproved the prohibition because the criminality and murder went up, business’ were going down and it was impossible to enforce no alcohol. The rate of criminals went up leading to more murders when the Prohibition was enforced. Many criminals such as gangsters, racketeers, bootleggers, and dope sellers got “helped” out by prohibition. Especially in the Great Depression, were alcohol was even more wanted.

Read More
516 Words | 3 Pages

How the 1919 World Series Effected Life In The 20s The 1920s was a rough era for America. It had many events and things that made it a rough time in history and difficult to live in that day and age. One of the major events that set off the 1920s depression era was the 1919 World Series.

Read More
969 Words | 4 Pages

Guest Committee The 1920s was a time of change for the United States. It was a time of innovation, economic growth, and social status. With this “new era” springing about change it gave people a chance to reinvent themselves. People were able to get more jobs that had higher wages.

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

In his 1924 article, John Gordon Cooper claims that Prohibition had been an overall net positive force on society. According to Cooper, this force manifests itself in three ways. The first of these is the fact that many lives that would have been lost due to alcoholism and alcohol-related incidents have been saved as the cause of death was removed before it became a threat. Secondly, Cooper observes that the crime rate had gone down by 5.8 in 100,000 since Prohibition had been enacted (p. 193). He links this decrease directly to the absence of alcohol as a contributing factor to society.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

Many portray the 1920s as a time of lighthearted leisure and prosperity. When in fact this period consisted of significant economic , social and cultural conflicts. Technological innovations sparked the economy and life post war was significantly different with the introduction to what we know as the “New women” the new women also sparked many social conflicts. Along with the New women tension between religion and science also sparked many important conflicts during the time we know as the Jazz Age.

Read More
1349 Words | 6 Pages

Historians called the 1920s, roughly the period between the end of World War I and the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, as the Roaring Twenties or a period of remarkable changes. Over half of all Americans resided in cities and the growing affordability of the automobile forced people to be a lot active. While the decade was known as the era of jazz and flapper fashions, a lot of domains still remained quite conservative. In the novels of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Stein, the 1920s were also the time of deep disillusionment, the era of the lost generation. Drawing upon my knowledge of the 1920s, I would evaluate the validity of this stereotype by historical

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

The Roaring Twenties Many have heard the quote, “we learn from our mistakes.” This quote is very true, especially when it comes to the events of 1920s. Many have debated whether the 1920s roared, meaning it was a successful time period in America, or did not roar. The 1920s did roar, but in a bad way, because the events that occurred showed America what had to be changed.

Read More
686 Words | 3 Pages

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.”

Read More
1275 Words | 6 Pages

A Step Towards Today: The Positive Impact of the 1920s History is made up of the ups and downs of the past in which understanding certain events helps one realize what led up to make modern society. Canadian history will eternally be impacted in several ways by the 1920s also known as the Roaring 20s. The Twenties evidently had a positive impact on Canadian society serving the name “the roaring twenties” accordingly. The twenties roared for a variety of significant reasons including the development of women roles in society, the rebellious fashion sense including entertainment, and lastly the inventions that impacted the time period which exemplifies the positive effect for society.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

The 1920s carried much change in society. Some of these changes were more rights for women, jazz music, and prohibition. The people of the 1920s were disillusioned by society lacking in idealism and vision, sense of personal alienation, and Americans were obsessed with materialism and outmoded moral values (The Roaring Twenties).Cultural changes were strongly influenced by the destruction of World War I ending 1918. America needed to recover and with it youth rebelled against the norms of the older generations.

Read More
239 Words | 1 Pages

The Effects of Prohibition in the American Society Prohibition in America was considered the war on alcohol. Prohibition happened from 1920 to 1933. People wanted to cut out alcohol altogether to try and better the United States. Prohibition leaders believed that once a businesses liquor license was taken away it would make people change their mind on drinking. Leaders had thought that the European Immigrants had brought their drinking problems across seas with them.

Read More
462 Words | 2 Pages

Prohibition led to the rise of organized crime and failed as a policy due to many loopholes and large numbers of corrupt officials. Though started with good intentions it was not a good policy because it destroyed jobs and attempted to destroy an industry. These reasons lead to Prohibition’s failure and the repealing of the 18th Amendment in

Read More
630 Words | 3 Pages

The 1920’s was an interesting time in American history. This era was also known as the roaring twenties. Although it is remembered as a fond time before the Great Depression there was also a lot of conflicts arising, Cultural conflicts in particular were at the center. Prohibition and Immigration were two of the main cultural conflicts during this time period.

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

The Prohibition era shaped the modern societal norms, today’s politics, and the economy. The era taught America that laws that may seem as though they are in good intentions, can backfire. Politics and law officials became corrupted, the economy took a major hit, and the social norms shaped into being

Read More

More about Pros And Cons Of The 1920s

Related Topics

Open Document