Social And Economic Changes In The 1920s

The 1880s-1930s was a time of great transition in the United States. Post-war changes in society fueled political, societal and economic changes across America. As a result of WWI, the early 1920s became an attempt to return to normalcy. Society changed their views on prohibition and women's rights resulting in the 18th and 19th Amendments. Correspondingly, the economy faced a recession as well as a rise in the — stock market throughout the 20th century, while controversial politics regarding President Harding and later President Coolidge began to become more prevalent to American citizens.

Social change as a result of the 18th Amendment had consequences that encouraged a surge of growth and change within society in the 20th century. In the

Correspondingly, in 1919, the states ratified the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the sale, production, or consumption of alcoholic drinks. Unfortunately, prohibition would lead to extreme consequences for American citizens. There was a drop in arrests for drunkenness, especially for those in the working class who couldn't afford high-priced alcohol. Moreover, the law was hard to enforce as it was quite easy to sneak illegal alcoholic drinks over the Canadian and Caribbean borders. Money produced through the illegal sale of alcohol encouraged growth of organized crime. Prohibition would increase crime rates regarding illegal deals for alcohol among the rich, resulting in the creation of gangs across the country that would sell and buy alcohol for extensive amounts of money. Subsequently, by the end of the decade it was clear that prohibition had failed. People were still buying, selling, and consuming alcoholic beverages, but it became more dangerous. Due to an outcry of people wanting the ban on alcohol to be lifted, in February 1933, congress approved the 21st Amendment repealing prohibition. Society was changed through the way alcoholic beverages were seen, handled, and sold to consumers, as new laws took place to discourage similar events. Another result of WWI that

After the conclusion of WWI, the economy had a rapid recession. For industry, the downturn didn't last long, as companies were able to successfully switch from producing military goods to producing consumer goods.
During wartime, goods for the war were mass produced to help the military grow, once the war was over factories producing those goods were forced to shut down and rebrand themselves. As a result, unemployment was high as jobs began changing. Not only were factories shutting down for large amounts of time, but the introduction of the assembly line system was taking people's jobs. The assembly line was more efficient, quicker, and cheaper than paying workers, thus making it a great alternative for production companies. Furthermore, it became hard to find jobs, especially for returning soldiers who were not working in industry until after the economic recession. On the other hand, labor unions began to become more prevalent. Throughout the course of WWI, labor unions were subjected to a no-strike pledge; once it concluded, there was a surge of workers striking against factories once more. As a result, workers wages rose, as well as companies offering workers paid vacations and pensions, in an attempt to keep them away from said labor unions. Correspondingly, rising incomes gave consumers more to spend, as prices dropped. Advertisements were everywhere, creating a new consumer culture in the