RichieNgo

Wolf16

HonorsEssay#9:TheRoaringTwentiesandTheGreatCrash
What became of Americas industrial boom during World War I paved the way for what
became known as the Roaring Twentiesa decade of economic prosperity that lasted through the
1920s which permanently influenced many American ideals. Not only did America gain their
superpower status in the face of the internationalcommunity,butthe natureof work,family,values,
and consumerism changed significantly as well. The Roaring Twenties marked a pivotal shift from
agrariantourbanculture. Additionally,because ofWorld WarI,a bigemphasisinAmericanidealism
became fixated on free marketlaissezfaire/capitalism. This resulted in large industries and
corporationsbecomingcommercializedafter WorldWar Itherootof socialchangesduringthistime.
Additionally, at the end of the Great War, there was a huge rise in support for Womens
Suffragebrought on by themen coming backfromthe War,and womenlosing theirjobsas aresult.
Therewas also ashortageofrawmaterials(e.g. iron,copper,steel) duetotheirexpendituresduringthe
War. As aresult ofthis,andthewarending,the weaponsindustrysuffered adecline.In spiteof this,
the automobile industry took off. Urbanization also consequently became influenced by
industrialization, the automobile, and the influx of immigrants coming into postWar America.
Notably, more people began to work in cities rather than on farms because farmers experienced a
decline in agriculturenot because of failing crops, or anything of that nature, but because
industrialization helped them
too much. Sincefarmerswereabletodouble ortripletheircropyields,
due to previous agricultural innovations, the value oftheircropsdecreased significantlyresultingin
the detriment of many farmers, andtheir relocation intothecities. Sincemore people began tomove
into cities, it became more common for people to rent homes or apartments. People also no longer

worked from sunrise to sundown workers more commonly worked in scheduled shifts.
Thisworkingin shiftsresulted inpeoplehavingmoreleisuretime.Nowsincepeoplehadmoretime
toexpend,or indulge,inrecreational activities, itchangedthewaypeopleinteractedwithoneanother.
For example, more people took to dating in order to seekrelationships.Socialethnic divisions were
also strengthened as a result of a variety of factors e.g. the automobile and the formationofethnic
subdivisions in cities. This was because immigrants coming into America were more inclined to
interactwithpeopleoftheirown ethnicorigininpartoflesstolerancefrompeoplecomingbackfrom
overseasanddifferentethnicculturalbackgroundsand/orlanguage.Othermajorsocialchangeswithin
thisshifttowardsurbanculturecame from thelatter ofmediabecominganintegralpartofAmerican
culture.
Media and communication was a great catalyst for Americas rapid shift towards urban
culture/society. The telephone became widely accessible to everyone, introducing realtime verbal
(includinglongdistance) communicationto themasses.Businessesadditionally benefitted frombeing
able to arrange meetings and deals more easily with the telephone. The radio made quick access to
newsavailablefor everyoneitwasntas expensiveasatelevision,andpeoplecouldlistentotheradio
regardless of what they were doing at the moment. Music and ads could also run on the air, which
spreadmusicandallowedbusinessestopromotethemselves. Movies andtelevisionwerealsoenhanced
during this time. Beforethe 1920s,movies were originallysilent since thenmusicwas addedtothe
moving pictures, which made them increasingly popular (movies and Hollywood later play an
extremely important role in popular culture). Newspapers and magazinesbecamea cheaperstapleof
news/communication as a result of other forms of media becoming more popular. Magazines also
startedatrendthatfocusedonpictures,sinceimagescaughtpeoplesattentionmoreoftenthanmassive
blocksoftextpeoplewere morelikely tobuy anewspaper ormagazineif apicturecaughttheireye
sometimes magazines wouldnt even publish an issue if there werent enough pictures.TheRoaring

Twentiesalsowas atimeof growthfor thearts.The roaringeconomyallowedformanyartiststogain

popularityi.e. people could indulge in art. For example, many iconic works of American literature
were inspired by the Roaring Twenties this includes, most notably, the famous works of Ernest
Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgeraldwho is renowned for capturing the dark side of the lavish,
superfluous lifestyle that many people sought for during this time period. Works ofthelikes of
The
Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, East of Eden,
and
The Sun Also Rises remain icons of classic
American literature. The Harlem Renaissance alsobegan duringthe1920s. TheRenaissancewas an
artistic movement led by AfricanAmericans that became iconic for its effect of sharing pride in
AfricanAmericanculture. Many AfricanAmerican writersandpoets becamepopularduringthistime
too,like AlainLocke andLangstonHughes.Jazzmusicalsobecamepopularduringthis time,asapart
oftheHarlemRenaissance.Thisalso contributedtheradicalchangesincultureduringthistimethatis,
jazzbecameapartof popularculture.TheAfricanAmericancommunitystartedjazzandbluesbackin
the 20s, with its rootsoriginatingfromHarlem, NewYork. Because ofthis, uptown NewYork City
becamea centralhubofcultureandartduring thistime.Thefirstwaveofjazzmusicwas played on the
piano classical music was rearranged to sound different from the traditional music of the older
generation. Famous jazz musicians included Jelly Roll Morton and DukeEllingtonwho were piano
players. With all this new media advances and entertainment/art strides, America would become
engrossedwithconsumerismwhichfocusedonachievingidealconceptionsofwealthandstatus.
The arrival oftheautomobiletothemasspublicofAmericaalso hadaninfluenceintheradical
change inAmericaduringtheRoaringTwenties.Convenientmeansoftransportationcontributedtothe
changes insocial/traditional/familyvalues,aswell ashavingeffectsontheeconomyandurbanization.
Commercial production of cars in the United States began in the early 1900s.Mostnotably, Henry
Ford founded theFordMotorCompanyin1903. At first, cars werea luxury thatmainlyonlytherich
could afford. Soon later after Ford designed the Model Ta specifically economic car marketed

towards theaverage Americanitwould becomethenextbigtransportationinnovation.Fordfamously

paidhis workersgenerouswagessothatthey,themselves,couldaffordhiscompanyscarsthishelped
push wages upward, and car sales to boom. By 1920, Ford Motor Companyhad sold overamillion
cars.Cars becamepopularbecausepeople,insteadofwaitingfortrains,couldgettowherethey wanted
to go, when they wanted to. A sense of freedom was felt by people who owned cars. Cities also
expanded. Beforecars,peoplewould liveinthecity andworkin thecity nowthattherewasaneasier
way for people to commute to their work, people moved further out from cities to populate newly
suburban areas. This was met with some discrepancies from farmers, who lost land from people
populated previously unpopulated areas. The automobile revolution also introduced a demand for
oilfor fuel. Overall, the innovation of automobiles for its time vastly benefited the American
economy cars brought with it more domestic manufacturing of vehicles. parts, tires, etc. With the
automobile, people could now take small vacations in their free timesince before only thewealthy
would betheonlyonesabletoconsidertravellingsomewhere,duetotransportationhurdles.Although
there weremany positivesaboutcars,therewerestilldrawbacksto theirarrival.Peoplebegan torely
oncars,tothepointwhere owning onebecameanactualnecessitytothemajorityofAmericans.Cars
alsoisolatedpeoplefromoneanother,despitetheadvantageofbeingabletogooutandinteract.Before
cars, people would commonly interact with neighbors now withcars,peoplewould onlyspendtime
with their friendsmore people became strangers relative to one another. Ethnic cleavages were
strengthened once people could isolate themselves within their own ethnic subdivisionitalsomade
confrontation between ethnic groups much more tense. (If you were a part of an ethnic group that
rivaled another, chances are you would have to drive by their neighborhoodeventuallyorevenrun
into them in traffic.) Additionally, automobiles back then were very noisy and dirtycontributingto
pollution,whichlater wouldbecome aserious problem becausepeoplebackthenbelievedthatairwas

aninexpendableresource.City trafficalsobecameworseasaresultofsomanypeopleowningcarsand
abandoningpublictransportation.
The economic prosperity of the Twenties translated into Americas numerous changes in
fashion and entertainment. People eventually gave in to consumerism. Hollywood contributed tothe
establishment of popular culture and became an icon that people looked towards. People watched
movies andtelevision andsawtheseimagesofluxuryassociatingmaterialpossessionswithstatusand
wealth.Entertainmentwasalsoawayfor people tokeep up withfashiontrends. Forexample,women
started cutting theirhair shortertoappearedgier (almost androgynous). Womenalsotookto showing
more skin, and wearing more makeupand perfume. The Flappers werewomenwhoadapted tothis
style trend theywere generallyheavily discriminatedbecause itwasconsideredhighlyunladylike,
Men also begun to follow a trend in overdressing it was typical for men to casually wear business
suits, ties, and coats in order to give off the impression of wealth.Regularlysmokingcigarettes and
cigarsbecamepopularaswell. Jazzmusic,aspopularasitwasbackthen,wasadaptedinsideburlesque
style clubs(imagine LasVegas).Jazzwas extremely popularamongthe younger Whitedemographic.
Parents were concerned because Jazz had originated from African American culture. Drinking and
partyingbecamepartofpopular culturebecause itwasjustthethingtodo.Peopledancedincloser
proximitywithone another, andevenwitha partner.Sportsalso becamean industry ofitsownwhen
people began to watch it for enjoyment rather than participate. Moreover, these changes in culture
contributed toAmericas economy becomingconsumerbased.Businessesbegansustainingthemselves
by feeding into what people want. This led to a complete shift inAmericas cosmology.Traditional
values that disapproved popular culture became neglected by the changing societyespecially in the
youngergenerations.
Withallthesesocialchangesgoing on,traditionalvaluesbegantolosetheirpractice.Attitudes
towards modesty anddecorum becameconsiderablymoreliberal.Womenandimmigrantsbecamepart

of the workforcewhich wasnt a bad thing, but it was something that was met with controversy.
Family life was also affected by cars, which allowed teens to have more freedom from their
parentsthis wasnt necessarily a good thing, since it dislocated family membersandchangedhome
life. Teens were more likely to be out with their friends rather than spend time at home with their
parents and/orsiblings.Religionalsobecameundervaluedbeliefsweremoreorlesshollowedoutasa
result ofpeopleadapting/givinginto consumerism.Peoplebeganto valuetheirlifestyleoverreligion.
Though times have changed, there were still people who held onto traditional valuesknown as
Traditionalists. From the Traditionalist perspective, the Twenties was an atrocious, shocking time
period. Forinstance,Traditionalists werent exactlyproponentsofWomensSuffrageamovementin
favor for Womens Rights (predominantly the right to vote, but also therighttoown property).The
NationalWoman'sParty advocatedforWomensSuffrage, andwas founded on June5th,1916.Since
Traditionalistsbelieved thatwomenshouldfocusontakingcareofhomeand children,theybelievedit
wasnttheir placetovoteandbeinvolvedinamansbusiness.Therewasevensomewomenwhowere
traditionalistswho disagreedwithWomensSuffrage. Despiteit beinga movementfor women,there
was asubstantialnumberofmenwhobelievedinWomensSuffrageaswell.Peopleoftenworeyellow
roses in show of support for Suffrage at the same time, there were people who wore red roses,
signifyingtheir disapproval.Unfortunately,womenwouldoften bearrestedbypoliceforvoicingtheir
support of their rights. Women would goonhunger strikesin prisonauthorities wouldevenhave to
resorttoforcefeeding. Womenwould evenprotest infrontoftheWhiteHouse.Despitetheirstruggle,
womensuccessfully claimedtheir rightto vote on August20th,1920whenthe19thAmendmentwas
inevitablypassed.
Traditionalists wanted to go back to the way things were before World War I. To the
Traditionalists, the younger generation lost sight of old traditional values of family, religion, and
morality,and Americaneeded torewindbacktotheolddays. Additionally,therewerepeopleknown

as Xenophobes who hated immigrants. Both of their reactions to the changing times resulted in the
reemergenceofextremistcults,i.e. theKuKluxKlan(the KKK).ThenewKKK wasstillprejudiced
against AfricanAmericans but were now fixated on Jews, Catholics, immigrants, and essentially
anyone whom they thought posed a threat to American tradition. The KnowNothing Party also
emerged during this time, who were a group of nativists (i.e. people whobelievedinfundamental
American valuesessentially extreme nationalism) who were against immigration. They (the
KnowNothing Party) wasalsoless violent,and more political intheirapproachin persuadingpeople
totheircauseunlikethe KKK. TheKnowNothingPartytriedtopressurethegovernmentintohalting
immigrationwhichprovedtobeunsuccessful.
The ProhibitionErawasperiod oftime inAmericawhere there wasa nationalbanonthesale
and manufacturing of alcohol, that was passed through the 18th Amendment on January 16th 1919.
This time period lasted until 1933, when it proved tohave beena NobleExperiment (asin,it was
good in theory, but not feasible in practice). Despite women not having suffrage at the time of its
inception,Prohibitionhadbeensuccessfullypassed.Womendislikedalcoholbecausemen wouldoften
gotobarsafterworkandbecome inebriated.Whenmenwenthome,womenwould oftenhavetodeal
witheasilyirritatedhusbandswhocouldpossiblyhurt them,or theirchildren.Thereweretimes when
womenwouldevenbreakintobars,destroy bottles ofliquor,andshutdownbarsbecausetheydespised
alcohol. Though Prohibition was meant to reduce crime and drunk violence (hence, the Noble
Experiment),itactually wascounterproductivesinceillicitalcoholtradeemergedasaresultofpeople
wanting alcoholthen more than ever. Additionally, the mafia exploited Prohibition and sold illicit
alcohol.Peoplewould even try tomake alcohol intheirown homesa terribleideaconsideringallthe
healthhazards andthingsthatcouldgowronginmishandling/distillingyourownalcoholmanypeople
died because of this, which is a given (all things that went wrong considered). Due toProhibitions
failure,the21stAmendmentwaspassedin1933inordertonullifyProhibition.

Since postWar recovery efforts culminated in an economic renaissance, it leadto numerous

changes that made money the centerofattention(abigpriority)in manyAmericanlives.Businesses
began to offer credit and insurance. Credit gave lower classes accessto moneythatthey couldloan,
whichmeant thattheycouldbuythingsthattherichcould.Businessesandstoreskeptupwithtrendsin
popular culture, feeding off of the mania that consumerism surrounded. The Stock Market was also
introduced, allowing people to invest in shares within a companywhich became important for
businesses,especiallytostart up. Creditalsobecamepertinenttowardsstarting up businesses.Before,
businesses were verywaryofgetting involvedwithbanksbusinesseswereskepticalif theycouldturn
aprofitthat couldpay backtheir loans.Ideally,peopleshouldonlyborrowmoneynomorethan what
they actually had in the bankso that they knew that they could pay their loans back. Now, due to
consumerism, businesses were more confident thattheypeoplewould buytheir products.This ledto
businesses turningtowardscredit inorderto mass produce, whichwas extremelyrisky.Subsequently,
the governmentendorsedAmericasfreemarket by takingahandsoff/laissezfaireeconomicstancea
decision which was largely influenced by World War I. As a result, there werent many taxes or
regulationsforboththefree andstockmarket.Therewere also threeRepublicanpresidents duringthe
Twenties,whichcontributedtothisoverallattitude.
Economic changes asa resultofconsumerism,thebig emphasisonwealth,and new business
practices proved to be very problematic. Scandals surfaced because the government was too lenient
with the free market. Additionally, it was easy for big businesses and corporations to bribe corrupt
politicians to get what they wanted, or turn a blind eye. During President Warren G. Harding's
presidencythe TeapotDomescandaloccurred however,itwasntuntilafterHardinghadpassedaway
from a heart attackthatpeoplefoundout aboutit.Thescandalbrokeout in1921andcontinueduntil
1924.HardingsSecretaryofInterior,AlbertB.Fall,convincedHarding tohandovercontrol offederal
Navy oil reserves. Fall had illicitly leasedthesefederallyownedlandsover toprivateoilcompanies.

This ruined Hardings reputation, since Fall was a member of his cabinet who was fundamentally
exploitingfederal oil reserves forhis own personalgain.TheTeapotDomeScandalisagreatexample
of how big businessesarentalways honestand also agoodexampleofhowbigbusinessescan make
shady deals with the government. A similar scandal occurred in succession to the Teapot Dome
Scandalinvolving President Calvin Coolidge, who assumes office after Harding dies. Though
Coolidge had said that he wanted to fix the problems from the Teapot Dome Scandale.g. enforce
appropriate regulationsinthestockmarkethe wasinvolvedina scandal thatwascompletelyironicto
what he had said. Midland is the name ofacompanywho usedproxiesinorder tobuystocksfrom
their own company to inflate its stock value. Coolidge was warned of this by his Secretary of
Commerce,Herbert Hoover,but brushesit offandignoresHoover. Bothscandals areinstanceswhere
thegovernmentturnedablindeyetobusinessregulations.
Since the stock marketwas ahighly unpredictableentity,mostinvestmentstrategies involved
predictingthevalueofstocks.Additionally,manypeoplewereverywaryaboutthevalueofstocksthat
startup companies offeredas they couldnt predict how well new companies would take off and
therefore whether their investments would pay off. However, manypeopleweregenerallyoptimistic
about the stock market. Since the majority of companies did well, many people assumed that stock
values would continue to increase, thus their investments would always pay off. This became the
speculativebubblewhich lead topeopleloaningmoneyfromthebankinordertoinvestinthestock
market. People loaned more money than they actually had, known as leverage. Then, these people
boughtstockswiththeir loaned moneyonwhat is referredto asonamarginexpectingthattheyd
alwaysbeabletosupporttheirdebt.Though,thislaterwouldprovetobeproblematic.
In addition to all the traps laid out from the stockmarket,the unequaldistributionof wealth
also contributed to the looming economic problem. Sixty percent of the American population was
living under the poverty line towards the decline of the Roaring Twenties. The top one percent of

wealthy people made approximately thirtythree percent of the total income of all Americans.There
was an unequaldistributionofwealthdue tolackof welfare programsthat didntexistbackthen.The
rich remainedwealthysustaining theirfortunethroughthelowerclasseswhilethelowerclasseswere
barely sustaining themselves. Wages for workers remained lowwith the exception of Ford Motor
Company employeeswhile prices continued to inflate. Workers now couldnt afford buy any more
products. Thecirculationof wealth meta stalemate.The growingeconomycouldntkeep up withthe
thegrowingdisproportion,makingthesituationallthemoreunstable.
The ebb and flow of production patterns, demand, and the collapse of the housing market
foretold the Stock Market Crash. Since farmers were producing more crops that exceeded demand
(refer toparagraphone), thevalueoftheircropssignificantlywentdown,causingfarmerstomakeless
money.Itgotso badthat at onepoint, theAAA actuallypaidsome farmerstoreducetheircropyield.
Businesses took out too many loans in order to keep mass producing products to keep up with
consumerism. However, it got to the point where there became an abundance of goods that people
couldntbuy asquicklyas themarket needed.Especiallyforthingslikeatelevision, ortelephone,you
reallyonlyneedoneof each. Additionally,peoplewere nowworryingaboutwhat wasonly necessary,
like food. The house market crashed because people really only needed to buy only one home
construction companies that invested in land where they built houses lost a ton ofmoneyonce they
discoveredthat people didnt needto buyor couldnt affordany new homes. I believethis occurred
as a result of Americans becoming too engrossed in consumerismthey tripped in their own traps.
Whenthespeculativebubble popped, people actuallybeganto realizethattheywerebeginningtolose
money. However, peoples conservation efforts made the situation worse. The current state of
economic, at the time,dependedonconsumer culturewithoutanyonebuyingproducts, theeconomy
cavedinonitself.

After the Stock Market Crash in 1929wherein the stock market endured a severe
declinemany Americans suffered from a significant loss of money due to hollow investments
shedding their skin. It was so bad that eight percent of Americans had no savings. Though, not
everyone suffered from the Crash, there was some people who sold all their stocks right before the
decline.Overall,thenationbecameseverelydepressedpeoplelostfaithintheStockMarket.In reality,
however, theStockMarketandeconomyneededpeopletocontinueinvestinginordertorecover from
the major setback.Companies couldnt work withbanksanymorethereforemanybusinesses crashed
tooand couldnt get up on their feet. Instead, unemployment rates peaked to twentyfive perfectof
Americas population. Businesses had to lay of many of their workers tosustain themselves.Profits
significantlywentdownwhichisagivenconsideringthecurrentstateofAmerica.Additionally,crime
ratesunfortunatelyescalatedsincepeoplebecamedesperateformoney.
Democrats and Republicans both had different approaches towards rectifying the economic
upheaval.The Democratsbelievedthat itwasthegovernmentsjobtointerveneintheeconomymany
Democrats proposed supporting recovery programs and assisting businesses get back on their feet.
Republicans, on the other hand, stronglyheldontotheirbelief thatthegovernmentshouldnt involve
itself within domestic economic affairs. Republicans believedthat theeconomywouldeventuallyfix
itselfdueto laissezfairephilosophy andthe invisiblehand ofthemarket.Intruth(andthisisentirely
offprompt and my own personal opinion), the market had only corrected itself. Stock values had
actually rectified themselves to reflect their true values. Since the state ofthemarket hadreally just
resetitselfatanequilibrium,bothoftheirsolutionswouldveplayedoutpositivelyeitherway.