The Twenties that shook the world
World War One changed war itself, but not only did it change war, it changed the U.S. The era directly after the war, the 1920s, came to be known as the “roaring twenties”, due to economic growth and new cultural ideals. This, along with the collective idea that life should be fun and exciting, fueled cultural developments. The “roaring twenties” truly deserves to be titled so with regards to the large scale economic growth of the period in the stock market, the growing instability of the U.S market, and the development of new types of art and entertainment …show more content…
With the stock markets beginning to rise after the war’s ended, making investments became a favorite pass time with nearly everyone involved with the stock market as it could make millionaires overnight. As the stock market rose, so did the wealth of the U.S, to the point where it was the economic center of the world being that it was the only major nation in the war that was untouched by the war. Besides the Stocks, people during this time became more willing to spend money since money was easier to come by during these times, and because the prices for many past luxuries became affordable with the price of an automobile dropping down to affordable levels, and radios becoming so widespread, nearly everyone had one. Consequently, people began to spend more money in hopes that it would entertain them for a while and help them forget the stress of everyday life, the bases of consumerism. Life thrived in the cities as commerce grew to accommodate the growing number of city residents who grew more and more addicted to having fun and entertainment. When the Prohibition Act was passed by congress, the people rejected it in favor of having fun via the act of drinking, which started a multi-million dollar business in the illegal making of alcohol. Even though it was illegal, Americans still funded it in an attempt to get more which reflected the …show more content…
Jazz was a completely different type of music than had ever existed, with its Provocative, non-western rhythms, ever changing music with no set pieces, and how Jazz could be dance music. Jazz grew immensely as it was a popular nightclub/Speakeasy dance music and could be found in many different places as even radios played Jazz. Even black musicians like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton became famous for their music in the entertainment driven era of the “Roaring Twenties” But music wasn’t the only thing that changed during the “Roaring Twenties”, as even literature was affected. Many popular writers during the time, including Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, had moved to Europe thanks to disbelief in the American ideals of the time. The self named “lost generation” made dozens of novels that argued the many injustices of the time, and made even more about people going against these injustices. The Harlem Renaissance also had writers, who were typically educated, middle-class African-Americans who wrote about the trials they faced in living in a white man’s world as seen in Zora Neale Hurston’s work. All of these changes to the previous cultures and beliefs spread like wildfire across the U.S, and truly did affect many parts of