The 1920s is commonly known as “The Roaring Twenties” because of the economic boom following World War I. This decade is also marked by a clash between conservatives trying to preserve the values and beliefs of prior years and liberals wanting to see change made in society. Although having saw minor conservative triumphs like the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the 1920s were predominantly liberal and innovative in areas regarding women and technology.
Granted, with the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, the 1920s saw a slight conservative victory. As stated in “The Roaring Twenties” by Joshua Zeitz, a historian and author, the KKK was a Reconstruction-era group that disappeared from American life until 1915. Initially founded in 1866 in Pulaski, …show more content…
First came electricity. According to Zeitz, “in 1912, only 16 percent of American households had electricity; by the mid-20s, almost two-thirds did.” At the end of the 1800s, automobiles were still hard to come by and expensive, but manufacturers just prior to World War I such as Ransom Olds, Henry Leland, and Henry Ford began to produce cars using methods that would make their products more affordable and trustworthy. Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with his creation of the assembly line. This method made assembly drastically quicker as Ford’s employees only needed to be knowledgeable about making and assembling one part of the car instead of the entirety. Along with automobiles, the electric vacuum cleaner, the electric freezer and refrigerator, and the automatic washing machine quickly became common in middle-class homes. These new products made housework easier and less time consuming. With a lightened workload at home, increased wages, and reduced working hours, families began to have more free time with enough money to spend on entertainment like going to the movies. Film had been around since the nineteenth century but became widely popular during the 1920s with movie theaters selling 50 million tickets each week. Movie palaces were used for teaching young adults in the twenties things not taught in school. Like film, radios had been in existence for some time by the twentieth century but did not become attainable for everyone until the 1920s. On November 2, 1920, the KDKA radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania broadcasted the first-ever live radio transmission over the presidential election results to the few Americans who had the necessary technology to hear the report. More than three million households owned a radio set by 1922, and seven years later, more than twelve million households had acquired a radio. Americans listened to
Granted, with the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, the 1920s saw a slight conservative victory. As stated in “The Roaring Twenties” by Joshua Zeitz, a historian and author, the KKK was a Reconstruction-era group that disappeared from American life until 1915. Initially founded in 1866 in Pulaski, …show more content…
First came electricity. According to Zeitz, “in 1912, only 16 percent of American households had electricity; by the mid-20s, almost two-thirds did.” At the end of the 1800s, automobiles were still hard to come by and expensive, but manufacturers just prior to World War I such as Ransom Olds, Henry Leland, and Henry Ford began to produce cars using methods that would make their products more affordable and trustworthy. Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with his creation of the assembly line. This method made assembly drastically quicker as Ford’s employees only needed to be knowledgeable about making and assembling one part of the car instead of the entirety. Along with automobiles, the electric vacuum cleaner, the electric freezer and refrigerator, and the automatic washing machine quickly became common in middle-class homes. These new products made housework easier and less time consuming. With a lightened workload at home, increased wages, and reduced working hours, families began to have more free time with enough money to spend on entertainment like going to the movies. Film had been around since the nineteenth century but became widely popular during the 1920s with movie theaters selling 50 million tickets each week. Movie palaces were used for teaching young adults in the twenties things not taught in school. Like film, radios had been in existence for some time by the twentieth century but did not become attainable for everyone until the 1920s. On November 2, 1920, the KDKA radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania broadcasted the first-ever live radio transmission over the presidential election results to the few Americans who had the necessary technology to hear the report. More than three million households owned a radio set by 1922, and seven years later, more than twelve million households had acquired a radio. Americans listened to