American History

The period between 1920 and 1930 is said to be a period of normalcy when Americans were supposed to settle down to their normal life after the 1st World war. However, this period that was characterized by political corruption, violence and also, it was the last happy phase before the occurrence of the great depression of 1929 as Roderick Nash puts it in his essays. Before the occurrence of the great depression, business was good through out the whole period. Due to this, people had a positive altitude and they hoped that poverty would be eradicated and America would achieve its optimum goal of being self sufficient.

  This was a period that was characterized by many revolutions. One of the most significant types of revolution that took place was the sexual revolution that changed the Americans attitude and caused many changes later in history. The Victorian moral code was rejected which identified women as the key moral custodians. Sexual revolutions brought about many changes more so in the social set up. Women seemed to have been greatly involved and thus they can be said to be among the main key players in all the changes that took place in 1920s. This paper focus on how women were involved politically, socially and even economically in the 1920s. It will also highlight the contribution of people like Henry Ford in the same (The Newsletter of Society Hill Civic Association, 2005).
It is in this decade that women aquired equal rights as men especially in voting. It is also referred to as equal rights amendment era. Women reformists were determined to push for changes in the political field and also in all other fields affecting them and they did this successfully. The National Womans Party was formed which mostly focused on ending the gender related and legal discrimination. They also managed to get equal rights as men in the labor market. This meant that, women could be employed as men and earn a living. Through this, they were able to acquire more power in terms of getting better education and education for their children. Laws that affected children especially the child labor laws, were amended. As Evans termed it in her essay Flappers, Freudians, and All That Jazz, this was an Era of great political victory for women (Hirsch, 2003).
As Sarah Evan records in her essay, women participation in politics started even before the end of the 1st war. They played a major role as they worked in defense plants and also as the care givers to war victims. This made them feel that just like men they had made a major contribution and were entitled to the same benefits. Their contribution did not go unnoticed by great historians like Leuchtenburg who emphasizes that women and other minorities played major roles in the civilization of America.
According to Evans, it is in 1920s when the Freud Sigmund psychological essays were well liked because they allowed more open expression toward sex .This led to sexual immorality especially in the cities. Due to this sex revolution, where there was permissiveness, women developed a great need to look good and had to find some form of employment so as to afford the clothes and the make up.
Thirty percent of women were in clerical and sales jobs according to the Evans essay. This means that they joined their male counterparts and they ended up becoming more independent especially before getting married. The fact that women were now in white collar jobs reduced the number of those who could be employed as domestic servants. Due to this, the modern woman who could not get someone to employ resulted into using the modern technology and more so electricity. This paved way for more civilization. Business also improved greatly during this era because these modern families could no longer produce their own food and therefore had to depend with those who were in the rural areas for support.

In maters of economy, in the decade, America was the richest globally. This was due to the fact that everyone was employed and they managed to have surplus after spending. Business flourished because people used to buy whatever they wanted since it was possible to buy in installments. One can borrow the words of President Calvin who said that business was really business in America. In 1920s, the motor car industry was really good and this led to more economic growth since new roads were constructed and more people employed. The stock market was also doing quite well given that people had money to spare hence investing in the stock market before it crashed in 1929.  According to Trueman (2000), in the year 1929, over one million people had invested in the stock market and following its crash every other economy in the world was greatly affected. 

However, in all this prosperity there were two groups that were left in absolute poverty. South Americans and African Americans did not share in all this. They survived by doing odd jobs like being the servants of the Americans. Those who lived in the southern parts used to engage in farming activities and selling their produce to the Whites. The ones who lived in the cities lived in absolute poverty and no one seemed to remember their miseries.

In the 1920s, there was emergence of what Sarah Evans termed as sexualized consumer economy. It started when the marketing experts turned in to using females to market products. Due to this, the cosmetic business flourished as women had to apply all tactics in order to remain attractive. It is still in this era when the first beauty pageant took place in Atlantic City. All these activities resulted in to a more independent woman who did not face any discrimination in all sectors. However, the black women were still being denied the right to vote though this was mainly a problem of racial discrimination. Although women had achieved a lot, it was the need to succeed in their marriages that pushed them to work really hard so that eventually they would get a perfect mate (Klingaman, 1989).

   Henry Ford was a renowned personality in the 1920s. This was due to his contribution in the technology sector. He owned a motor industry and introduced the first car which is said to have revolutionized the American technology. More people now could use cars instead of train and other ancient means of transport. Nevertheless this had its up and downs. The crime rate increased since gangsters could get away easily using the newly discovered automobiles. The cars also provided a private place where dating couples used to meet and habits like petting and necking developed. Henry Ford emphasized on the need to work instead of having pleasure. He once said that work is the salvation of a race morally, physically and socially. Work does more than get us a living it gets our life (Wood Wood, 2003, pp.57).

Henry Ford played a major role in bringing revolution to the labor policy as he introduced 5 dollar pay for a day worked. Although he contributed greatly to the revolutions he was always against social changes for he was a man who embraced good morals.

In the history of America, 1920s has been termed as the Roaring 20s. A lot of revolutions took place in different sectors with women being the main key players more so in social and economic sectors. As Nash described it in his essay, Symbol of an age, pp. 152, Para 3 it was a changing industrial America that longed for the security of old days as it struggled with new complexities.