1920's

9 Pages 2175 Words

The Great American Decade
The Roaring 20’s



The main them of this decade was the idea of the roaring 20’s to be fun and rebellious. The 1920’s was a time of celebration. The country was full of good times with things like the stock market, Jazz, flappers, and bootlegging. New untraditional styles of clothing and dancing were invented in the 1920’s. There seemed to be more economic freedom and encouraged Americans to invest in the stock market, buy on margin, and use credit. The 1920’s were all fun and games until the stock market crashed in October 1929.

Women
Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. During the 1920's, most women were still expected to stay at home and look after the children. Cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the house and kids was all women were expected to do. Being a housewife and mother were regarded as women's most important duties. Women wanted to be able to have the freedom that men had. They wanted to

be able to vote and work if they wanted to. Women fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society. The battle of women’s suffrages was coming to an end. On August 18, 1920, women won the right to vote. Women now had some kind of voice in the country and Government. Women voted according to race, social class, religious background, and geographic location. (Baughman 279)
During the 20’s women also increased their job opportunities. In 1920 women composed 23.6 percent of the labor force, and 8.3 million women older than fifteen were working. They found opportunities only in nurturing “women professions” such as nursing, teaching, social work, and in medicine. Some women also worked at factories for several hours making forty cents an hour. (American Decade 280)

Music
In 1921 there was a new kind of beat in town. Jazz, Jazz, and Jazz was the ...