Important People and Events of the 1920s
Prohibition
On January 16, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages, goes into effect. Prohibition was an important force in state and local politics from the 1840s through the 1930s. Tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers generally supported Prohibition, thinking a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products. Prohibition represented a conflict between urban and rural values emerging in the United States. Given the mass influx of immigrants to the urban dwellings of the United States, many individuals within the prohibition movement associated the crime and morally corrupt behaviour of the cities of America with their large immigrant populations. The First World War had further convinced all the "dries", the parties who were against alcohol consumption, that the brewing and instilling industries were taking attention away from the necessities in life such as precious grain, molasses and labour. National prohibition of alcohol (1920-33) was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. However, clear evidence indicates that it was a complete failure.
Politics in the 1920s
The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave suffrage (the civil right to vote) to most of the adult population (men over 21, women over 30) and the Representation of the People Act 1928 gave Universal suffrage to the adult population over 21: both men and women.
While in 1924, the Australian Government introduced compulsory voting. Prior to that date, Australia's voting system was voluntary and there was no system in place to compel the citizens of Australia to vote in federal and State elections. For a democracy to function well, every citizen should have an equal right to vote on the leadership of the country and the opportunity for that vote to be collected and counted. Therefore compulsory voting was an important step for Australian politics and the fairness of the voting of the government. However, compulsory voting was only passed after much controversy.
The democratic German republic, known as the Weimar Republic (1919-33), was affected by hyperinflation and other serious economic problems. The Great War had a horrific effect on Germany: both economically and politically. The post-war downfall was blamed on the faults of democracy, on Social Democrats and Communists, and on the Jews, whom it claimed possessed a financial stranglehold on Germany. Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler (Chancellor) on January 30, 1933.
Mohandas (later, Mahatma) Gandhi begins national campaign to try to use passive resistance and not cooperating against the occupying British colonialist government, to eventually gain independence for India.
While in 1924, the Australian Government introduced compulsory voting. Prior to that date, Australia's voting system was voluntary and there was no system in place to compel the citizens of Australia to vote in federal and State elections. For a democracy to function well, every citizen should have an equal right to vote on the leadership of the country and the opportunity for that vote to be collected and counted. Therefore compulsory voting was an important step for Australian politics and the fairness of the voting of the government. However, compulsory voting was only passed after much controversy.
The democratic German republic, known as the Weimar Republic (1919-33), was affected by hyperinflation and other serious economic problems. The Great War had a horrific effect on Germany: both economically and politically. The post-war downfall was blamed on the faults of democracy, on Social Democrats and Communists, and on the Jews, whom it claimed possessed a financial stranglehold on Germany. Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler (Chancellor) on January 30, 1933.
Mohandas (later, Mahatma) Gandhi begins national campaign to try to use passive resistance and not cooperating against the occupying British colonialist government, to eventually gain independence for India.
The New "Ordinary" Life
The 1920 census reports that 105,710,620 people live in the United States and that for the first time in history urban residents outnumber rural residents. The centre of population is 8.3 miles southeast of Spencer, Indiana.
By the end of the 1920s, Americans were overwhelmed by the rise of a modern consumer culture. In response, many of the bitter cultural tensions that had divided Americans had begun to subside. The growth of exciting new opportunities to buy cars, appliances, and stylish clothing made the country's cultural conflicts seem less significant.
Americans in the 1920s were the first to wear ready-made, exact-size clothing. They were the first to play electric phonographs, to use electric vacuum cleaners, to listen to commercial radio broadcasts, and to drink fresh orange juice year round. In countless ways, large and small, American life was transformed during the 1920s, at least in urban areas. Cigarettes, cosmetics, automobiles, radios and synthetic fabrics became necessities in people's lives. The world had transformed into a consumer society in the 1920s.
The women in the society had changed entirely. There became the new idea of the flapper: the women who wore less constricting clothing, wore excessive make up, drank too much and went against what was, then, thought to be social and sexual norms. Women were now able to vote for their government, and felt as if they had more freedom and potentially could alter the views of the world. As women were now also working and obtaining financial independence, they began having less children. The technological advancements allowed to have less housework to do.Women also began filing for divorces with their "new found" freedom.
By the end of the 1920s, Americans were overwhelmed by the rise of a modern consumer culture. In response, many of the bitter cultural tensions that had divided Americans had begun to subside. The growth of exciting new opportunities to buy cars, appliances, and stylish clothing made the country's cultural conflicts seem less significant.
Americans in the 1920s were the first to wear ready-made, exact-size clothing. They were the first to play electric phonographs, to use electric vacuum cleaners, to listen to commercial radio broadcasts, and to drink fresh orange juice year round. In countless ways, large and small, American life was transformed during the 1920s, at least in urban areas. Cigarettes, cosmetics, automobiles, radios and synthetic fabrics became necessities in people's lives. The world had transformed into a consumer society in the 1920s.
The women in the society had changed entirely. There became the new idea of the flapper: the women who wore less constricting clothing, wore excessive make up, drank too much and went against what was, then, thought to be social and sexual norms. Women were now able to vote for their government, and felt as if they had more freedom and potentially could alter the views of the world. As women were now also working and obtaining financial independence, they began having less children. The technological advancements allowed to have less housework to do.Women also began filing for divorces with their "new found" freedom.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.1920-30.com/politics/
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1920s.html
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1017
http://cocktails.about.com/od/history/a/prohibition.htm
http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-43_t-53_c-157/voting/nsw/voting/australia-between-the-wars-1920s/a-significant-political-development-in-the-1920s
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=454
by Dinu Sadadcharan
Last updated: 18th September, 2011
http://www.1920-30.com/politics/
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1920s.html
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1017
http://cocktails.about.com/od/history/a/prohibition.htm
http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-43_t-53_c-157/voting/nsw/voting/australia-between-the-wars-1920s/a-significant-political-development-in-the-1920s
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=454
by Dinu Sadadcharan
Last updated: 18th September, 2011
