Chapter 12: A Prospering Society

Chapter 12 describes the social attitudes and cultural textures that marked the 1920s.

Section 1 shows how industrialization provided a new standard of living to middle-class Americans. As workers' incomes rose, new consumer products, such as refrigerators and ready-made clothing, created more leisure time. The popularity of the automobile led to new industries, roadways, and communities. Americans who purchased automobiles on credit learned that they could use installment buying to raise their standard of living. Women enjoyed new economic and intellectual freedoms, and their fashions and behaviors reflected their independent attitudes. While technology improved life for many Americans in the 1920s, it also drove some into poverty.

Section 2 explores the cultural and social activities that characterized the Jazz Age. Americans in the 1920s had the time, money, and energy to enjoy leisure activities. Attending movies and sports events, reading, dancing, and listening to the radio all became popular pastimes. Two new forms of music, African American-based blues and jazz, played in the clubs. Magazines and tabloids lauded the new American heroes—movie stars, sports figures, musicians, writers, and aviators. To ordinary Americans, the Jazz Age represented a time of pleasure, but some writers criticized its greed and racism.

Section 3 discusses how social changes caused conflict among different groups. In the 1920s, rapid industrialization and a fast-changing society made some Americans feel insecure. People responded to their fears in different ways, and conflicts arose among groups. The Scopes trial represented the conflict between science and religion. Prohibition stirred the struggle between small-town values and big-city tolerance. The rise in big-city crime led some small-town residents to fear the urban life. Amid the social changes of the 1920s, the KKK resurfaced and Congress pushed to restrict immigration. The election of 1928 turned into a contest between stability and change.