When I think about the 1920s, the first thing that comes to mind, is the start of prohibition. The 18th amendment was created in the year 1919, but didn’t go into effect until January of 1920. During the period of 1920 to 1933 there was a ban on the sale and transportation of all alcoholic beverages in the United States. During this time period organized crime grew more and more, we have famous crime bosses such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. After the 18th amendment took full affect, people started bootlegging and would make illegal sales of alcoholic beverages, until it eventually became a widespread problem that America couldn’t contain anymore. The smuggling of alcohol lead to a decline in tax revenue because many states relied on taxes in liquor sales to help fund any projects they had planned for, but revenue was almost immediately lost due to the law on alcohol.
Another huge moment that sticks out about the 20s would be when women had the right to vote in the United States, which is also the 19th amendment. Women in the 20s were starting to build and break down barriers, as they would fight to have equal rights just like men. Jazz music was extremely popular during the 20s and one of my teachers loved Jazz music. He would always tell us how jazz in the 20s just can’t be replicated, personally I wouldn’t know, but we took his word for it. America was thriving during the 20s or better known as “the roaring twenties”, but there isn’t much more about the 20s that I know about, aside from what I have learned during my time school.
The photo above is a group of men who are protesting the law of prohibition which put a seize on the sale, transportation and manufacture of alcoholic beverages. The law to ban liquor in the United States took a toll on people because crime grew more and lead to gangsters taking over more control of American cities. Prohibition still exists till this day to a certain extent, and laws on alcohol vary from state to state. In many states there are laws that prohibit the sale of liquor in the supermarkets and will usually only allow the sale of wine and beer.
This is a jazz band in the 1920s who look to be having a great time and enjoying themselves playing sweet music. Although I don’t know too much about jazz music, we can still agree that music is subjective and sometimes can be used as an escape from reality. Jazz music isn’t close to being as popular as it was in the 20s, but it still had a great run just like every era has their own type of music or events they enjoy. The “roaring 20s” were a great time to be alive, but just like the present world today, it still faced it’s own issues and obstacles.
