The 1920s: culture, politics, and social change

¶ … 1920s and Social Values

The 1920s and their many excesses were quite disturbing to religious conservatives like Protestant Americans. To them, the 20s were a time of fast cars, loose women, booze, jazz, and lax morals among young people. This was especially difficult because the morals of the Victorian era, which had just ended, were extremely strict and confining, so older people were extremely disturbed by the changes they saw in society. They saw the sexual freedom of the 1920s as a threat to the very core of a society that was built on hard work, ethics, and religion. The rural areas of America still tended to be agricultural, and so, these conservative farmers were not caught up in the faster pace of city life, and did not understand the youths and their wild lives and abandon.

One major response to the threat these values placed on conservative society was to ban alcohol. The 18th Amendment, which banned the consumption and manufacture of alcoholic beverages stayed in place for thirteen years, and it was a direct result of the conservative Americans and their reaction to what they saw was a decay in morals and too much drinking among young people. They had enough political power to get the law passed and keep it in effect for thirteen years; so clearly, they were a large voice in American policy and outlook. However, Prohibition was never popular, and banning alcohol just made it all the more desirable for many Americans. While the conservative members of the country were not happy with the moral fiber of much of the nation, and they had to power to create some change, they ultimately could not stop time. Society changed during the 1920s, and it would never again be as conservative and strict as the Victorian age. People changed because of war, depression, and joblessness, and when times were good, they wanted to live like there was no tomorrow. The 1920s were a wild decade, the Protestant conservatives saw them as a threat to their lives and their values, and they were.