00:00:00
this video is brought to you by
00:00:02
captivating history
00:00:04
few decades in the past hundred years
00:00:06
spark more nostalgia than the roaring
00:00:08
20s
00:00:09
the fashion the music and the decadence
00:00:12
of the era are still the subject of many
00:00:14
books films and party themes even today
00:00:17
but what caused this booming economy in
00:00:19
style
00:00:20
let's explore the events leading up to
00:00:22
the 1920s and discover how it became a
00:00:25
period that has captured our
00:00:26
imaginations ever since
00:00:29
when people refer to the roaring 20s
00:00:31
it's usually in relation to what was
00:00:33
happening in north america
00:00:34
the first world war lasted from 1914 to
00:00:37
1918 and europe was recovering from a
00:00:40
massive loss of life and resources
00:00:43
in contrast the economy in america was
00:00:45
about to boom
00:00:47
that does not mean that america did not
00:00:49
suffer loss but most of the us had come
00:00:51
out of the war unscathed unlike the
00:00:53
allies in europe
00:00:55
when we picture the 1920s scene we
00:00:57
rarely include the american ex-soldiers
00:00:59
who undoubtedly suffered from shell
00:01:01
shock and ptsd
00:01:03
world war one was the first
00:01:04
industrialized war and saw more deaths
00:01:07
than the previous century of western
00:01:08
wars combined
00:01:10
little was done to help these returning
00:01:12
soldiers they were encouraged to get
00:01:14
back into their previous lives apply for
00:01:17
jobs and pick themselves up by their
00:01:19
bootstraps
00:01:20
any suffering was deemed as their own
00:01:22
laziness
00:01:23
the end of the great war brought welcome
00:01:25
relief to the people of america and
00:01:27
indeed the world as they were in the
00:01:29
middle of the spanish flu epidemic
00:01:32
in january 1918 an outbreak of influenza
00:01:35
occurred in haskell county kansas
00:01:37
this new strain of flu was likely spread
00:01:39
by infected soldiers through the us army
00:01:42
bases and then abroad as they were
00:01:44
shipped out to join the fighting in
00:01:45
europe
00:01:46
there is debate over where the pandemic
00:01:48
originated but wherever it began it
00:01:50
killed between 50 million and 100
00:01:53
million people worldwide in just 15
00:01:55
months
00:01:56
in the united states alone around 670
00:01:59
000 americans died
00:02:01
in a bid to keep up morale during
00:02:03
wartime woodrow wilson hid the real
00:02:05
damage the spanish flu was causing which
00:02:08
only meant it spread quickly through the
00:02:09
unprepared population
00:02:11
in 1919 the epidemic ended not through
00:02:14
any scientific intervention but due to
00:02:16
the surviving population developing
00:02:18
immunity it had killed everyone it could
00:02:21
already and mutated into another
00:02:23
seasonal flu
00:02:24
in the light of these events you can see
00:02:26
why america wanted to let loose and live
00:02:29
a little
00:02:30
unfortunately for them prohibition came
00:02:32
into effect on january 17 1920. this law
00:02:36
spawned another classic feature of the
00:02:38
1920s the speakeasy
00:02:41
despite being illegal americans consumed
00:02:44
more alcohol during the 1920s than at
00:02:46
any time previously
00:02:48
in fact more people died from alcohol
00:02:50
during prohibition as the ways of making
00:02:52
it weren't exactly above board and much
00:02:54
of the home brew was tainted
00:02:57
gin became very popular due to its easy
00:02:59
production and cocktails helped disguise
00:03:01
alcoholic drinks with juice mixers
00:03:04
prohibition didn't stop the party people
00:03:06
in the 20s and it may have encouraged
00:03:08
them by giving them an added thrill of
00:03:10
danger with each sip of liquor they
00:03:12
drank
00:03:13
another aspect of life that was changing
00:03:15
in the 1920s was women's rights perhaps
00:03:18
surprisingly this issue went hand in
00:03:20
hand with prohibition
00:03:22
the banning of alcohol was an issue
00:03:24
being pushed by women's rights activists
00:03:26
they argued that when men drank alcohol
00:03:28
regularly it was the women who suffered
00:03:31
tales of intoxicated husbands who drank
00:03:33
all the family's money and returned home
00:03:35
to beat their wives and children were at
00:03:37
the forefront of this anti-alcohol
00:03:39
movement
00:03:41
women were granted the right to vote on
00:03:43
august 18 1920 just seven months after
00:03:46
prohibition had gone into effect
00:03:48
by then a new type of woman was on the
00:03:50
scene the flapper
00:03:52
during the war women's wages rose
00:03:55
leading to a new generation of
00:03:56
financially independent ladies
00:03:58
with women now granted the vote young
00:04:00
ladies were inspired to start enjoying
00:04:03
aspects of life traditionally associated
00:04:05
with men
00:04:06
they kept their hair short smoked in
00:04:08
public and drank alcohol
00:04:10
they showed off their legs and
00:04:11
decolletage ditching the restrictive
00:04:13
corsets for bras and lingerie and opting
00:04:16
for brightly colored makeup
00:04:18
as young urbanites pushed social
00:04:20
boundaries sexual liberation was also
00:04:22
occurring
00:04:23
the youth were becoming more permissive
00:04:25
holding petting parties on college
00:04:27
campuses
00:04:28
latex was invented and sales of the
00:04:30
condom rose allowing women to enjoy sex
00:04:33
with a lower risk of pregnancy
00:04:36
all this was perhaps shocking to the
00:04:37
moralistic feminists of the early
00:04:39
women's rights movement
00:04:41
these young flappers were also about to
00:04:43
become a lot more mobile as the
00:04:45
availability of the motor car further
00:04:47
enabled their independence
00:04:49
car companies in the 1920s produced
00:04:51
safer more comfortable and more
00:04:53
affordable vehicles than in previous
00:04:55
years making car ownership part of the
00:04:58
mainstream
00:04:59
automobile production stimulated the
00:05:01
economy providing jobs in the rubber
00:05:03
steel and petroleum industries and
00:05:05
giving rural people a means to connect
00:05:07
easily with urban areas and cities
00:05:10
cars were not the only technological
00:05:12
advancement to connect people during the
00:05:14
1920s
00:05:16
this decade was the golden age of radio
00:05:18
news events music mysteries and comedies
00:05:21
were all broadcast giving people reasons
00:05:24
to gather and topics to discuss with
00:05:26
friends and neighbors
00:05:27
immigrant families were catered for with
00:05:29
foreign language broadcasts as well as
00:05:31
recognizable classical music and operas
00:05:34
people weren't just listening to
00:05:36
entertainment they were watching it too
00:05:38
hollywood became the center of american
00:05:40
movie making and movie theater started
00:05:42
to gain popularity giving people more
00:05:45
fun in their free time
00:05:47
other entertainments that were on the
00:05:48
rise were sports massive stadiums were
00:05:51
built to accommodate fans and sporting
00:05:53
events were broadcast for the enjoyment
00:05:55
of people who were unable to attend
00:05:58
the most popular sports at the time were
00:06:00
boxing and baseball
00:06:02
baseball had been popular previously but
00:06:04
after the black sox scandal of 1919 in
00:06:07
which eight members of the chicago white
00:06:08
sox were accused of throwing the world
00:06:10
series it took a young player to inspire
00:06:13
a new baseball style and renew
00:06:15
baseball's vigor
00:06:16
babe ruth became a national phenomenon
00:06:19
hitting home runs that could be likened
00:06:21
to the soaring economy of the time
00:06:23
entertainment is a running theme during
00:06:25
the 1920s people wanted excitement and
00:06:28
fun outside of their working life which
00:06:30
is reflected in the music of the time
00:06:33
jazz swing blues dance band and ragtime
00:06:37
were just a few of the popular genres of
00:06:39
the time
00:06:40
this introduction of so much music led
00:06:42
to another social change during this
00:06:44
time for african americans
00:06:46
while race is still a huge issue in
00:06:48
america the 1920s could be seen as
00:06:51
yielding some positive changes in the
00:06:53
status of african americans
00:06:55
despite segregation still being enforced
00:06:57
black culture spread throughout new
00:06:59
orleans kansas city new york and chicago
00:07:03
black music and voices were recorded and
00:07:05
distributed throughout the country
00:07:07
people flocked to clubs that hosted
00:07:09
famous black musicians and singers mixed
00:07:11
dance floors and paid entertainers
00:07:14
even though this was still a far cry
00:07:16
from two equality with many white folks
00:07:18
attending for the novelty of feeling
00:07:20
like they were slumming it these clubs
00:07:22
fostered acceptance and tolerance
00:07:24
dances intrinsically linked to the 1920s
00:07:27
like the lindy hop and the charleston
00:07:28
originated in black communities
00:07:31
african-american businesses also
00:07:33
blossomed through necessity rather than
00:07:35
choice as white companies would not
00:07:37
serve black customers
00:07:38
black entrepreneurs started insurance
00:07:40
companies funeral parlors newspapers and
00:07:43
even banks to provide the people in
00:07:45
their community services otherwise
00:07:47
denied to them
00:07:48
by 1928 oscar de priest became the first
00:07:51
african american elected to congress
00:07:54
by the end of the twenties forty percent
00:07:56
of african americans had moved to urban
00:07:58
areas earning money and casting ballots
00:08:02
despite seeming like a relatively
00:08:03
liberal time the political scene of the
00:08:05
1920s was rather conservative
00:08:08
after the first world war ended many
00:08:10
american citizens rejected the
00:08:12
progressive agenda
00:08:14
the progressive era concerned itself
00:08:15
with modernization women's suffrage a
00:08:18
focus on family and education and
00:08:20
purification of the government
00:08:22
when woodrow wilson took america to war
00:08:24
with germany many progressives thought
00:08:26
he had betrayed the principles of the
00:08:28
progressive movement
00:08:30
wilson had thought it to be the zenith
00:08:31
of progressive thinking the war to end
00:08:34
wars
00:08:35
after the war ended the republican party
00:08:37
regained the house senate america
00:08:39
started to focus on itself rather than
00:08:41
foreign relations
00:08:43
the senate rejected the invitation to
00:08:45
become a member of the league of nations
00:08:47
set out in the treaty of versailles
00:08:49
instead america would promote american
00:08:52
industry
00:08:53
calvin coolidge was president for the
00:08:54
majority of the 1920s and he was a
00:08:57
believer in big business
00:08:59
as he put it the business of america is
00:09:02
business
00:09:03
coolish believe the presidency should
00:09:05
promote big business and then stand back
00:09:08
advertising became an industry unto
00:09:10
itself during the twenties with new
00:09:12
mediums such as radio and television
00:09:14
advertisers bombarded the american
00:09:16
public with images of how they could
00:09:18
improve their lives by buying products
00:09:21
with its slick catch lines and desirable
00:09:23
imagery this new form of advertising
00:09:25
undoubtedly contributed to the
00:09:27
industrial growth of the time
00:09:29
there are multiple reasons for the rapid
00:09:31
growth experienced by america in the
00:09:33
1920s
00:09:34
america had many natural resources at
00:09:37
its disposal including timber oil coal
00:09:40
iron and land
00:09:42
this expansion was compounded by the
00:09:44
technological advances that developed
00:09:46
new industries and increased
00:09:48
productivity in established ones
00:09:50
conveyor belts concrete mixers and
00:09:52
automatic switchboards all contributed
00:09:54
to america's economic success
00:09:57
scientific breakthroughs also pushed the
00:09:59
country forward creating new fertilizers
00:10:01
dyes along with a production of
00:10:03
versatile and cheap materials such as
00:10:05
bakelite and rayon
00:10:07
all of this meant a high rate of
00:10:09
employment so people had income and
00:10:11
money to spend
00:10:13
one technology that aided all the other
00:10:15
aspects of 1920s life was electricity
00:10:18
although it had been developed since
00:10:19
around 1882 it only really flourished in
00:10:22
the 20s
00:10:24
by 1925 half of all the homes in the u.s
00:10:27
had electricity sparking a new wave of
00:10:29
mass-produced products such as vacuum
00:10:31
cleaners and washing machines
00:10:34
these new time-saving technologies
00:10:36
coupled with laws that shortened working
00:10:38
hours meant people had more free time
00:10:41
electric street lights enabled people to
00:10:43
go out after dark easily and large-scale
00:10:45
employment gave citizens money with
00:10:47
which to spend on luxuries
00:10:49
this boost in business and a new
00:10:51
luxurious lifestyle gave people
00:10:53
confidence in the system and their
00:10:55
future earnings
00:10:56
more people invested in the stock market
00:10:58
which was easier to do than ever before
00:11:01
and they started to buy things on credit
00:11:03
the availability of credit meant that
00:11:05
citizens could acquire luxury items
00:11:07
easily and quickly the supply and demand
00:11:10
chain of mass-produced products further
00:11:12
stimulated the economy unfortunately
00:11:14
this also led to its downfall
00:11:17
despite 1920s america not being a
00:11:19
paradise for all overall we view the era
00:11:22
as a time of optimism growth and
00:11:24
prosperity
00:11:26
a time when people rejected old moral
00:11:28
values and led more carefree fun-loving
00:11:30
lives
00:11:31
of course we know now that this couldn't
00:11:33
last in october 1929 the stock market
00:11:37
crashed america's invested wealth was
00:11:39
lost and the great depression began
00:11:42
economic and environmental disasters
00:11:45
went hand in hand to destroy much of
00:11:47
what had been built in the previous
00:11:48
decade
00:11:49
today there's a lot of talk about
00:11:51
whether the roaring 20s will make a
00:11:53
comeback
00:11:54
hot on the heels of the recent pandemic
00:11:56
could we recreate the economic boom and
00:11:58
flamboyant style of 100 years ago
00:12:01
if we do we can only hope we learn from
00:12:03
past mistakes and take more care to look
00:12:06
into our future
00:12:07
to learn more about the roaring 20s
00:12:09
check out our book the roaring 20s a
00:12:12
captivating guide to a period of
00:12:14
dramatic social and political change a
00:12:16
false sense of prosperity and its impact
00:12:18
on the great depression it's available
00:12:21
as an e-book paperback and audiobook
00:12:23
also grab your free mythology bundle
00:12:25
ebook while it's still available all
00:12:27
links are in the description
00:12:29
if you enjoyed the video please hit the
00:12:31
like button and subscribe for more
00:12:33
videos like this
