Aaron Marcus

Mr. Pitman
4/5/14
Period 9
Unit 6 FRQ Rewrite
In 1917 the United States entered the war to end all wars. During their
participation in the war, the U.S. economy skyrocketed along with industry. New
inventions provoked new ideas, and when the war was finally over, the United
States had a new, roaring culture. The 1920s were a period of relative prosperity
and enjoyment. Traditions were challenged and along with these challenges to the
past came tension. During the 1920s, traditional values and new, changing attitudes
clashed because of the United States participation in World War One and its effects
and the tension began to dramatically increase as a result of popular acceptance to
new ideas and forgetting traditions.
The tension between old and new in the 1920s originated from World War
One. When many men went to war during the time, women came into the workplace
in unprecedented areas. Women took many of the currently enlisted mens jobs at
this time. Women up to this point had served for different and more traditional
roles. In effect, after the war, many women asked for the right to vote, sparking a
period in a change of traditions. There was objection to the amendment, causing
tension. Another tension producing subject that came from the war included the
prohibition of alcohol. As a result of women gaining more of a say, the temperance
movement arose, leading to the call for an amendment to ban alcohol. During the
1920s, the ban on alcohol was disregarded. Traditions were thrown out the window
when speakeasies not only had whites, but both whites and blacks together. There
was more unity in some areas of the country while, as a result in tension; the KKK
began to oppose the integration of diversity. World War One sparked tension
between new and old. It impacted the 1920s greatly with some falling into the new
American with a new culture while other opposed and stuck with tradition.

The 1920s was a time period that allowed the tension between tradition and
new culture to endure. During the 1920s entertainment became rather important to
American society. With the economy roaring, people had surpluses of money,
allowing them to afford entertainment and leisure activities. The 1920s gave people
more time to drink, have fun, and disregard the law, transitively the government as
a whole as well. Because people disregarded the amendment that banned alcohol,
there was a disregard for other laws as well. Traditions were challenged and they
were able to last because there was no enforcement from anyone to stop it. Even
officials, such as the police, consumed alcohol during the 1920s. The Harlem
Renaissance was another effect of World War One in which new culture flourished.
Tensions began to arise because whites began to go to Harlem to see Jazz
performances, a completely new type of music, far from the traditions of the past.
Whites began to think it was okay to be integrated with blacks and other races. The
1920s gave individuals the opportunity to be carefree and live life as they deemed
fit. This fueled and continued the tensions between old and new. New traditions and
mindsets also included new types of art. New art during the 1920s would not have
been acceptable in the past, but people now had the sense of entitlement that they
should now be able to do what they wanted to, freely and without opposition. Many
were angered and disgusted by the new types of art that were produced during this
time. The tension between new and old was undeniable during the 1920s and the
time period allowed the tension to sustain because of the zeitgeist of the time and
the carefree and fun seeking attitude of individuals.
World War One affected the United States very dramatically, producing
tensions between people of old tradition and nostalgia and progressive-minded
individuals while the era of the Roaring 20s allowed the U.S. to stay in a torn state.
The changes that emerged during the 1920s faced opposition. New culture and old
traditions clashed during this time making it an important decade in the United
States history.