“Cultural civil war” (Digital History), Symbolizes the era of the 1920's. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald labeled this decade the Jazz Age. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, he criticized the exterior and possessive lives of Americans after the war. The traditional lifestyles were fading away while the luxurious, party lifestyle flourished. Throughout the 1920's Americans continually tested the universal image of desired behavior. The decade was shaped by wealth, parties, moonshine, and sexually expressive dancing. The changing lifestyles developed major cultural conflicts within America. Alcohol, music, immigration, racism, and flappers of the 1920's illustrate the changing lifestyles brought about by the jazz age.
During the 1920s, alcohol was the greatest contributor …show more content…
The mob and gangsters took advantage of the opportunity and began smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and became quite profitable. Alcohol was smuggled in from Mexico and Canada, also being shipped from abroad to the U.S. from Europe and the Caribbean. Canada was exporting roughly a million gallons of alcohol to the United States a year. Bootleggers made their own drinks with wood, alcohol and medical supplies, sometimes causing blindness, paralysis, or death. In The Great Gatsby, and in the 1920s, bootlegging was sociably acceptable. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Nick comments on Gatsby's house after his huge party, telling him that his house party glowed immensely like the “world's fair” (Fitzgerald 86). All of Gatsby's guests knew he was involved with organized crime, but yet seemed to attend all of his parties without hesitation. Because of the Prohibition law, Gangsters developed secret drinking establishments, Speakeasies; which provided an entertaining atmosphere, jazz music, food, and alcohol. The illegal bars were called speakeasies because you had to speak the password to enter. With the flood of liquor expanding, the government created the Prohibition Bureau, which always fell short of men
During the 1920s, alcohol was the greatest contributor …show more content…
The mob and gangsters took advantage of the opportunity and began smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and became quite profitable. Alcohol was smuggled in from Mexico and Canada, also being shipped from abroad to the U.S. from Europe and the Caribbean. Canada was exporting roughly a million gallons of alcohol to the United States a year. Bootleggers made their own drinks with wood, alcohol and medical supplies, sometimes causing blindness, paralysis, or death. In The Great Gatsby, and in the 1920s, bootlegging was sociably acceptable. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Nick comments on Gatsby's house after his huge party, telling him that his house party glowed immensely like the “world's fair” (Fitzgerald 86). All of Gatsby's guests knew he was involved with organized crime, but yet seemed to attend all of his parties without hesitation. Because of the Prohibition law, Gangsters developed secret drinking establishments, Speakeasies; which provided an entertaining atmosphere, jazz music, food, and alcohol. The illegal bars were called speakeasies because you had to speak the password to enter. With the flood of liquor expanding, the government created the Prohibition Bureau, which always fell short of men