The 1920’s was a period of growth in urban america. A decade where wealth grew for the wealthy, but so did poverty among the lower working class. It was a decade of changes and clashes and there were many contradictions in values and ways.
The 1920’s experienced a great deal of inequality among social classes. It represents a clash of values because it illustrates how the 1920’s was supposed to be a time of growth but in actuality was a time of poverty for many, a clash of values between urban America and rural America and discrimination for many. During the 1920’s, the gap between the rich and poor grew, cities grew, people moved from rural farms to big cities for work and different opportunities, and discrimination toward African Americans …show more content…
It was a time of mass production and full of “laissez faire capitalism” where people were just free to spend money in any way they pleased. Most of the power in the economy, however, went to business owners and the wealthy. This happened because the government helped businesses grow by not regulating them. The government ignored the prior progressive views and were pro-business. Which in some ways was good, people in urban cities had more leisure time and productivity grew. This led to an increase in people buying goods and by 1929, half of people had owned cars. Plus 85% of the world’s cars were manufactured in the U.S.With mass consumption of products meant great profits for investors, and it also raised the standard of living for the middle and working class. Even though the fact that people were getting wealthier was a positive thing. The bad thing was that the richest of the rich were only getting richer and gaining more power. Wages for urban workers increased by about 20% and corporate profits rose about 2x that. While unskilled workers saw only modest increases or found their income decreasing. By 1929, 1% of banks controlled 50% of the nation 's financial resources and the wealthiest 5% of Americans’ share of national income exceeded that of the bottom 60% and 40% of americans lived in poverty. This meant that banks had control over the employers, so they got to cut wages and had most of the economic power. Also with big …show more content…
The KKK represented many american’s resistance to social and cultural changes.The changes led to an rise in discrimination toward immigrants and other minorities and by the mid 20’s there were more than three million klan members in the U.S. In the 1920’s, many white Americans thought of themselves as superior to other races and ethnicities. They had many thoughts such as “separate but equal”. Which was meant for the different races and ethnicities to be separate in different neighborhoods and public facilities but still equal which of course wasn’t really equal. From 1920-1930, the foreign born population was 15% and in New York 42% were foreign born, prior to most of the immigration, most Americans were of British Isle or German descent and were fair skinned protestants. They viewed others as inferior members of other races, that had immoral lifestyles and could not be trusted. This led to aggressive "Americanization" campaigns, which were white american efforts to “Americanize” or change immigrants into good Americans. People like Henry Ford and Calvin Coolidge were strong advocates for this. President Calvin Coolidge was quoted saying “America must be kept American” and Henry Ford , the founder of Ford motor company forced his immigrant workers to attend Americanization courses,where they were taught English and other american ways. Any immigrant that failed to live
The 1920’s experienced a great deal of inequality among social classes. It represents a clash of values because it illustrates how the 1920’s was supposed to be a time of growth but in actuality was a time of poverty for many, a clash of values between urban America and rural America and discrimination for many. During the 1920’s, the gap between the rich and poor grew, cities grew, people moved from rural farms to big cities for work and different opportunities, and discrimination toward African Americans …show more content…
It was a time of mass production and full of “laissez faire capitalism” where people were just free to spend money in any way they pleased. Most of the power in the economy, however, went to business owners and the wealthy. This happened because the government helped businesses grow by not regulating them. The government ignored the prior progressive views and were pro-business. Which in some ways was good, people in urban cities had more leisure time and productivity grew. This led to an increase in people buying goods and by 1929, half of people had owned cars. Plus 85% of the world’s cars were manufactured in the U.S.With mass consumption of products meant great profits for investors, and it also raised the standard of living for the middle and working class. Even though the fact that people were getting wealthier was a positive thing. The bad thing was that the richest of the rich were only getting richer and gaining more power. Wages for urban workers increased by about 20% and corporate profits rose about 2x that. While unskilled workers saw only modest increases or found their income decreasing. By 1929, 1% of banks controlled 50% of the nation 's financial resources and the wealthiest 5% of Americans’ share of national income exceeded that of the bottom 60% and 40% of americans lived in poverty. This meant that banks had control over the employers, so they got to cut wages and had most of the economic power. Also with big …show more content…
The KKK represented many american’s resistance to social and cultural changes.The changes led to an rise in discrimination toward immigrants and other minorities and by the mid 20’s there were more than three million klan members in the U.S. In the 1920’s, many white Americans thought of themselves as superior to other races and ethnicities. They had many thoughts such as “separate but equal”. Which was meant for the different races and ethnicities to be separate in different neighborhoods and public facilities but still equal which of course wasn’t really equal. From 1920-1930, the foreign born population was 15% and in New York 42% were foreign born, prior to most of the immigration, most Americans were of British Isle or German descent and were fair skinned protestants. They viewed others as inferior members of other races, that had immoral lifestyles and could not be trusted. This led to aggressive "Americanization" campaigns, which were white american efforts to “Americanize” or change immigrants into good Americans. People like Henry Ford and Calvin Coolidge were strong advocates for this. President Calvin Coolidge was quoted saying “America must be kept American” and Henry Ford , the founder of Ford motor company forced his immigrant workers to attend Americanization courses,where they were taught English and other american ways. Any immigrant that failed to live