Honors History Writing #3

The Roaring Twenties (1920s)

The early 20’s introduced an array of new ground-breaking inventions and brought about many changes to the American society. The Roaring 20’s was referred to as the Jazz age, hence the word; “Roaring”. American industries introduced the flow of innovative technologies that altered the American society such as the invention of automobile. Many of these inventions like the Ford Model T car and convenient kitchen appliances proved useful to American families living in both rural and urban areas. The migration of Mexican and Puerto Ricans and immigrants from counties oversees began to settle into the major urban cities such as Los Angeles, San Antonio and Denver, seeking employment.

The Automobile, surprisingly, was the principal driving force of the American economy during the 1920s. More than eight million motor vehicles were registered in the United States and twenty-six million in 1929. The purchase output of these automobiles sky rocketed to three million dollars in 1923. Henry Ford, a famous American producer, distributed automobiles for driving to certain places at a reasonable price for the public during the 1920s. However, in 1925, the price of a Ford T model reduced to $290, less than three months’ pay for an average worker. The Fort T model had an engine capable of running on gasoline. The manufacturing of the automobiles helped simulate the productivity of the industries producing steel, rubber, and glass as well as gasoline and that led to highway construction. The United States became a nation of paved roads for the gasoline powered automobiles.

Mexican and Puerto Ricans originated from South America, were Agricultural laborers that migrated to the southwestern states of America. They scattered into places like San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Denver, Colorado, looking for employment to feed their families. Like other immigrants, they obtained low-paying jobs and lived with their families in poor neighborhoods, which they called barrios. A huge wave of Puerto Rican immigrants arrived onto the mainland and some went to New York City. In New York they worked in restaurants and in domestic work.

Roaring 20s was one of the most unforgettable eras because of the jazz music and culture. Most of the black people originated from the county side, about 1.5 million journeyed into the cities during the early 20s. The black community had a lot of musicians, writers and intellectuals. These famous black musicians developed a music genre called Jazz and blues music. People in the 20s enjoyed the widespread popularity of Jazz music which led to the opening of clubs and bars. Unfortunately, the Ku Klux Klan held a lot of anti-black activities in places like the south. These activities had to do with lynching and torturing innocent black people out of hatred. Despite these hardships with the hardships with Ku Klux Klan, a lot of people were listening to the jazz music by black musicians.

One sees that the Roaring 20s contributed some many useful inventions that still exist today. The idea of the Ford model T branched off into newer sources of transportation, like subway trains, motorcycles, and maybe even planes. American industries still produce steel, rubber and other materials for new inventions like the cell phone and hp laptops. The culture and the jazz are still incorporated into many of the modern music that we hear and see on the radio and television, today.