The 1920s
Prohibition
Al Capone
Since alcohol was illegal, gangsters like Al Capone distributed alcohol and gained millions of dollars.
Speakeasies
"Men only" saloons were replaced by speakeasies, where both men and women got very drunk because the beverages were very high in alcoholic content.
Crimes
With many gangsters on the streets, gangs used any means to take out their competitions.
Literature
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote This Side of Paradise, which in the 1920s the youth would read this like the Bible. He also wrote the The Great Gatsby which centered around the glamorous yet corrupt life in New York City.
H.L. Mencken
H.L. Mencken wrote American Mercury which criticized marriage, patriotism, democracy, prohibition, and Puritanism.
Ernest Hemingway
One of the writers who were most affected by the war, he wrote his books as a response to propaganda in The Sun Also Rises. Also A Farewell to Arms which described the war experience.
Automobiles
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was responsible the first affordable automobile, Model T. He used a mass production assembly line to produce many as possible.
Leisure Activities
Leisure hours could now be spent. Americans went to watch films or sports.
Petroleum
Automobiles opened opened up a new industry. It employed over six million people. Many oil derricks opened up in California, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Ku Klux Klan
The KKK hated anything with diversity or modernism that had the potential of transforming American culture.
The KKK spread rapidly in the Midwest the the "Bible Belt".
Many ordinary people were a part of the KKK, like doctors, lawyers, or ministers.
Music
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong helped make jazz popular in America.
Jazz helped unify the country through the enjoyment of the same type of music.
Jazz music was played in speakeasies, where people celebrated and danced together.
Aviation
Aviation
Aviation started a new industry. Travel by air was safer than highways.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo from west to east. He became America's hero.
The Wright Brothers
Orville and Wilbur started the air era by taking flight for 12 seconds.