The New Morality
By: Lydia Roberson, Hunter Lockwood 7th
Define
The new morality abruptly came into view during the Roaring 20's, sweeping the nation with new ideals. New morality challenged traditional ways of seeing and thinking it glorified youth and personal freedom and influenced various aspects of American society.
Detail
World War I somewhat caused the Roaring 20’s and the New Morality. The war had destroyed the old social orders. Authority figures had been debased or shown to be a sham. Kings and Kaisers had turned out to know little more then the population, generals had, out of complete failure of ideas decided that the way to win a war was to kill more of the enemy then they killed of yours in mass charges against machine guns. Religion(God) had failed and probably did not exist for it been no aid in alleviating the suffering in the trenches or at home. Laws and regulations were flaunted with impunity and lawlessness was rewarded.
Coupled with this was the sense of those who survived the war that they wanted to live and that there was nothing man or god could say to stop them. Alcohol made the the 20's roar during a time of Prohibition. It can be argued that before the war the mere declaration of the Volstead Act would have made most of the population get rid of their liquor. The war made the population resistant to simply obeying orders. And they certainly didn't.
Characteristics: An interesting fact for the New Morality in the 1920’s was the fact that women were granted the right to vote. Another really neat fact was that Liquor was illegal in the US during that entire decade, which led to the rise of bootlegging (importing liquor illegally, generally from Canada, as that was the easiest and closest source), and to the popularity of illegal bars called "speakeasies". While booze was illegal, there was still plenty of drinking going on. Radio, silent films, and jazz music took over the whole nation, creating an artistic, fun canvas for america to paint on.
Significance: The new morality impacted the world through good, and through the bad. New morality gave people a sense of freedom, and a sense of individuality, through automobiles, clothing, and the amendment to allow women to vote. On the other hand, it taught America to break the law casually, whether through organized crime or the purchasing of illegal goods.