Hey there, my fellow historian nerds! Today I wanted to talk about the the Roaring 20's and how it contributed to the American dream. I wanted to talk about how the Harlem Renaissance and Flappers contributed to the American dream and how they have shaped modern America.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_harlem.html
http://mentalfloss.com/article/22604/rise-flapper
Before we get into all that, I'm gonna educate you on these topics. The Harlem Renaissance was basically a migration of African Americans to Harlem so they could pursue their artistic dreams which included acting, singing, and poetry, and this great cultural movement happened after World War 1. Harlem wasn't just a place of new artistic birth, but it was also a birth place of new found integration. You see, prohibition was passed in the 20's which meant it was illegal to consume alcohol. Because of rebellious alcoholics, bootleggers, events such as speakeasies were created, which were events underground where people could go and drink to their heart's content. Harlem was a famous place where these speakeasies would take place, and, because so many blacks lived in Harlem already, whites would go to these speakeasies and talk with the blacks-- and even dance with them! This was a huge blow to the Jim Crow laws which encouraged segregation.
The next thing we're gonna talk about is the birth of Flappers. When World War 1 happened, all the men were gone fighting, which meant women were in the factories making machines and war weapons. The women, in return, felt like they had worth and that they were more than just house wives and moms. When the men returned home from war, they got their jobs back, and women got kicked out of those factories. Women all across the country became furious because they knew they could be just as useful and efficient as the men were, yet they weren't given any consideration or were at the least bit treated as an equal to men. In response to that, they changed. Women wore shorter skirts and cut their hair. they started to drive cars and stay up past curfew. All in all, they rebelled. Flappers started because women knew they were just as able to do the same jobs as men do, and that they had the same rights as men do to work and get an education.
The Twenties is a birthplace of the modern American Dream because it's, to me, one of the biggest and most modern instances where people stand up for their rights and, in this case, their equality in the work force. I strongly agree with the articles and what they contribute to the American Dream because they both show the growth of interracial and gender equality which has impacted the way the United States is today.
