Essay --

Sam Borkin History 212 Vance Life of the Jazz Age Many things changed after the Civil War. Including industrialization, emergence of cities, and women and children also won more freedom than from before. First of all the city replaced the countryside as the focal point of American life in the 1920s. Population of America changed. It grew rapidly. The current census at the time revealed that more than half of America's population lived in cities and still continued to grow. Cities with a population of 250,000 people added nearly eight million people to their populations. New York City grew by 25%. Between 1920 and 1930 Detroit doubled their population as well. Metropolitan areas grew rapidly as whites and blacks poured in looking for job opportunities in the new consumer industry. The Skyscraper soon became the most visible feature of the city. Since faced with inflated land prices builders decided to build upward. No one knew that they would be developing an American icon for cities. In the metropolis life was different. The old community of home, church, and school were absent, but there were important gains to replace them. Some people became lost and lonely without the old institutions and many thrived on the new urban environment. Like I said the landscape and industrialization weren't the only major changes, but the family did as well. Before women and children didn't have as much freedom, but now in the new urban society freedom seemed to emerge. During the 1920s there was no permanent gain in the number of working women. 2 million more women were employed in 1930 than they were in 1920. Most women had low paying jobs ranging from stenographers to maids. In 1920 women had gained the right to vote, but t... ...f the twenties. By the end of the decade cars were basically necessities. For every road there was a one car for every five Americans. Due to the huge surge of dominance in the automobile business many businesses that were correlated with automobiles became very popular. These businesses or services were gas stations or motels. They were there to meet the needs of the drivers.7 All in all the Roaring Twenties was full of many different things. Some were bad some were good. Though some of the bad things are still around today the good things that happened in the twenties help shaped America to what it is today. The turmoil for many people had taught a lesson for the people of today’s era. This was especially so when talking about the Great Depression. You can be down in your luck, but just remember there are always positives to come with every negative.