The Roaring Twenties In The United States During The Great Depression

Imagine this. You wake up one morning in the year 1929, in your luxurious, pricey mansion. You then make your way downstairs to eat that nice big breakfast. Then you kiss your family good bye and head off to your fancy job. You come home that evening and suddenly you’re flat broke. Meaning all your money and life’s savings vanished. Unreal right? Well it was real for hundreds of families on October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and when America’s confidence was challenged greatly.

When the stock market crashed in October 1929, the nation plummeted into a major depression. An economic catastrophe of major proportions had been building for years. The worldwide demand for

The 1920’s are commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties. Many factors during the time played significant roles in earning the decade this name. Economic conditions and developments in the arts and entertainment were some of the most impacting among these factors. Economic conditions and developments in the arts and entertainment helped create the reputation of the 1920’s as the Roaring Twenties. Economic conditions gave people a feeling of economic prosperity. They also allowed people to buy a lot of things on credit. Developments in the arts and entertainment created a culture of free expression by granting women the ability to express their opinions more clearly than they were able to in years prior and encouraging jazz and dancing.

The stock market collapse was one of the most important events, in the country economy during 1929, which led the Great Depression. Before October 29, 1929, most Americans believe that stock was the key to success and fortune. John T. Raskob affirms his belief that everyone could be

The Roaring Twenties is known as an age of parties, jazz, and overspending. After World War I, the optimistic American people reacted by celebrating and overspending. They purchased new appliances such as cars, radios and refrigerators; they purchased luxury items like clothes and invested in stocks. Their new attitude towards the booming American economy was carefree, leading to a series of events. First the stock market crashed. Next, the banks failed. Then, companies laid off employees who were unable to make the payments on the items they purchased. Tariffs and droughts further complicated the situation. This decade became known as the Great Depression, because the economic setbacks impacted everyone and everything. But the question is “Why did Americans lose so much money in such a short period of time?” One answer is, the failing stock market. A second is unregulated banking systems which allowed for buying on margin. Third, the lifestyle following World War I was too materialistic. The Great Depression was caused by Americans failing to responsibly manage their money.

Many people believe the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression are one in the same. In the nineteen twenties the Dow Jones went from sixty to four hundred. People became instant millionaires. Trading became America’s favorite pastime and a quick way to get rich. There were Americans mortgaging their home and investing their life savings in stock such as ford. However, there were many fake companies that formed to deceive the inexperience investors. Many investors did not believe that a crash was possible; they all thought the market would always go up.

The 1920s, or better known as the roaring twenties changed the lives of women in America politically, physically and mentally. Women were granted more freedom, the right to vote, changed their physical appearance, and focused on materialistic goals instead of moral values. Before World War I, women would wear a high collar, long straight skirts below the knee and long hair that was tied loosely. The roaring twenties brought along swing dancing and jazz which changed the way women dressed and danced. Not only did the roaring twenties bring along flourishing taste in music, but flappers came into play. Flappers were women who wore short sparkly dresses, cut their hair into a bob, wore heavy make-up, drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and partied all night.

The Wall Street stock market crash is the worst and longest economic collapse known as The Great Depression in the United States during 1929 through 1939. Millions of people lost their savings when financial institutions began to fail. This greatly affected those who were also on unemployment making the statistics reach twenty five percent due to companies laying off their workers because they didn’t have the funds to pay them, and forcing those to buy on credit leading to debts and foreclosures. (Belmonte 652) Additionally, due to so many people losing their jobs it caused them to act desperately when it came to supporting themselves.

In the 1920s, American economy had a great time. The vast majority of Americans in 1929 foresaw a continuation of the dizzying economic growth that had taken place in most of the decade. However, the prices of stock crested in early September of 1929. The price of stock fell gradually during most of September and early October. On “Black Tuesday” 29 October 1929, the stock market fell by forty points. After that, a historically great and long economic depression started and lasted until the start of the Second World War. The three causes of the Great Depression are installment buying, uneven distribution of wealth and the irrational behavior in the stock market.

During my investigation I had a difficult time finding sources for my question. At the beginning of my research I began searching for the styles of art during the Great Depression and Roaring Twenties. I did this because I intended to base my research on the question ;’What was the change in visual art from the Roaring 20’s and the Great Depression in the United States?’. After finding information of the question, I realized that my question was mostly about the history of art and I could not go into depth about it as a historian would. This is when I changed my question to ‘What was the impact of the Roaring 20’s and the Great Depression on visual art in the United States?’. After I altered my question I started researching for more sources

The roaring twenties was a time filled with hope and change. President Warren G. Harding promised a “return to normalcy”, which reflected his own conservative values and the voters’ wants for stability and order. Americans felt that they had been through more than enough, and desired prosperity. During the years 1919 and 1920 the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments were passed; the outlaw of alcoholic beverages and the right for women to vote, which ones of the many reasons society was turning their backs on Progressivism. Republicans were beginning to return to their previous dominance. The 1920’s was an economic boom for America, including everything from an increase in jobs, a rise in plentiful goods, new consumer products, and the reduction of taxes. The country was filled with jazz music, dance, and what appeared to be a brighter future. The 1929 crash of stock market was the beginning of a downward spiral leading in to the Great Depression. The stock market crash is often to be confused as the cause of the Great Depression, although that is false. A few of the issues that lead to the Great Depression included; farming (which decreased in demand as farms increased through the states during World War I), banking, and mass unemployment. Capitalism took shape as what was once the individualistic Protestant work ethic was reshaped into industrial work on a grand scale. Each worker contributed to the greater good, and the workers were presided over by a boss

The Roaring Twenties is known as a time of prosperity due to consumerism and mass-production from the years 1920 to 1929. This era in American history could be considered one of the most excessive times to date. Because of the United States’ triumph in World War I, the country had its first involvement of being a world power. The increase of consumer goods greatly impacted the U.S. economy during this time of success. Also, the start of the airline industry along with the expansion of automobile manufacturers helped profit banks. Several Americans became dependent on the newly developed methods of payment, which eventually became the American standard way of living. The quest to achieve this ideal lifestyle also known as the American Dream led to a severe shift in the nation’s economy. Through both fiscal and monetary policy along with laissez-faire tactics, the Roaring Twenties ended with the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which was the precursor to the worst economic decline in history, The Great Depression.

On October 29, 1929 a huge crash went down for stocks throughout the world. Because of this one person who made 250,000 off of her 30,000 tons of people rushed to the bank to buy. Millions of people were affected by the Big Bull Market that their billions of dollars’ worth of profits, has disappeared. Every town, every city, everyone, has dropped into dept. Every rich man's dream is to retire peacefully, but now had to start from the beginning. The Big Bull Market was the climax in American’s economics, not just business. Because more than 1,000,000 people owned stocks, the world has been hit by a catastrophe. However, before the Great Depression, there were many stock failures including, Big Bull Market.

It was 1929, and in the United States things could not be better for those smart enough, or for that matter, brave enough, to gamble on the Stock Market. All of the big stocks were paying off handsomely, the little ones too. However, as much as analysis tried to tell the people that this period of great wealth would last, no one could imagine what would come of the United States economy in the next decade. The reasons for this catastrophic event in American 20th century history are numerous, and in his book, The Great Crash, John Kenneth Galbraith covers the period and events which lead up to the downward spiral in the fall of 1929 and the people behind the scenes on Wall Street who helped this fire spread.

Money is a crucial part of the world we live in today. We spend many hours in the classroom, school, and at work doing what we can to earn our wages. In October of 1929, America’s economy crumbled and is known as the Stock Market Crash. The Stock Market Crash was an extreme downturn in the value of shares given to companies in America. These events didn’t all collapse in one day; they slowly happened over a two-week time period which highlighted the ending of what was known as the Roaring Twenties. The Crash was a long process Americans had to face before things started to return to their normal state. The process that led up to October 1929 saw equity prices rise to an astounding price of more than 30 times the average earnings. The