Name&Surname: Murathan Yılmaz
Student ID: 201712171047
Instructor’s name: Mehmet Can Yılmaz
Course Name: American Literature II
Submission date: May 24, 2020
REMARKABLE CHANGES IN AMERICA THROUGHOUT THE 1920S
The 1920s was a decade of change, and also known as ‘The Roaring Twenties’. In this
decade, there were many remarkable changes and life of most American citizens was
progressed, although the minority citizens’ life was not improved like the majority’s life.
Additionally, these noticeable changes have one or two reasons, too. For example, women
gained their vote right on August 18, 1920, and the democracy of the USA was improved.
Apart from reasons, these important changes are; the spread of electricity, mass production,
and the improvements of art.
The Spread of Electricity: The electricity in the USA was developed owing to Thomas
Edison’s thievery of Nikola Tesla’s invention. However, the development of the
electricity industry is not incomparable because the electricity’s spreading rate was
very fast when compared to the previous decades. Aside from this, electricity played
an important role in the development of popular entertainment during the 1920s, and it
gave life to the new cinemas, speakeasies and sports stadiums, moreover, electricity
was needed to operate millions of radios in the USA. Compared to other decades,
people spent twice as much electricity during the 1920s.
The Developments of Art: In the first quarter of the 1920s, musical styles started to
change. For example, Louis Armstrong began to improvise and annexed his musical
alteration with his trumpet in 1922, and also his musical genre was the jazz.
Additionally, there were other artists such as Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman,
and Cliff Edwards. Apart from music, the improvement of the cinema was emerged.
During the 1910s and 1920s, silent cinema was the dominant genre owing to Charlie
Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and so on. However, Alan Crosland directed
The Jazz Singer, which is the first full-length feature film to use synchronized sound
in 1927, and according to Warner Bros records, this movie grossed $ 1,974,000 in the
USA and Canada.
Mass Production: Along with other changes, mass production is also an important
change, and the car industry is the best example of this alteration. There were three big
car manufacturers, and these are; Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. Also, they
relied on plethora of resources such as oil, steel, and leather in the USA. Among the
manufacturers, Ford was the best-known brand. Henry Ford led the mass production
methods and, Americans possessed 23 millions car by 1929, and the best-known was
the Ford Model T car.
