Title: The American Dream in the 1920s & 30s - Cultural History of the United States
Headings: Cultural History of the United States
The American Dream in the 1920s & 30s
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Content: 10] 1920s Americans created a world of economic prosperity that they wanted to endure forever. An increased gross national product brought rise to the standard of living for every American, producing things like chain stores, installment credit, mass produced consumer goods, electric household appliances, and the automobile. While the economic prosperity of the 20s would eventually end, the mentality that it brought to American culture, the dream that it created and realized would never be extinguished. The world that is experienced today in advertising, magazines, radio, film, and personal freedom, the world that we consider to exist within the American Dream, had its genesis in the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties. The American Dream was now something not only brought into the minds of all social classes, it was something that was attained and experienced by the majority of Americans. This prosperity helped to bridge the gap between individual identity and the identity of the social community as a whole. Even into the crash of 1929 and the Depression that ensued in the 30s, Americans identified with each other in ways that they had not experienced before. Everyone participated in the lush culture of the 20s as well as in the hardship of the 30s. From this point in time forward, regardless of social class, race, or ethnicity, U.S. citizens experienced and defined the American Dream together rather than merely catching a glimpse of a far-off reality. The Culture of Politics
Politics in the U.S. changed drastically from the Progressive Era through the Roaring Twenties and into the Great Depression.