The Roaring 20's brought about much social conflict to the American culture. America's values were challenged as "the Jazz Age" was born along with the prohibition of alcohol. The nation had to adapt to a wide variety of changes that made this era one to be treasured and remembered.
Jazz was developed by African American musicians in New Orleans. With the great migration of African Americans from the south to the north and with the Harlem Renaissance, the appearance of black culture increased. This was a "time when African Americans became prominent in American culture," spreading the development of jazz and blues music to whites. Although this style of music was attractive to some whites, this also upset many white Americans causing them to join the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan during this era used terrorism not only to target blacks, but the organization also "turned its wrath against Catholics, Jews, Latinos, and Greek immigrants." They wanted to redefine the values of America that the Roaring 20's was trampling over.
Prohibition greatly affected the music industry in the United States. Jazz was the most popular music style during the Prohibition. With the ban of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, people attended speakeasies to drink and to dance and listen to jazz. Speakeasies were illegal bars that sold smuggled alcohol; they quickly outnumbered the bars or saloons that formerly sold legal alcoholic beverages. This was a way for Americans to secretly rebel against the Prohibition.
While jazz became progressively notorious, there were positive and negative effects of jazz. Those that objected it believed it was an "influence for evil in society," whereas those that enjoyed it embraced the spontaneity and boldness it gave them. Jazz sweeped the clubs, and although the older generation criticized jazz music because of its "vulgarity" and "immorality," those in the younger generation loved the feeling of freedom they had on the dance floor.
Works Cited
Blivin, Jamai. A Reality Check for Children. 4.19 (2012): 15. U.S. News Digital Weekly. Print.
Drowne, Kathleen. Spirits of Defiance: National Prohibition and Jazz Age Literature. Vol. 12. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2005. Print.
Pegram, Thomas R. One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. 258.27 (2011): 56-57. Publishers Weekly. Print.
