“If you could go back in time, in which period of history would you prefer to live?” There are many ways a person must think about this question before answering it definitively.
What life is like for the average person, the leadership and hierarchy of the government, and what the major ideas of the time are all must be factored in to the answer to this question. We all could say that we would be part of the richer, higher class of people, but life for the rest at that time may be absolutely horrible. However, there is not a single time in history where at least one group of people have a quality of life that is lower than others’ or a negative connotation is related to the time, so I don’t believe the argument should be based on that only. The time period that I chose is the 1920s in America. This time period is called the “roaring 20s” for a reason. This was a time where the average American was considerably wealthier than in times past, new social and artistic ideas were blossoming, and the overall quality of life was very high for the average person. It was a time following the war, so in addition to these there was also a national pride that factored in to the overall happiness. A few years into the decade the economy took a turn for the better when many industries started booming. Many new technologies became popularized during this time including automobiles, radio, and cinemas with sound movies. All of these shaped American life to be increasingly entertaining, and the average American could indulge in each of them. These technologies helped shape the growing culture distinction in America; previously the culture was quite similar to that of other countries. Another thing that I, personally, would enjoy about this time period (that is related to the growing American culture) is the expansion of music. During this time came the “Jazz age” of music. Jazz was becoming increasingly popular and it essentially was the spark for the fire that became a musical revolution that would appear in later years. As a matter of fact, there are many more examples that supported the American culture during this time. Sports had become much more popular and had become intertwined with the American society. Baseball came to be called “America’s pastime” because it was the most popular of the sports. Players such as Babe Ruth became local legends all over the country and led their respective teams to become dynasties in the sport. Sports overall became a crucial aspect to the American culture during the 20s. However, there isn’t a time period in history without a negative characteristic attached to it. As for the 1920s, this downside is mostly related to the economy. With the stock market becoming more and more popular, Americans thought that this economy would last forever. In 1929, this idea was thrown into the mud when the stock market crashed on October 29th. This day came to be known as Black Tuesday and it initiated the Great Depression that characterized the 1930s. Nonetheless, the decade or so preceding the stock market crash in 1929 was one of the best times in American history to simply be an American due to the vibrant culture and the briefly incredible economy.
0 Comments
|