The 1920s were a remarkable culturally influential era in United States history. A main reason this decade is seen as modern is because most of today's culture and innovations stemmed from ideas and products which first appeared in the 1920s. After World War I, there was now almost 1 million less people in the armed forces. People were tired of all the bloodshed and hostility and wanted to carry on with their lives. They wanted to be happy and most importantly, be free. .
The war took its toll on a lot of Americans and the Volstead Act in 1920 made matters worse. Now people couldn't have any drink containing as much as one half-ounce of alcohol legally. Americans felt that they were being treated unfairly. After all, this was supposed to be the land of the free. Prohibition was definitely one of the main factors leading to the cultural outcry in the 20s. Since people could not drink alcohol legally, they drank it illegally at speakeasies. .
The 1920s brought forth the idea of organized crime which is also still going on present day. Dutch Schultz and Al Capone were some of the main suppliers of the product. Crime was rampant and they became some of the most famous gangsters of the era. Unlike earlier times in America's history, people were speaking their mind and .
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fighting back. They did not want to have their every day rights taken away and they made it known. Another example of this was the ban on one-piece bathing suits. .
Women complained of not being able to swim covered with ridiculous amounts of clothing. Some states (mostly Eastern) had begun banning the "Annette Kellerman" one-piece bathing suits and the women of the time just would not let this happen. They were being commanded on how to dress themselves and some of them did not feel that this was fair. Several women, including Annette Kellerman herself, were arrested for wearing a one-piece bathing suit. Soon, cities began to see that allowing these swimsuits would attract tourism.
