Division in America’s 1920s: How the Decade Was Shaped by Conflict

Introduction 

The 1920’s represents one of the darkest times in the history of the United States. The level of division in the country was so high that the country was polarized along different lines. Despite the fact that some Americans enjoyed the economic boom that was witnessed in the country, a number of people had it rough. This paper seeks to analyze the ways in which the American society was divided in the 1920s. 

The experience of the American 20s has often described differently by different groups. The nature of experience depended largely on where ones stood in the society’s hierarchy of importance. In other words, the society was largely divided along the lines of economic class, race, gender, citizenship, et cetera. The people were often categorized into groups such as rural farmers, immigrants, black Americans, working-class Americans, rich Americans and the workers of the old industries. 

The women in the United States have always struggled against oppression and male dominance in the society. The emergence of American suffragists was a demonstration of the desire by the women to change their fate in the new American society that was experiencing an economic boom. The women who formed part of the American suffragists fought against oppression in efforts to ensure that women’s rights were protected. According to Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson (184), the men of the 20s were so much against the suffragist’s movement that some of them would hurl obscenities to the suffragists as they carried their demonstration around the cities. To make matters worse, most men argued that the women’s place was limited to the kitchen “to cook dinner” (Paul and Wilson 105). 

Despite the fact that the 1920s were characterized by economic growth in the country, the women were subjected to less pay or never employed at all. Perhaps the most obvious form of discrimination against women in the 1920s was evident from the fact that women were not allowed to join colleges. According to Paul and Wilson (188), most prestigious colleges refused to admit women as their undergraduate students. The discrimination meant that the 60 percent of women who graduated from high school did not transition into college, a trend that further disadvantaged women against the men. 

The other significant source of division in the American 20s was a race. Historically, American has struggled with the race questions, something that shapes the way the society is organized today. The black Americans were on the receiving end because of the rampant discrimination meted against them by racist whites. The 1920s saw the emergence of civil rights movement that sought to liberate the African American from discrimination and unfair treatment by the rest of the society. In a presentation prepared by Natalie Scheidler, it is clear that the African Americans did not enjoy the riches that were experienced by the American society of the 1920s. One of the bigger civil right violations against the African Americans was the low pay from the industries. 

The war between the rich and the poor has always been evident in the United States. However, according to Scheidler (3), the 1920s saw a sharp division between the rich and the poor in the United States. The rich, who represented only 5 percent of the country’s total population, owned more than a third of the total country’s wealth. The poor, who are dominated by the African Americans, lived in squalors and could only work on the cotton plantations. 

In conclusion, the American society has always experienced sharp division caused by the diverse nature of its population. The division became more apparent during the 1920s. During this time, women, people of colour, the poor, immigrants, et cetera were subjected to serious discrimination.