GREAT GATSBY CONTEXT Class Essays

Submitted By emilymclean
Words: 402
Pages: 2

War and Politics
World war one ended in 1919. America had just come out of this, one of the most violent periods in this nation's history. Many young people had died in the conflict and many families were left in ruin. Society quickly became disillusioned, sceptical and full of cultural experimentation. Americans began to feel almost ‘entitled’ to have fun following this, and culture changed dramatically, becoming based on parties, spending, and heavy alcohol consumption. Conservatism and moderation were thrown out of the national window, and these types of views were discouraged - instead, wild and fast living became the national way.
Politically speaking, this was a time of growth and prosperity, as well as a time of corruption.
President harding was elected in 1920, and he began to focus on the rebuilding of the country following the war. He had much to deal with – including labour strikes, issues such as minimum wage, child labour and the fight for female equality. As well as this, Harding enacted tax legislations that favoured the rich over any other group. Due to some of these policy decisions, industries such as agriculture, textiles and mining suffered greatly. Cities grew as people moved to urban areas to find work. Many of them could not find this and were left struggling. We also know that the policy of prohibition was brought in, banning alcohol making and consumption, however this did not have the desired effect, and the USA’s corrupt party culture grew and grew.

Class
Serious social tensions were around in