This week was rather eventful not only in Am. Studies but also in Am. Lit. The two classes are correlating together rather oddly. We are learning about the struggle of women in Florida during the lat 1800's and early 1900's. In Studies we are observing the roaring 20's in its entirety. I want to talk about prohibition, lynchings, and women's rights.
Prohibition was a huge aspect of the 1900's, one documentary we viewed in class displayed America to be a drunken country that was tripping over its won shoelaces. So some higher ups had the motivation to try to completely rid america of its drunkery. But Mr. Hoffman mentioned that some higher ups were actually drinking during the prohibition period. So what was the point? How many higher-ups actually cared for the well-being of America when they were passing prohibition? I know that for women Prohibition was a legitimate cause to fight for to stop domestic violence. Of course, people easily were still able to drink alcohol, and I am not sure if prohibition was actually affecting domestic violence at the time.
When making the presentation for studies, I came upon the subject of lynchings. These things were terrible and horrible events. Usually related to the KKK in some way, they were events to execute and mutilate black men for a crime they probably did not even commit. Sometimes mayors and judges would even attend these horrible events. The had postcards for the lynchings and everything. It shocked me so much when I saw how much African-Americans were still discriminated against (especially in the south).
Women were extremely active during the 1920's. They were able to vote, and start to get shots at national sports. To me it seemed that the 1920's were supposed to be a conservative time for America, however not for women. Women just seemed to keep changing during the 1920's. Not just in mind but also physicality. Women started to wear different clothes and flaunt their freedom around.
To address your question regarding prohibition, it seems as if the higher-ups drank because, as the name suggests, they considered themselves above the common folk. Many of them could still access alcohol quite easily, or they at least had the money to continue purchasing it on the black market. So, it seems that they probably did care about the welfare of America, but figured that they were not the problems themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chavez. However, not only was it easy to get alcohol, but it was also not very costly. Like in The Great Gatsby where Gatsby was able to hole a multitude of parties all providing alcohol for the guests. To adress your question, I think the to a certain extent every citizen of a country (in this case America) care about it. However, to a greater extent, the believe that they are not really considered to be a part of the population of common-folk. They think they are above it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the viewpoints represented in this conversation so far. In my opinion, there really was no point when it came to prohibition. Everyone was able to get alcohol rather easily without much hassle, so there wasn't a huge gain from banning alcohol. In my opinion, the only purpose that prohibition served was to show that Alcohol is against the norms of this country and it is not tolerated, when it is actually 100% okay in private in the speakeasies.
ReplyDelete