Eugenics In The 1920s Essay

The 1920s was nicknamed the “Roaring Twenties” because every action had a voice. Every event or amendment was supported by some type of individual or group. Certain individuals made opportunity for American citizens, such as Henry Ford. Because of business leaders like him, Americans once confined to their city of work, can now live miles away. This era was full of trial and error. Trial and error can be supported by the fact that a new amendment repealed a past amendment. America was shaped politically by Congress, stereotypes, and mass production. The 1920s wouldn’t be the same without the leading automobile industry, “New Women”, and the Eighteenth Amendment.

The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political changes. The nation's wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, this economic growth swept along many Americans into a wealthy but also a unfamiliar spot this left some Americans uncomfortable with the new changes. Most Americans brought more conflict then celebration in the 1920s. However a small portion of people in the big cities were roaring about these new changes. People from coast to coast bought the same goods, listened to the same music, danced the same dances, and also had some experience with each other slang.

As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. As immigrants fled from Europe, the economy improved, and new machines offered convenience and luxury from the kitchen to the streets. However, with all change comes opposition. The 1920s revealed a conflict between traditional America and the new attitude and lifestyle through the changing role of women, continued dominance of Christian values, and racism.

The 1920s was a time of prosperity and new ideas that challenged the social norm and began the movement into modernism that we know of today. The economy was still coming off of the First World War and tax policies were creating an economic boom with the increase of discretionary income. The United States was in a scary position on what to do after coming home from such a brutal war that was going to end all wars. The young generation brought out the best in people and challenged the intellect of many bright minds that had the solid traditionalist views with the new fast paced modernistic thoughts. The 1920s were a time of growth and led the United States and the modern views came quick and made a lasting impact.

The 1920s was a very interesting era. The era of the audacious and daring. There was no other era like this one. The 1920s had the greatest musicians and poets. For example, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Langston Hughes. The 1920s also had the best actresses and models. For example, Josephine Baker, Cecil Beaton, and Dorothy Parker. It was also the era of flappers, where young women expressed discontent with traditional social roles by adopting the appearance and behaviors of men. (The 1920s: Introduction). Music in the 1920s definitely inspired many to be bolder, and inventive. Music helped people express themselves in a frolicsome way. Fashion as well, inspired people to be more original and free-spirited, especially women. Fashion in the 1920s paved the way for women to be more untroubled and blissful. The American personality became exceedingly inventive and

The eugenics movement began in the 20th century by a man named Francis Galton. As the cousin of Charles Darwin, Galton believed that eugenics was a moral philosophy to improve humanity by encouraging the ablest and healthiest people to have more children (Carlson). This Galtonian ideal of eugenics is often thought of as positive eugenics. Eugenics can be defined as the outgrowth of human heredity aimed at "improving" the quality of the human stock (Allen and Bird). At the other end of the spectrum is what can be classified as negative eugenics and is presently in disrepute. Negative eugenics entails selective breeding in which the least able from the population is taken out of the reproduction pool to preserve humanity's best traits.

The consecutive generations of families that displayed these undesired characteristics, like mental challenges, would be sterilized to halt the spreading of these traits and to segregate the members of this class of society apart from others. Most members of the upper class and scientists agreed with this viewpoint, but social reformers in the 1920’s thought “Carrie Buck was a sad example of the type of person that threatened to disrupt American societies” (Cynkar 1981). However, because of the power that the upper class had, Carrie Buck’s state-assigned guardian, R.G. Shelton, essentially had no way of protecting Carrie from the inevitable: sterilization. The legal process ended up making way to the Supreme Court where Carrie Buck was defeated (Cynkar

After World War I Americans wanted to return to normalcy which eventually led to the 1920s. The 1920s was a time of big change in political and social aspects in America. This time period was the first to have a nickname and was known as “The Roaring Twenties” and “The Jazz Age”. It’s gotten it’s nickname from being filled with a time of music, jazz bands, bootleggers, flappers, raccoon coats, marathon dancers and much more of the madness in society. Although it may seem as an entertaining time to have been in, it also had its downside of unpleasant conflicts that occurred which had a great impact on America’s political culture. This time had many political conflicts ranging from women’s roles, evolution, race, the Ku Klux Klan, and foreign immigration (“Overview of the 1920s.”).

The 1920s also known as the Roaring Twenties, are extremely crucial to what we call society today. During this time, Many changes in terms of lifestyle, clothes and music are made. With the end of WWII in 1918, Americans enter a new decade where Jazz musicians, Flappers, dancing couples, cocktails and stylish fashion trends dominate the country. To be more precise people began living a more luxurious lifestyle in which they would party and drink uncontrollably. Even though most people enjoyed this type of lifestyle, others seemed to be very concerned about the drinking behavior of Americans and in some cases European immigrants were blamed for spreading these actions.

Beginning in the late 19th century, eugenics was a social and health reform movement aimed at refining the genetic quality of the human population. Although the apparent goal of the movement was improving the human race, a desire to preserve white middle and upper class power also existed. This is evident in the policies implemented, as the unfit were confined to institutions and stringent marriage laws were established. Even more aggressive measures were applied in the Progressive Era. As immigration increased and the birthrate of Anglo-Americans declined in the 20th century, compulsory sterilization of the unfit was constructed to combat the threatened merit of society.

The 1920's best known as the roaring 20's or the Jazz age, was an era of social changes and the 'Revolution in morals and manners" ( digital history: online). World War I had ended and left a sea of devastation behind. It was after we won World War I, when the women got the real taste of freedom. They started taking the jobs for men in the work force. Teenagers and young people developed a mindset that life was short and that time should be spent enjoying life . It was the era of prohibition, al capone, marathon dancers, speakeasies,and the passing of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote and the birth of the Flapper. Trade Union. The passing of the 19th amendment also gave way to different women's

In the twentieth century, the eugenics movement assembled a powerful coalition of progressives, intellectuals, and professionals to advocate an agenda of eugenic legal reform. This agenda centered on the belief that many undesirable traits are hereditary and that the government should be permitted to remove those traits from the racial stock. Those who were mentally disabled or ill, or belonged to socially disadvantaged groups were the main targets for the movement. C.W. Saleeby once stated

The 1920s was an era of sundry ideas and moral values. Most Americans embraced these varying changes whiles others believed that America was losing its traditional values. Those who wanted to preserve these

Elements of the American Eugenics movement acted as models for the Nazis, whose radical interpretation of the movement lead to the Holocaust (Dolan DNA Learning Center). Eugenics is simply the controlled reproduction of individuals with “good” genes and discouraging those who have “bad” genes against reproduction (Dolan DNA Learning Center). Many Eugenicists lobbied for social legislation to keep racial and ethnic groups segregated. They also sought to restrict immigration and sterilized those who were “genetically inept” (Dolan DNA Learning Center). Eugenic ideology was deeply embedded in American popular culture during the 1920s and 1930s (Selden). The proponents of Eugenics were the best and brightest of civic reforms and professional leaders (Platt). The Eugenics movement in America was a national shame; from its origins, overall purpose, supporters, and its policy influences.

The roots of eugenics can be traced back to Britain in the early 1880’s when Sir Francis Galton generated the term from the Greek word for “well-born”. He defined eugenics as the science of improving stock, whether human or animal. According to the American Eugenics Movement, today’s study of eugenics has many similarities to studies done in the early 20th century. Back then, “Eugenics was, quite literally, an effort to breed better human beings – by encouraging the reproduction of people with "good" genes and discouraging those with "bad" genes.” (www.eugenicsarchive.org) According to Merriam-Webster, the modern day definition of eugenics is, a science that deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of