Explain How Newfound Prosperity Changed American Life In The 1920s

Ahnaf Rahman
Ms. Franzek
U.S. History Honors & Inquiry Skills
7 March 2016
How Newfound Prosperity changed American Life in the 1920s? The 1920s was the Golden Age of spending and newfound prosperity. Newfound prosperity was represented by the automobile. Automobiles “in the first decade of the twentieth century, were considered rich men’s playthings. They were handmade and expensive.” (Kunstler 88). Soon, Henry Ford created the Model T, “a very reliable machine that ‘the great multitude’ could afford to buy… and by the summer of 1916… Ford offered the same models for $345 and $360. That year he produced 738,811 cars.” (Kunstler 89). The rise of the automobile changed American life in the 1920s because it created new architecture, altered
Roads that were created “for horse transport began to deteriorate under the steadily increasing load of traffic… while horse-drawn traffic prevailed, roads were a matter for local administration, but the ability of the motorcar to travel long distances brought the question of road maintenance into a larger jurisdiction” (Scott, “1920’s Automobiles and Road Transportation”). But money that was required to build these roads was “solved by the introduction of a tax on gas.” (Scott, “1920’s Automobiles and Road Transportation”). All roads, “including wooden roads had to be redesigned and rebuilt to accommodate the automobile, new road rules had to be introduced, standardized road signs erected.” (Scott, “1920’s Automobiles and Road Transportation”). In 1921, “Harriet Morehead Berry and the Good Roads Association were well prepared to influence the legislature. Responding to public demand, the legislature passed the historic Highway Act which would help finance hard-surface, all-weather highways.” (Turner, “Transportation Improvements in the 1920s”). By the late 1920s, “the legislature had raised the gas tax to five cents per gallon. These funds allowed the state to pave more than three thousand miles of hard-surface concrete or asphalt connecting the county seats and state attractions. These routes included North Carolina’s first three-lane and four-lane
Even though the automobile was a richman’s plaything, it soon became a necessity for all Americans. The new architecture were things like garages and driveways. The rural American was not subject to isolation anymore because of the automobile. New businesses like motels and gas stations were created and the rubber and petroleum business skyrocketed. This is how automobiles changed American life in the