The Cat's Meow: The Roaring Twenties

          By Royce Le

          The Roaring Twenties started with an economic struggle from its transition back to peacetime after World War I. During War World I and after, there were multiple labor union strikes. Those strikes were in hopes of bringing prosperity to the classes, to the economy, and to every individual. The largest strikes were the Seattle General Strike and the Steel Strike which took place in 1919. By 1922, there were compromises and the economy started to ascend to greatness and started to really live up to what we know now as the Roaring Twenties.
           The Roaring Twenties was famously known for being the epitome of surplus wealth due to the famous piece of literature known as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The root causes of this success

 To the right is the cover to the book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Initially, when the book was published, the book did not get much limelight and was even criticized and condemned by the people during this era. It was only after Fitzgerald's death that people saw the beauty in the rough. The novel clearly depicted the Roaring Twenties and the life in which Fitzgerald immersed himself in. In today's society, we can see this book used in multiple classrooms in the purpose of teaching about the Roaring Twenties, how life was like compared to today, and the American Dream. Overall, this book was inspirational and did not only paint the picture of that age, but attached itself to whoever read the book.

mainly stemmed from the advantages of new technological advances, which were the development of electricity, the assembly line, the phonograph, and more. From here, employers were able to mass-produce and create surplus items, thus decreasing the prices for certain products. Moreover, there was the invention of investment buying which helped those who did not make much money to pay off the items in increments and intervals rather than paying full price at once. Through these processes, money flowed through the economy and businesses, individuals, families, and all the classes flourished. Sadly, the agricultural business and the rural side of this era were left in the ashes and suffered great. This economic boom would see light only until the 1930s where the "money" which never existed in the first place took its toll on America's economy and left them with a devastating Great Depression. Overall, the Roaring Twenties was the symbol and could even be looked as the goal America wants to achieve again with all its inventions, economic wealth, and success. Now in our day and age, we just need to figure out how to get there and keep our economy there.