Americanization In The 20th Century

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The early 20th century was a time of dramatic technological and social change. America was protected by the Atlantic Ocean and American interests became more affiliated with the global economy. In the 1900s automobiles were seen as a luxury item that only the rich could afford, but with Henry Ford’s assembly line the price of cars became much cheaper. Changes in communication were also taking off. Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone became more widespread and the invention of radio revolutionized communication. Americans now listened to music, baseball games, news and even the president within their own home. Identity was changing and its culture within the technology had changed the social lives of Americans. By the turn of the 20th century the great American bender came to an end when the Volstead Act was signed into law and became the 18th amendment of the Constitution. Progressive reformers took…show more content…
Americanization was a political movement destined to change social behavior. Native born white Protestants saw the increase of immigration as a threat, in their supremacy by their population now being defied by Catholics and Jews from Southern and Eastern Europe. The fear of losing control was demonstrated in the language of racism and nativism. Unlike Protestants, Catholics and Judaists incorporated the sacramental use of wine, which caused the people of Southern and Eastern Europe to be seen with a degree of wariness by the Protestants. In spite of the aim to make Prohibition a tool of incorporation, the law ended up doing the exact opposite. The Volstead Act brought out behaviors that did not forced them into the conventional culture instead they continued their ways and found themselves even further outside the American way of

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