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American History 1880-1917

History of a nation is very important as it reflects its past and makes it possible for a nation to know its earlier struggles and progress, its losses and gains. The main idea of this paper is to discuss how America changed politically, economically, and socially during the 1920’s. It further discusses the normalcy move in America and how it contributed to the Great Depression.

According to James et al. (2012), the 1920’s is a period of dramatic political, economical, and social changes in the history of America. Socially, they observe that the American rural population moved and settled in the cities so as to get access to the social amenities like schools. Another notable social change concerned traditional practices and customs. All this started by the young returning World War soldiers who had outside influence.

Politically, James et al. (2012) noted that the American immigration policy changed with the introduction of Quota Act of 1921 which set the annual maximum number of immigrants at 350000. The act was meant to reduce the number of the American immigrants. It is also noted that women independence increased with the 19th amendment of the Constitution since it gave them the right to vote and to be employed.

James et al. (2012) also observed that there was a great economic progress as many manufacturing companies came up in 1920’s. Such a progress led to the increase in America’s employment rate. Equally, the government lowered taxes since there was a great reduction of war related expenditures.

During this period Americans came up with the “return to normalcy move.” The move was meant to help the Americans recover from the wartime worries and settle a financial and political stability. It was a public wish of President Warren G. Harding elected to power in 1920, since he immensely supported the move. However, as the government continued reducing taxes during the war time, it had to lower its expenditure on the economy due to insufficient funds. Thus, it caused the fall in the economy which contributed to the Great Depression.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that there are always changes in the society that occur due to social influence and present needs. However, there should be a lot of care taken in the implementation of any kind of change within a society.