Chapter in Perspective

The "New Era" of the 1920s was far more important than old stereotypes of a frivolous and self-absorbed "Jazz Age" imply. This decade witnessed the birth of modern America, as the transforming forces of modern life, technology, bureaucratization, suburbanization, and consumerism, vastly accelerated. Modernism did not mix easily with more traditional values. Americans looked simultaneously back toward a cherished past of neighborliness, small communities, and comfortable sameness and forward toward a glorious future of machines, consolidated organization, and middle-class urban living. Unfortunately, it led to the Great Depression.