They were known as the roaring 20s, but not because there were lions running around everywhere. In the 1920s, America's economy was booming, and all kinds of social changes were in progress. Hollywood, flappers, jazz, there was all kinds of stuff going on in the 20s. But things were about to take a turn for the worse. Find out about the Charleston, the many Republican presidents of the 1920s, laissez-faire capitalism, jazz, consumer credit, the resurgent Klan, and all kinds of other stuff.
Reporter Peter Jennings hosts the following 3-part video documentary series chronicling the events and experiences of America in the twentieth century, the century that Henry Luce dubbed “The American Century.” Using archival footage and interviews with historians, veterans, activists and everyday people, it explores the social, political, cultural, and economic changes that transformed America from a burgeoning, isolationist economic power to one of the world’s leaders.
The stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the greatest period of economic malaise in America’s history. The Great Depression shaped the atmosphere for a decade; the most prosperous country on earth could not feed its own citizens. But even as Americans were trying to cope with poverty and hunger, the rumblings of a demagogue across the water became louder and louder.
Source: History Classroom presents, The Century: America's Time, Stormy Weather, <https://images.history.com/images/media/pdf/Century4.pdf>