Traditional vs Modernity

396 Words2 Pages
The battle between traditionalism and modernity manifested itself during 1920s due to the Jazz age, prohibition, and the development of flappers. The Jazz age also known as the Roaring Twenties was a period of time where jazz music and dance was evolved and became very popular. Jazz musicians used saxophones as their main instrument and played these in speakeasies and on the radio. Jazz was modern because it shifted people from European classical music to this new age music. Jazz music was a more upbeat music that even promoted new dance moves which gave entertainment a new turning point and that made it modern. It was also modern as for the very first time people whites and blacks started to mix socially as speakeasies were the only place that allowed black musicians and alcohol to be served. Jazz caused tension between traditionalism and modernity as Jazz music was played by African-Americans and traditionalists were against this. They also had strict views on listening to strictly traditional music and they even tried to convince others that Jazz music was the “devil’s music” and that traditional music was the “good music”. Traditionalists did not like the fact that whites and blacks started to mingle because of the influence of Jazz as they thought that blacks were less than whites and should not be mixing socially. Even though there was great tension was present, Jazz became more popular and musicians started to spread to other states following their audiences. Jazz music even played more on the radio. Prohibition was a period of time in which the manufacture, sale or transportation of alcohol was made illegal and this lasted almost fourteen years. It brought tension as traditionalists had “dry” moral fundamentalists in the country and modernist had “wet” morals. Traditionalists thought that it was immoral to drink alcohol and were for Prohibition but the
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