As a nation emerging from a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It's been a decade of growth and improvement. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society. Prohibition during the 1920s is one of many examples of dichomocy. During Prohibition, the production, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages was restricted or illegal. Prohibition was supposed to reduce crime and corruption, reduce social problems, lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and sanitation in America. Instead, alcohol became more dangerous to consume, organized crime flourished, courts and prison systems became overburdened, and there was endemic corruption of police and public officials. The dichotomy here is prohibition vs. legalization. Before Prohibition took effect, it was perfectly normal for people to consume alcohol. But as a result of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, alcohol was prohibited and the Eighteenth Amendment was adopted into the United States Constitution. After the war, racial issues were not ignored. Black men had returned from a war where they were treated like men. They were still not treated the same as whites, but during the war they were treated better than they were at home, where they were treated like objects. This gave them more motivation to demand equality upon their return. But after the war, white hostility toward blacks increased. This became a dichotomy when there was competition for low-wage jobs between blacks and whites. There was also an invasion of blacks into white neighborhoods. Whites d... the center of the paper... productivity shaped the development of the American economy in the 1920s. The nation's industries have shifted from coal to electricity. Mass production, electrification, and other innovations increased American productivity, and established industries flourished as new industries developed. One of the most significant inventions of this period was the assembly line. This made hard work less boring and changed the lives of workers forever. Overall, the 1920s were a key turning point in America's history. The dichotomies of the 1920s are examples of how things can change enormously and impact an entire nation. . Most Americans began to think differently. They were tired of normality. Although some Americans wanted to restore normalcy before World War I, their ideas could not resist the ideas of those with new values..