Perhaps nothing represents the spirit of that decade called the "Roaring Twenties" so much as its biggest dance craze, the Charleston. As the 1920s began, the world was emerging from the horrors of World War I (1914–18), and economic prosperity was spreading among Americans. The solemn, repressive Victorian morals of the previous century seemed to be slipping away. Rebellious youths of the 1920s embraced the wild, the new, and the forbidden, including the hot jazz (see entry under 1900s—Music in volume 1) rhythms that were emerging in the cities. The racy dance called the Charleston was created by blacks before becoming wildly popular among whites.

Named for the South Carolina city where it was born, many historians believe that the Charleston had its origins in slavery. African slaves were forbidden such leisurely postures as crossing their legs or raising their feet off the floor. The kicks and...