SSUSH16
The student will identify key
developments in the aftermath of
World War I
16.a- Explain how rising communism and socialism in the
United States led to the Red Scare and immigration restriction
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The experience of WWI and its aftermath led to a rise in fear and paranoia
concerning radical ideologies of socialism, communism and anarchism. The
Russian government had been overthrown by communists in 1917, sparking global
concerns that the anti-capitalist movement might spread.
In the US there was a lot of labor unrest following WWI and some of the more
radical labor leaders and the ideologies they espoused were associated with
recent immigrants to the US, primarily from eastern and southern Europe. This
fear of radicalism and the response to it became known as the “Red Scare” (red is
the color associated with communism).
The response to the Red Scare was a nationwide effort to root out radicals, many
of whom were prosecuted and jailed under the Espionage Act. The attorney
general, A. Mitchell Palmer created a new office in the Justice Department (later to
become the FBI) and sought out “radicals” from coast to coast in what became
known as the “Palmer Raids.”
Eventually, the fears associated with the Red Scare led Congress to enact
substantial immigration reforms. In the early 1920s, they passed a law that set
quotas for immigrants from certain nations. The numbers of immigrants from the
southern and eastern European nations more associated with radical political
ideologies were severely restricted.
16.b- Identify Henry Ford, mass production and the
automobile
• Henry Ford pioneered the mass production of
automobiles by perfecting the assembly line for
the manufacture of automobiles. By reducing
production costs he was able to reduce the price
of automobiles to a point that most middle and
working class families could afford them. As a
result, Ford dominated the economy auto market
for decades.
• Countless other products also became mass
produced during this era, and the consumer
economy exploded across the nation.
16.c- Describe the impact of radio and the movies
• The introduction of radio in the 1920s was one of
the most monumentally impactful developments
of the era. Through radio, Americans began to be
exposed to much of the same music, shows and
advertisements and this contributed greatly to
the standardization of American culture.
• Movies also became an ubiquitous form of
inexpensive entertainment in big cities and small
towns all across the nation.
16.d- Describe modern forms of cultural expression; include Louis
Armstrong and the origins of jazz, Langston Hughes and the Harlem
Renaissance, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley
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The “Roaring 20s” are also commonly referred to as the “Jazz Age” for the rise of
the musical form associated with the fast paced, party vibe of the era. Louis
Armstrong was one of the most popular early pioneers of the genre.
The 1920s also witnessed a flowering of African-American artistic expression,
especially centered in the new Black urban centers, like Harlem in NYC. The Harlem
Renaissance encompassed Black authors, poets, musicians and visual artists.
Langston Hughes was one of the best known figures of the Harlem Renaissance.
His poetry addressed the ongoing struggles of African Americans and the new
expressions of urban Black intellectualism arising in the era.
Another expression of culture associated with the 1920s was the rise of popular
music. Songwriters like Irving Berlin helped to initiate a wave of uniquely American
popular music. The standardization of American musical forms was strengthened
by the consolidation of the music publishing business. Centered in New York City,
“Tin Pan Alley” was both a physical place ( a street where many of the largest
music publishers was located) and a metaphor for the era’s music industry in
general.