CONTENT STATEMENT
Racial intolerance, anti-immigrant attitudes, and the Red Scare contributed to social unrest after World War I.
CONTENT ELABORATION
The Great Migration of African Americans to northern cities heightened racial tensions due to increased competition for jobs, housing, and public services. Evidence of racial tension throughout the nation included:
- enforcement of Jim Crow legislation that continued in the South during the post-war era;
- lynchings and threats of racial violence;
- racial intolerance and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan across the United States; and
- urban race riots.
An increase in immigration to the United States from southern and eastern Europe preceded World War I. Nativism after the war was reflected in the passage of immigration quotas. Intolerance toward immigrants, Catholics, and Jews was exhibited by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
The rise of Communism in Russia as well as post-war labor strikes and violence in the United States stirred fears of revolution among Americans. The Red Scare of 1919-1920 was a reaction to these perceived threats and led to the incarceration and deportation of many immigrants.
EXPECTATIONS FOR LEARNING
Describe how racial intolerance, anti-immigrant attitudes, and the Red Scare contributed to social unrest after World War I.