Students will understand that:

The 1920s was a time of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity that was unevenly distributed.
The decade saw a simultaneous expansion and constriction of democracy.
After WW I, the United States alternated between isolationist and interventionist foreign policies.

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Students will know:

Rising World Power:

The foundational arguments for isolationism and interventionism and resulting foreign policy.
The “Red Scare” and the roots of anti-communist sentiment in the US.
The impact of inventions and innovations on the economy and culture.
Examples of how government policy impacted various sectors of the economy.

Progress and Retreats of Democratic Values:

The debate over immigration in the 1920s.
The changing roles of women.
The status of African-American culture and civil rights.
Examples of how economic distribution benefited some and not others (industry benefited while agriculture struggled).
The debates over the 18th Amendment.
Examples of government scandal and the resulting public response.
The status of labor unions and conditions of industrial labor in the 1920s.

Modernism & Traditionalism:

The role of social critics (eg. the Lost Generation, Fundamentalist).
The ways cultural changes challenged traditional social roles.
Examples of technological innovations that altered American society.
The role of the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover’s pro-business policies.