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Follow-up Activity
The Red Scare
Interpreting the Red Scare through Political Cartoons
All that Jazz: America in the 1920s
Gerald R. Ford Museum
High School
Social Studies
I. Historical Perspective
3. Analyzing and Interpreting the Past – H.S. #1
Objectives
• Students will learn to interpret ideas as expressed through cartoons.
• Students will gain some knowledge as to the use of propaganda.
Method
This is best done as a group activity. Students should be divided into groups and each group
should be given a cartoon, the following information page, and copy of the Document Analysis
Worksheet. They should work together to answer the questions on the worksheets. Each group
may then present their conclusions to the entire class.
Interpreting Political Cartoons:
The Red Scare
The Red Scare took place in the U.S. from 1919 until 1921. It was a result of people’s fear that
communism or Bolshevism would spread from Russia though Europe and unto America’s
shores. Americans, and the government, also feared the spread of anarchism, which they
associated with Bolshevism. As a result, the government conducted numerous raids, the most
famous being the Palmer Raids, and arrested hundreds of people who were suspected of being
“Reds.” Many were abused by authorities and later deported.
The Red Scare fed directly off mass hysteria. This hysteria was fed in a variety of ways, including
cartoons that appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the United States. These
cartoons could be considered propaganda.
In this activity you will evaluate a political cartoon, complete the Document Analysis Worksheet
provided by your teacher, and answer the questions on the worksheet below. As a final step
you will make a judgment as to whether you find your cartoon to be propaganda or not. Be
prepared to defend your answer.
Depending on which cartoon you receive and what is depicted in it, you may not be able to
answer all the questions. In that case simply skip that question and go to the next.
Definition of propaganda: Ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause
or to damage an opposing cause.
Definition from: Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition
1. What is depicted in the cartoon?
2. Who are the major characters?
3. How is America portrayed in this cartoon?
4. How are Russia, the Bolsheviks, or anarchists portrayed?
5. What is the overall tone of the cartoon?
6. What do you think is the message the cartoonist is trying to get across?
7. Do you find the cartoon to be positive or negative towards the Soviets/anarchism?
8. Do you think this cartoon could be considered propaganda? Why or why not?