Red scare Palmer raids

1. Red Scare & Palmer Raids
Objective: Analyze the events and
the results of the Red Scare and the
Palmer Raids

2. Government actions
•1921-The government had
in the time issued
immigration quotas to stop
the flow of people entering
the United States.
•The Red Scare had brought
fear of communism coming
to the U.S. and the blame
the foreigners.
•Palmer Raids(1919-1921)
were accusations of about
150,00 people

3. A push towards Isolationism
Several factors led many in the U.S. to favor policies that
decreased the role of the country in world affairs.
Economic Recession: A short, but severe
recession hit the country as the economy
adjusted to returning vets, a shifting from
wartime goods to peacetime goods, and a
higher standard of living.
Wartime Casualties: The high number of
casualties and the total devastation of the
war made many question whether or not the
U.S. should be willing to get involved in
European affairs.
Communism: The “red scare” of 1919-1920
swept across America as a small communist
party formed and strikes became common
across America. (More on this to follow)
How would isolationism help
address these issues?
What are some of the possible negative
consequences of isolationism?
All in all, its
just another
brick in the
wall.

4. The Red Scare
Shortly after the end of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in
Russia, the Red Scare took hold in the United States. A nationwide fear
of communists, socialists, anarchists, and other dissidents suddenly
grabbed the American psyche in 1919 following a series of anarchist
bombings. The nation was gripped in fear. Innocent people were jailed
for expressing their views, civil liberties were ignored, and many
Americans feared that a Bolshevik-style revolution was at hand. Then, in
the early 1920s, the fear seemed to dissipate just as quickly as it had
begun, and the Red Scare was over.

5. Marx and Engels
•1917—Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
•Communism called for a worldwide revolution
•Struggle between workers and capitalists
•Fueled the Red Scare in the U.S.

6. •Red Scare, 1919 to 1921, was a
time of great upheaval…U.S.
“scared out of their wits".
•"Reds”"Reds” as they were called,
"Anarchists” or "Outside
Foreign-Born Radical
Agitators” (Communists).(Communists).
•Anti-red hysteria came about after WWI and the
Russian Revolution.
•6,000 immigrants the government suspected of
being Communists were arrested (Palmer Raids)
and 600 were deported or expelled from the U.S.
•No due process was followed
Attorney General
Mitchell Palmer

7. •“Fighting Quaker” Attorney Gen. Palmer led
crusade against leftists with suspect
allegiance, 6000 suspects held.
•Dec. 1919: 249 alien radicals deported to
Russia on the ship Buford.
•Sept. 1920: Hysteria heightened by bomb
on Wall Street.

The “ Red
Scare”

8. The “ Red
Scare”
1921: Many regarded the
conviction of Sacco &
Vanzetti as a “judicial
lynching” because they
were Italians, atheists,
anarchists, and draft
dodgers.
Several states passed criminal syndicalism laws: mere advocacy of
violence for social change was criminalized.
1920: 5 NY legislators denied seats because they were Socialists.
Conservative business owners used “scare” against labor: “open” shop
was “American plan.”
What is an “open shop?”

9. Nativism and the Legal System-The
Sacco-Vanzetti Case
•2 men shot and killed two employees of a shoe
store in Braintree Ma, Robbing it of $15,000.
•Sacco and Vanzetti two Italian immigrants were
arrested, charged, and tried for the crime.
•Men were anarchists (someone who opposes all
forms of government)
•Sacco owned a gun similar to the one used in the
crime- bullets matched.
•No conclusive proof to their committing of the
crime.
•Both were found guilty and sentenced to death
–Guilty or victims of prejudice? See reading

10. •Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti were Italian Italian
immigrantsimmigrants charged with
murderingmurdering a guard and robbing
a shoe factory in Braintree,
Mass.
•The trial lasted 1920-1927. Convicted on circumstantial evidence, many
believed they had been framed for the crime because of their anarchist and
pro-union activities.
•In this time period, anti-foreignismanti-foreignism was high as well.
•Liberals and radicals rallied around the two men, but they would be
executed.

13. The Red Scare
•After the 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
in Russia, Americans
had a fear of
Communism. Laborers
were lumped together
with communists.

14. The Red Scare
•Attorney General A.
Mitchell Palmer
conducted the Palmer
Raids which rounded up
thousands of
“communists”. Some 249
communists were sent
back to Russia on the
“Soviet Ark”. Labor
Unions were also lumped
together with
communism.

15. The Red Scare
•As a result of the
aforementioned, the
ACLU or American
Civil Liberties Union
was formed by Felix
Frankfurter

16. The Red Scare
•Attorney General A.
Mitchell Palmer
conducted the Palmer
Raids which rounded up
thousands of
“communists”. Some 249
communists were sent
back to Russia on the
“Soviet Ark”. Labor
Unions were also lumped
together with
communism.

17. The Red Scare
•As a result of the
aforementioned, the
ACLU or American
Civil Liberties Union
was formed by Felix
Frankfurter

18. A. Mitchell Palmer
•Attorney General
–Appointed in 1919
•Convinced that he
needed to protect
Americans from
political radicals
(communists)

19. A. Mitchell Palmer
•Sent out government agents on illegal
raids to hunt down suspected radicals
•Known as the Palmer Raids
•His popularity fell when warnings of a
plot to overthrow the government
were proven foolish