The Red Scare

1. The Red Scare One perceived threat to American life was the spread of communism.

2. Communism • Communism = economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship • In order to equalize wealth and power: • end to private property • government ownership of factories, railroads, and other businesses

4. The Red Scare • began in 1919 when the Bolsheviks (“the majority”) overthrew the Russian government and established a Communist society • a Communist party formed in the USA: • 70,000 radicals joined (including members of labor unions) • advocated an overthrow of capitalism and united worldwide revolution of workers • several dozen bombs were mailed to government and business leaders

5. The Palmer Raids • “The blaze of revolution was sweeping over every American institution of law and order . . . eating its way into the homes of the American workman, its sharp tongues of revolutionary heat . . .licking the altars of the churches, leaping into the belfry of the school bell, crawling into the sacred corners of American homes, . . . burning up the foundations of society.” • A. Mitchell Palmer, “The Case Against the Reds”

6. The Palmer Raids J. Edgar Hoover A. Mitchell Palmer

7. The Palmer Raids • U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer took action to combat this “Red Scare” • J. Edgar Hoover was appointed special assistant • goals of the Palmer Raids: • hunt down suspected Communists, socialists, and anarchists (people who oppose any form of government) • cleanse the U.S.A. of “unwanted” and “dangerous” people

8. The Palmer Raids • civil rights were severely compromised • home/office invasions without warrants were common • jailed suspects were often denied legal counsel • immigrants & naturalized citizens were deported without trials • labor union and political party offices were key targets • June 2, 1919 – Palmer’s home was bombed (result was an intensification of raids) • December 1919 – 249 resident aliens were rounded up and deported to the U.S.S.R. on the ship Buford

9. What was the result? • over 10,000 legal immigrants were arrested • raids failed to turn up any revolutionary plots, weapons, or conspirators • the US public finally figured out that this was a “witch hunt” and called for an end to the hysteria • Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of the Red Scare . . .

10. Sacco & Vanzetti • Nicola Sacco (shoemaker) and Batolomeo Vanzetti (fish peddler) were Italian immigrants and anarchists who evaded the draft in WWI Sacco Vanzetti

11. Sacco & Vanzetti • May 1920 – Sacco & Vanzetti were arrested and charged with the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster and guard in South Braintree, MA • witnesses reported that the criminals appeared to be Italians • both Sacco & Vanzetti asserted their innocence and provided alibis • the evidence was entirely circumstantial • the judge was biased and used prejudicial language in court

12. The Result • the jury found both guilty and they were sentenced to death • there were protests worldwide • they were executed by electric chair on August 23, 1927 • they were considered victims of the Red Scare and nativism • “The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti” – Ben Shahn