The
First Red Scare
In November 1917 a
revolution was taking place in Russia. This revolution was known as the
Bolshevik Revolution and was a very controversial topic during the time. The
"Reds" or people who encouraged communism were against The
"Whites", those who opposed communism. The Whites believed that it
was wrong to own everything communally and stressed that it would decrease not
only peoples pride, but their ambition. The Reds believed that all people
should be equal politically, economically, and socially. By tossing
social classes and concern for individual possession out of the equation Russia
could transform itself. Russian's believed that communism could help them
rebuild from the destruction of WWI and rejuvenate their
infrastructure. Russia soon became a communist country and was then
on refereed to as the Soviet Union.
It was
this ideology that scared Americans. People feared that the Soviet Union
would try to spread their ways of communism throughout the world. In history
this became known as The First Red Scare. Following WWI(1919-1920) American's
were concerned for their futures as well as their country's. Most of this fear
was spurred from the unknown: how many communists are in America, are anarchist
a threat, is my security being compromised? Patrick Floyd, a teacher at
San Antonio said, "If communists can take over Russia, than they
can take over the United States as well."
People had reason to be
frightened.Mitchell Palmer, the Attorney General of the United States had a
bomb go off in front of his house. In response, he was moved to
write "The Case Against the Reds". In his writing he discusses his
position on communism. He said,"It [comunism] is eating its way into the
homes of the American workmen.." as well as, "...the American
Government must prevent crime...". The bomb that was set off at his home
was traced back to Italian anarchists. Another incident that happened during
this time also was associated with expolosives. Thirty eight bombs were
discovered in the post office in April of 1919. These bombs were in the
process of being sent to American politician and capitalists These
event further scared the citizens of America.
People didn't know who
to trust, so they turned to the government.The Government produced two major
acts during this time: The Espionage Act and the Sedition Act. Both of these
acts provided the same affects. Suspected communists, along with Southern and
Eastern Europeans were prosecuted for doing little to nothing. Civil
rights and liberties were violated in the process of protecting
American citizens. In November of 1919 10,000 people were arrested and 245 were
deported. Along with these people were: Emma Goldman, Joseph Yenowsky, Nicola
Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetli.
Emma Goldman was a
feminist and anarchist who was deported back to the Soviet Union. Joseph
Yenowsky was a Connecticut clothing salesman of Russian decent. He was pinned
with six months in jail because he said, "Lenin is the greatest, the
most brainiest man on the earth today." Although that does sound
alarming, as Americans we do have the freedom of speech Many
Americans were prejudice against immigrants and saw them as a threat to the
stability and security of America. In 1921 the Johnson Act was created for that
sole purpose. It reduced the quota of immigrants. The case of Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti is sometimes seen as one of the most controversial trails
of the time. Both of these men were accused of robbing a bank and murdering
someone in the process. Several American thought that they were innocent, but
in the end, the were executed in August 23, 1927.
Sources:
Lockout by Michele Wucker- I used this source to get information about trials and cases of deportation
The Red Scare by Paul
Burnett-This site helped me understand how the Bolshevik revolution affected theUS
The First Red Scare By Michael
J. O'Neal- This source helped me understand the opposition immigrants faced
Between The War-This source provided quotations and the story about Joseph Yenowsky
AVL- This is a link to my avl source
The Case Against The Reds- Primary Source written by Mitchell Palmer
The Red Scare- This website informed me about the bombing by anarchists
