Protecting Civil Liberties in the 1920s

The ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was formed in 1917 to help Americans opposed to WWI maintain their right to freedom of speech (First Amendment) and fight the Sedition Act When Attorney General A Mitchell palmer began to arrest and deport immigrant labor organizers with communist ties the ACLU filed law suits against the government and defended labor unions like the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) The ACLU took the opinion that everyone had the right to free speech, even if what they said was unpopular. In 1923 the ACLU represented the KK and won them the right to hold meetings. The ACLU gained national awareness in 1925 when they defended a high school science teacher who was arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee. The trial was known as the Scopes Monkey Trial and shed light on the need for freedom of speech in education In 1925 the ACLU took their first case before the Supreme Court. They were defending a man who was convicted of criminal anarchy for printing a pamphlet supporting Communism

NAAC P By the 1920’s the NAACP had already gained national recognition for their work fighting for the rights of African Americans Much of the NAACP’s efforts during this period were put toward creating and passing legislation against lynching in the South The organization became famous for flying a flag outside their New York office stating “A Man Was Lynched Yesterday” The NAACP worked to get the Dyer Bill passed in the House of Represented. The bill set harsh punishments for those who participated in or did not report a lynching The Bill would never go into effect because Southern Democrats worked to block it’s passage in the Senate

Anti-Defamation League The ADL was formed in 1913 by a Sigmund Livingston to fight against violence and bigotry against the Jewish people and to fight for equality for all people During the 1920s the KKK was very active and often spoke out against the Jews and their perceived corruption and greed The ADL organized a group of important Americans that included presidents Wilson and Taft as well as many influential Christians that all pledged their support against Anti-Semitism They would also write several articles attacking Henry Ford for some of his Anti-Semitic writings. He would later write a public apology The ADL would also fight against government immigration quotas established to prevent Eastern Europeans from immigrating to the United States