POSTWAR HAVOC Ch 9 sec 1

I. The First Red Scare The first major problem after WW1 was the Spanish Flu that spread worldwide. In the U.S., 675,000 people died from the flu, 10 times more than died in the war. It hit people between the ages of 20 and 40 very hard, and those normally did not die from the flu. It started in Europe and spread as the soldiers returned home from the war.

I. The First Red Scare The economy slowed down after the war, and soldiers returned to find there were no jobs available. The economic and medical problems led to political unrest in the country. After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, people began to fear that Communism would spread in the U.S. Communist groups formed after WW1, but none were truly a threat to democracy.

I. The First Red Scare Newspapers played up the threat, and there was public backlash against so called “radical” groups, culminating in the Palmer raids led by A. Mitchell Palmer. He used laws passed during the war to put people in jail, and to deport foreigners who joined the radical groups. 250 were deported in Eventually the worry would decrease, but not go away.

II. Labor Strife Grows 1919 was a tough year for unions. There were many strikes, but the unions did not win very much for the workers. Soldiers could replace striking workers, the president was focused on his peace plan, and people connected unions with Communists, losing public support.

III. Limiting Immigration After WW1 the majority of European immigrants were from southern and eastern Europe. Many of them were Jewish or Catholic, which conflicted with the previous immigrants. They were a threat for jobs, and opponents argued that they resisted “Americanization”, and held onto their culture and language.

III. Limiting Immigration The government also reacted against immigration by limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country. The National Origins Act limited immigration further, by only allowing 2 percent of the of the number of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1890.

III. Limiting Immigration The Ku Klux Klan saw a rise in membership to combat the influx of immigrants. They expanded their attacks to include Jews, Catholics, and radicals. They also spread out from the South to other areas of the country. The tensions in the country against radicals and immigrants was illustrated by a court case in Massachusetts. Two Italian immigrants were accused of armed robbery and murder.

III. Limiting Immigration The men, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were radicals as well as immigrants. The case against them was weak, but they were convicted and executed. The trial seemed to be more about their political ideas rather than their guilt or innocence. But the country had moved into the economic boom of the 1920’s, and everything took a back seat to prosperity.

In your notebook Write an editorial explaining public interest in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. Explain how much or in what ways, if any, the Red Scare and hostility towards immigrants played a part in the trial. Half page editorial, minimum.