Exploring Tensions of the Postwar Era

Slide 1

The Start of the Red Scare Communism is an economic and political system where all property is owned by the government in order to create equal wealth. After the Russian Revolution a communist party was formed in the United States. 70,000 workers joined. In 1919, there were a series of mail bombs sent to government and business leaders. In 1920, someone parked a carriage loaded with explosives outside of the JP Morgan building on Wall Street (our financial center). Many people associated anarchism and communism with immigrants. The fear of the spread of communism in the 1920’s became known as “The Red Scare.”

Slide 2

Attorney General Mitchell Palmer Attorney General Mitchell Palmer was determined to eliminate communism in the U.S. He appointed J.Edgar Hoover as his special assistant. To hunt down anyone they thought were communist, socialist, or anarchists, they often times trampled on people’s civil rights. They did things like invade private homes, jailed people without letting them speak to a lawyer, and deported hundreds of immigrants without trials These were called the “Palmer Raids.”

Slide 3

Sacco and Vanzetti Sometimes anti-immigrant fears ruined lives. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists. In 1920 they were arrested and charged with the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster. Although much of the evidence against them was circumstantial, the jury found them guilty and they were sentenced to death. Some people protested their sentence saying they were only accused because of their anarchist beliefs or because they were immigrants.

Slide 4

The KKK Rises Again Anti-communist paranoia led people to become fearful of those who were not White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Groups like the KKK played on these fears, by 1924, 4.5 million had joined. Their goals included: keeping African Americans “in their place,” destroying bars, opposing unions, and driving Catholics, Jews and foreigners out of the country.

Slide 5

Immigration in the 1920’s In response to the growth of anti-immigrant feelings, Congress decided to limit immigration from certain countries, especially those in southern and eastern Europe Emergency Quota Act of 1921, set up a quota system, that limited the number of people who could immigrate from certain parts of the world In 1924 Congress passed a law which severely limited the number of people who could come from Eastern and Southern Europe and prohibited all immigration from Japan.

Slide 6

Defending Civil Liberties In the wake of the violations of Civil Rights caused by the Palmer raids, progressives such as Upton Sinclair and Jane Addams formed the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to provide legal help for those jailed by Palmer In its early history it worked to defend: people convicted under the sedition act; communists and anarchists who were jailed or harassed by Palmer and others; educators rights to teach evolution in the schools; and the rights of immigrants and African-Americans.

Slide 7

African-Americans in the 1920’s Problems: More than 3 dozen race riots occurred in the summer of became known as The Red Summer. Lynching of African-Americans spiked in the early 1900’s Solutions: NAACP led a march of 10,000 African-Americans in New York. James Weldon Johnson and NAACP fought for anti-lynching bills (Congress did not pass any) Marcus Garvey – founds the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). – Encouraged African-Americans to build a separate society from whites. – Encouraged his followers to return to Africa and help natives there overthrow European Imperialism – Although he was convicted of fraud and jailed, his movement inspired African-American and African pride movements.