TOPIC 1 THE FIRST RED SCARE & NATIVISM THE ROARING TWENTIES TOPIC 1 THE FIRST RED SCARE & NATIVISM

Essential Questions Identify the causes of the first Red Scare following World War I. Analyze the effects the Red Scare had on Progressivism in America.

THE RED SCARE BEGINS Shortly after the end of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Red Scare took hold in the United States.  A nationwide fear of communists, socialists, and anarchists suddenly grabbed the American psyche in 1919. As a result of inflation, major strikes began to erupt, bombs exploded in eight cities, and racial unrest gripped the nation.

INFLATION LEADS TO STRIKES Many companies had been forced to raise wages during World War One. While workers wanted higher wages to keep up with inflation, companies wanted to hold down wages to combat rising operation cost. The result was a wave of strikes in 1919. By the end of the year, more than 3,600 strikes involving more than 4 million workers had taken place.

THE SEATTLE GENERAL STRIKE, 1919 First major strike 35,000 shipyard workers in Seattle walked of the job demanding higher wages and shorter hours. A general strike resulted when 60,000 workers in the Seattle area went on strike, which paralyzed the city for five days. Despite the absence of any violence or arrests, the strikers were immediately labeled as Reds and charges that they were trying to incite revolution were leveled against them. 

BOSTON POLICE STRIKE, 1919 75% of the Boston police force went on strike. A panic that "Reds" were behind the strike took over Boston. Governor Calvin Coolidge was forced to send in the national guard due to looting and vandalism around the city. Coolidge became a national hero. The striking policemen were not allowed to return and the city hired a new police force, effectively ending the strike. 

THE STEEL STRIKE, 1919 One of the largest strikes in American History 350,000 workers went on strike for higher wages, shorter hours and recognition of their union. Elbert H. Gary, the head of U.S. Steel, refused to talk with union leaders and blamed the strike on foreign radicals. African American and Mexicans were hired to replace the strikers. One clash between company guards and strikers in Gary, Indiana left 18 strikers dead. The strike failed and steelworkers remained unorganized until 1937.

RACIAL UNREST, 1919 In the summer of 1919, over 20 race riots broke out across the nation. White Americans were restless due to the economic problems and competition for jobs and housing The worse violence occurred in Chicago when African Americans went to white only beaches. Both sides begin to throw stones at each other and an African American teenager drowned erupting into a full scale riot. The riot lasted for several days leaving 38 people dead and over 500 injured.

THE FIRST RED SCARE, 1919-1920 April 1919, the postal service intercepted more than thirty mail bombs addressed to leading businesspeople and politicians. June 1919, eight bombs in eight cities exploded within minutes of one another, suggesting a nationwide conspiracy. One of these bombs damaged United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s home. Palmer declared that a “blaze of revolution” was “burning up the foundations of society.”

THE PALMER RAIDS Deported 500 suspects Palmer established a special division within the Justice Department, called the General Intelligence Division, headed by J. Edgar Hoover. (eventually became the Federal Bureau of Investigation) Palmer ordered a series of raids on the headquarters of various radical organizations. Deported 500 suspects Disregarded civil liberties Entered homes without warrants Detained people for indefinite periods of time Palmer lost credibility when his prediction of mass violence on May Day 1920 proved wrong, and the scare died down.

The “Return to Normalcy” 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920

THE SACCO & VANZETTI TRIAL In 1920, two men robbed and murdered a paymaster and his guard as they transferred $15,776 from the Slater and Morrill Shoe factory in Massachusetts.  Italian immigrants and known anarchists, Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti, were accused and arrested for the crime, despite the little evidence against them.  Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted, on circumstantial evidence, of murder and sentenced to death.  In 1927, after numerous appeals, and immense public outcry, both men were executed for their "crimes."

CONGRESS LIMITS IMMIGRATION Americans often linked radicalism with immigrants. The 1921 Emergency Quota Act limited the annual number of immigrants from any country to 3% of the number of persons from that country living in the United States based on the 1910 census. The 1924 National Origins Act limited the number of immigrants from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country living in the Unites States based on 1890 census. In 1929, a maximum of 150,000 immigrants could enter the US and the quotas were based on the 1920 census. The restrictions targeted “new immigrants” and did NOT apply to residents of the Western Hemisphere.

The new and improved KU KLUX KLAN The new KKK emerged in 1915 and attracted 4 million members by 1924. The new Klan targeted African- Americans, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and other groups believed to represent “un-American” values. Membership eventually declined in the late 20s due to scandals, power struggles and new immigration laws.

ESSENTIAL CONCLUSIONS Economic problems, job competition and limited housing led to racial violence and widespread strikes following World War One. Many Americans believed the problems were caused by immigrants and radicals which led to nativist attitudes, the first Red Scare and restrictions on immigration. Due to the Red Scare, involvement in World War I and Progressive Era reform, Republican Warren G. Harding won the presidency in a landslide calling for a “return to normalcy.”