1. United States History 11 From War to Peace: “Postwar Havoc”
Unit 3, Chapter 9, Section 1

2. Main Idea
Although the end of World War I brought peace, it did not ease the minds of many Americans, who found much to fear in the postwar years.

3. Question column
What were the causes and effects of the first Red Scare?
How did labor strife grow during the postwar years?
How did the United States limit immigration after World War I?

4. The First Red Scare
the rise of the Bolsheviks: in 1917 Russian revolution led by Vladimir Lenin and the Red Army of the Bolsheviks; country would be renamed Soviet Union featuring new social system called communism
American reaction: fearful since the “Reds” called for workers to rebel; Communist parties formed in U.S.; Red Scare gripped nation; passed law making it a crime to call for overthrow of government
The Palmer raids: A. Mitchell Palmer led the government’s anti- Communist campaign; deported aliens for belonging to certain groups; Red Scare died down after Communist failure in Germany & Hungary

5. Labor Strife Grows
Postwar difficulties: 1919 most explosive time in American labor movement; 4 million workers took part in 3,000 strikes-labor lost; Wilson focused on peace & did little to help workers’ issues; sinking demand for goods; distrust of unions
Labor’s losses: 1919-organized labor devastated; unions lost members/ national political power
Major strikes of the era: Seattle general strike, Boston police strike, Nationwide steel-workers strike

6. Limiting Immigration
immigration control: job competition, Red Scare triggered backlash against foreigners in postwar period; rise in nativism clashed with immigrants; labor leaders did not want immigrants that would work for less; nativism created rise in Ku Klux Klan; National Origins Act of 1924 created quotas for immigrants form Eastern Europe, nearly eliminated Asian immigration
Sacco and Vanzetti: 1920s court case of two men, both Italian and anarchist were sentenced to death for robbery & murder, although the evidence against them was weak