Red Scare 1919

Causes• A. History of Restricting Immigrants• 1. 1882- Chinese Exclusion Act

– Denied citizenship to people born in China and prohibited immigration of Chinese labors

• 2. 1894 – Immigration Restriction League (IRL)

• B. Immigration – Eastern & Southern Europe

• C. Bolshevik Revolution – Russia 1917• D. Industrial warfare of unions• E. Seattle, Boston, steel and mine strikes• F. Success of Socialist Party

– Eugene V. Debs • Ran for Pres. Five times

The Overman Committee was a special subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary chaired by North Carolina Democrat Lee Slater Overman. Between September 1918 and June 1919, it investigated German and Bolshevik elements in the United States

G. Overman Committee

Three of the five members of the Overman Committee in 1919 during hearings: Senator Josiah Oliver Wolcott (D-Del.), Chairman Lee Slater Overman (D-N.C.), Senator Knute Nelson (R-Minn.)

In April 1919, authorities discovered a plot for mailing 36 bombs to prominent members of the U.S. political and economic establishment: J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, and immigration officials.

On June 2, 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs simultaneously exploded

Bombings- cont. • Bombing of Attorney

General A. Mitchell Palmer’s home

• explosion killed the bomber, who evidence indicated was an Italian-American radical from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

III. Palmer Raids (End of 1919 to beginning of

1920) • A. Raided radical organizations “communist”

• B. J. Edgar Hoover• C. Arrested over 3,000

“radicals” in 33 cities• D. Violated all civil

liberties

IV. Restrictions by Government (Phobia of

Foreigners)•A. Reemergence of IRL •1. Passage of laws•2. Every immigrant must be

able to read in order to be admitted to U.S.

• B. Quotas• 1. introduced in 1921• 2. 1929 – 150,000 immigrants

allowed each year (Chinese, Japanese and other Asians

were barred)

Sacco and Vanzetti• You will now watch a video on Sacco and Vanzetti.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVwzoP6MYW8

Requirements-1. Develop some product which creates a character

sketch of both Sacco and Vanzetti.

2. Explain what happened at both Bridgewater Assault and South Braintree

3. Explain how the Sacco and Vanzetti trial was influenced by the Red Scare.

4. What lessons can be learned from the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial.