Red Scare

<h1>Text Preview</h1> <p> <P>As World War I was raging in Europe, a political and social revolution defined by a struggle between the labor class and capitalists was taking place in Russia. In early 1917, the Bolshevik Party, headed by Vladimir Lenin, felt that the social climate in Russia was beginning to change in their favor. Outlining his plan for a communist revolution, Lenin wrote his “April Thesis” to demonstrate the Bolshevik vision for a Soviet State. By the end of October 1917, the Bolshevik Party, soon to be renamed the Communist Party, had control of the Russian government. In March 1918, Russia officially withdrew from the “capitalistic” world war.<BR></P> </p> <p> <P>In the United States, a small handful of individuals took notice of the promise of the new Russian government and formed their own communist party. At first, there was little reaction to this nascent political movement, since at the time the American public’s attention was focused on events in and around Germany. It did not take long after the war, however, for America’s attention to shift to a new target.<BR></P> <P>Just as the Russian communists had appointed themselves the “champions of the workers,” the tiny U.S. contingent of communists had also taken up the workers’ cause. They were quick to align with the pressing union issues, especially labor strikes brought about by high post-war prices. This alignment unsettled an American public already annoyed with a wave of strikes. In the minds of many, unionized labor became synonymous with communism. <BR></P> </p> <p> <P>The first notable strike occurred in February 1919, when Seattle was brought to a virtual standstill. Although the Seattle strike was considered orderly and the demands made by those on strike deemed humble, the fact that pro-communists helped organize the walkout raised a number of concerns among conservatives. The mayor of Seattle eventually called for federal troops to curb “the anarchy of Russia.” Another round of strikes starting in September 1919, organized by the radical William Foster, resulted in approximately 340,000 steelworkers, factory workers, and dockworkers declaring a strike, which continued to heighten popular suspicion. <BR></P> </p> <p> <P>Apart from the strikes taking place, in April of 1919 the United States Postal Service intercepted almost 40 mail bombs addressed to such prominent figures as John D. Rockefeller and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. In June 1919 a bomb that slipped through the postal screening exploded at the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. No one was injured in the blast, but Palmer’s home was damaged and anarchist pamphlets were strewn up and down his Washington D.C. street. Even though these extreme tactics were the work of a handful of anarchist, few people saw the difference between anarchy and communism. The “red scare” of 1919-1920 had officially begun.<BR></P> </p> <p> <P>Palmer wasted no time in forming the General Intelligence Division within the Department of Justice to gather information about radical individuals behind the perceived communist insurgence. The new division was headed by J. Edgar Hoover, who declared their intention to begin deporting radicals. <BR></P> </p> <p> <P>On November 7, 1919, federal agents in 12 cities raided the meeting places of the Union of Russian Workers. Over 650 people were arrested, many who did not have a connection to the union. On December 22, 249 people suspected of anarchy and criminal activity were deported to Russia without the benefit of any judicial process on a ship nicknamed the “Soviet Ark.” The evidence to deport existed for only 43 of the individuals.<BR></P> </p> <p> <P>The public approved of what came to be known as the “Palmer Raids” and deportation, and Palmer was well aware of the support. His personal ambition was to seek the 1920 Democratic presidential nomination, so he aimed to give the public more of what it wanted. Starting on January 2, 1920, Palmer began enforcing over 3,000 arrest warrants, and police in 33 cities took about 6,000 suspected communist into custody. Some of those arrested where held for weeks at a time without the right to communicate with a lawyer or their family, while authorities attempted to gather evidence against them. In some cases when visitors were allowed to meet with suspects, the visitors themselves were arrested under the pretense that they must be communists since they were visiting a suspected communist. <BR></P> <P>Eventually, public opinion started to turn against Palmer’s crusade as people began to question the constitutionality of the raids led by Palmer. Palmer attempted to regain public support by warning of a massive terrorist protest around the country on May 1, 1920. Many cities braced for the worst and federal troops were placed on standby, but not one demonstration took place that day. By the summer of 1920, many saw Palmer as more of a threat to American civil liberties than a handful of radicals.<BR></P> </p> <p id="TextCopyright">Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education</p>