Emma Palmer's Arguments 'The Case Against The Reds'

The history of deportation goes back to 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts. This act stated that if a foreigner were to prevent the peace of the country in any way they could be deported without trial. That was the first act put in place for deportation. Up until the

The Red Scare reflected the fear of Americans which they had of communists infiltrating the US government. Sacco and Vanzetti’s arrest and execution made foreigners fear America even more, especially the anarchists. This caused worldwide dispute over whether they were given

127) Fear is the most primal instinct. It causes people to do and act in certain ways in which they are not accustomed. It can turn brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, politician against politician, and country against country. Fear instigates panic. It was that panic that prompted the Palmer Raids. The Palmer Raids were started by A. Mitchel Palmer. He felt that in order to keep the American values in tact communism had to be out of the picture. Palmer believed that communism was "eating its way into the American workman". He thought it was the root of all evils in his society. Palmer felt that communism was "seeking to replace marriage vows with libertine laws, burning up the foundations of society". In December of 1919, in their most famous act, Palmer's agents seized 249 resident aliens. Those seized were placed on board a ship, the Buford, bound for the Soviet Union. Deportees included Emma Goldman the feminist, anarchist and writer who later recalled the deportation in her autobiography. Another reason for the Red Scare was the strike held by mine workers. They were thought to be making threatening moves against the Capitalist system through subversive Socialist organizations. These strikes were part of a series of events taking place in 1919. This strike,

Part of the reason that American citizens wanted the Japanese gone, along with irrational fear, was to weed out the Japanese businesses that were competing with their own. Much of the pressure that Roosevelt felt came from American farmers that wanted their Japanese competition out of the picture so that they could make larger profits. This again ties in with the personal gain aspect of the Salem Witch Trials, using accusation to get rid of disliked villagers. Along with the competition of Japanese owned businesses, the Americans felt that the Japanese were taking their jobs and used their anti-immigrant feelings to fuel their hatred. This aspect of Japanese Internment can be seen today in American politics with the deportation of Mexican peoples out of the United States because the American citizens feel their jobs are being taken from

The Red Scare is the rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrates of radical political views by the federal government in 1919 and 1920. Certain causes that led up to this event was the fact that the United States feared the fact that certain immigrants embraced communist, socialist, and anarchist ideology. The Red Scare later led to the impact of the fear of communism. Today this event is remembered all over the world for is impact that it made on every person society.

Having previous experience dealing with aliens, Palmer took seriously to threats of communism overthrowing the country and decided to act on this, thus leading to the Palmer Raids. In his 1920 forum, “The Case against the ‘Reds’”, Palmer defends America from the communists declaring that the communists are “…preaching of anarchy and sedition…advising the defiance of law…” and encouraging the destruction of property. This primary document written by Palmer, set communists up as criminals stating that “robbery, not war, is the ideal of communism…” and that it is “…the American Government[s]…” job to prevent this . By gaining support of fellow Americans, Palmer helps further exploit the communist party and extract fear into the American minds.

In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned Americans against each other by installing fear in the people regarding toward Communism. During this time, in fact, people were getting blacklisted even if they weren't communist. In an incident at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, McCarthy delivered a speech. The situation involving the Senator escalated when he stated that the State Department is infested with Communist. In this point in time, due to the false allegations, people went on a decade long period of witch hunts. Sam Roberts, the author of “A Decade of Fear” stated that in fact, “...thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.”

Two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized “Executive order 9066”. Which made More than 110,000 Japanese in the U.S to relocate to internment camps for reason of “national security”. The United States feared that they’re could have been Japanese spies inside America so the government relocated most Japanese immigrants to camps. It was one of the saddest moments in America that the government of America took actions on innocent people just because their heritage. America’s internment camps are similar yet different to Hitler’s concentrations camps.

In June 1919, several cities were bombed. Including the home of Attorney General of the United States, A. Mitchell Palmer. The raids were conducted in the following cities: Cleveland, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Louisville, Milwaukee, Newark, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (Mass.), Syracuse, Toledo, and Trenton. Many believed the cause of the raids were because of the “Reds” (communist) tried to take over our government. “On December 31, 1919, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer stated: Any movement, however cloaked or dissembled, designed to undermine the government will be met with unflinching, persistent, aggressive warfare” (Cayton 1). The consequences Palmer promised surely were met.

The 1920’s, often referred to as the “Roaring 20’s,” was a great time. Women gained the right to vote and the Economy flourished; however, these times contained some horrible travesties. The Immigration Act of 1924, for example, was passed to keep people from immigrating to America from areas of the world such as Eastern Europe and Russia. This act was passed largely because of the “Red Scare.” The Red Scare was America’s fear of communism and Russian or Communist sympathizers and the thought that they could overthrow America. The Red Scare even caused two possibly innocent men named Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti to be sentenced to the electric chair in 1927. The Anti-Immigration hysteria plagued America and its citizens during the 1920’s and many people suffered as a result.

"Fully 90 percent of the Communist and Anarchist agitation is traceable to aliens." Through the use of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 Palmer began his campaign against this threat against our government. Palmer used this legislation as justification of his actions. The best example of Palmers manipulation of the law to take normally illegal action against suspects was on January 2nd 1920. Palmer had federal agents round up thousands of suspected subversives without respecting those individuals' constitutional rights as American citizens. This was not the first time in our history that the government has backed the unnecessary persecution of a group of people based on fear that they would eventually take over the United States and change the American way of life. One event in history that has similar attributes to this period is the passing of the Chinese exclusion act. These two occurrences, although for different reasons, were very similar in the tactics that were employed to enforce and justify superfluous panic.

Following World War I, America turned inward and began to focus on itself. Yet, coming home from war Americans were also fearful of communism due to the recent Bolshevik Revolution where Lenin and the Bolshevik party gained control of Russia and made it communist. This scare led to drastic changes within our nation’s borders as America fought to keep communist influence out of its borders. This was such an impactful event that even the Attorney General of the time, A. Mitchell Palmer, set up a section in the Justice Department to handle issues relating to radicals, this sect of the Justice Department would be very active as, “More than ten thousand people were arrested—some for membership in Communist or left-wing groups, others on no greater pretext than that they looked or sounded foreign—and then jailed and interrogated with little regard for their right to due process” (Lehman, Phelps 260). This severe response to the scare of Communism demonstrates an inward focusing of America. Similarly, in the post-World War I time period America would demonstrate its interest in nativism which it would demonstrate through multiple acts being passed on immigration primarily, the Immigration Act of 1924. During this period of nativism, “Through the whole movement, from 1921 on, for more drastic curbs on the new immigration ran an increasingly assertive racial nativism” (Higham 313). That is America had

This seemingly harmless action, and the bombings around the country in connection with the Red Scare, led to the start of blaming the American Communist Party for domestic disturbances to the status quo. The fact that Communist Party members were heads and members of labor unions, allowed Big Business owners and special interest groups to direct blame for radical actions such as work strikes or demands for wage compensation on to the Communists, allowing them to ignore, or dismiss any grievance brought against them; while at the same time tarnishing the image and reputation of the Communist Party (Schrecker, 14). In addition, the exaggeration of radicalism at the time allowed organizations like the FBI and law enforcement to expand and improve their image among the general public, which eventually led to J. Edgar Hoover being one of the figureheads of anticommunism (Schrecker, 15).

Throughout European colonization in Canada Aboriginals were pressured to abandon their cultural identity and assimilate into western civilization. Aboriginals had inhabited the land for centuries; Aboriginals had already established their own distinct trade networks, social hierarchies and spiritual beliefs. Canadian colonization threatened the existence of Aboriginal culture; Europeans strove to achieve civilization in Canada and coerced “uncivilized” Aboriginals to adopt a Eurocentric way of life. This paper will argue that, a Marxist critique, of “A Red Girls’ Reasoning” demonstrates the persecution of Aboriginal culture in a Eurocentric society. Christine’s mixed race heritage enables her to play a role as a transgressor of rigid class, race and gender distinctions, representing her struggles as a microcosm of the imbalance between European and Aboriginal culture.

Nazism sympathy never quite spread over here like Stalinism did. In its pure form it stressed the brotherhood of the common people that made up the land. These thoughts were easily appealing to many people. Before the war communist and socialist ideas were quite on the rise here because the depression emphasized capitalism’s push towards the lonely individual and how free enterprise basically failed. Whitfeild refers to these communists who feel that they are progressives as Stalinists because they stand for ending American civil liberties that they saw as only for the upper class. So Whitfield argues that it is wrong to extend much sympathy to these American communists as their rights were wrongfully stripped away because this stripping of rights is what they aspired for everyone in the end. This new