Palmer Raids Essay

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.

There were several conflicts that arose, but the three that had the most negative impacts upon the United States would have to be the effects of the Red Scare, the return of the KKK, and the increase of organized crime. In the midst of World War I, Russia and Germany signed a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in which Russia agreed to exit the Great War and deal with issues back home. Shortly after this occurred, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution. This caused the Czar of Russia to be overthrown, in which Lenin became the new ruler of Russia and set up the very first communist regime. Communism was determined to be capitalism’s rival and abolish it within the world economy, sparking a wide spread panic among the United States known as the Red Scare. Americans were scared of communist spreading throughout the United States in the form of spies or invasion. This caused the government to take rash, unconstitutional actions towards non-natural born Americans throughout the nation, commencing the Palmer Raids and the quota system. The Palmer raids was General Mitchell Palmer’s counter to the Red Scare, in which he used police brutality to crack down on communists, socialists, and anarchists to protect the virtues of

"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.

The Red Scare led Americans to tighten their immigration and foreign policies, and focus their fear and hatred on Communists. In an event now notoriously known as the “Palmer Raids”, Attorney Alexander Mitchell Palmer (along with other associates) illegally arrested and jailed massive amounts

In the middle of the 20th Century, the threat of Soviet Union attacks left the United States in constant fear. The American people were anxious at the thought of another war, seeing as though the second world war had ended only a little over a decade earlier. The government leaders were determined to eliminate the spread of communism in the United States. By attempting to do so, the government undermined the the American people’s trust by creating unnecessary terror and mild disruption of the economy. NewsELA says, “The Red Scares were fears when government officials and other groups promoted a fear of communism in the United States, which would overthrow capitalism and democracy” (NewsELA). The Red Scares spread fear throughout the United States which led to the prosecution of prominent members of society based on unproven rumors and caused many honest politicians and members of middle-class society to lose their positions at their places of business and in their

Imagine living in a world where everyone is out to get you. Everyone is accusing each other of being something they are not. That is what happened during the time period of the Red Scare, also known as the Palmer Raids. The Red Scare was the fear of communism invading and taking over control of the U.S. government. It began during the First World War when America and Russia were at each other’s throats. The Red Scare era during and after World War 1 was an era in which the United States tried to rid itself of communism in an way possible by arresting people and separating family members. Although some believe it did the United States a good, it also gave the United States some harm.

In life, humanity has evolved over time. Present day, humans sit in these massive countries with pleasant houses and have less hassle opposed to many generations ago. Over time, humanity has convicted the most beautiful and the worst events in history. One of the worst- the Palmer Raids, how it signified to be the worst assault on civil liberties in United States History. There will be coverage on Palmer’s prediction for May Day, his insufficient evidence, and the raids disregarding civil liberties. The Palmer raids was a brutal act that came to mass deport and arrest any suspected communists.

Modern interest in the Red Scare and the long standing efforts to balance liberty and safety in American history has brought some attention back to the topic of the Palmer Raids. The infamous nature of American anti-communist efforts may have died out but the language and ideology persists in many ways, particularly in the post 9/11 and Patriot Act era. Historians have long evaluated the Red Scare and the influence of the Palmer Raids on America’s understanding of ideological regulation. While some historians look at the influence of certain personalities like J. Edgar Hoover and A. Mitchell Palmer, others chose to write about the more abstract nature of civil rights and the controlling influence of the government. They also draw direct parallels

the 1919 ‘Palmer Raids’, and ordered the warrantless arrest of over 10,000 6 men during the

After World War I , the american government was going thru a phase of social struggles ; prohibition laws , the suffragette movement and the chicago race riot.(chnm.gmu.edu).The war brought a wave of migration into the american land, many americans weren't happy about the situation , they believed that the immigrant people will bring with them their “foreign” ideas and ruin the american values. The americans feared the idea of communism especially after the Bolsheviks Revolution ; in 1919 The “Palmer Raids” took place under the leadership of then Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Palmer believed that communism was corrupting the american values , he even made an essay called “The case against the Reds” (reds referring to communist). “The

Just as one small spark can start a blazing wildfire, one simple bomb on the fateful day at Haymarket Square triggered an explosion in the labor movement that no one had expected. With tension growing exponentially in the workers’ rights area of United States reform in the 1800s, scattered riots inevitably broke out among restless workers, but no previous outbreak could compare to the impact of the notorious Haymarket Riot. The explosion in the crowd of workers battling police officers on that spring day in Chicago mirrored the explosion that occurred for laborers across the nation, with a combination of both beneficial and harmful outcomes to last the rest of history.

The definition of the Red Scare is ‘The rounding up and deportation of several hundred immigrants of radical political views of the federal government in 1919 and 1920. This “scare” was caused by fears of subversion by communists in the United States after the Russian Revolution (dictionary.com). In other words, this is a big concern over the effect of radical political agitation in the American Society and when communism spread, it established a major concern. Joseph McCarthy, a well liked, but very intimidating man decided that this chase should be put to rest… Joseph stands behind his decision and soon appears with a claim. “At a speech in West Virginia in 1950, he waved a piece of paper and claimed to “hold in my hand” a list of

This book is contains information on how detainees are treated in prisons created by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Some of the prisoners did have felonious conviction and were to be deported. Nevertheless, many of the individuals interrogated were immigrants looking for refuge and were being held in prisons as if they were also offenders. The obnoxious management described in this source anticipates demonstrating how non-citizens have been assumed to be lawbreakers.

After the Red Scare was initiated by violent strikes, a string of bombings against the Attorney General and other officials led to the arrest/deportation of thousands before the establishment of the Quota System set restrictions on immigrants coming to America for fear of threats to jobs and wages as well as the spread of communism. When Hoover took office seven months before Black Thursday, he thought the Stock Market Crash was part of a passing recession. Consequently, when the nation was amidst the Great Depression and people lost their jobs and homes, they started calling their makeshift homes and old newspapers Hoovervilles and Hoover blankets as criticism against the president. As the Depression worsened, Hoover responded with a Localism

Every year (LaFraniere;2015) there are on average 209 shootings taken place in the United States in which four or more victims are left severely injured or dead. If you find the average, you’ll find that means that there is a mass shooting taking place in the United States 57% of the year! That’s more than half of a calendar year the United States will have a mass shooting in which four or more people are killed or injured.