SECTION 1: AMERICAN
POSTWAR ISSUES
1) The American public
was exhausted from
World War I.
-Turned away from European problems to focus on
ones back home (tired of sacrificing our lives and
money for others problems)
New President – return to normalcy
TIME to make OUR country better
Isolationism and League of Nations
2) Many Americans adopted a belief in isolationism.
* This meant pulling away from involvement in
world affairs.
Going against Wilson’s ….
Public debate had divided the nation
Ex: It lacked its own armed force  depended on
the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions
SECTION 1: AMERICAN
POSTWAR ISSUES
3) An economic downturn meant
many faced unemployment.
Men were coming home
Factories didn’t need to
produce all the war supplies anymore
4) A wave of nativism (def: a policy
of favoring native inhabitants as
opposed to immigrants) swept the
nation.
FEAR OF COMMUNISM
5) One perceived threat to
American life was the spread of
Communism—
Def: an economic and political
system based on a single
government party, equal
distribution of resources, the
prohibition of private property,
and rule by a dictatorship.
COMMUNISM IN THE
SOVIET UNION
Remember - In 1917, a revolution in
Russia transformed the nation into a
Communist state, the Soviet Union.
Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks
and overthrew the Czarist regime.
He was inspired by Marxism,
a radical form of socialism that
advocates violence.
 A Communist party was formed in
America too (70,000 members)
Lenin
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels –
The Communist Manifesto (1848)
Many Americans believed that labor troubles
Theory
of
class
struggle
were in America were the result of Bolshevism.
Basic principles:
-- Evangelist Billy Sunday:
(1). capitalists (haves) v. workers (have nots)
Described a Bolshevik as
(2).
Communist
Partylike
would
help overthrow capitalism
"a guy
with a face
a porcupine
revolution
and athrough
breathviolent
that would
scare a
pole
cat..
If
I
had
my
way,
I’d
fill
(3). Communist Party would control a nation’s
the jails
so full of&them
that
their activities
government
plan its
economic
feet would stick out the window."
(4). eventually would not need government; everyone
equal
RED SCARE
Fear of Communism took the
form of a Red Scare
(anti-communist hysteria)
and fed nativism in America.
In addition:
SOCIAL UNREST
PATRIOTISM
THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION
Where was our
POST WAR STRIKES
President – Wilson?
BOMBINGS
THE WORK OF A. MITCHELL PALMER Wilson’s 6-month absence
ATTORNEY GENERAL
from the U.S. to negotiate
Also caused fear
Versailles Treaty began to
cripple federal gov’t during the
Great Unrest of 1919
ONE SUCH GREAT
UNREST WAS IN LABOR STRIKES AFTER WWI
Resulted from inflation during the war
Total - 3,000 strikes during this time period
TIMED WEB RESEARCH
You are now going to receive a research sheet with a
highlighted strike.
You have 20 minutes to research your SPECIFIC STRIKE
Use the links on Mrs. Perella’s Website
US History 3
US History 3 Links
LET’S
LOOK AT
THESE
FAMOUS
STRIKES
In 1919 a total of four
million American
workers went out on
strike - one-fifth of
the nation's industrial
workforce
BACKGROUND TO
COAL MINERS STRIKING
Beginning 1870-1880, coal operators and owners had
established a system of oppression and exploitation
 to maintain – paid “private detectives” to
keep union organizers out of area
(used intimidation, harassment, espionage, murder)
By 1920, most of WV miners belonged to the UMWA
(United Mine Workers of America)
except southern coalfields
Operators fired union sympathizers, blacklisting them,
evicting them from homes
UMWA set up tent colonies for homeless miner families
(This became a mass of angry and idle miners)
Mine
Safety –
BIG
CONCERN
Year
Miners
Fatalities
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
448,581
485,544
518,197
566,260
593,693
626,045
640,780
680,492
690,438
666,552
725,030
728,348
722,662
747,644
763,185
734,008
720,971
757,317
762,426
776,569
784,621
1,489
1,574
1,724
1,926
1,995
2,232
2,138
3,242
2,445
2,642
2,821
2,656
2,419
2,785
2,454
2,269
2,226
2,696
2,580
2,323
2,272
BATTLE OF MATEWAN
(AKA MATEWAN MASSACRE)
BATTLE OF MATEWAN
(AKA MATEWAN MASSACRE)
Gun battle - Matewan, West Virginia
Local Miners vs. Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency
*had been called in to evict families living in Coal Camp
[served evictions, ate dinner, headed to train station]
*Chief of Police (Sid Hatfield) intervened on behalf of families
(claimed to have arrest warrants against men BUT detectives
said they had arrest warrant against Chief)
-As this was happening, armed
miners surrounded men (windows, roofs, doorways)
Don’t know who fired first (rumors)
But Sid did shoot one
7 detectives and 4 townies dead
BATTLE OF MATEWAN
(AKA MATEWAN MASSACRE)
Symbolic significance for miners but
the battle didn’t end…
*Sid Hatfield was charged with murder  Trial
*National Spotlight (brought much attention to miners’ cause)
Found Not-guilty but Union was still facing setbacks
1) 80% of mines reopened with REPLACEMENTS
2) Signing of yellow dog contracts by ex-strikers
(def: agreement between an employer
and an employee in which the employee
agrees, as a condition of employment,
not to be a member of a labor union )
Union miners launched attack on non-union mines
THE DEATH OF SID HATFIELD
In the midst of all of this, Sid was charged
with blowing up coal equipment
- Walking up to court with friend and their
wives (unarmed)
- A group of Baldwin-Felts agents standing on top of stairs
opened fire
Sid killed – Miners (when heard the word) were outraged and
took up arms and they rallied
- Meet with Governor with petition of the miners’
demands – But rejected
- Miners were even more restless
Ain't but two sides to this world. Them that work and them that don't. You work,
they don't. That's all you got to know about the enemy. - Labor Organizer
BATTLE OF BLAIR
MOUNTAIN
WEST VIRGINIA
BATTLE OF BLAIR
MOUNTAIN
WEST VIRGINIA
What did they want? Safe working conditions, better pay, and union rights
10,000 West Virginia coal workers, outraged over years of brutality and
lawless exploitation, picked up their rifles and marched against the
powerful mine owners
The miners were well organized
- Many were World War I veterans they appointed leaders, and arranged
transportation for additional recruits and supplies.
- Lacking uniforms, they wore red bandanas to distinguish themselves from
company gunmen, who wore white patches. (The miners began to refer to
themselves as “ REDNECKS ” )
To guard against spies, the miners created
passwords that were never revealed, even
decades after the conflict
BATTLE OF BLAIR
MOUNTAIN
WEST VIRGINIA
For ten days the miners fought a pitched
battle against an opposing legion of deputies,
state police, and 3,000 lawmen and
strikebreakers (Logan Defenders).
Only after the declaration of martial law and
the intervention of a federal expeditionary
force (air squadron armed with bombs and
gas), and an unwillingness to fight the U.S.
Army, the miners laid down their arms and
returned home
BATTLE OF BLAIR
MOUNTAIN
WEST VIRGINIA
Several hundred combatants were wounded during the fighting and 16 were killed,
including 12 miners and 4 of mine owners men.
- Gov.
Morgan tried to persuade the Army to help civil
authorities arrest miners, but General refused.
West Virginia courts indicted (charged) 1,217 suspected leaders of the rebellion
but charges were later dropped against all
Was it worth it?
Although the miners’ march failed to unionize southern
West Virginia coal mines, their plight garnered
worldwide attention and helped build support for the
National Labor Relations Act of 1935,which protects
workers’ right to form unions and bargain collectively.
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
ALABAMA COAL STRIKE
1920
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
ALABAMA COAL STRIKE
1920
RACE RELATIONS HIGH (RACIAL VIOLENCE)
15,000 of the 27,000 coal miners in the state stopped work
#1) Strikers killed the general manager of the Corona Coal
Company along with a company guard.
- But African Americans bore the brunt of the violence:
ex: state troopers
terrorized the small
black business district
in Pratt City with
random machine gun
fire
ex: black miner Henry
Junius was found in a
shallow grave outside
of Roebuck a few
weeks into the strike.
#2) At least thirteen houses of strikebreakers were dynamited
between September and December.
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
ALABAMA COAL STRIKE
1920
RACE RELATIONS HIGH (RACIAL VIOLENCE)
- The Alabama State Militia and the state
police had been called out by the governor
Once on site, state troop commanders
typically placed themselves at the service of
the coal companies.
By February thousands of workers had been
evicted from their company houses and left
homeless (unprepared)
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
ALABAMA COAL STRIKE
1920
RACE RELATIONS HIGH (RACIAL VIOLENCE)
After months… the enormous expense of conducting the strike with no progress
led the union to seek a resolution.
Governor refused : union recognition , any wage increases, and reinstate striking
miners
In regards to racial violence (it was written):
It is rather difficult to understand how such a large number of men could be
induced so deliberately to disregard such an obligation of honor. The only
explanation, perhaps, lies in the fact that from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the
miners are Negroes. The southern Negro is easily misled, especially when given a
permanent and official place in an organization in which both races are members
Union accepted - At least 16 people were killed in the strike, more
than half of them black, with an uncounted number of wounded.
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
Background – April 1922 – UMWA
began nationwide strike
W. J. Lester (owner) complied with the strike – he
had just opened the mine and had huge debts 
negotiated with UMWA to keep it open as long as no
coal was shipped out
HOWEVER by June, he had dug out 60,000 tons of coal
(profit $250,000 if he sold it)
When Union members objected (since breaking
agreement, he fired them)
Brought in mine guards and 50 strikebreakers and scabs
 Shipped out coal
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
Days later, a truck carrying Lester’s guards and
strikebreakers was ambushed (3 men wounded)
-
Union miners marched into Herrin
and looted the hardware store of its
firearms and ammo
-
THEN… Surrounded mine – guards
opened fire – killing 2 UMWA
members
National Guard was asked to come in to
stop attack and break up mob – BUT were
not deployed
Lester (owner) – agreed to close mine for
remainder of nationwide UMWA strike
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
Some of Lester’s men walked into where
miners were (white flag raised) asking for the
UMWA to do the same (cease fire)
*There were strikebreakers pinned down
inside coal cars and barricades (risked life to
escape)
During the evening, union supporters stole
more guns and ammo
Gunfire continued through the night and the
mob destroyed mining equipment
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
Finally, the strikebreakers emerged with white apron tied to
broomstick (men would surrender IF their safety was
guaranteed)
Began marching them to town (Herrin) however the mob
became angry and restless
“The only way to free the county of strikebreakers is
to kill them all off and stop the breed.”
Mob began striking the men with the butts of their rifles and
shotguns
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
One strikebreaker (after another ½ mile) was bloodied and
limping, unable to walk any further
“I’m going to kill you and use you for bait to catch the other men.”
– union man
So, union man and another grabbed strikebreaker and led him
down side road…gun shots were heard
Union “higher ups” warned the men “…don’t you go killing these
fellows on a public highway. There are too many women and children and
witnesses around to do that. Take them over in the woods and give it to
them. Kill all you can.”
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
When the mob didn’t show up 3 hrs. later (when they were suppose to), those in charge
began to search (rumors of the violence)
Found grisly evidence of the dead, dying, and
wounded
19 dead strikebreakers out of 50 (2 union
members had died at the mine)
American Public Reacted with DISGUST
Newspaper “Herrin, Illinois should be ostracized.
Shut off from all communication with the outside
world and the people there left to soak in the blood
they have spilled.”
President Harding – “shocking crime, barbarity,
butchery, rot and madness”
STILL IN THE COAL – JUMP AHEAD
HERRIN MASSACRE
1922
HERRIN, ILLINOIS
Two trials were held
Only 6 men were ever indicted (charged) in massacre and
both trials ended with acquittal (found innocent) for all
defendants
BOSTON POLICE STRIKE
SEPTEMBER 1919
Over 70% of Boston’s 1,500
policemen went on strike
seeking wage increases and
the right to unionize.
ex: worked 73-98 hrs
per week ; no pay for
parade duty
Governor Calvin Coolidge
called out the National
Guard
Called them traitors, deserters
Told police NO RIGHT
TO UNIONIZE
"no right to strike
against the public safety
by anybody, anywhere,
anytime“
BOSTON POLICE FORCES
RESPONSE TO COOLIDGE…
When we were honorably discharged from the United States army, we were hailed as
heroes and saviors of our country. We returned to our duties on the police force of
Boston. Now, though only a few months have passed, we are denounced as deserters, as
traitors to our city and violators of our oath of office.
The first men to raise the cry were those who have always been opposed to giving to
labor a living wage. It was taken up by the newspapers, who cared little for the real facts.
You finally added your word of condemnation....
Among us are men who have gone against spitting machine guns single-handed, and
captured them, volunteering for the job. Among us are men who have ridden with
dispatches through shell fire so dense that four men fell and only the fifth got through .
Not one man of us ever disgraced the flag or his service. It is bitter to come home and
be called deserters and traitors. We are the same men who were on the French front.
Some of us fought in the Spanish war of 1898.
Won’t you tell the people of Massachusetts in which war
you [Coolidge]served?
BOSTON POLICE STRIKE
SEPTEMBER 1919
Police went on strike in 37
cities –
AMERICANS FEARFUL
Some newspapers falsely
reported that gangs were
running wild and attacking
women throughout the city.
Striking Police were fired
…New force was recruited
from the National Guard.
BOSTON POLICE STRIKE
SEPTEMBER 1919
AFL (American Federation To stick it to the strikers..
of Labor – Union) leader
urged strikers back to work Commissioner hired an entirely
Asked that the striking policemen new police force
be re-hired
(unemployed servicemen).
The National Guard was able to
return to their homes
The new recruits were granted
COOLIDGE REFUSED –
[were not allowed to return to higher pay, better working
their jobs with the Boston Policeconditions, and additional
Department]
holidays, and gained the
Strike dissolved
additional benefit of free
uniforms.
REACHING INTO TODAY…
It is still illegal for police to go on
strike, and even informal work
actions such as the “Blue Flu,”
whereby large numbers of police
officers call in sick at the same time,
are seriously frowned upon.
Steel Strike (Background)
September
1919
Prior to this time – Andrew Carnegie (steel tycoon) had
succeeded in preventing unionization
Battle of Homestead (2nd largest dispute in
history)
1892 – Strike/Battle between strikers (Amalgamated
Association of Iron and Steel Workers) and private
security agents (Pinkerton National Detective Agency
hired by Carnegie Steel Co.)
Striking about: regulating work hours, workload and
work speeds, improving working conditions, national
uniform wage scale (yearly), and prevention of strikers
signing the yellow dog contracts
-100s of strikers had been wounded, dozen killed,
thousands blacklisted from working at the steel mills as
punishment for their participation
Aftermath – AA was broken – men wouldn’t join (since
wouldn’t be hired)
Steel Strike
September
1919
Steel Strike
September 1919
Now, jump ahead to 1919
AFL (American Federation of Labor) attempted to organize
the steel industry (conditions were still terrible in the mills)
UMWA wanted shorter hours and higher wages
Problem in the organization  steelworkers
inability to speak English
*Steel corp. had used this to their advantage – easy to
exploit and scare - wanted to create distrust of the union
AND
Judge Elbert H. Gary (Head of United States Steel
Corporation) refused to negotiate (even Woodrow Wilson
urged him to negotiate)
- Workers voted to strike – 400,000 walked out of work in Sept.
DIFFICULT TO ORGANIZE – workers were spread out in 10
states
Steel Strike
September
1919
Courts got involved – made it illegal to have meetings
Other actions: Groups of 3 or more on the streets were violently
broken up; spies infiltrated the union and kept news from the
strikers, workers didn’t even leave their homes (intimidation);
children were chased back into their homes (intimidation);
continuous raids
Violence – murder of 26 union organizers and strikers Broken
January 1920 (went back to work without any concessions)
Animated cartoons: On Strike (1920) and Felix Revolts (1923)___
Although the cartoons are entertainment first and foremost, what opposing
positions on strikes are evident in the cartoons?
How does humor influence audience response to the creator's point of view
in each cartoon?
What is implied about a highly charged social issue when it is addressed in
entertainment media, in this case popular cartoon characters?
http://americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/prosperity/text6/text6.
htm
PALMER RAIDS
Remember back – Who did many
Americans blame for our Labor
Problems?
Attempts to arrest and deport
them out of America
November 1919 and January 1920
Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer
What set off these raids?
- Chief –
Interesting
…all within
approximately
90 minutes of
one another
And why this
day –
significance?
POLICE CALL
APRIL 1919
My housekeeper had her hands
blown off at my house
~
Senator Thomas W. Hardwick
In late April 1919, some 30 bombs were put in the
mail addressed to such people as J.P. Morgan, John
D. Rockefeller, a Bureau of Investigation agent,
Congressional sponsors of the anti-anarchist
legislation and Attorney General Palmer himself.
Two caused injuries, but the rest had either been set
aside for insufficient postage or were retrieved
before they could be delivered
at least 36 booby trap dynamite -filled bombs were mailed to a cross-section of prominent politicians and appointees, including t he Attorney General of the United States , as well as justice officials, newspaper editors and businessmen, including John D. Rockefeller. [1] Among all the
bombs addressed to high-level officials, one bomb was addressed to the home of a Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation ( BOI) field agent once tasked with investigating the Galleanists, Rayme Weston Finch, who in 1918 had arrested two prominent Galleanists while leading
a police raid on the offices of their publication Cronaca Sovversiva. [1]
The mail bombs were wrapped in brown paper with similar address and advertising labels. [1] Inside, wrapped in bright green paper and stamped " Gimbel Brothers-Novelty Samples.", was a cardboard box containing a six -inch by three-inch block of hollowed wood about one inch in
thickness, packed with a stick of dynamite. [1] A small vial of sulfuric acid was fastened to the wood block, along with three fulminate-of-mercury blasting caps. [1] Opening one end of the box (the end marked "open") released a coil spring that caused the acid to drip from its vial onto
the blasting caps; the acid ate through the caps, igniting them and detonating the dynamite. [1]
The Galleanists intended their bombs to be delivered on May Day. Since 1890 and the Second International, May 1 had been celebrated as the international day of communist, anarchist, and socialist revolutionary solidarity. Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson, who had recently attained
national prominence for opposing a general strike in Seattle, received one of the mailed package bombs, but it was opened by William Langer, a member of his office staff. Langer opened the wrong end of the box, and the bottle of acid dropped onto a table without detonation. [1] He
took the bomb to the local police, who notified the Post Office and other police agencies. On April 29, Georgia senator Thomas W. Hardwick, who had co-sponsored the anti-radical Immigration Act of 1918, received a similarly disguised bomb. It blew off the hands of his
housekeeper when she attempted to open the package. The senator's wife was also injured in the blast, which severely burned h er face and neck, and a piece of shrapnel cut her lip and loosened several of her teeth. [1]
News reports of the Hardwick bomb described its distinctive packaging; an alert post office employee in New York connected th is to 16 similar packages which he had set aside a few days earlier for insufficient postage. Another 12 bombs were eventually r ecovered before reaching
their intended targets. [1] The addressees were: [2]
Theodore G. Bilbo, Governor of Mississippi
Frederick Bullmers, editor, Jackson, Mississippi Daily News
Albert S. Burleson, Postmaster General of the United States
John L. Burnett, United States congressman, Alabama
Anthony Caminetti, Commissioner General of Immigration
Edward A. Cunha, Assistant District Attorney, San Francisco
Richard Edward Enright, Police Commissioner, New York City
T. Larry Eyre, Pennsylvania state senator
Charles M. Fickert, District Attorney, San Francisco
Rayme Weston Finch, field agent, Bureau of Investigation
Ole Hanson, Mayor of Seattle, Washington
Thomas W. Hardwick, former United States senator, Georgia
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, United States Supreme Court justice
Fredric C. Howe, Port of New York Commissioner of Immigration
John F. Hylan, mayor, New York City
Albert Johnson, United States congressman, Washington
William H. King, United States senator, Utah
William H. Lamar, Solicitor of the Post Office
Kenesaw Mountain Landis, U.S. District Judge, Chicago
J. P. Morgan, Jr., businessman
Frank Kenneth Nebeker, Special Assistant to the Attorney General
Lee S. Overman, United States senator, North Carolina
A Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General of the United States
John D. Rockefeller, businessman
William I. Schaffer, Attorney General, State of Pennsylvania
Walter Scott, mayor, Jackson, Mississippi
Reed Smoot, United States senator, Utah
William C. Sproul, Governor of Pennsylvania
William B. Wilson, United States Secretary of Labor
William Madison Wood, president, American Woolen Company
- Chief – Bombs have gone off in New
York; Boston; Pittsburgh; Cleveland;
Patterson, New Jersey; Washington,
D.C.; and Philadelphia
Interesting
…all within
approximately
90 minutes of
one another
And why this
day –
signifcance?
POLICE CALL
JUNE 1919
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AT PALMER HOUSE
Why blow
yourself
up?
Use to
ID?
- BODY PARTS OF CARLO VALDINOCI
(UNSUB AT THIS POINT)
-DELUCCA BROTHERS HAT
-TRAIN TICKET
THE NEXT DAY, A POSTAL WORKER IN
NEW YORK CITY INTERCEPTED 16 MORE
PACKAGES ADDRESSED TO POLITICAL
AND BUSINESS LEADERS
My housekeeper had her hands
blown off at my house
~
Senator Thomas W. Hardwick
We were both
shaken up by the
scene outside
Palmer’s House!
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
WHO TO CALL – FBI!
The bombs of June 2nd were much larger than
those previously sent by mail in April. These
bombs were comprised of up to 25 pounds of
dynamite packaged with heavy metal slugs
designed to act as shrapnel. Addressees included
government officials who had endorsed antisedition laws and deportation of immigrants
suspected of crimes or associated with illegal
movements, as well as judges who had sentenced
anarchists to prison.
The mail bombs were wrapped in bright
green paper and stamped "Gimbel
Brother's - Novelty Samples." Inside the
paper was a cardboard box containing a
six-inch by three-inch block of hollowed
wood about one inch in thickness, packe
with a stick of dynamite. A small vial of
sulfuric acid was fastened to the wood
block, along with three fulminate-ofmercury blasting caps. Opening one end
the box (one end was marked "open")
released a coil spring that caused the aci
to drip from its vial onto the blasting caps
the acid ate through the caps, igniting the
and detonating the dynamite.[3]
On the evening of June 2, 1919, [3] the Galleanists managed to detonate eight large bombs nearly simultaneously in eight U.S. cities. These
bombs were much larger than those sent in April, using up to 25 pounds (11 kg) of dynamite, [4] and all were wrapped or packaged with
heavy metal slugs designed to act as shrapnel.[5] Addressees included government officials who had endorsed anti-sedition laws and
deportation of immigrants suspected of crimes or associated with illegal movements, as well as judges who had sentenced anarchists to
prison. The homes of Mayor Harry L. Davis of Cleveland; Pittsburgh's Federal Judge W.H.S. Thompson; Immigration Chief W.W.
Sibray;[6] Massachusetts State Representative Leland Powers; Judge Charles C. Nott of New York; and Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer, already the recipient of a mail bomb in April, were attacked in the new wave of violence. [7] None of the targeted men were killed,
but one bomb took the life of New York City night watchman William Boehner [4][7] and the bomb intended for Attorney General Palmer's
home prematurely exploded and killed Carlo Valdinoci, who was a former editor of the Galleanist publication Cronaca Sovversiva and close
associate of Galleani.[1][8] Though not seriously injured, Palmer and his family were shaken by the blast, and the house itself was largely
demolished. [1][8] Two near-casualties of the same bomb were Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife
Eleanor, then living across the street from Palmer. They had walked past the house just minutes before the explosion, and their resi dence
was close enough that one of the bomber's body parts landed on their doorstep. [9]
Each of the bombs was delivered with several copies of a pink flyer, titled "Plain Words," that read:
War, Class war, and you were the first to wage it under the cover of the powerful institutions you call order, in the darknes s of your laws.
There will have to be bloodshed; we will not dodge; there will have to be murder: we will kill, because it is necessary; ther e will have to be
destruction; we will destroy to rid the world of your tyrannical institutions. [1]
The flyer was later traced to a printing shop operated by two anarchists [10] – Andrea Salsedo, a typesetter and Roberto Elia, a compositor –
who were both Galleanists according to the later memoirs of other members. [1] Salsedo committed suicide, and Elia refused an offer to
cancel deportation proceedings if he would testify about his role in the Galleanist organization. [1] Unable to secure enough evidence for
criminal trials, authorities continued to use the Anarchist Exclusion Act and related statutes to deport known Galleanists. [1
PALMER RAIDS
June 2, 1919
Second wave of bombings occurred, when
several much larger package bombs were
detonated by same group in eight
American cities, including one that
damaged the home of Palmer.
- At least one person was killed in
this second attack
Flyers declaring war on capitalists in the
name of anarchist principles accompanied
each bomb
After bomb scares, Wilson’s Attorney
General, A. Mitchell Palmer, got $500K from
Congress to "tear out the radical seeds that
have entangled American ideas in their
poisonous theories .“
A. MITCHELL PALMER CLAIMED THAT COMMUNIST AGENTS
FROM RUSSIA WERE PLANNING TO OVERTHROW THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
On 7th November, 1919 - over 10,000 suspected communists and
anarchists were arrested.
- found no evidence of a proposed revolution but large
number of these suspects were held without trial for a long time.
The vast majority were eventually released 248 people were deported
to Russia.
When asked about the obvious illegal methods being used - Palmer's
claim:
"There is no time to waste on hairsplitting
over infringement of liberties”
A. MITCHELL PALMER CLAIMED THAT COMMUNIST AGENTS
FROM RUSSIA WERE PLANNING TO OVERTHROW THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
On 2nd January, 1920, - another 6,000 were arrested and held without
trial.
- found no evidence of a proposed revolution but large
number of these suspects, many of them members of the Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW), continued to be held without trial.
When Palmer announced that the communist revolution was likely to
take place on 1st May, mass panic took place.
In New York, five elected Socialists were expelled from the
legislature.
LET’S REVIEW WHAT
WAS GOING ON?
*Feelings of wanting Isolationism from World’s
Problems and Nativism (opposing immigrants)
*Anti-Communism Hysteria – RED SCARE
*Strikes and Labor Disputes blamed on
Communism (Radicals)
*Palmer Raids – rounding up and kicking out
the “radical seeds”
BIG CASE DURING THIS TIME
Vanzetti
Sacco
CRIME AND ARREST
What was the crime? Payroll Robbery in South Braintree,
Massachusetts Shoe Factory
– 2 men killed
$15,000 stolen
Who was arrested and charged?
How did Guthrie show these
men to be “good men?”
Sacco and Vanzetti
How? Both men went to
reclaim a car that police
had connected to the crime
Both men carrying guns
and made false statements
*No criminal record
*No connection to stolen $
TRIAL
How do the Judge and prosecutor appear to be biased?
Used against them  Defendants were Italians, atheists, anarchists
(“radicals”) , and draft dodgers of WW1
Judge’s remarks:
Ex: private discussion Thayer called Sacco and Vanzetti "Bolsheviki!" and said
he would "get them good and proper." (cut radicals down)
In 1924, referring to his denial of motions for a new trial, Thayer confronted a
Massachusetts lawyer: "Did you see what I did with those anarchistic bastards
the other day?"
What was the outcome of the trial?
Found Guilty and Sentenced to be executed in electric chair
Worldwide protests & demonstrations
supporting them
Even bombs were set off in NYC and
Philly
Repeated motions for a new
trial were denied by Judge
Webster Thayer and the
Massachusetts Supreme
Court.
Italian-American
community deeply affected.
Many believe sentence unjust and
due to prejudice.
Because the powers that
convicted Sacco and Vanzetti
were members of the upper class,
the execution seemed to be classbased.
Even had…
Celestino Madeiros
confessed that HE
participated in the
crime with the Joe
Morelli Gang
Judge and
Governor ignored
Ballistics tests in 1961 showed that pistol
found on Sacco when arrested WAS the
murder weapon
-Little evidence about Vanzetti
50 years after their execution, Governor
Michael Dukakis declared they were
not given a fair trial
Additional Info
KU KLUX KLAN
Resurgence of the Klan began in the South but also
spread heavily into the Southwest & the North Central
states (hit 5 million)
- Restricting the group's membership
to white American-born Protestant men
- Used anti-communism as an excuse to harass:
African Americans, Catholics, Jews, foreign-born
immigrants, union organizers, & those against
prohibition (bootleggers, gamblers)
- The organization also attracted the support of many
middle-class Americans by advocating improved law
enforcement, honest government, better public schools,
and traditional family life
What events spurred the emergence of the KKK?
The Birth of a Nation
D.W. Griffith
- popularity of epic
movie The Birth of
a Nation (1915)
Originally called The Clansman: An
Historical Romance of the KKK
Portrayed the Ku Klux Klan
(whose original founding is
dramatized) as a heroic force
Lynching of Leo Frank
August 1915 lynching in
Marietta by a group of
armed men who had
organized themselves as the
Knights of Mary Phagan,
named for the young murder
victim in the case.
The anti-Semitic sentiments aroused by that case (Frank was
Jewish) along with the ongoing racism fueled by Griffith's film
Details about Leo
Frank Case from video
Who was he?
Charged with?
Key Witness?
Guilty or Innocent?
What happened to him?
Demise of the KKK
In 1925 -- David Stephenson, KKK leader in
Indiana, went to jail for 2nd degree murder of
woman who he had brutally kidnapped and
abused – Sentenced to LIFE IN PRISON
Thought he would be pardoned – NOPE
In revenge, Stephenson provided evidence of
other Klan activities by high-level officials in
Indiana
**releases his "little black boxes"
containing the names and incriminating records
of public officials in Indiana who had been on
the Klan payroll.
Scandal led to a large-scale decline in the Klan’s
influence. – PROTECTOR of WHITE
WOMEN’S VIRTUES
ONE RESULT OF ALL THIS HAPPENING HERE IN THE
US WAS…
CLOSING THE DOORS ON IMMIGRATION
1921 Immigration Act
Ended open immigration
with a limit and quota
system
1924 National Origins
Act (Immigration Act
of 1924)
Reduced immigration to
152,000 total per annum.
Prohibition and Rise
of Organized Crime
MORE
VIOLENCE
Remember back – Who did many Americans
blame for our Labor Problems?
Attempts to arrest and deport them out of America –
known as the _________________________
November 1919 and January 1920
Leadership of Attorney General
_______________________________________
What set off these raids?
PALMER RAIDS
April 1919
_____ Italian anarchists (def: no
government) mailed
__________________________ to
prominent American government
officials and businessmen, law
enforcement officials.
Only a few reached their targets,
and not all exploded when
opened, though some people
suffered injuries, including a
housekeeper in Senator Thomas
W. Hardwick's residence, who
had her hands blown off.
PALMER RAIDS
June 2, 1919
Second wave of bombings occurred, when
several much larger
___________________________________were
detonated by same group in eight American
cities, including one that damaged the home of
Palmer.
- At least one person was killed in this
second attack
___________________declaring war on
capitalists in the name of anarchist principles
accompanied each bomb
After bomb scares, Wilson’s Attorney General,
A. Mitchell Palmer, got $500K from Congress to
"tear out the radical seeds that have entangled
American ideas in their poisonous theories .“
A. MITCHELL PALMER CLAIMED THAT COMMUNIST AGENTS
FROM RUSSIA WERE PLANNING TO OVERTHROW THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
On 7th November, 1919 - over ____________________________ suspected communists and
anarchists were arrested.
- found _________________evidence of a proposed revolution but large
number of these suspects were held without __________________ for a long time.
The vast majority were eventually released ____________ people were deported to
Russia.
When asked about the obvious illegal methods being used - Palmer's claim:
"There is no time to waste on hairsplitting over infringement of liberties”
On 2nd January, 1920, - another _____________ were arrested and held without trial.
- found no evidence of a proposed revolution but large number of these
suspects, many of them members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW),
continued to be held without trial.
When Palmer announced that the communist revolution was likely to take place on 1st
May, ________________________________took place.
In New York, five elected Socialists were expelled from the legislature.
BIG CASE DURING THIS TIME
_____________________
Resurgence of the Klan began in the South but also
spread heavily into the Southwest & the North Central
states
- Restricting the group's membership
to white American-born Protestant men
- Used _______________________ as an excuse to harass:
African Americans, Catholics, Jews, foreign-born
immigrants, union organizers, & those against
prohibition
- The organization also attracted the support of many
middle-class Americans by advocating improved law
enforcement, honest government, better public schools,
and traditional family life
What events spurred the emergence of the KKK?
______________________________
Lynching of ____________
William J. Simmons
- popularity of
August 1915 lynching in
Marietta by a group of
armed men who had
originally called The Clansman
organized themselves as the
Portrayed the Ku Klux Klan
Knights of Mary Phagan,
(whose original founding is named for the young murder
dramatized) as a heroic force
victim in the case.
The Birth of a Nation
The anti-Semitic sentiments aroused by that case (Frank was
Jewish) along with the ongoing racism fueled by Griffith's film
Details about Leo
Frank Case from video
Who was he?
Charged with?
Key Witness?
Guilty or Innocent?
What happened to him?
ONE RESULT OF ALL THIS HAPPENING HERE IN THE
US WAS…
CLOSING THE DOORS ON IMMIGRATION
1921 ________________
Ended open immigration
with a limit and quota
system
1924
____________________
(Immigration Act of
1924)
Reduced immigration to
152,000 total per annum.
Prohibition and Rise
of Organized Crime