In the early 1920s, many Americans were terrified that Communists would attempt to take over the country. Who were the Communists? Why was there such a widespread fear of them? In 1917, Russia was taken over by a Communist group known as the Bolsheviks. Communism is an economic system in which there is no private ownership of businesses or property.
Because the average American takes great pride in the personal ownership of homes and businesses, communism was viewed as a threat to the American way of life. From the moment this revolution occurred in Russia, there were widespread fears that a similar type of communist uprising would occur in the United States. Some Americans felt that the recent influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe, where communist and anarchist philosophies were prevalent.
only increased the likelihood of such an event. In 1919, it appeared that many of these fears would be proven correct. A plot was uncovered in which 36 bombs were mailed out to important political figures, as well as prominent businessmen.
U.S. Attorney General Alexander Palmer and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. were both targeted. John D. Rockefeller and J.P.
Morgan were also threatened. On June 2, 1919, eight more bombs exploded simultaneously in different cities across the country. Following these two incidents, the U.S. Justice Department launched a series of raids that came to be known as the Palmer Raids. This was an attempt to arrest and deport communists and anarchists who were seen as potentially dangerous.
More than 500... foreign-born citizens were eventually deported. This panic over a communist threat became known as a Red Scare. The term is derived from a popular nickname, Reds, which was used to identify communists. Several other perceived threats also emerged in the 1920s.
In April of 1920, two men were murdered during an armed robbery at a shoe factory in Braintree, Massachusetts. Two anarchists were blamed for the crime. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti both believed in a form of anarchism that promoted violent warfare against oppressive governments. They were placed on trial for the crime of murder and were eventually found guilty and sentenced to death.
There was much controversy and doubt as to whether these two men actually committed the crime, but the frightened public was searching for a scapegoat to blame. Their sentences of execution were carried out in August of 1927. On the heels of this incident, a rumor began circulating that a major uprising would occur on May 1, 1920, but this never materialized. However, on September 1, 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street. Thirty-eight people lost their lives and more than 140 were injured. Communists and anarchists were immediately seen as potential suspects.
Many were brought in and questioned, but ultimately, no arrests were made. There was almost certainly a strong communist and anarchist presence in the United States in the late 1910s and 1920s. However, it is largely believed that most of the fear over communist uprisings was the result of mass hysteria and paranoia.