us attorney general who led raids on suspected communists

Who was Attorney General during the Red Scare?

Jan 31, 2018 · Named after Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with assistance from J. Edgar Hoover, the raids and subsequent deportations proved disastrous and sparked a vigorous debate about constitutional ...

Who was the Attorney General in 1919?

The raids, fueled by social unrest following World War I, were led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and are viewed as the climax of that era’s so-called Red Scare.

Who was involved in the Palmer Raids of 1919?

The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 3,000 arrested. Though 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor , which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.

Who was the head of the FBI in 1919?

US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer appointed in 1919– convinced that he was to protect Americans from communists. He sent government agents on illegal raids to find suspected communists. He led the infamous Palmer raids, where f ederal agents and local police begin mass arrests of suspected radicals with little to no evidence of any illegal activities , which …

Who led raids on suspected communists?

Attorney General Mitchell PalmerThe Constitution faced a major test on this day in 1920 when raids ordered by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer saw thousands of people detained without warrants merely upon general suspicion. This occurred during the “Red Scare” of the 1920s, a period of anti-Communist fervor in the United States.Jan 2, 2022

Which attorney general authorized raids on suspected communists in the US in 1919?

Washington, D.C., U.S. Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), was an American attorney and politician who served as the 50th United States attorney general from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare of 1919–20.

What did Mitchell Palmer do illegal?

In May 1920, an influential pamphlet, Report upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice, was written and circulated by 12 prominent lawyers, including Felix Frankfurter and Zechariah Chafee Jr., charging Palmer with conducting illegal searches, the mistreatment of prisoners, and the use of ...

What was attorney general a Mitchell Palmer trying to stop?

In 1919 he was named U.S. attorney general by President Wilson. During his two years at that post, he used the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 as a basis for launching an unprecedented campaign against political radicals, suspected dissidents, left-wing organizations, and aliens.

Which attorney general created a Red Scare in 1920 by arresting 5000 suspected communists and anarchists who were held without trial and denied their basic civil rights?

The raids particularly targeted Italian immigrants and Eastern European Jewish immigrants with alleged leftist ties, with particular focus on Italian anarchists and immigrant leftist labor activists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 3,000 arrested.

What did Palmer predict would happen May 1st 1920 was his prediction correct?

He predicted an armed Communist uprising on May 1, 1920, to justify further raids and other actions.Feb 1, 2018

Why did Attorney General Palmer launch a series of raids against suspected communists?

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer launch a series of raids against suspected Communists? He believed that a Communist revolution was imminent in the United States, and he needed an issue on which to campaign for the 1920 Democratic presidential nomination.

Were the Palmer Raids justified?

Explanation: Palmer faced significant opposition, especially from Congress, but the raids were justified as necessary in the face of a larger American panic over communists and other perceived subversives supposedly embedded in parts of the American government.Jan 24, 2018

What did the term Red Scare mean?

A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. It is often characterized as political propaganda. ... The name refers to the red flag as a common symbol of communism.

What factors led to the Palmer Raids?

The Palmer Raids were caused by the Red Scare which was the anti-radical and and anti-immigrant hysteria and fear that anarchists, socialists and communists were conspiring to start a workers revolution in America. A bomb damaged the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer who instigated the 'Palmer Raids'.

What was the main reason Americans were upset by the Palmer Raids of 1919 and 1920?

Terms in this set (10) What was the main reason Americans were upset by the Palmer Raids of 1919 and 1920? The raids ignored people's civil liberties. Which event contributed to the rise of anti-immigrant, anti-socialist, and anti-anarchist feelings in the United States in the years during and just after World War I?

Who were Reds 1920s?

The 1920 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished third in the National League with a record of 82–71, 10½ games behind the Brooklyn Robins.

What was the purpose of the Palmer Raids?

Department of Justice in 1919 and 1920 in an attempt to arrest foreign anarchists, communists, and radical leftists, many of whom were subsequently deported.

What is the Department of Justice?

U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Department of Justice, executive division of the U.S. federal government responsible for law enforcement. Headed by the U.S. attorney general, it investigates and prosecutes cases under federal antitrust, civil-rights, criminal, tax, and environmental laws. It controls the Federal Bureau ...

What was the purpose of the Palmer Raids?

The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 during the First Red Scare by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected leftists, mostly Italian immigrants and Eastern European immigrants and especially anarchists ...

How many people were arrested in the Palmer raids?

The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 3,000 arrested. Though 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations ...

Who organized the next raids?

As Attorney General Palmer struggled with exhaustion and devoted all his energies to the United Mine Workers coal strike in November and December 1919, Hoover organized the next raids. He successfully persuaded the Department of Labor to ease its insistence on promptly alerting those arrested of their right to an attorney. Instead, Labor issued instructions that its representatives could wait until after the case against the defendant was established, "in order to protect government interests." Less openly, Hoover decided to interpret Labor's agreement to act against the Communist Party to include a different organization, the Communist Labor Party. Finally, despite the fact that Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson insisted that more than membership in an organization was required for a warrant, Hoover worked with more compliant Labor officials and overwhelmed Labor staff to get the warrants he wanted. Justice Department officials, including Palmer and Hoover , later claimed ignorance of such details.

How many cities were bombed in 1919?

There were strikes that garnered national attention, and prompted race riots in more than 30 cities, as well as two sets of bombings in April and June 1919, including one bomb mailed to Palmer's home.

How many warrants were canceled in Palmer?

In a few weeks, after changes in personnel at the Department of Labor, Palmer faced a new and very independent-minded Acting Secretary of Labor in Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland Post, who canceled more than 2,000 warrants as being illegal. Of the 10,000 arrested, 3,500 were held by authorities in detention; 556 resident aliens were eventually deported under the Immigration Act of 1918.

What was the cause of the Seattle strike?

The general strike in Seattle in February 1919 represented a new development in labor unrest. The fears of Wilson and other government officials were confirmed when Galleanists —Italian immigrant followers of the anarchist Luigi Galleani —carried out a series of bombings in April and June 1919.

A. Mitchell Palmer

US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer appointed in 1919– convinced that he was to protect Americans from communists. He sent government agents on illegal raids to find suspected communists.

Senator Lee Slater Overman

Chair of the Overman Committee that was formed to investigate any efforts that appeared pro-Russian or attempted to overthrow the US government. The committee was given the mandate of investigating Bolshevism as well. They played to American fears of atheism and socialism as a way to justify his illegal actions.

President Woodrow Wilson

Originally pushed Congress to pass the anti-immigrant act of 1918. He also established the Committee on Public Information to create and distribute propaganda, creating a climate of distrust against anyone involved in labor union strikes, or socialist groups. Did not receive as much blame as Palmer for passing the Sedition Act.

Archibald E. Stevenson

NY Attorney with ties to the Justice Dept. Self proclaimed “spy” that incited fear in the US Senate by equating pro-German activity as support for Bolshevism originally pushed Congress to pass the anti-immigrant act of 1918.

Louis Freeland Post

Asst. Secretary of Labor during the end of the Wilson administration. He fought back against the injustice of the Palmer Raids. He was responsible for the Bureau of Immigration and saw them actions as a witch hunt. Because of his work, the number of illegal deportees was vastly reduced. He supported immigration and was a proponent of free speech.

What party was Palmer in?

He became a member of the Democratic Party and won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1909 to 1915. During World War I, he served as Alien Property Custodian, taking charge of the seizure of enemy property. Palmer became attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

When was Palmer elected?

U.S. House of Representatives. Palmer was elected as a Democrat to the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Congresses and served from March 4, 1909, to March 3, 1915.

Who was the attorney general of the United States in 1919?

Education. Swarthmore College ( BA) Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), was an American attorney and politician who served as the 50th United States attorney general from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids during the Red Scare of 1919–20 . He became a member of the Democratic Party ...

Was Palmer a labor leader?

His potential rivals for the presidency in 1920 were not inactive. In September and October 1919, General Leonard Wood led U.S. military forces against striking steel workers in Gary, Indiana. Employers claimed the strikers had revolutionary objectives and military intelligence seconded those charges, so Wood added acclaim as an anti-labor and anti-radical champion to his reputation as a military hero, critic of Wilson, and leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1920.

What was the GID in 1919?

Within Palmer's Justice Department, the General Intelligence Division (GID), headed by J. Edgar Hoover, had become a storehouse of information about radicals in America. It had infiltrated many organizations and, following the raids of November 1919 and January 1920, it had interrogated thousands of those arrested and read through boxes of publications and records seized. Though agents in the GID knew there was a gap between what the radicals promised in their rhetoric and what they were capable of accomplishing, they nevertheless told Palmer they had evidence of plans for an attempted overthrow of the U.S. government on May Day 1920.

Who was Palmer's wife?

Widowed when his wife Roberta Dixon died on January 4, 1922, he married Margaret Fallon Burrall in 1923.

Overview

Raids And Arrests In January 1920

Background

Aftermath

Discovery