us attorney general who led the red scare

by Mr. Mikel Goldner Sr. 7 min read

Alexander Mitchell Palmer

What did Attorney General Palmer do during the Red Scare?

Mar 18, 2020 · Palmer became Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. In the aftermath of World War I, the nation experienced a strong reaction against Communists and anarchists known as the First Red Scare.

What Attorney General made the case against the Reds?

Dec 10, 2019 · 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 was the Red Scare of the 1920s?

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 and won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving …

Who was the Attorney General in 1919?

Apr 01, 2009 · Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer writes a letter to the editor, defending the Red Scare.

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What was attorney general Mitchell Palmer Palmer Raids known for doing?

Mitchell Palmer. Alexander Mitchell Palmer (1872–1936), a lawyer, politician, and attorney general of the United States after World War I, is remembered for directing the notorious “Palmer raids,” a series of mass roundups and arrests by federal agents of radicals and political dissenters suspected of subversion.

Who led the first Red Scare?

First Red ScarePart of the Revolutions of 1917-1923"Step by Step" by Sidney Greene (1919)LocationUnited StatesCauseOctober and Russian Revolution of 1917ParticipantsLee Slater Overman Josiah O. Wolcott Knute Nelson A. Mitchell Palmer J. Edgar Hoover7 more rows

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?

Attorney General A. Mitchell PalmerPalmer raids were a series of violent and abusive law-enforcement raids directed at leftist radicals and anarchists in 1919 and 1920, beginning during a period of unrest known as the “Red Summer.” Named after Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with assistance from J.Feb 1, 2018

Who is the attorney general that went after the communist socialist and anarchist groups?

The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 3,000 arrested.

When was the 2nd Red Scare?

Second Red Scare (1947–1957)

How did the US respond to the Red Scare?

Enraged by the bombings, the United States government responded by raiding the headquarters of radical organizations and arresting thousands of suspected radicals. Several thousand who were aliens were deported. The largest raids occurred on January 2, 1920 when over 4000 suspected radicals were seized nationwide.

Which factor contributed to the Red Scare in the United States during the 1920s?

The first anti-Communist alarm, or Red Scare, in the United States occurred between 1917 and 1920, precipitated by the events of World War I and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.

Why did the First Red Scare occur?

The first Red Scare occurred in the wake of World War I. The Russian Revolution of 1917 saw the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, topple the Romanov dynasty, kicking off the rise of the communist party and inspiring international fear of Bolsheviks and anarchists.Feb 28, 2020

What was the Red Scare quizlet?

The Red Scare. A period in the United States history when everyone was so caught up in containment of communism, and investigated people within their community for communism. Even people in the government were suspected of being communist spies.

Why did attorney general A Mitchell Palmer launch a series of raids against suspected anarchists and 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.

How did the Palmer Raids violate the rights of American citizens?

The raids were direct violations of First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of press. The raids also violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, as many individuals were arrested and detained without warrants.Oct 8, 2014

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?

What was the Red Scare?

During the Red Scare of 1919-1920, many in the United States feared recent immigrants and dissidents, particularly those who embraced communist, socialist, or anarchist ideology. The causes of the Red Scare included: World War I, which led many to embrace strong nationalistic and anti-immigrant sympathies;

What were the causes of the Red Scare?

During the Red Scare of 1919-1920, many in the United States feared recent immigrants and dissidents, particularly those who embraced communist, socialist, or anarchist ideology. The causes of the Red Scare included: 1 World War I, which led many to embrace strong nationalistic and anti-immigrant sympathies; 2 The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which led many to fear that immigrants, particularly from Russia, southern Europe, and eastern Europe, intended to overthrow the United States government; 3 The end of World War I, which caused production needs to decline and unemployment to rise. Many workers joined labor unions. Labor strikes, including the Boston Police Strike in September 1919, contributed to fears that radicals intended to spark a revolution; 4 Self-proclaimed anarchists' mailing bombs to prominent Americans, including United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice (and former Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice) Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

How many radicals were arrested in the 1920s?

The largest raids occurred on January 2, 1920 when over 4000 suspected radicals were seized nationwide. Over 800 were arrested in New England from locations that included Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Fitchburg, Lawrence, and Lynn.

What is May Day?

May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, was celebrated by many socialists, communists, anarchists, and unionists . The failure of these plots to materialize, coupled with increased criticism of the Palmer Raids, brought these raids to an end.

What was the Bolshevik Revolution?

The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which led many to fear that immigrants, particularly from Russia, southern Europe, and eastern Europe, intended to overthrow the United States government; The end of World War I, which caused production needs to decline and unemployment to rise. Many workers joined labor unions.

What was the first red scare?

The First Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left extremism, including but not limited to Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian 1917 October Revolution and anarchist bombings.

What is the red flag law?

In 1919 Kansas enacted a law titled "An act relating to the flag, standard or banner of Bolshevism, anarchy or radical socialism" in an attempt to punish the display of the most common symbol of radicalism, the red flag. Only Massachusetts (1913) and Rhode Island (1914) passed such "red flag laws" earlier.

Where did the race riots take place?

history, the 1919 riots were among the first in which blacks responded with resistance to the white attacks. Martial law was imposed in Charleston, South Carolina, where men of the U.S. Navy led a race riot on May 10. Five white men and eighteen black men were injured in the riot.

What happened in April 1920?

In April 1920, concerns peaked with J. Edgar Hoover telling the nation to prepare for a bloody uprising on May Day. Police and militias prepared for the worst, but May Day passed without incident. Soon, public opinion and the courts turned against Palmer, putting an end to his raids and the First Red Scare.

What was the Overman Committee?

The Overman Committee was a special five-man subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary chaired by North Carolina Democrat Lee Slater Overman. First charged with investigating German subversion during World War I, its mandate was extended on February 4, 1919, just a day after the announcement of the Seattle General Strike, to study "any efforts being made to propagate in this country the principles of any party exercising or claiming to exercise any authority in Russia" and "any effort to incite the overthrow of the Government of this country." The Committee's hearings into Bolshevik propaganda, conducted from February 11 to March 10, 1919, developed an alarming image of Bolshevism as an imminent threat to the U.S. government and American values. The Committee's final report appeared in June 1919.

Why did the Boston Police strike?

The Boston police rank and file went out on strike on September 9, 1919 in order to achieve recognition for their union and improvements in wages and working conditions. Police Commissioner Edwin Upton Curtis denied that police officers had any right to form a union, much less one affiliated with a larger organization like the AFL. During the strike, Boston experienced two nights of lawlessness until several thousand members of the State Guard supported by volunteers restored order, though not without causing several deaths. The public, fed by lurid press accounts and hyperbolic political observers, viewed the strike with a degree of alarm out of proportion to the events, which ultimately produced only about $35,000 of property damage.

What was the strike in Seattle?

On January 21, 1919, 35,000 shipyard workers in Seattle went on strike seeking wage increases. They appealed to the Seattle Central Labor Council for support from other unions and found widespread enthusiasm. Within two weeks, more than 100 local unions joined in a call on February 3 for general strike to begin on the morning of February 6. The 60,000 total strikers paralyzed the city's normal activities, like streetcar service, schools, and ordinary commerce, while their General Strike Committee maintained order and provided essential services, like trash collection and milk deliveries.

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 ...

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.

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 Palmer's wife?

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

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.

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Origins

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The First Red Scare's immediate cause was the increase in subversive actions of foreign and leftist elements in the United States, especially militant followers of Luigi Galleani, and in the attempts of the U.S. government to quell protest and gain favorable public views of America's entering World War I. At the end of the 19th c…
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Progression of Events

  • Seattle General Strike
    On January 21, 1919, 35,000 shipyard workers in Seattle went on strike seeking wage increases. They appealed to the Seattle Central Labor Council for support from other unions and found widespread enthusiasm. Within two weeks, more than 100 local unions joined in a call on Febru…
  • Overman Committee
    The Overman Committee was a special five-man subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary chaired by North Carolina Democrat Lee Slater Overman. First charged with investigating German subversion during World War I, its mandate was extended on February 4, 1…
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Coverage

  • Newspaper coverage
    America's newspapers continually reinforced their readers' pro-American views and presented a negative attitude toward the Soviet Union and communism. They presented a threat of imminent conflict with the Soviet Union that would be justified by the clash with American ideals and goals…
  • Film
    America's film industry reflected and exploited every aspect of the public's fascination with and fear of Bolshevism. The German Curse in Russia dramatized the German instigation of Russia's October Revolution. The Soviet nationalization of women was central to the plot of The New Mo…
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Legislation

  • In 1919 Kansas enacted a law titled "An act relating to the flag, standard or banner of Bolshevism, anarchy or radical socialism" in an attempt to punish the display of the most common symbol of radicalism, the red flag. Only Massachusetts (1913) and Rhode Island (1914) passed such "red flag laws" earlier. By 1920 they were joined by 24 more states. Some banned certain colors (red …
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Demise

  • May Day 1920
    Within Attorney General Palmer's Justice Department, the General Intelligence Division (GID) headed by J. Edgar Hooverhad become a storehouse of information about radicals in America. It had infiltrated many organizations and, following the raids of November 1919 and January 1920…
  • Collapse
    Once Palmer's warnings of a May Day attempt to overthrow the government proved false, the anti-Bolshevik hysteria wound down quickly. In testimony before Congress on May 7–8, Louis Freeland Post defended his release of hundreds seized in Palmer's raids so successfully that attempts to …
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See Also