what was attorney general mitchell palmer known for doing

by Ian Reichert 5 min read

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.

Who was Mitchell Palmer and what did he do?

Dec 10, 2019 · What was Attorney General Mitchell Palmer known for doing? 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 Attorney General Palmer Palmer Raids known for?

Answer and Explanation: Become a Study.com member to unlock this answer! Create your account View this answer Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer is known for holding so-called ''Palmer Raids'' in...

Who is Alexander Palmer?

Feb 09, 2021 · Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), was 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 a Mitchell Palmer’s perspective? Palmer believed that communism was “eating its way into the homes of the American workman.” Palmer charged in …

What did a Mitchell Palmer do in the Red Scare?

Jan 20, 2019 · Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936), best known as A. Mitchell Palmer, was Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the “Palmer Raids” during the Red Scare of 1919-20. an American post-Civil War secret society advocating white supremacy.

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Jun 06, 2019 · What was Attorney General Mitchell Palmer Palmer Raids known for doing? 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 …

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

The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States.

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

The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States.

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

Who is a Mitchell Palmer and what did he do quizlet?

Mitchell Palmer, was Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He is best known for overseeing the "Palmer Raids" during the Red Scare of 1919-20. an American post-Civil War secret society advocating white supremacy.

Who is Sacco and Vanzetti quizlet?

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants charged with murdering a guard and robbing a shoe factory in Braintree; Mass. The trial lasted from 1920-1927. Convicted on circumstantial evidence; many believed they had been framed for the crime because of their anarchist and pro-union activities.

What was Palmer Raids quizlet?

The Palmer Raids were a series of government raids on suspected radicals in the U.S. led by the U.S. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer. The Palmer Raids were highly unsuccessful in finding radical communists. Palmer believed that on May 1, 1920 would be the day of communist rioting.

What started cold war?

The Cold War began after the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, when the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other started to fall apart.Mar 1, 2022

What was the Red fear?

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 term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which are referred to by this name.

When was the 2nd Red Scare?

The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.

Who is the attorney general that facilitates the Red Scare?

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.

Who was Mitchell Palmer What role did he play in the Red Scare of the 1920s?

Mitchell Palmer, in full Alexander Mitchell Palmer, (born May 4, 1872, Moosehead, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died May 11, 1936, Washington, D.C.), American lawyer, legislator, and U.S. attorney general (1919–21) whose highly publicized campaigns against suspected radicals touched off the so-called Red Scare of 1919–20.

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.

What was Palmer's job?

After studying law for two years, he was admitted to the practice of law in 1893 and became a prominent lawyer and a leader of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party. He was elected to Congress in 1908 and ...

What was Palmer accused of?

Although the public generally supported these efforts, Palmer and his federal agents were accused by civil liberties groups of using illegal and unconstitutional methods for obtaining evidence and conducting surveillance, including warrantless searches, illegal wiretaps, and cruel interrogation techniques.

How many people were arrested in the Palmer raids?

They remained at Ellis Island until investigation and deportation proceedings were completed. By the end of January, 10,000 individuals had been arrested in raids. Palmer's raids became the subject of public criticism and led to the rise of the ACLU. ( Corbis Images for Education via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.)

Who was the attorney general of the United States during World War I?

By Mark Kessler. Alexander Mitchell Palmer , attorney general of the United States after World War I, was known for the controversial "Palmer raids" that were criticized by civil liberties group. Relying on the new Espionage Act and Sedition Act, his agents raided headquarters of communist, socialist, and anarchist organizations as well as labor ...

Why was the American Civil Liberties Union founded?

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 largely in reaction to the violation of liberties that the Palmer raids represented. The organization later represented numerous individuals who were caught in a second Red Scare at the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union was emerging as a global power.

Who led the Palmer Raids?

Palmer Raids. …were led by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and are viewed as the climax of that era’s so-called Red Scare.…. Woodrow Wilson. Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States (1913–21), an American scholar and statesman best remembered for his legislative accomplishments and his high-minded idealism.

What is aggressive behavior?

Aggressive behaviour, animal behaviour that involves actual or potential harm to another animal. Biologists commonly distinguish between two types of aggressive behaviour: predatory or antipredatory aggression, in which animals prey upon or defend themselves from other animals of different species,….

What is an encyclopedia editor?

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...

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 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.

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.

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.

Overview

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 St…

Early life and education

Palmer was born into a Quaker family near White Haven, Pennsylvania, in the small town of Moosehead, on May 4, 1872. He was educated in the public schools and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's Moravian Parochial School. Palmer graduated from Swarthmore College in 1891. At Swarthmore, he was a member of the Pennsylvania Kappa chapter of the Phi Kappa Psifraternity. After graduation, he was appointed court stenographer of Pennsylvania's 43rd judicial district. He stu…

Career

He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1893, and began to practice in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in partnership with Storm. Palmer also had various business interests, including serving on the board of directors of the Scranton Trust Company, Stroudsburg National Bank, International Boiler Company, Citizens' Gas Company, and Stroudsburg Water Company. He also b…

Death

On May 11, 1936, at Emergency Hospital in Washington, D.C., Palmer died from cardiac complications following an appendectomy two weeks earlier. Upon his death, Attorney General Cummings said "He was a great lawyer, a distinguished public servant and an outstanding citizen. He was my friend of many years' standing and his death brings to me a deep sense of personal loss and sorrow." He was buried at Laurelwood Cemetery (originally a cemetery of the Society of …

Notes

1. ^ Halcyon. Swarthmore, PA: Swarthmore College. 1892. p. 79. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
2. ^ "A. Mitchell Palmer Biography." Biography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. June 28, 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/a-mitchell-palmer-38048>
3. ^ Coben, 23, 47

Sources

• United States Congress. "A. Mitchell Palmer (id: P000035)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.