who was the u.s. attorney general who led the red scare

What did Attorney General Palmer do during the Red Scare?

A. Mitchell Palmer, 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. A devout Quaker from his youth, Palmer—later nicknamed the “Fighting Quaker”—was educated at Swarthmore

What Attorney General made the case against the Reds?

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 first Red Scare in American history?

Aug 06, 2013 · A. Mitchell Palmer was the Attorney General of the United States during the First Red Scare. He was newly appointed in 1919, and therefore targeted as an important political leader by radicals.

What did the FBI do during the Red Scare?

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer Makes “The Case against the Reds”. The climate of repression established in the name of wartime security during World War I continued after the war as the U.S. government focused on communists, Bolsheviks, and “reds.”. This anticommunist crusade climaxed during the “Palmer raids” of 1919–1921, when Attorney General A. Mitchell …

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In April 1919, authorities discovered a plot for mailing 36 bombs to prominent members of the U.S. political and economic establishment: J. P. Morgan Jr., John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Attorney General …

Which attorney general created a 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.

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, mostly Italian immigrants and Eastern European immigrants and especially anarchists and ...

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 ...

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 was a Mitchell Palmer 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.

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.

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.

Were the Palmer Raids unconstitutional?

“A. Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General, personally directed the raids tonight in radical centers throughout the country,” reported the New York Tribune, repeating Justice Department statements. The department said the arrests were lawful because the suspects advocated the overthrow of the United States government.Jan 2, 2022

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?

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.

When was McCarthy president?

Eugene McCarthy 1968 presidential campaignCampaign1968 U.S. presidential electionCandidateEugene McCarthy U.S. senator (1959–1971)AffiliationDemocratic PartyStatusAnnounced: November 30, 1967 Lost nomination: August 29, 19682 more rows

What led to the Red Scare in the United States quizlet?

The first Red Scare in the U.S. happened just after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and during WW1, when people were very patriotic and social agitation of left-wingers further aggravated the political, national and social tensions. ... After World War II, the second Red Scare happened due to a fear of communist espionage.

What was the Red Scare?

Contents. The Red Scare was hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, which intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s. (Communists were often referred to as “Reds” for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.) The Red Scare led to a range of actions ...

When was the first red scare?

First Red Scare: 1917-1920. 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. In the United States, labor strikes were on ...

Who was the FBI director?

J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, and its longtime director, J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972), aided many of the legislative investigations of communist activities. An ardent anticommunist, Hoover had been a key player in an earlier, though less pervasive, Red Scare in the years following World War I (1914-18).

Who took control of China in 1949?

In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear bomb and communist forces led by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) took control of China. The following year saw the start of the Korean War (1950-53), which engaged U.S. troops in combat against the communist-supported forces of North Korea.

What was the first effort to investigate communist activities?

House of Representatives, where the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC) was formed in 1938. HUAC’s investigations frequently focused on exposing Communists working inside the federal government or subversive elements working in the Hollywood film industry, and the committee gained new momentum following World War II, as the Cold War began. Under pressure from the negative publicity aimed at their studios, movie executives created Hollywood blacklists that barred suspected radicals from employment; similar lists were also established in other industries.

What was the Sedition Act of 1918?

The Sedition Act of 1918 targeted people who criticized the government, monitoring radicals and labor union leaders with the threat of deportation. The fear turned to violence with the 1919 anarchist bombings, a series of bombs targeting law enforcement and government officials.

How did the Red Scare affect Americans?

Americans also felt the effects of the Red Scare on a personal level, and thousands of alleged communist sympathizers saw their lives disrupted. They were hounded by law enforcement, alienated from friends and family and fired from their jobs. While a small number of the accused may have been aspiring revolutionaries, most others were the victims of false allegations or had done nothing more than exercise their democratic right to join a political party.

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.

What is the red scare?

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. 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.

What was the second red scare?

The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939–1945), and it was popularly known as "McCarthyism" after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with an increased and popular fear of communist espionage that was consequent of the increasing tension in the Cold War through the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade (1948–49), the end of the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union that were made by several high-ranking U.S. government officials, and the outbreak of the Korean War .

What industries did the Industrial Workers of the World strike?

These wartime strikes covered a wide range of industries including steel working, shipbuilding, coal mining, copper mining, as well as other industries necessary to make wartime necessities .

What was the purpose of the United States' loyalty program?

Truman signed Executive Order 9835, creating the "Federal Employees Loyalty Program" establishing political-loyalty review boards who determined the "Americanism" of Federal Government employees, and requiring that all federal employees to take an oath of loyalty to the United States government. It then recommended termination of those who had confessed to spying for the Soviet Union, as well as some suspected of being "Un-American". This led to more than 2,700 dismissals and 12,000 resignations from the years 1947 to 1956. It also was the template for several state legislatures' loyalty acts, such as California's Levering Act. The House Committee on Un-American Activities was created during the Truman administration as a response to allegations by republicans of disloyalty in Truman's administration. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and the committees of Senator Joseph McCarthy ( R., Wisc.) conducted character investigations of "American communists" (actual and alleged), and their roles in (real and imaginary) espionage, propaganda, and subversion favoring the Soviet Union—in the process revealing the extraordinary breadth of the Soviet spy network in infiltrating the federal government; the process also launched the successful political careers of Richard Nixon and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as that of Joseph McCarthy. The HUAC held a large interest in investigating those in the entertainment industry in Hollywood. They interrogated actors, writers, and producers. The people who cooperated in the investigations got to continue working as they had been, but people who refused to cooperate were blacklisted .

What happened to Joseph McCarthy?

He was formally censured by his colleagues in Congress and the hearings led by McCarthy came to a close. After the Senate formally censured McCarthy, he lost a lot of his standing and political power, and some of the tension and excitement from a possible communist takeover died down.

What was communism in the 1930s?

By the 1930s, communism had become an attractive economic ideology , particularly among labor leaders and intellectuals. By 1939, the CPUSA had about 50,000 members. In 1940, soon after World War II began in Europe, the U.S. Congress legislated the Alien Registration Act (aka the Smith Act, 18 USC § 2385) making it a crime to "knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become a member of or to affiliate with any such association"—and required Federal registration of all foreign nationals. Although principally deployed against communists, the Smith Act was also used against right-wing political threats such as the German-American Bund, and the perceived racial disloyalty of the Japanese-American population, ( cf. hyphenated-Americans ).

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.