The Palmer Raids United States History – The 1920s

2 Minutes: answer the questions below What is communism? What is socialism? Why does the United States have a long history of opposition to socialist ideas?

Communism A theory. It says that one day, all the people/workers will own all the ways of making money – all the land, all the machines, all the stores. There will be no private business. There will be no way for one person to become very rich.

Socialism A theory.– on the way to communism. Today, many people belief in socialist ideas without necessarily believing in communism. Some Signs of Socialism: Government owning major private businesses (like banks) Government owning major public services (like hospitals/healthcare) Laws that make rich people contribute more taxes so that there isn’t a huge difference between rich and poor.

Why does the United States have a long history of opposition to socialist ideas? In the United States, there’s been a long history of fear of communism and suppression of socialist ideas because the ideas of communism and socialism threaten the individual’s right to private wealth.

Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders and “Democratic Socialism” Core Message: In America the rich are too rich and opportunities for the middle class are few and far between. “We need to create a culture which, as Pope Francis reminds us, cannot just be based on the worship of money. We must not accept a nation in which billionaires compete as to the size of their super- yachts while children in America go hungry and veterans sleep on the streets.” Democratic Socialism: “Let me define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what democratic socialism means to me. It builds on what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said when he fought for guaranteed economic rights for all Americans. Democratic socialism means that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.”

Causes for American Belief in Socialism During the early 20 th Century: 1. Industrialization created a huge gap between rich and poor and when people looked around, they thought that wasn’t fair. 2. Many people joined labor unions. Not all labor unions were socialist. Some, like the American Federation of Labor (AFL) thought they would be more successful by only organizing skilled workers. Some labor unions, like the International Workers of the World (IWW) were socialist and wanted all workers to unite – Bolshevik Revolution in Russia established a communist country. Many in the United States were inspired by their success. Others were very scared by the potential spread of communism. 4. Some Americans were anarchists (didn’t believe in any government) and thought the government should be overthrown.

Attorney General Mitchell Palmer and the Prosecution of Communism

Final Details: The “Red Scare” technically ended in 1920, but in many ways the 1920s continued to be a time of intolerance. Sacco and Vanzetti – two Italian anarchists were arrested in 1920 from robbery and murder. The evidence was very sketchy and many have argued that their trial was extremely unfair but they were executed in KKK membership exploded – at is peak in 1924 it had 4 million members. National Origins Act of 1924 severely restricted immigration by setting quotas and limited the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe (favoring immigrants from Northwest Europe).  As the National Origins Act excluded the Western Hemisphere, this became a time of high Mexican immigration.