The Red Scare in the USA during the 1920s

Can you give 4 reasons why there was a Red Scare in the 1920s?

What happened in Russia and why was this important to the USA?

There was an economic dip after WWI.

Prominent politicians such as Mitchell A Palmer (the US Attorney General) even predicted a Communist Revolution would take place in May 1920!

The fears were not totally unjustified as many immigrants did hold radical political beliefs. In addition to the strikes, 36 bombs were set off in US cities by anarchists. In 1920 the US Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer’s house was fire bombed.

How did the government react to the Red Scare?

In response to the fears about new immigrants, the government began to restrict immigration. Emergency Quota Act of 1921: restricted the number of immigrants to 357,000 per year. The National Origins Act, 1924 – This law cut the quota of immigrants to 3% of its population in the USA in 1890. The act was aimed at restricting southern and eastern Europeans immigrants. It also banned Asian immigration.

Palmer Raids: In 1919, Palmer set up the General Intelligence Board to spy on radical groups. It raided radical political groups, searching their offices and making arrests between November 1919 and 1920. On the 2nd January, 1920, raids took place in 33 different cities. Around 600 suspects were deported.

A case highlighting the discrimination immigrants experienced is that of Sacco and Vanzetti. These two Italian immigrants and political radicals were arrested in 1920 on suspicion of armed robbery. During the court case in May 1921, Judge Webster Thayer was prejudiced against the two men and sentenced both to execution in August 1927 despite 107 witnesses alleging that they had seen them somewhere else when the crime was committed.