With the fall of the Tsar’s reign in Russia the role for a leader was taken over by the Communist Vladimir Lenin, and thus creating the Red Scare. The fear that came into the mind of the politicians was that the working class Americans would want to revolt against the government in order for equal rights, and with this fear in mind one man set out to try to put a stop to it. This man was the U.S Attorney General, Alexander Mitchell Palmer, who made it his goal to seek out any anarchist or communist that would threaten to overthrow the government in America.
Palmer started off his hunt, in December of 1917, but it wasn’t until the mid 1918’s and all of 1919 that he really went after the Red’s. The event that allowed Palmer to have free reign on his raids came when his own house was a target of a bombing, and the houses of, “… a mayor, state legislator, three judges, two businessmen, a police officer, and a Catholic priest” [1]. Palmer used this event to launch his famous Palmer Raids, which aimed to arrest and if need be deport anyone suspected of being part of a communist radical group, which also put anarchist in the same sphere as the communist. Palmer went after anyone who had some sort of ties with anything that supported Russia, anarchist, or even socialist, he sent agents to arrest and then ended up deporting five-hundred immigrants that belonged to a Union called, the Union of Russian Laborers [2]. Those people were just typical immigrants trying to make a new start in America and were simply sticking together with other people from Russia and being treated fairly at their jobs by being part of this Labor Union. A major problem that faced Palmer and his men came down to the warrants they were using to either search or arrest these immigrants; however, Palmer found a way around these flimsy warrants. He created the Espionage Act of 1917 –aka the Sedition Act of 1918- “… eight hundred and seventy-seven citizens were convicted under this law from June 30th, 1917 to June 30th, 1919 without one proved act of injury to the military services” [3]. Palmer single handedly changed the political view on all Communist, Socialist, and Anarchist by not only creating new laws that allowed anyone suspected of being one of those three to be arrested, but also many American politicians were Socialist or had Socialist idea’s. One man named Eugene Victor Debs who was a favored citizen to win the Presidency was locked up under this new law, while Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin lost his seat in Congress for being Socialist [4].
The Palmer Raids finally came to an in June of 1920, when it was realized that people’s civil liberties were obviously being taken advantage of [5]. However, Palmer had already done the damage that changed Americans from people who were politically open to new ideas to more conservative and close minded. After these events there was never another Eugene Debs or Victor Berger that were in office, Americans saw anyone allied with the Red Party a threat to the safety of all Americans.
1) The Clarence Darrow Collection. University of Minnesota Law Library. “Attorney General Mitchell Palmer’s house after bomb explosion”. (Un-known published date).
2) Anarchy Archives. "Civil Liberties and National Security Time Line." USA Patriot Act Civil Liberties Time Line. The Duncan Group, 2011. . “U.S Federal Government vs. the Anarchist Movement”.
3) Dunn, Robert W. The Palmer Raids, “Chapter 1 page 12”. International Publishers, New York, NY. Copyright, 1948, By International Publishers Co. Inc.
4) Dunn, Robert W. “Chapter 1 page 12”.
5) Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty, “Chapter 19 page 749-50”.W.W. Norton&Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue New York, NY. Copyright 2012.
Palmer started off his hunt, in December of 1917, but it wasn’t until the mid 1918’s and all of 1919 that he really went after the Red’s. The event that allowed Palmer to have free reign on his raids came when his own house was a target of a bombing, and the houses of, “… a mayor, state legislator, three judges, two businessmen, a police officer, and a Catholic priest” [1]. Palmer used this event to launch his famous Palmer Raids, which aimed to arrest and if need be deport anyone suspected of being part of a communist radical group, which also put anarchist in the same sphere as the communist. Palmer went after anyone who had some sort of ties with anything that supported Russia, anarchist, or even socialist, he sent agents to arrest and then ended up deporting five-hundred immigrants that belonged to a Union called, the Union of Russian Laborers [2]. Those people were just typical immigrants trying to make a new start in America and were simply sticking together with other people from Russia and being treated fairly at their jobs by being part of this Labor Union. A major problem that faced Palmer and his men came down to the warrants they were using to either search or arrest these immigrants; however, Palmer found a way around these flimsy warrants. He created the Espionage Act of 1917 –aka the Sedition Act of 1918- “… eight hundred and seventy-seven citizens were convicted under this law from June 30th, 1917 to June 30th, 1919 without one proved act of injury to the military services” [3]. Palmer single handedly changed the political view on all Communist, Socialist, and Anarchist by not only creating new laws that allowed anyone suspected of being one of those three to be arrested, but also many American politicians were Socialist or had Socialist idea’s. One man named Eugene Victor Debs who was a favored citizen to win the Presidency was locked up under this new law, while Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin lost his seat in Congress for being Socialist [4].
The Palmer Raids finally came to an in June of 1920, when it was realized that people’s civil liberties were obviously being taken advantage of [5]. However, Palmer had already done the damage that changed Americans from people who were politically open to new ideas to more conservative and close minded. After these events there was never another Eugene Debs or Victor Berger that were in office, Americans saw anyone allied with the Red Party a threat to the safety of all Americans.
1) The Clarence Darrow Collection. University of Minnesota Law Library. “Attorney General Mitchell Palmer’s house after bomb explosion”. (Un-known published date).
2) Anarchy Archives. "Civil Liberties and National Security Time Line." USA Patriot Act Civil Liberties Time Line. The Duncan Group, 2011. . “U.S Federal Government vs. the Anarchist Movement”.
3) Dunn, Robert W. The Palmer Raids, “Chapter 1 page 12”. International Publishers, New York, NY. Copyright, 1948, By International Publishers Co. Inc.
4) Dunn, Robert W. “Chapter 1 page 12”.
5) Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty, “Chapter 19 page 749-50”.W.W. Norton&Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue New York, NY. Copyright 2012.