The anarchist bombings and thwarted plots during 1919 fueled the hysteria surrounding radical behavior and the threat it posed to American society; prompting the massive intrusion of civil liberties that was the Palmer Raids. Several plots, including a plan to plant bombs in Chicago, were uncovered before they could be executed; the following month, eleven anarchist were arrested in connection to an, “Alleged conspiracy...to seize the government arsenal and use the captured explosives to “lay the city in ruins”’.[1] The sensitive situation was worsened by shroud of secrecy that covered Department of Justice’s report of the incidents.[2] The first successful bombing occurred in late April; radicals, “Mailed bombs to the mayor of Seattle and a U.S. Senator, blowing the hands off the senator’s domestic worker”.[3] Sixteen additional bombs were to be mailed the next day but they were fortunately intercepted by a postal worker who happened to recognize the distinctive packaging they all shared. Nearly a month later , on June 2nd, a string of bombings took place in eight cities nationwide. The intended targets were all leading figures in law enforcement, politics, and the judicial system; among them was Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. On that day, a militant anarchist by the name of Carlo Valdinoci blew up the face of Attorney General Palmer’s home; killing himself in the process due to a premature detonation.[4] With the nation already anxious due to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and increasing, at times violent, labor unrest at home, these attacks sent the public into panic; “The nation demanded a response to the bombings, and the Attorney General...was ready to oblige. He created a small division to gather intelligence on the radical threat.”[5]
Although there existed a real threat from radical behavior that was, rightfully, not ignored, attacks like these were in no way the norm. Nevertheless, many believed that radicals were everywhere, and their notions were encouraged, if not caused, by the government and media.[6] Many Americans equivocated the word “radical” with, “An unkempt, foreign-born, bomb-throwing, barbaric-looking beast dressed in human clothing.”[7] The ‘reds’ were imagined to be immigrants native to eastern or southern Europe. This prejudice, coupled with the fact that the anarchist bombers remained a hidden enemy meant that many, innocent, immigrants were lumped together with the violent radicals.
The hysteria, albeit high already, worsened after the June bombings. Antiradical sentiments became more evident in the public, press, and congress. Even states that were void of any problems with large immigrant populations and labor unrest shared in the hysteria. Arkansas, for instance, “ Contributed only twenty-two strikes to the national total of 7,041 during the 1919-1920 period.”[8] Although Arkansas did not share the problems with labor strikes that the most troubled states experienced, it nevertheless boasted similar antibolshevik legislation. Act 512, which prohibited the urging of the overthrow the government, state or federal, or any symbol representing any such desire, was passed with little to no opposition. Additionally, a law making English the official language in all public and private schools was passed. These laws are especially surprising considering that if any real threat existed it would have been from the syndicalists; a separate political movement aiming to bring government and industry under labor union control. The International Workers of the World (or Wobblies) had a much bigger presence and yet no laws were passed against them.[9] Similar bills to those passed in Arkansas were considered in Congress due to, “The general public [being] genuinely alarmed, and the majority of the press [intensifying] its demands for vigorous repressive action.”[10] Some newspapers went as far as to propose that the nation hang every bomber and deport every anarchist.[11] Ultimately, the anarchist bombings caused a very conservative response from the general public which influenced legislation and in turn led to the Palmer Raids.
1. Robert K. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-1920 (University of Minnesota Press), 69
2. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in, 69
3. “A Byte Out of History: The Palmer Raids”, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007, http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2007/december/palmer_122807
4. “A Byte Out of History: The Palmer Raids”
5. “Ibid”
6. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in,
7. Joey McCarty, “The Red Scare in Arkansas: A Southern State and National Hysteria.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 264
8. McCarty, “The Red Scare in Arkansas”, 265
9. “Ibid”, 268
10. Murray, Red Scare: A Study In, 80
11. Murray, Red Scare: A Study In, 72
Although there existed a real threat from radical behavior that was, rightfully, not ignored, attacks like these were in no way the norm. Nevertheless, many believed that radicals were everywhere, and their notions were encouraged, if not caused, by the government and media.[6] Many Americans equivocated the word “radical” with, “An unkempt, foreign-born, bomb-throwing, barbaric-looking beast dressed in human clothing.”[7] The ‘reds’ were imagined to be immigrants native to eastern or southern Europe. This prejudice, coupled with the fact that the anarchist bombers remained a hidden enemy meant that many, innocent, immigrants were lumped together with the violent radicals.
The hysteria, albeit high already, worsened after the June bombings. Antiradical sentiments became more evident in the public, press, and congress. Even states that were void of any problems with large immigrant populations and labor unrest shared in the hysteria. Arkansas, for instance, “ Contributed only twenty-two strikes to the national total of 7,041 during the 1919-1920 period.”[8] Although Arkansas did not share the problems with labor strikes that the most troubled states experienced, it nevertheless boasted similar antibolshevik legislation. Act 512, which prohibited the urging of the overthrow the government, state or federal, or any symbol representing any such desire, was passed with little to no opposition. Additionally, a law making English the official language in all public and private schools was passed. These laws are especially surprising considering that if any real threat existed it would have been from the syndicalists; a separate political movement aiming to bring government and industry under labor union control. The International Workers of the World (or Wobblies) had a much bigger presence and yet no laws were passed against them.[9] Similar bills to those passed in Arkansas were considered in Congress due to, “The general public [being] genuinely alarmed, and the majority of the press [intensifying] its demands for vigorous repressive action.”[10] Some newspapers went as far as to propose that the nation hang every bomber and deport every anarchist.[11] Ultimately, the anarchist bombings caused a very conservative response from the general public which influenced legislation and in turn led to the Palmer Raids.
1. Robert K. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-1920 (University of Minnesota Press), 69
2. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in, 69
3. “A Byte Out of History: The Palmer Raids”, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007, http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2007/december/palmer_122807
4. “A Byte Out of History: The Palmer Raids”
5. “Ibid”
6. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in,
7. Joey McCarty, “The Red Scare in Arkansas: A Southern State and National Hysteria.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 264
8. McCarty, “The Red Scare in Arkansas”, 265
9. “Ibid”, 268
10. Murray, Red Scare: A Study In, 80
11. Murray, Red Scare: A Study In, 72