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Essay / History of the Emergence of the Red Scare in the United States
The emergence of a communist government after the Russian Revolution in November 1917 introduced a communist threat to the United States, which increased in 1919 when the Soviet Union created the Communist International. , whose goal is to inspire revolution and spread communism. Fear intensified when a series of bombings took place in the spring of 1919, including bombings of cities and explosive packages delivered to businessmen and politicians. The American Communist Party, established in 1919, and other radical groups were believed to be responsible for the attacks. At the height of the Red Scare in 1919 and 1920, paranoia reigned in the United States about a communist revolution and the government took measures that suppressed civil liberties. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay During the Red Scare, the American government and people began to view any form of instability or protest as a sign of radical threat. One of the events that sparked the Red Scare was a series of bombings in 1919. A report from The Morning Tulsa newspaper shows bombings that took place in eight cities around the same time (D). This event suggested a nationwide conspiracy and people had imagined that there were large numbers of radicals in the United States, but in reality there were only a modest number of true radicals. Anti-radical newspapers portrayed union activism and strikes as the working class attempting to overthrow capitalism in the United States. For example, the 1919 steel strike was depicted in a New York World cartoon showing a striker waving a flag labeled "Red", the symbol of communism (A). In another New York Evening Telegram cartoon, labor activism is shown as creating unrest and riots that will lead to Bolshevism, and Bolshevism will lead society into chaos (B). The large number of immigrant workers only justified their views because immigrants were seen as those who supported communism. The Red Scare also caused the government to enact laws that suppressed civil liberties. Many states enacted peacetime sedition laws, limiting free speech and imposing heavy penalties on people promoting communism. One such law in Kansas prohibited the carrying and display of "any red flag, standard, or banner distinctive of Bolshevism, anarchy, or radical socialism" (C). In a speech, Jane Addams, a prominent social activist, disagreed with how "hundreds of poor working men and women" were arrested for demanding the "right to freedom of speech and thought" ( F). injustices by arresting and convicting people. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer orchestrated a series of raids against suspected radical centers, known as the Palmer Raids. A report from the Ogden Standard reports that more than 200 people were arrested in one night and were all expected to be deported (E). More than 6,000 people were arrested during the raids, although most were later released. A large number of weapons and explosives were also to be discovered during Palmer's raids, but only three pistols and no dynamite were found. The Palmer raids violated people's privacy and made false arrests based on suspicion of radicalism. Fear of communism also led to two people being unjustly tried and sentenced to death in the case of Sacco and Vanzetti. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo.