Fear of Radicalism
§ During World War I, the government tried to silence dissenters within the United States. After the war, however, an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion remained.
§ Americans feared that turmoil in other nations would affect the United States. The Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks took control of the government, worried Americans. The revolutionaries set up a communist state. Americans felt threatened when the Bolsheviks promised to destroy capitalism – the economic system of the United States – wherever it existed.
§ Americans also began to fear the actions of anarchists, or people who believe there should be no government. Anarchist terrorists sent bombs to public officials. Because many of the anarchists were born outside of the United States, their actions spread fear of foreigners.
§ The growing fear of foreigners and radicals led to the Red Scare, a period when the government took extreme action against communists and others with radical views. As a result of the Red Scare in late 1919 and early 1920, the United States government ordered a series of arrests of people associated with suspicious groups. Homes and offices were ransacked, records were seized, and a few thousand people were taken into custody. The government deported hundreds of arrested aliens, but had to release many others for lack of evidence. The Red Scare passed as people realized that the threat of outright revolution was exaggerated. However, the fear that the scare had created remained.
§ Fear of immigrants and radical ideas came to a head in the 1920 case of Sacco and Vanzetti. Two men robbed a shoe factory in Massachusetts, shooting and killing two people in the process. Despite having little evidence, police arrested two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Neither man had a criminal record, but both were anarchists, and Sacco owned a pistol similar to the murder weapon. Sacco and Vanzetti were tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The men proclaimed their innocence to the end, and the arrest and execution of the two men became a symbol of deep-seated feelings against foreigners and radicals in the United States.
Labor Unrest
§ During World War I, workers and management put aside their differences to work together. But conflict arose when the war ended. More than 3,600 strikes were staged in 1919 alone as workers pushed for improvements such as higher wages. Many Americans feared that radicals, eager to disrupt American society, were behind the strikes.
§ A huge strike involving 350,000 steelworkers occurred in 1919. The strikers were asking for higher wages and an eight-hour workday. The strike turned violent, with several strikers losing their lives. Some Americans thought there was communist influence behind the labor unrest, which cost the strikers public support and forced them to return to work without reaching their goals.
§ In 1920 the Boston police force went on strike. The police officers demanded the right to form a union. Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge took a strong stand against the strikers, saying no one had the right to strike against safety. After the strike collapsed, officials fired the entire Boston police force. Most of the public approved.
§ During the period of union decline of the 1920s, A. Philip Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters a union of mostly African American railroad workers. Randolph became a leader of the civil rights movement decades later in the 1950s.
Racial Unrest
§ During World War I, more then 500,000 African Americans left the South for new jobs in the North. Many Northern whites resented having to compete with African Americans for jobs.
§ In the years following the war, racial conflict between whites and African Americans increased, with mob and gang violence, rioting and lynching. Many people were killed or injured.
§ Some African Americans joined Marcus Garvey’s “back-to-Africa” movement. Garvey encouraged African Americans to leave the racially segregated society of the United States and establish their own country in Africa.
§ Marcus Garvey established the Universal Negro Improvement Association to promote racial pride and unity. The organization taught African Americans to admire and praise the accomplishments and abilities of their race. Garvey organized parades and rallies to build pride and confidence and helped African Americans start their own businesses.