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The
Red Scare: The 1920 Wall Street bombing
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Red Scare Facts for kids: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the Red Scare.
What was the Red Scare? The
Red Scare was the anti-radical hysteria and
fear that anarchists, socialists and
communists, dubbed 'Reds' or 'Bolshies' were
conspiring to start a workers revolution in
the United States of America.
When was the Red Scare? The
First Red Scare was from 1917 - 1920,
following the Bolshevik Russian Revolution
of 1917 and the events and impact of WW1 in
America.
What caused the Red Scare? The first Red Scare
of the 1920's was caused by a variety of
reasons including fear and suspicion of
immigrants and foreigners fueled by WW1
propaganda techniques, widespread labor
unrest, the rising tide of Communism and a
series of terrorist attacks in the homeland.
Red Scare
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on the
first Red Scare during the 1920's.
Facts
about the Red Scare for kids - The Causes
Red Scare Fact 1:
Causes: Events in Russia in 1917, during WW1, triggered
the start of the Red Scare. The 1917 February Russian
Revolution aimed to topple the Russian monarchy. It led
to the 1917 October Revolution when the Communist
Bolsheviks took power in Russia under their leader
Vladimir Lenin.
Red Scare Fact
2: Causes: In America the WW1 propaganda techniques of
the Creel
Commission used leaflets, movies, photographs, cartoons,
pamphlets and posters to paint a terrifying picture of what might
happen if the Allies lost the war. The graphic propaganda campaign had created anger,
suspicion and fear towards German immigrants amongst
American citizens.
Red Scare Fact 3:
Causes: The Allies were stunned when Vladimir Lenin
pulled Russia out of the Great War and signed the Treaty
of Brest-Litvosk with Germany on March 3, 1918. The
strong Anti-German feelings extended to Russia who
appeared to be helping Germany by pulling out of the
war. The world was then shocked by the news that the
Russian Romanov royal family (the czar, his wife and
their children) had been brutally shot to death by the
Bolshevists on July 8, 1918. The Red Scare gained
further momentum.
Red Scare Fact 4:
Causes: The Espionage and Sedition Acts passed in 1917
and 1918 banned many forms of speech perceived as
disloyal to America. By 1920 several states passed laws
banning the use of violence to cause social change,
giving police unspoken authority to harass any such
suspects.
Red Scare Fact 5:
Causes: Americans had witnessed a number of fire and
bomb attacks on the of homeland during WW1. Violence and
destruction was experienced at home with the Black Tom
explosion, the fire at the Roebling Steel foundry
in Trenton, the Kingsland Explosion and the Hercules Powder Company
fire. These incidents left American feeling vulnerable
to sabotage attacks.
Red Scare Fact 6:
Causes: During WW1, the number of
workers in
Labor Unions increased dramatically. Workers had
been given the right to strike but industrialists and
business leaders were determined to break the power of
the Unions.
Red Scare Fact 7:
Causes: WW1 ended on November 11, 1918 but the Red Scare
was fueled in 1919 by a year of rapid
inflation, rising prices, high unemployment, race riots and civil
unrest in America with
demonstrations and a series of crippling strikes.
Red Scare Fact 8:
Causes: In March 1919 Lenin and the Communist Bolsheviks
established the Comintern (Communist International) and
vowed to lead a worldwide anti-capitalist revolution.
The mandate of the Comintern was to coordinate
Communist activity across the world.
Red Scare Fact
9:
Causes: The 'New
Immigrants' from southern and eastern Europe were accused of
bringing radical socialist and communist ideas into America and
blamed for the strikes, violence and civil unrest. This view was
given credibility by the
Dillingham
Commission Report that had concluded that the 'New
Immigrants' from countries such as Italy, Poland, Croatia and
Greece, were "inferior, uneducated and posed a serious threat to
American society".
Red Scare Fact
10: Causes: During the Red Scare Racism
and Nativism were reinforced by the Eugenics movement,
a pseudo scientific ideology that claimed the
superiority of the original American stock of the "Old
Immigrants".
Red Scare Fact
11:
Causes: 1919 saw a massive wave of strikes in America in
what was called the 'Red Summer'. The American public seldom
distinguished between anarchists, socialists and
communists, and dubbed them all 'Reds' or 'Bolshies'.
Americans began to associate all Socialists and Communists with
being unpatriotic.
Red Scare Fact
12:
Causes: By the end of 1919 there had been more than
3,600 strikes, involving over 4 million workers protesting against
high inflation levels, unemployment and wage cuts.
Red Scare Fact 13:
Causes:
The fear of Communists was fueled further by small, but highly
vocal, groups of socialists, communists and anarchists who preached
the downfall of the corrupt capitalist system and the coming
revolution of the working classes.
Continued...
Facts
about the Red Scare for kids
Facts
about the Red Scare for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with interesting facts about Red Scare for kids.
Facts
about the Red Scare for kids
Red Scare Fact 15:
The 1919 Seattle General Strike of 1919 began as a
shipyard strike but was joined by all the other Seattle unions and
became a General Strike (February 6, 1919 to February 11, 1919). The
general strike was a frequent tactic used in Europe by Communists
and other radical groups. Many Americans believed that Communists
were behind the General Strike were conspiring to start a a worker's
revolution in America. The Red Scare engulfed the nation.
Red Scare Fact 16:
In late April 1919, attempts were made to mail 36
booby trap bombs to prominent politicians, includingjudges and businessmen including John
D. Rockefeller. The mail bombs were timed to arrive on May Day, the
day of celebration of organized labor and the working class but were
discovered by diligent mail workers.
Red Scare Fact 17:
A series of violent demonstrations,
the May Day Riots of 1919, began when Socialist leader
Charles Ruthenberg organized a May Day parade of local
trade unionists, socialists and communists in Cleveland,
Ohio to protest the jailing of Eugene V. Debs.
Red Scare Fact 18:
The Boston Police Strike broke out on September 9, 1919
in which 75% of Boston police officers went on strike. There was
looting and rioting in the city of Boston and the National Guard
were called in. The police strikers were referred to as "Agents of
Lenin".
Red Scare Fact 19:
The 1919 Great Steel strike, involving 350,000
steelworkers, was a national strike that lasted from September
21, 1919 – January 8, 1920 . The owners of the Steel Companies
instilled fear in the nation by equating the strikers with
communists, turning public opinion turned against unions.
Red Scare Fact 20:
The
Resurgence of the 1920's Ku Klux Klan occured during the period of the Red Scare when the KKK
were portrayed as the protectors of traditional values and opposers
of immigration. The KKK used the Red scare and the anti-communism feelings
associated with it as a justification to discriminate against
minorities.
The KKK spread from the south into the Northern cities and attracted millions of new members and 40,000
Klansmen famously marched through Washington along Pennsylvania
Avenue on August 8, 1925.
Red Scare Fact 21:
In June 1919 eight bombs in 8 cities exploded in minutes
of each other. One of the bombs damaged the home of United States
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. He subsequently led a
campaign against the communists called the
Palmer Raids and propagated rumors
about the Red Scare.. Federal
Agents conducted raids on the headquarters of various radical
organizations and the homes of immigrants and foreign residents.
More than 10,000 suspects were detained without a hearing and nearly 600 were deported.
Red Scare Fact 22:
In August 1919 the Justice Department
created the General Intelligence Division (the FBI) and
appointed J. Edgar Hoover (1835 – 1972) as its first
director.
Red Scare Fact 23:
On Thursday, September 16, 1920 the
Wall Street bombing
brought terror and carnage to the streets of New York
when bomb exploded outside the J. P. Morgan bank
building, the largest and most powerful financial
institution in the world. Mario Buda is alleged to be
the man most likely responsible for the bombing. Buda
was a member of a group of Italian anarchists, the
followers of Luigi Galleani, who included Sacco and Vanzetti.
Red Scare Fact 23:
Luigi Galleani and his followers
published flyer stating "Deportation will not stop the
storm from reaching these shores. The storm is within
and very soon will leap and crash and annihilate you in
blood and fire…We will dynamite you!".
Red Scare Fact 24:
Newspaper coverage of arrest of
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti on bank robbery and
murder charges revealed that the Italian immigrants were
anarchists and this led to one of the most famous trials
in the history of the United States - the
Sacco and
Vanzetti case.
Red Scare Fact 25:
November 1920 the first Chinese
Communist Manifesto was published in Shanghai spreading
the Marxism-Leninism ideology still further.
Red Scare Fact 26:
Eugenics: During the Red Scare, Racism
and Nativism were reinforced by the Eugenics movement,
a pseudo scientific ideology that claimed the
superiority of the original American stock of the "Old
Immigrants".
Red Scare Fact 27:
The Palmer Raids were a response to
both real and imaginary threats. The majority immigrants
were peaceful people and eventually suspects were
released and the Red Scare receded.
Red Scare Fact 28:
The National Negro Labor Congress was
organized by the Communist Party leading to suspicions
of a 'Red and Black' communist conspiracy.
Red Scare Fact 29:
The First Red Scare ended in 1920, but
there were other significant events after this time. In December
1922 the USSR was officially formed. Lenin died on January
21, 1924 and was succeeded by Joseph Stalin.
Red Scare Fact 30:
The rule of Stalin
and the development of nuclear weapons in the 1940's
gave rise to the
Cold War
and the Second Red Scare erupted with fears of Communist
spies and the Cold War Arms Race.
Facts
about the Red Scare for kids
Facts
about
Red Scare for kids
For visitors interested in the history of
the Red Scare refer to the following articles:
Red Scare for kids - President Woodrow Wilson Video
The article on the Red Scare provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Woodrow Wilson video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 28th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1921.
Red Scare (1917 - 1920)
●
Interesting Facts about Red Scare for kids and schools
●
Key events
and Red Scare for kids
●
The Red Scare, a major
event in US history
● Causes of
the Red Scare
●
Fast, fun facts about the Red Scare
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Woodrow Wilson
● Woodrow Wilson Presidency and
the first Red Scare for schools,
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