USA HISTORY

Which factors were the major causes of the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids, which followed World War I?

(A) success of the Communist Party in congressional and Presidential elections

(B) race riots in Los Angeles and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan

(C) failure of the United States to join the League of Nations and the unpaid German war debts

(D) ** the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia and workers’ strikes in the United States

Concept note-1: -The raids particularly targeted Italian immigrants and Eastern European Jewish immigrants with alleged leftist ties, with particular focus on Italian anarchists and immigrant leftist labor activists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 350, 000 arrested.

Concept note-2: -The First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a perceived threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution, and political radicalism.

Concept note-3: -Edgar Hoover, what became known as the Palmer Raids peaked on the night of January 2, 1920, when between 3, 000 and 10, 000 people in 35 cities were detained on suspicion of sympathizing with Communists or anarchists. Earlier raids were smaller and one led to the deportation of anarchist Emma Goldman.

Concept note-4: -What was the main reason Americans were upset by the Palmer Raids of 1919 and 1920? The raids ignored people’s civil liberties.