War, Civil Liberties, and Security
In this activity, students will look at images from 1919 to explore the nature of the "Red Scare" of the World War I era, and think about it the context of current attitudes toward civil liberties since the September 11th attacks.
American Social History Project
American Social History Project
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
2011 - 2011
English
Timeline of Key Events of the World War I Era Red Scare, 1914-1920
This timeline shows the major events of U.S. involvement in World War I and the anti-radical hysteria, known as the “Red Scare,†that also occurred at this time.
American Social History Project
American Social History Project
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1914 - 1920
English
"Come Unto Me, Ye Opprest!"
During the World War I era, the U.S. experienced a “Red Scare,†or national hysteria about the dangers of communists and radicals. The Red Scare was influenced by wartime patriotism, immigration from eastern Europe, and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and fueled by newspaper editorials and cartoons. This cartoon by James P. Alley features a “European Anarchist†sneaking up on the Statue of Liberty. At that time, anarchist was the term for people who wanted to overthrow the government.
James P. Alley
James P. Alley, “Come Unto Me, Ye Opprest!,” originally published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal; reprinted in the Literary Digest, July 5, 1919, at Red Scare (1918-1921), http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/redscare/HTMLCODE/CHRON/RS017.HTM
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1919
English
"Boosting Him Up"
During the World War I era, the U.S. experienced a “Red Scare,†or national hysteria about the dangers of communists and radicals. The Red Scare was influenced by wartime patriotism, immigration from eastern Europe, and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and fueled by newspaper editorials and cartoons. This cartoon by Fred Morgan links labor strikes with anarchists who want to overthrow the government.
Fred Morgan
Fred Morgan, “Boosting Him Up,” originally published in the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em>, reprinted in <em>Literary Digest</em> June 14, 1919 at <em>Red Scare (1918-1921)</em>, http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/redscare/HTMLCODE/CHRON/RS063.HTM
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1919
English
"Bombing at the Home of Attorney General Palmer"
During the spring of 1919, a group of anarchists (known as Galleanists because they were followers of Italian anarchist Luigi Galleani) sent a series of mail bombs to U.S. government officials and judges. On June 2, 1919, one of these bombs exploded at the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, and he and his family barely escaped death. Later that year, Palmer launched a series of police actions that became known as the Palmer Raids. Federal agents supported by local police rounded up large groups of suspected radicals, often based on membership in a political group rather than any action taken. Thousands were arrested and hundreds deported.
<em>Literary Digest</em>
“Bombing at the Home of Attorney General Palmer, <em>Literary Digest</em>, June 14, 1919http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/redscare/HTMLCODE/CHRON/RS003.HTM
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1919
English
A Postal Worker Testifies Before the Loyalty-Security Program
Executive Order 9835, signed by President Truman on March 21, 1947, established a loyalty-security program for the executive branch of the federal government. Federal employees were required to take a political test to identify "subversive" affiliations or tendencies. Past or present members of the Communist Party as well as anyone with a "sympathetic association" with it or any other "subversive" organizations or individuals were disqualified or dismissed. These terms were often deliberately vague; the charges against this postal worker included owning "Communist literature and art." The employee was dismissed from his job, and his appeals to the Civil Service Commission resulted in rulings upholding the dismissal. The FBI's often secretive handling of the program's investigations (despite the Executive Order's relegating of that duty to the Civil Service Commission) ensured that successful appeals of this kind were nearly impossible.
Bureau of National Affairs
Adam Yarmolinsky, ed., <em>Case Studies in Personnel Security</em>, (Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs, 1955), in Ellen Schrecker, ed., <em>McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents</em> (New York: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2002), 178-182.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1954 - 1955
English
Government Document
Postwar America (1946-1975)
An Anti-Communist Comic Book Warns of "The Red Iceberg"
This 1960 comic book warns young readers of the dangers ahead should Uncle Sam fail to steer clear of the "Red Iceberg." Published by <em>Impact</em>, an imprint of the anti-communist Catholic Catechetical Guild, the comic was distributed to thousands of Catholic school children during the Cold War.
Unknown
"The Red Iceberg," (St. Paul, MN: Impact Publishing, 1960).
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1960
English
Cartoon
Postwar America (1946-1975)
A "Red Scare" Leads to Backlash Against Immigrants
Immigration and Migration
After World War I a "Red Scare" broke out as anxieties about political extremists and radicals led to widespread demonization and political persecution of leftists and immigrants. A series of high-profile events from the late-nineteenth century on, such as the Haymarket Square bombing and the assassination of President McKinley by Leon Czolgosz, had cemented the connection of radical politics and violence in the public mind, with the image of the "anarchist" in particular becoming synonymous with the bomb-throwing terrorist. Since many of the leading exponents of anarchism, as well the defendants in the notorious Sacco and Vanzetti case and President McKinley's assassin were Italian, Russian, or Eastern European, these groups in particular were stigmatized as the stereotypical "anarchists," bent on violent revolution and the destruction of America's institutions. This stereotype, suggested by the bomb-wielding, dark-featured "European Anarchist" of the cartoon, became a leading justification for the passage of quota laws which severely limited immigration from Italy, Russia, and other regions of Southern and Eastern Europe.
James P. Alley
James P. Alley, "Come Unto Me, Ye Opprest!", <em>Memphis Commercial Appeal</em>, 5 July 1919.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1919
English
Cartoon
Modern America (1914-1929)
A Cartoonist Spoofs Anti-Communist Crusaders
This 1949 Herb Block cartoon highlights the dangers to civil liberty and intellectual freedoms many Americans saw posed by overzealous and anti-Communist crusaders in the early years of the Cold War. Such fears were not unfounded: during the postwar years, hundreds of elementary and high school teachers lost their jobs as a result of such investigations, which often involved "blacklists" compiled by anti-Communist groups and individuals.
Herb Block
Herb Block, "You read books, eh?," (Washington: <em>Washington Post</em>, 24 April 1949, from the Library of Congress, <em>Herb Block's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millenium</em>, http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/fire.html.
American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
1949
English
Cartoon
Postwar America (1946-1975)