Transcript The Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids
• In 1919, Woodrow Wilson appointed A.
Mitchell Palmer to the position of attorney
general. Palmer was extremely paranoid of a
possible communist take over in the United
States.
• Palmer appointed J. Edgar Hoover his “special
assistant” (Hoover became the famed leader
of the FBI). Palmer and Hoover took their “red
scare” to a whole new level.
“The Palmer Raids”
• The Palmer Raids are literally a series of
government backed raids of anarchists,
communists and other types of individuals that
“threatened the security of the United States”.
These individuals were usually simply immigrants
being harassed by the U.S. government.
• This is an example of how the Red Scare truly
changed the way people and law inforcement
looked at “minorities”.
Mass Exodus
• On 7th November, 1919, the second
anniversary of the Russian Revolution, over
10,000 suspected communists and anarchists
were arrested. Palmer and Hoover found no
evidence of a proposed revolution but large
number of these suspects were held without
trial for a long time. The vast majority were
eventually released but 247 other people
were deported to Russia.
• On January, 2 1920, another 6,000 were arrested
and held without trial. These raids took place in
several cities and became known as the Palmer
Raids
• When Palmer announced that the communist
revolution was likely to take place on May 1, mass
panic took place. In New York, five elected
Socialists were expelled from the legislature.
• When the May revolution failed to materialize,
attitudes towards Palmer began to change and he
was criticized for disregarding people's basic civil
liberties.
Questions for Discussion…
• Pictured to the left: A. Mitchell Palmer and
the aftermath of one of his Raids.
Questions for Discussion…
Can we equate the Palmer Raids to post 9/11
racial profiling or anti-terrorist fears? Why
? Why not?
He used the Espionage and Sedition Acts as
the basis for his Raids? Can we equate this
to the Patriot Act and its infringement on
our civil liberties today?
The Teapot Dome Scandal
• In 1921, during the
to an oil operator. The
presidency of Warren G.
lease was awarded after
Harding, Alfred B. Fall
NO competitive bidding.
was appointed to the
• The Oil Operator, Harry
position of Secretary of
Sinclair gave Fall
the Interior
interest free “loans” in
• Once appointed, Fall
excess of $100,000. Fall
leased the Navy’s oil
acutally received over
reserve located at
$400,000 from other oil
Teapot Dome, Wyoming
operators as well for
leasing other oil
reserves.
Effects of the Teapot Dome Scandal
• The loan piqued
suspicion from the
federal government.
• Fall was tried and
convicted of accepting
bribes and fined
$100,000 by the federal
government.
• The Teapot Dome
Scandal has gone down
in history as one of the
biggest political
scandals in history