The tumult and the shouting dies, 
                            The captains and the kings depart.
                                                            -Kipling, The Recessional.

                    Mr. Kipling was wrong. War does not always end with the last cry on the battlefield. World War I certainly did not. After
                    the war formally ended on November 18, 1918, there was an ideological war still going on in the US. An ideological war
                    which prompted mass paranoia and caused, among many other things, what would be known as the Red Scare, which
                    began in 1919 and ended in 1921. Red Scare was the label given to the actions of legislation, the race riots, and the
                    hatred and persecution of "subversives" and conscientious objectors during that period of time.. It is this hysteria which
                    would find itself repeated several decades later in history when Senator Joeseph R. Macarthy accused high government
                    officials and high standing military officers of being communist.. Undoubtedly the most important topic of an investigation
                    into a historical occurrence is its inception. What caused the Red Scare? 

                    At the heart of the Red Scare was the conscription law of May 18, 1917, which was put in place during World War I for
                    the armed forces to be able to conscript more Americans. This law caused many problems for the conscientious objector
                    to WWI, because for one to claim that status, one had to be a member of a "well-recognized" religious organization which
                    forbade their members to participation in war. As a result of such unyeilding legislation, 20,000 conscientious objectors
                    were inducted into the armed forces. Out of these 20,000, 16,000 changed their minds when they reached military
                    camps, 1300 went to non-combat units, 1200 gained furloughs to do farm work, and 100 did Quaker relief work in
                    Europe. 500 suffered court-martial, and out of these, 450 went to prison. However, these numbers are small in
                    comparison with the 170,000 draft dodgers and 2,810,296 men who were inducted into the armed forces.. Nevertheless,
                    the conscientious objectors were targeted in the Red Scare after the war. They were condemned as cowards,
                    pro-German socialists, although that was not everything. They were also accused of spreading propaganda throughout the
                    United States. Very few conscientious objectors stood up for themselves. Roderick Siedenberg, who was a
                    conscientious objector, wrote that "to steal, rape, or murder" are standard peacetime causes for imprisonment, but in time
                    of war "too firm a belief in the words of Christ", and "too ardent a faith in the brotherhood of man" are more acceptable..
                    Some organizations such as the National Civil Liberties Bureau, which would later be renamed the American Civil
                    Liberties Union, took up the task of standing up for the rights of conscientious objectors. Before the war, the
                    NCLB-ACLU opposed American involvement, and afterward defended the rights of the objectors. Later, the ACLU
                    would gain a reputation for helping people with liberal cases who were too poor to pay for their own representation in
                    court. 

                    After the real war ended in 1918, the ideological war, which was gaining speed at home, turned against conscientious
                    objectors and other radical minorities such as Wobblies, who were members of the Industrial Workers of the World
                    (IWW), and Socialists as well. These Wobblies and Socialists were damned as being subversives who were trying to
                    overthrow the United States government. Wobblies, in particular, were persecuted against for speaking out against the
                    capitalist system. Although most of what they said was only to attract attention to their cause, their rhetoric was taken
                    seriously by the government and its officials. From the very beginning of the Red Scare, the Wobblies were the subject of
                    attack by the government, because they were a symbol of radicalism. The government put in place legislation, not only
                    against the Wobblies, but also against Socialists and Communists, due to the fact that the government did not distinguish
                    one of its enemies from another. One such action taken by the government prevented Wobblies who were not yet citizens
                    from naturalization, even if they quit their organization. In 1917, the US government made a law which gave the Secretary
                    of Labor the power to arrest or deport any alien "advocating or teaching" destruction of property or the "overthrow of
                    government by force.". Words such as "advocating" and the vague language used in the law allowed the government to
                    use deportation as a cure for the anti-government views of its enemies, namely the Wobblies, Communists, and Socialists.

                    After all the unfair legislation passed by the government, the scene was set for a disaster. All that was left was for
                    someone to take advantage of the anti-radical legislation, and the bomb would soon explode. This is basically what
                    Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer did in the years 1919-1920. Palmer used the laws set down in 1917 to deport
                    members of the IWW. He did not only reserve his weapon for the Wobblies; the American Communists and many other
                    radical groups were not to be left out. When the Palmer Raids began, which will be discussed in more detail later, there
                    were two main targets: the Communist Party, and the Communist Labor Party. These groups grew out of the IWW, the
                    Socialist Party of America, and the Socialist Labor Party. The largest of the three, the Socialist Party of America, had
                    split because of a dilemma over World War I. This split occurred when Europe entered the war. For the most part,
                    American Socialists opposed the war, unlike their European brethren who were much more nationalistic and supported
                    their countries armies. However, some of the more prominent American Socialists, each for his own reasons, strongly
                    supported the war. 

                    This break in beliefs of the Socialist Party hurt it, but did by no means destroy it. Many who were not Socialists opposed
                    the draft, but the Party itself was the true focal point of this opposition. Accordingly, these people became targets for
                    attack by American nationalists and the American government. Heinous acts such as the burning of Socialist documents
                    and the lynching of its members were commonplace. 

                    While all this was taking place, an American Communist Party was emerging from the ashes of the former Socialist
                    strongholds which were all along the eastern seaboard of the US. There, Russian immigrants identified with the Bolshevik
                    revolution in Mother Russia because of their similar lives of poverty and squalor. These conditions of dispair were in part
                    due to the exclusion of immigrants from unions and their not being permitted to vote. These people held strong
                    anti-government/anti-capitalist views, often advocating the immediate overthrow of capitalism. Indeed, they were asking
                    for trouble. And they would get it. As dangerous as these people appeared to be at the time, they were in fact only
                    one-thousandth of one percent of the voting American public. Even the two parties who made up this minute percentage
                    of voters were riddled with corruption and dissent. After the war formally ended in 1918, all the groups which opposed
                    the war came under fire. They were seen as destructive to the peace and security of the American nation. The focus of
                    the attacks was no longer on the conscientious objectors, for many of them were already jailed during the war, and were
                    still in jail at the time; it had switched over to the Socialists and the Wobblies, for they, unlike the conscientious objectors,
                    were a still viable target. 

                    One way that these people were targeted was by use of the Espionage Act of 1918. This act penalized anyone who
                    obstructed the operation of the armed forces, was insubordinate, or displayed disloyalty within the forces. Because of the
                    law's vauge language, the Justice Department convicted more than 1000 people. Among this number were a large number
                    of Socialists and Wobblies.

                    The Espionage Act was not the only form of legislation to discriminate against anti-war groups. In October 1918,
                    Congress passed the Alien Act, which gave the Secretary of Labor the power to deport " any alien who, at any time after
                    entering the United States, is found to have been at the time of entry, or to have become thereafter a member of any
                    anarchist organization.". The extremely broad language used in this bill and the way it was interpreted gave Palmer the
                    authority to conduct his raids, during which thousands of people were arrested and detained without actually having been
                    charged. 

                    Because they anticipated what was to come, the suspect organizations worked for the repealing of the legislation aimed
                    against them. Many Socialists became prominent figures due to their attempts to gain release for their imprisoned
                    comrades. Another reason for the Red Scare was the strike held by mine workers. They were thought to be making
                    threatening moves against the Capitalist system through subversive Socialist organizations. These strikes were part of a
                    series of events which took place in 1919. This strike, which occurred in February, was of 60,000 coal mine workers.. In
                    that September, steel workers struck. All of the available blame was put upon the American Communists, although many
                    communists tried to oppose this strike. Nationalist Americans called for a halt to this "Bolshevik Revolution" which was
                    taking place on American soil. 

                    As a result of this panic traveling through American society, a series of bombings occurred. The Socialists were
                    immediately assumed to be responsible. Newspapers had a field day publicizing these bombings. Attorney General
                    Palmer took advantage of the widespread panic of the public and media and asked Congress for fund appropriations to
                    help avoid further danger. Congress obliged, not only supplying funds, but going one step further. The message was then
                    made clear: foreign radicals were to all be deported.

                    The government had formulated and put into effect their plan to rid the country of unwanted foreign radicals, but the
                    problem remained as what to do with those radicals were citizens of the United States. This was not to go unanswered
                    for long, however. In June of 1919, New York state officials raided the Rand School of Social Science in New York, as
                    well as the headquarters of the I.W.W. and the Socialists.. These raids were a product of a New York legislature action
                    that created the Lusk Committee. The idea behind this committee was anit-radical, and the tactics of said committee
                    spread nationwide very quickly, or their methods of "defending the republic". Even with all the legislation in place,
                    Attorney General Palmer complained that not enough was not enough was being done to deport aliens. It is ironic that
                    after the Red Scare, he argued for the release of a Socialist that was imprisoned during the Scare. However, during it he
                    helped convict many in a similar situation. It is highly probable that he held his anti-liberal veiws only because he had
                    presidential ambitions. But it must also be considered that he himself was the target of a bombing. His actions may merely
                    have been out of fear, but his wavering attitudes hold no true reason.. In the August of that same year, Palmer created an
                    intelligence department to deal with problems originating with anarchists and that ilk. He appointed J. Edgar Hoover to
                    lead this newly founded agency. Hoover created files on each "subversive" organization. One of the first field assignments
                    of this agency was to raid The Union of Russian Workers in New York.. 

                    Palmer was not the most extreme of these anti-radicals. Senator Kenneth McKellen of Tennessee went so far as to
                    propose sending all native-born radicals to a special penal colony on the island of Guam.. Liberal journalists held very
                    caustic opinions of the actions of Palmer and his comrades. One journalist went as far as to say "Will it stop unrest? Yes!
                    Just as shaving the dog will keep his hair from growing. In fact, shaving is said to promote growth.".

                    Palmer didn't care what the journalists said. He went on with the raids which he was so famous for. On December 27,
                    around 250 deportees sailed for Russia from New York ion the U.S.S. Buford, promptly labeled as the "Soviet Ark.".
                    On Friday, January 2, 1920, agents of the Justice department raided a Communist headquarters and began to arrest
                    thousands of people throughout America's major cities. In a period of two days, 5000 people were arrested and 1000
                    jailed.. There was no regard for due process, and the treatment of the prisoners unacceptable.

                    The Red Scare finally came to an end after a series of actions by high government officials, especially in the Justice
                    Department itself, which showed dissent from Palmer's philosophy. Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post began to
                    reject most of the cases brought before him concerning the immigrants. Even the Secretary of Labor himself, William B.
                    Wilson turned against Palmer. Out of 6,000 warrants issued during the raids, less than 1,000 deportations resulted.. Even
                    with all this opposition to his actions, Palmer still aspired to the office of the Presidency. He was never nominated. By
                    1920, the Red Scare was dying down, and by 1921 it was virtually dead. 

                    It is obvious that the Red Scare was a product of World War I and the anti-liberalism that ensued on the homefront. The
                    truth is that Mr. Palmer did not really cause the Red scare, he only participated in it. 

                    What is known as the Red Scare of 1919-1921 set precedent to the witch hunts of the McCarthy era, where he accused
                    two presidents (Dwight D. eisenhower was even a member of his own party) of being Communists Even today, many
                    lessons can and have been learned from this experience. The main lesson learned is that the freedom of expression and of
                    thought is so important, that if it is taken away, in particular by the government, justice cannot be either carried out or
                    achieved. 

                    Since the McCarthy era, nothing like the Red Scare has ever occurred in American society or government. People have
                    become very cautious not to repeat the mistakes of the past, especially ones so rediculous as the deportation of
                    immigrants for their political beliefs. But the question remains as to whether America will always remember this episode of
                    the early 1920's, or will she simply forget it and make the same mistakes over and over again. Perhaps Albert Einstein
                    said it most eloquently in an interview on December 30, 1930... I never think of the future, It comes soon enough..

                    Bibliography

                    I. The Pocket Book of Quotations: Henry Davidoff, Pocket Books, New York, N.Y.

                    II. Into the Twenties: Burl Noggle, University of Illinois Press, Chicago, Illinois

                    III. The American Heritage History of the 1920's & 1930's: Ralph K. Andrist, American Heritge Books, New York,
                    N.Y.

                    IV. Outgrowing Democracy: John Lukacs, Doubleday and Company, Inc. , New York

                     . Source I, p. 423
                     . Source IV, p. 33
                     . Source III, p. 29
                     . Source II, p. 84
                     . Source II, p. 86
                     . Source II, p. 89
                     . Source II, p. 95-96
                     . Source II, p. 102
                     . Source II, p. 105
                     . Opinion taken from all sources except # I
                     . Source II p. 107
                     . Source II p. 107- verification, Cong. Record., 66 Cong., sess. (Dec. 20, 1919), 990ff., 1334
                     . Source II, p. 108
                     . Source III, p. 30
                     . Source II, p. 108
                     . Source II, p. 110
                     . Source I, p. 107