Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids were U.S. government arrests and deportation campaigns in 1919–1920 against suspected radicals, especially anarchists and communists. Conducted without adequate warrants or due process, they became a prominent example of civil-liberties violations during the First Red Scare.

First Red Scare: A period of intense U.S. fear of radical political movements, especially communism and anarchism, after the First World War. The raids were the federal government’s most visible response to this wider panic.
Russian Revolution: The 1917 revolutions that overthrew Russia’s monarchy and brought the Bolsheviks to power. The revolution intensified U.S. fears that radical upheaval could spread beyond Russia.
A. Mitchell Palmer: A U.S. attorney general who directed the federal raids against suspected radicals in 1919 and 1920. His Justice Department organized the raids, and he defended them as necessary to protect the country.
Deportation of the Buford: The 1919 deportation of 249 noncitizens, many associated with the Union of Russian Workers, aboard the USAT Buford. The voyage became the raids’ most conspicuous mass deportation.
General Intelligence Division: A U.S. Justice Department unit created in 1919 to investigate radical political organizations. J. Edgar Hoover’s division gathered information used to identify targets for the raids.
Seattle General Strike: A five-day general strike in Seattle in February 1919 involving tens of thousands of workers. The strike fed contemporary claims that labor unrest signaled revolutionary radicalism.
J. Edgar Hoover: An American law-enforcement official who led the Justice Department’s General Intelligence Division beginning in 1919. Hoover compiled intelligence on radical groups and helped coordinate enforcement.
Abrams v. United States: A 1919 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding convictions for antiwar leaflets under the Espionage Act. Its prosecution of dissent reflected the climate of repression surrounding the raids.
Warrants of arrest: Legal orders authorizing law enforcement to arrest named individuals. Many raid arrests proceeded without warrants that adequately identified individuals or established legal grounds.
1919 United States anarchist bombings: A series of bomb attacks in the United States in 1919, including attempts on government officials. Bombings targeting officials, including Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, sharpened the case for raids.

Linked from 10 pages