Red Summer essays

Red Summer essays The Red Scare is about the period in the history of the United States immediately following WWI. The dates are approximately from the Armistice in November of 1918 to the collapse of hyperinflation in 1920. Within these two dates the country witnessednot so much in rapid succession as concurrentlya deadly flu epidemic, a strike wave of unparallel proportions, harsh suppression in some cases of those strikes, race riots, hyper-inflation, mass round-ups and deportations of foreign born citizens, expulsion of duely-elected officials from various offices in government, an incapacitated president, espionage laws, sedition laws and, of course, the advent of Prohibition and women's suffrage. 1919 was characterized by over 3300 strikes and labor violence suddenly erupted in this time. After the war workers had hoped for a better life. The war had brought many industrial employees higher pay, shorter hours, and better working conditions. Many American workers attacked the union activity, in addition inflation was rapidly rising and soon the cost of living was 77 percent higher than before the war. This resulted in workers going on strike. One particular incident was one in Seattle. This strike began with workers who had walked out of their jobs from a shipyard. This began a strike that soon crippled the city. The IWW was the Industrial Workers of the World. This was a group who used strikes, boycotts, and sabotage to get their way. These such tactics added to peoples anxieties. U.S. attorney General Palmer focused on deporting suspected anarchists and communists. This lead to bombings, one that included Palmers porch. Political violence appeared in the form of bombings. One of the worlds worst race riots occurred in Chicago. It all started when a young teenager named Eugene Williams swam in an area located for whites only and was killed by a blow to the head from a rock. After he had drowned from this the pe ...