In the first document, A. Mitchell Palmer, attacks the “Reds” and explains the menace of communism. His purpose is to describe the importance of cleaning up the country of any virile legislation. Although he did not specially define “good Americanism” in his article, Palmer does discuss a major threat to the American society; communism. First, he discusses that the “Reds” are criminal aliens and secondly, that the American government must prevent crime. So, he decided that there could be no nice distinctions drawn between the theoretical ideals of the radicals and their actual violations of our national laws. He said, “This is no place for the criminal to flourish, nor will he do so, so long as the rights of common citizenship can be exerted …show more content…
To prevent a communistic society, the United States began arresting and deporting the “alien enemies” (“Reds”) back to Germany. By getting rid of the alien enemies, Palmer believed the American society would remove the menace of Bolshevism for good. Although some modern day countries practice communism, it no longer poses a threat to our democratic society. In communist societies, freedom of speech, press, and religion is suppressed beyond the wildest imaginations of Americans who only know such freedoms. Today, Americans would not stand to have their freedoms suppressed, let alone taken away. In Hiram Evans’ The Klan's Fight for Americanism, he describes the three vital elements to achieve “good Americanism” that fulfill the aspirations and justify the heroism of the men who made the nation. has been an essential part of Americanism ever since the days of Roanoke and Plymouth Rock. They are condensed into the Klan slogan: “Native, white, Protestant supremacy.” The three elements include patriotism, loyalty to the white race, and the supremacy of Protestantism. According to Evans, these elements had been an essential part of Americanism ever since the days of Roanoke and Plymouth Rock and are condensed …show more content…
34 of the U.S. Army. Korematsu was not excluded from the military area because of his race; he was excluded because America was at war with the Japanese. Authorities feared an invasion of the West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security measures. As a result, the military demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry be segregated from the West Coast temporarily. This order drew much controversy and questioned whether it violated the Constitution. According to Felix Frankfurter, it was an offense for Korematsu to be found in Military Area No. 1, the territory where in he was previously living. Frankfurter argued the provisions of the Constitution which confer on the Congress and the President powers to enable this country to wage war are as much part of the Constitution as provisions looking to a nation at peace. Therefore, the validity of action under the war power should be judged wholly in the context of war, not racism. He said, “I find nothing in the Constitution which denies to Congress the power to enforce such a valid military order by making its violation an offense triable in the civil courts” (Supreme Court...). On the opposing side, Justice Frank Murphy issued a statement saying that the exclusion of Japanese “falls into the ugly abyss of racism”
In the 1950’s the Second Red Scare also referred to as McCarthyism was in full swing. Fearful of communist overtaking the United States almost everyone, including educators were scrutinized and affected. In the letter “To Dr. William Ross”, Katherine Porter is responding directly to Dr. Ross and his request for an Oath of Allegiance as a condition of her employment at Colorado State University. She is writing during a time when refusal to sign such an oath, often resulted in denial or loss of employment, and destruction of careers. In “To Dr. William Ross”, Katherine Porter effectively uses logos, ethos and pathos to support her claims, and persuade her audience that an oath of allegiance is not necessary for one to be loyal and allegiant to their country.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were regarded as a threat to the U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, also know as the Exclusion Order. This Order stated that any descendents or immigrants from enemy nations who might be a threat to U.S. security will report to assembly centers for Internment. There were no trials or hearings. They were forced to evacuate and many lost their homes and their businesses. Fred Korematsu refused to go. He was a U.S. citizen. Fred Korematsu was grabbed by police, handcuffed, and taken to jail. His crime -- defying President Franklin Roosevelt's order that American citizens of Japanese descent report to internment camps
The birth of the early 20th century gave way to many political changes around the world such as the emergence of communism as a new way to govern countries. The Soviet Union was the first country to convert to this way of governing through the Russian Revolution in 1917. With the rise of the Bolsheviks party, a small socialist party who supported the working class more than the upper class, as an outcome to this revolution many countries were inspired to follow their footsteps. One such country was China. As China fell imperially in 1911, the Chinese Communist party emerged, reflecting the same values as its inspiration by organizing the country’s urban-working class. With the invasion of Japan, China’s enemy, in 1937 the CCP’s internal opposition,
In the beginning of McCarthy’s political career, he was already walking on thin ice. He launched a series of charges against the government. The first charge was against the communist global apparatus. McCarthy said that the organization had made a sustained attempt to penetrate the United States government and attempt to subvert its foreign policy decisions. The second charge was against the United States government itself. McCarthy said that the official defenses against foreign penetration ranged from weak to nonexistent. The third and final charge was against the government of America, ...
Therefore, establishing anti-Bolshevism in the United States was Robert F. Kelley’s mission. Kelley an Irish Catholic trained by Russian refugees ran the Eastern European Affairs division in the State Department (Leffler, The Specter of Communism, 19). Kelley’s intense dislike for the Bolsheviks demands that his aides join actively in his views. One of his service officers is George F. Kennan who joins in the close observation of Bolshevik destabilizing and expansionist activities that cause unrest in Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba, Spain and Greece (Leffler, The Specter of Communism, 19). Was Kennan’s containment strategy thinking set off with Kelley’s training? Was Kennan’s awareness of the ongoing Russian Communist activities the basis for his ideas? History proves that George Kennan’s ideas on containment were the basis of NSC-68 and...
In summary, Korematsu v. United States (1944), opinion can be seen as one of great historical importance. The reason it is so important is because of the differences in the Judges racial classifications, and personal values. Another important factor in this case is the requirements of military requirement and the Fifth Amendment of equal protection. This case shows the importance of interpreting the Constitution and the different ways that the Constitution can be interpreted depending upon a persons own political backgrounds and beliefs.
American intelligence was aware of the Soviet position and justification of expansionism. Further, the Soviets had made it clear that socialism and capitalism could never be harmonious which lead to U.S. to garner public support for the Cold War. Document 4, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) testimony by J Edgar Hoover features allegations of Soviet threats to the the U.S. and provides a clear illustration of how the United States government set about shaping public opinion of the dangers of Communist Party by 1947.Within Document 4, highly respected crime fighter, FBI director J.Edgar Hoover articulates reasons why and the details of how and why communism should be found and rooted out of government. Hoover's testimony and statement to the HUAC became the platform from which cooperation, investigation and prosecution of communism had it’s earliest formal roots. More importantly, however, Hoover's testimony lead to America's heightened awakening to the threat of communism as well pushing an institutionalization of an anti-communism network. Details of prosecutions in the 1949 Smith Act trial are found in Document 10 and these details illustrate the extent to which Hoover’s testimony and statement paved the way for such far reaching prosecutions. Government prosecutors made great strides in connecting illegal acts of communism to the subversion of United States laws and Violation of the Smith Act throughout this
In "The Klan's Fight for Americanism," the Klan's Grand Wizard Hiram Evans believed the only people entitled to American membership are the "pioneers" that founded it, the white Nordic race. He states in his manifesto the general frustration of the Nordic whites being uncomfortable with the integration of other races and the liberal organizations being formed who support them. "To understand the Klan, then, it is necessary to understand the character and present mind of the mass of old-stock Americans." (Doc 4) The new immigrants also brought turmoil to the "old-stock Americans" by practicing Catholicism and not conforming to white Protestant methods of traditional living. One cannot be loyal to the white race if they do not match the traditions of America and conforming to Protestantism, "which has been an essential part of Americanism ever since the days of Roanoke and Plymouth Rock." (Doc 4) This was a radical way of protest, another way they described it was eugenics, or selective breeding.
Another one of the three worst decisions made by the Supreme Court was the decision in of Korematsu v. United States. Aspirationalism was also not used in this case and that shows the dangers of excluding it. Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt commanded that all people of Japanese descent living on the west coast be subjected to a curfew. Japanese Americans were restricted by Executive Order No. 9066 and could not be out past 8pm nor before 6am. Following that, Roosevelt and Congress ordered that Japanese Americans be placed in detention camps because of the fear that they would become spies for Japan. Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American, was arrested for violating Executive Order No. 9066 by being out past curfew.
The apparent spread of communism caused many to question the government’s policy of non-intervention in foreign affairs. A counselor in the United States Embassy in Moscow, George Kennan, introduced the policy of containment which said that America needed to stop the spread of communism and that it would eventually die out so long as it did not broaden. Not only were the American people scared of the spread of communism, but the United States government believed that communist nations would spread like falling dominoes if even one country in a region began enacting socialist policies.
Schmidt, Regin. Red Scare: FBI and the Origins of Anticommunismin the United States, 1919-1943. Denmark: Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum P, 2000.
Within the early and mid-1900s, there were several moments in American history in which we feared that our democracy would be overridden by communist influence and infiltrated by communist groups. These two events were labeled the Red Scare, a time in which “reds”; or communists, were feared to be taking an active participation and role within our democratic government. The first Red scare occurred in the early 1919-1924 after the First World War and the second Red Scare occurred after the World War Two between 1947-1954. Both events, while happening in two totally different eras, carried effects that would impact American society for several future generations and impact the racial prejudice treatment towards those who carried communist beliefs and believed in a supremacist government.
There is a long-running debate about whether communism or capitalism is preferable and shows more of beneficial aspects. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations. While communism is a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by the state. The principle of capitalism is if one is successful and hardworking will keep improve and progress in life. While the principle of communism is to keep all the people the same, a lot of people may say that this is a good thing but when talking about real life this would add laziness and demotivation because hardworking people would gain the same credit as lazy people. Capitalism and communism are the two main economic systems that are used by governments nowadays. Obviously capitalism is a much better economic system to be used by a state; practical uses and statistical facts qualify capitalism as much more successful. Also, capitalism is more beneficial to the state, common citizens, and business owners. It would be very useful to test the two systems according to practical uses of the two systems on states and monitor which states succeeded and which states failed.
George Bancroft the first well known American historian in the nineteenth century followed this perspective to weave the “great patriotic myth” of the founding of America and its rise to a blossoming world power. In this era when the country was experiencing tremendous growth both in population and territory, many few that the expression of a unique national identity was needed to bind the widely diversified and rapidly growing population with the ideals of American republicanism. This vision of course neglects the fact that w...
There were many events that lead up to the Bolshevik Revolution. First off, in 1848, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels published a thought-provoking book. The Communist Manifesto expressed their support of a world in which there was no difference in class. A world in which the workers and commoners ran the show and there was no high and supreme ruler. Many intellectual Russians began to become aware of this pamphlet as well as the advanced state of the world compared to Russia. Other countries were going through an industrial revolution, while the Czars had made it clear that no industrial surge was about to happen in Russia. The popularity of the Czars further went down hill as Nicolas II’s poor military and political decisions caused mass losses in World War I. Eventually, the citizens could take no more and began a riot in St. Petersburg that led to the first Russian Revolution of 1917.