“Red Scare” in the United States

The “Red Scare” … “occurred throughout the United States following the First World War. The ideas of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia had spread throughout Europe, and some perceived these ideas as a threat to this country as well, especially as economic conditions quickly deteriorated after the war’s end in November 1918. Increasing inflation, high unemployment, widespread labor strife, and a severe housing shortage, combined with nationalistic feelings stirred during and after the war, led to a strong distrust of pacifists, political radicals, liberals, and foreigners who did not support the war or traditional American economic and political values. The recent influx of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, as well as the movement of blacks to northern cities, also were seen by many people as a growing economic threat.” (1)

“The committee’s investigation responded to (and contributed to) the “Red Scare”. … Labor strikes, bombings of government officials’ homes and offices by suspected radicals, and other events occurring throughout the country in 1919 led many New Yorkers to support the (Lusk Committee) legislature in its investigation of the activities of socialists, communists, anarchists, left-wing labor groups, and others suspected of undermining the American way of life.” (2)

See Also

Lusk Committee
Lusk Committee Report

Notes

1. The Lusk Committee: A Guide to the Records of the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities: A Guide to the Records Held in the New York State Archives. New York State Archives.
2. Id.