Critical Thinking 20-1 #3

In the decade following Wold War One, Americans began to show a fear of people who were from foreign countries and of people who had beliefs that were different from those of the majority. These fears were caused not only by the war, but also by the Russian Revolution and the idea of communism. The new Russian government had promised that it would stir up revolutions in other countries, so that communism could be spread throughout
the world. The fear of such a revolution in the U.S. was known as the "Red Scare."
Americans, afraid of having their country taken over by communists, reacted in unjustifiable ways. Some groups' reactions violated civil rights or broke laws. They would break into houses, accuse people of crimes, deport them without trials, and in some cases even killed people. The targets of such attacks were foreigners, immigrants, anarchists, communists, socialists, and some other minorities. Most of the attacks on these people could not be justified by the Red Scare. One example is the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants, who also happened to be anarchists. The two men were accused of murder, but there was little evidence against them, and they both claimed to be innocent and had alibis. However, when a witness said that the murderers looked Italian, Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to die in the electric chair. Another problem was the rise in power of the Ku Klux Klan, which used the Red Scare as an excuse to commit acts of violence against minorities. Other effects of the scare included limiting immigration and the disapproval of unions, which were seen as communist organizations.
The attacks on minorities because of the Red Scare were completely unjustified. It made little sense to save the country's freedom by violating civil rights and unreasonably killing or deporting people. Also, people who were in the country for a while were not necessarily likely to want to overthrow the government. Although, Americans were reasonably frightened by communist threats and other problems facing their country, their reactions were unfair and overly extreme.