1920s Decade in Review

Dear Editor,

Thank you for being a good editor. It was an interesting piece and it made me very excited reading it. I realize

your frustrations with the females and the way they are dressing these days. As a female editor like yourself, I

think that you are only seeing one side of this issue. You say that it is wrong in the way they are dressing and

that it is very discriminating to women, but in my mind I think it is just a way of expressing themselves. I think

there is nothing wrong with this revealing clothing and it makes me happy to finally seeing girls setting them-

selves apart from others. Thank you for your opinion about the “flappers”. It was fun to hear another side of the

topic.

Thanks,

Person responding.

Dear Editor,

Subject: The Harlem Renaissance

For the jitterbug, jazz is an orgy of epileptic exhibitionism. For the casual collegian or cafe socialite it

is a moony, soothing stimulus to social pleasures. To a third, and smaller group of jazz fans, good

jazz is a serious art with its own history, traditions and standards of criticism.

Centered in New York’s Harlem district, Blacks trumpeted the role of the “New Negro” as being as-

sertive and proud of their African heritage. Jazz began in New Orleans as a mixture of rhythmic Afri-

can drumbeats and European instruments making it a uniquely American music.

It moved with the migration of African Americans from the south to cities in the north and then

around the world in the past few years. Famous jazz musicians over the past few years include Louis

Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton.

There were a lot of lasting effects that Jazz had on America. Harlem became popular and lively,

many whites flocked to the music clubs and some adopted the music themselves. It established a

growing sense of black pride in the United States.

Thanks,

Person responding

TOP LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FROM THE DECADE

Page 2

LIFE MAGAZINE

To the editor:

I wanted to give praise to this current magazine issue. After reading through all of events that

happened in the 1920s, it was really great to sit there and reminisce about those times. You did an ex-

cellent job of covering all of the major topics that occurred in the 20s. But my favorite by far, was the

article about the Red Scare. The article was extremely detailed and it captured the intense feeling that

the citizens of the United States were feeling at that time.

Thanks,

Person responding.

Whose country is this, anyhow?

That was a frequently asked question

when the Red Scare was in effect a few

years ago. The Government orchestrated

organized attacks on the radicals, immi-

grants and other foreigners which be-

came known as the “Red Scare.” Attor-

ney General A. Mitchell Palmer organ-

ized thousands of federal, state, and lo-

cal officials to deport the so-called

“reds.”

A small portion of radicals sought

to destroy political order and promote

anarchy. There were various radical

groups that wanted to change the politi-

cal structure of the U.S. The commu-

nists promoted the end of private prop-

erty to common ownership of property.

The socialists promoted government

ownership of property.

The anarchists promoted no rules

at all. And the pacifists were opposed to

war. During 1919 and 1920 the radicals

delivered a series of bombs to political

officials’ homes and offices nationwide.

This caused public hysteria against all

communist and radicals.

In 1920 a massive bomb killed 33

people and injured 200 others on Wall

Street, the U.S. symbolic center of capi-

talism. In 1919 Attorney General A.

Mitchell Palmer’s house was bombed.

General Palmer led raids against the

radicals.

In 1921, the Johnson Act limited

immigration from Southern and Eastern

Europe by placing limits on the annual

immigration of any given nationality to

THE RED SCARE

Page 3

By: Navya Kondetti

3% of the number of immigrants

from that nation living in the U.S. in

1910.

In 1924, the National Origins Act

limited the annual number of immigrants

who could be admitted from any country

to 2% of the number of people from that

country who are currently living the

United States. The Act halted

“undesirable “immigration by quotas.

During the 1880s up until the

World War I, over eighteen million people

immigrated to America. President Wilson

inflamed anti-foreign sentiment warning

“citizens…born under our flags [inject]

the poison of disloyalty.”

The U.S. placed many restrictions on immigrants and

this is a political cartoon from the time showcasing the

restrictions

Page 4

LIFE MAGAZINE

In this article, you will see answers

to various questions that our readers have

asked us. We have invited a member of a

labor union to help us answer these ques-

tions, due to the fact that they fully under-

stand everything that there is to know

about the labor unions.

Q: We know that in 1919, a very big

controversy started and it had to do

with labor unions. Can you elaborate

on what happened?

A: In 1919, that is when a lot of labor un-

ion members had strikes and protested

against the wage cuts, the long hours, and

the fact that they didn’t get paid for work-

ing overtime.

Q: Do you know any specifics about

this?

A: If I recall correctly, there were roughly

4 million workers that went on strike. I

believe they held around 3,600 strikes.

Q: Wow, those are some big numbers.

So did any of these strikes work?

A: Unfortunately, they weren’t as effec-

tive as we hoped. Many of the times, the

companies refused to listen and the gov-

ernment would just have to send out

troopers in order to end out strikes.

Q: I also know that the labor union’s

membership decreased around that

time. Why is that?

A: Well, a lot of members ended up leav-

ing after they realized that these strikes

were not working. We lost about 1.6 mil-

lion members.

Q: I know that communism has some-

thing to do with this. Can you talk

about that?

A: Well, since many of the people in the

labor unions were foreigners, we caused a

lot of fear among the people of America.

The Americans were scared that the for-

eigners were actually communist trying to

take over America.

Q: Tell me some about a specific labor

union.

A: Well, one very big labor union that

most everybody has heard about is the

American Civil Liberties Union. These

people are against Anti-Immigration Acts

which reduce the number of immigrants

coming into America to a tiny amount.

This angered a lot of people. A big con-

troversy was also the Palmer Raids,

which people felt like the foreigners were

being treated unfairly because they were

foreigners. So the ACLU’s job is to pro-

tect these people in court to ensure that

they are being tried fairly.

If you have any further questions,

please find our address on this magazine

and mail them in. We are really glad that

this member was able to share with us

some of his inside knowledge about labor

unions. Once again, if you have any fur-

ther questions, please mail them in.

LABOR UNIONS

Page 5

By: Kimberly Lu

One of the biggest struggles of the

decade was the fight against alcohol. Be-

ginning at the end of the last decade, this

battle has continued and appears as if it’s

going to go on into the next decade as

well. Prohibition, a widely debated issue,

has left many people questioning whether

the 18th Amendment has had the desired

effect.

The Temperance Movement began

when women started noticing the negative

effects alcohol had on families. Social re-

form groups were formed, mainly com-

posed of white, middle class women, who

believed that alcohol was tearing families

apart by causing men to be violent, unem-

ployed, and economically and morally

bankrupt.

The movement began to grow, and

starting in 1916, many states supported

prohibition and in 1919, the 18th Amend-

ment was ratified, outlawing the manufac-

ture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating

liquors. In January of 1920, to start off

this decade, the 18th Amendment became

effective and police officers and govern-

ment officials began enforcing the law.

Although prohibition has banned

the manufacture, sale, and transportation

of alcohol, it is not illegal to buy, possess,

or consume. Regardless of the 18th

Amendment, people have still found ways

of acquiring alcohol. Some of the most

popular include: speakeasies, bootleggers,

moonshine, and doctor’s prescriptions.

Smuggling alcohol in from neighboring

countries, such as Canada and the Baha-

mas, has also been occurring, but it’s a

riskier option and a messier business to

get involved in. Al Capone, one of the

most commonly heard names throughout

the decade, is a gangster known for smug-

gling in alcohol. He gained major public-

ity this year after the St. Valentine’s Day

Massacre in February, when 7 men were

killed. Al Capone was suspected to be be-

hind the murders of the men, who hap-

pened to work for George Moran, his rival

in the alcohol smuggling business.

PROHIBIT ION: FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE?

Page 6

LIFE MAGAZINE

By: Maggie Gross

A social reform group advocating for prohibition.

Although Al Capone was suspected

for the crimes, he hasn’t been charged be-

cause of insufficient evidence linking him

to the murders. Currently, Al Capone is in

jail, after being arrested and sentenced to 1

year in prison for carrying concealed

deadly weapons. Although Al Capone has

received lots of media coverage, he hasn’t

been the only one involved in illegal activi-

ties. Since the 18th Amendment, Americans

have seen an increase in fighting and crime

overall, just to acquire alcohol. Many law-

abiding citizens, upset with the crime rates,

have been criticizing the government and

police officers, blaming them for the trou-

bles. The truth of the matter is that prohibi-

tion is hard to enforce, especially when

some law enforcement officers might not

agree with it.

As the decade comes to a close, pro-

hibition is still a hot topic, with many vary-

ing opinions on the issue. It appears as if

Americans are questioning whether prohi-

bition has provided positive changes to so-

ciety, or if the increase in crime and law-

lessness has outweighed the good effects.

Since our last survey in 1926, over 80% of

the public are in favor of repealing the law.

Protests and anti-prohibition groups are be-

coming more frequent, but for now, the 18th

Amendment is still intact. It looks like

Americans will just have to wait to see

what changes the next decade brings!

PROHIBIT ION: FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE?

Page 7

By: Maggie Gross

Al Capone, gangster and alcohol supplier

Police officers posing with the alcohol after a raid.

In the past few years, immigration

to the United States increased. Many

different cultures and people of different

ethnicities came together, merging their

cultural traditions. While multi-

culturalism spread throughout the

United States during the 1920's, animos-

ity among "white" Americans also

grew towards the immigrants. Racism

was horrific in the past few years. By

1925 there were half a million members

in the Ku Klux Klan and lynchings were

commonplace. Non-whites were not re-

spected and segregation was still taking

place.

He heard the smack, followed by

the intense pain along the side of his

face. He sputtered out the blood in his

mouth and gasped for breath. He braced

himself for another hit but instead felt

the ground disappear from underneath

him and his body was slammed down.

Within seconds O’Neil blacked out.

“It started out as just another

warm and sunny day at the beach.”

O’Neil said. “My friends and I were just

joking around. All of a sudden a rock

was thrown at us. We heard laughter and

we saw four white boys throwing rocks

at us. We thought it was funny so we

started avoiding the rock, we thought of

it as a game. They stopped throwing so

we let our guard down. Out of nowhere,

we hear a low thud and Caleb was no-

where to be seen. The water rapidly

turned red and we dove into the water

and found his body at the bottom. We

pulled him out of the water and laid him

down on the sand. There was no re-

sponse from him. He was dead. I looked

over at the other side of the beach and

saw the four guys laughing. Rage flow

through me and I ran across the beach,

crossing the border between us blacks

and them whites.

I threw a punch at the guy who I

thought has thrown the rock. And that’s

what started it. What started off as me

punching one guy, turned into almost

everyone on the beach fighting. And

then the guy punched my face and the

last thing I remembered was the ground

disappearing from underneath me.”

O’Neil grimaced as he finished his

story.

RACIAL PREJUDICES

Page 8

LIFE MAGAZINE

The Ku Klux Klan holds a meeting.

By: Navya Kondeti

In the past few years incidents of ra-

cial violence broke out across the na-

tion. Most often white against blacks,

lynchings usually attracted thousands

of spectators who traveled to the

scenes “waiting for the show to start”.

What happened to O’Neil and his

friends was just one out of many ex-

amples of lynching.

It is on the issue of racial superi-

ority, physical and mental, that all of

mankind bitterly divides. Such value

judgments are largely subjective and

lack any solid scientific foundation,

but that has never stopped men from

making them. The Negro, who reached

the U.S. in bonds, has ever since been

classified in some quarters as a mem-

ber of an intellectually inferior race.

It seems probable that before society

solves the thorny problem of race preju-

dice, advancing science—or even the

continuing evolution of the human spe-

cies—will beat society to it. The

world's population is already three-

fifths colored—that is, other than

white.

Until the world accepts the proposition

that the universality of mankind out-

weighs the differences, speculation

about the meaning of the diversity will

continue. The human physical variety is

self-evident, so is the wide spectrum of

human achievement. It is well-

established that the controlling factors

are cultural and environmental.

Nothing that man has discovered

about himself so far provides any sound

scientific foundation for the conclusion

that one race is innately superior to any

other. No one knows. And the men of

tomorrow, looking back, may wonder

why anyone was ever concerned with

such comparisons.

RACIAL PREJUDICES

Page 9

Colored people were required to use different water

fountains than the white.

By: Navya Kondeti

POLIT ICAL CARTOON OF THE DECADE

Page 10

LIFE MAGAZINE

By: Jordan Herrera

The Scopes Trial, formally

known as The State of Tennessee vs.

Scopes began in 1925. It was ruled on

July 21, 1925, that John Scopes was

guilty; however, due to a technicality,

the verdict was overturned, and the is-

sue was never brought back to trial.

The big controversy began be-

cause of the 24 year old, high school

biology teacher, John Scopes. From the

Butler Act, it was ruled unlawful to

teach evolution to student. However,

John Scopes decided that he was going

to start teaching evolution to his stu-

dents; he did not just randomly decide

this though. Scopes was approached by

the American Civil Liberties Union

(ACLU) to test the limits of the new

Tennessee law. John Scopes agreed to

this and he began teaching his students

the theory of evolution.

Shortly after this incident, a trial

began to argue teaching evolution in

school. William Jennings Bryan, the

former presidential candidate was the

primary witness for this prosecution.

Bryan also did everything in his power

to have this case treated as a constitu-

tional issue in order to question the va-

lidity of evolution on a national scale.

Not only was a former presiden-

tial candidate a part of this trial but the law-

yer on the defensive side, Clarence Darrow,

was also another big name on this trial.

This trial originally wasn’t a big deal, but

since there were multiple celebrities that

were a part of this trial, the public became

more aware of this topic.

During the trial, Darrow, being the

famous lawyer that he was, found a way to

invalidate Bryan’s thoughts. Darrow had

asked Bryan about the miracles of the Bi-

ble, and it caused Bryan to contradict him-

self. However, no matter what Darrow said,

John Scopes was still deemed guilty. But

the people against Scopes and Darrow also

believed that Bryan’s thoughts about faith

over facts were good, but some things were

found to be disappointing. After the final

ruling, it was then decided that Scopes was

no longer guilty or not guilty. 6 years later,

the trial was never brought back to life, so

Scopes remained innocent.

But since William Jennings Bryan

was found to have contradicted his idea

against evolution, it caused the public to

start thinking about evolution. This trial

brought attention to fundamentalism and

science on a national scale. Whereas, be-

fore, no one paid much attention to that the-

ory, it was now being looked at more as a

very big possibility. So in the end, ACLU

was able to bring light to the topic, but they

did not successfully gain the right to teach

it in schools.

THE SCOPES TRIAL

Page 11

By: Kimberly Lu

One of the best movies of this

decade was by far, The Big Parade

(1925).

It was about a young man that

fought in WWI. The movie perfectly

incorporated accurate facts. The

emotions that the actors used were so

powerful that you felt like you were

right there with them in experiencing

the pain and the love.

Then when James Apperson

(the main soldier) has to leave his

new love, the Frenchwoman, the

emotion that the actor portrays is un-

deniably the most realistic of all of

the movies in the 20s. You feel the

pain that he feels, and you feel the

joy that he feels.

If you have not yet seen The

Big Parade, it is an excellent movie

that is highly recommended to every-

one.

MOVIE REVIEW OF THE DECADE

Page 12

LIFE MAGAZINE

By: Kimberly Lu

Page 13

In the 20th century, the US Navy be-

gan to use oil fuel instead of coal because

of its efficiency. This caused a very large

desire for petroleum. Then to make sure

that the US Navy would never

run short of oil, they began oil

reserves. This was done all un-

der President Taft. However, af-

ter the new President Harding

came, and executive order was

issued to have the control of

Teapot Dome transferred to the

Department of Interior.

How do you turn all of

the United States against you

all at one time? If you need any advice, you

can certainly ask President Warren G.

Harding. From 1921-1923, one of the worst

presidents in history was experienced by

the nation.

The Teapot Dome Scandal all started

with a bribe. It included the Secretary of

Interior, Albert B. Fall and the former

president, Warren. G. Harding. Fall began

to give US Navy petroleum reserves to pri-

vate investors. This scandal was known as

the “greatest and most sensational scandal

in the history of American politics”.

At first, when allegations were first

created, everyone believed that Fall was

innocent and without full proof, this story

faded from the public eye. The public then

stopped worrying about the topic, but the

Senate did not stop. Everything that Fall

did seemed legal on the outside, but

deep down, everything that Fall was do-

ing was highly illegal. The leader of the

investigation was Thomas J. Walsh, a

democrat from Montana. He real-

ized that records on these sales

were disappearing. Walsh was suc-

cessful in cracking open the scan-

dal. It was then ruled in court that

the oil reserves were to be right-

fully returned to the Navy.

When this scandal became

public, it wasn’t widely known that

Harding was part of this, but

when evidence proved that

Harding was a part of this scandal, his

public relations plummeted . He single

handedly managed to get all of America

to turn against him.

Not only did President Harding

cause the nation to hate him, he also

caused America to economically and so-

cially disintegrate. If Harding and Fall

hand never had made the mistake of en-

gaging in these acts, then the U.S. could

have potentially been in a better state

than it is.

The Teapot Dome Scandal not

only nationally embarrassed a president,

but it also greatly hurt the United States.

Thanks to President Harding, the citi-

zens of the United States may never

know what it would have been like to be

economically stable.

TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL

Page 14

LIFE MAGAZINE

President Harding

By: Kimberly Lu

Page 15

Page 16

LIFE MAGAZINE

While working as a nurse, Margaret

Sanger got called to a woman’s house.

She was in bad condition after performing

a self-induced abortion and died later that

night. It was the same woman Margaret

Sanger had seen a couple times before,

both for the same problem: a self-

induced, illegal abortion. When the

woman had asked her doctor what she

could do to prevent a pregnancy, the doc-

tor suggested abstinence. Obviously, that

didn’t work out for her and she stuck to

her method of self-induced abortions,

which was a dangerous procedure and

eventually led to her death. Since Marga-

ret was a nurse, she had seen multiple

cases like this, and knew of many women

in the same situation. She knew she

couldn’t stand by and watch women put

their lives in danger anymore, thus her

work began.

A powerful and inspirational

woman, Margaret Sanger, has empowered

and changed the lives of many women

over the past decade. Her books, the

opening of her clinic, and her overall

dedication to educating women has made

her a well respected woman. At a time

when so much is changing for women,

politically and socially, Margaret Sanger

is stepping in and adding her beliefs to

mix, allowing for women to have more

control over their bodies and their futures

with the promotion of birth control. She

believes women should be educated and

allowed to make their own decisions re-

garding birth control, in order to be safe

and protect their health and well-being.

Margaret was one of 18 children and she

saw how her mother’s health deterio-

rated after the birth of each child. She

just wants women to be able to make

smart decisions and have access to birth

control, if that’s what they choose to do.

She has dedicated her life to these

women, facing harsh criticism and judg-

ments from people, as well as being ar-

rested and even jailed for short periods

of time for her work.

Margaret’s work really began back

in 1914 with the publication of a

monthly newsletter called, The Women

Rebel, which promoted birth control.

Following the newsletter, came a few

books, also promoting birth control and

educating women on their bodies and

how to prevent things like an unwanted

pregnancy. The start of this decade also

began with Margaret’s work founding

the American Birth Control League,

whose goal was to educate women on

the dangers of unsafe sex, as well as to

organize and conduct clinics where doc-

tors can give away free birth control to

women. Through research, she found a

loophole in the law, which then allowed

her to open a birth control clinic for

women. It was staffed with entirely fe-

male doctors, so women would be more

WOMEN’S RIGHTS : MARGARET SANGER

By: Maggie Gross

Page 17

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

comfortable coming in for help. It

was the first legal birth control clinic in the

United States and was a huge step for

women’s rights. In 1928, Margaret Sanger

resigned as president from the American

Birth Control League to take full control of

the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau,

which is where she is currently working and

continuing her work advocating for birth

control and women’s rights.

Margaret’s work has opened up

so many doors for women and has given

them a choice that has changed their lives.

Before her work, women could not get birth

control because it was looked down upon

and many men believed that a woman’s sole

purpose was to have and raise children.

Now the times are changing, and attitudes

are too. Women are now more independent

than ever and hold jobs that at one point

only men could have. They are making their

own decisions and have their own personal

beliefs about sex. Without birth control as

an option there are going to be unwanted

pregnancies that either end in dangerous,

self-performed abortions, since it is illegal

to get the procedure done, or a bad upbring-

ing for a child. It is better to prevent the

situation before it even occurs, so that lives

are spared and there isn’t the difficulty of

raising a child that was unplanned. When

talking about education of birth control and

unwanted pregnancies, Margaret says, “It is

a vicious cy-

cle; ignorance

breeds pov-

erty and pov-

erty breeds

ignorance.

There is only

one cure for

both, and that

is to stop

breeding

these things.

Stop bringing

to birth chil-

dren whose inheritance cannot be one of

health or intelligence. Stop bringing into

the world children whose parents cannot

provide for them. Herein lies the key of

civilization. For upon the foundation of an

enlightened and voluntary motherhood

shall a future civilization emerge.”

Within 10 years, Margaret has given

women so much more freedom and control

over their own lives, allowing them to pur-

sue their education and careers without be-

ing held back by children of an unwanted

pregnancy. She takes pride in the fact that

she has given women the power they need

to take ownership of their lives and have

more opportunities than they would have

otherwise had. Margaret cannot help but

think of the difference this would have

made in the woman’s life that she couldn’t

save so many years ago. If she had been

given the option of birth control, she would

still be here today. “I do it for her”, says

WOMEN’S RIGHTS : MARGARET SANGER

By: Maggie Gross

Margaret Sanger

Page 18

LIFE MAGAZINE

THE FINAL COUNT

By: Jordan Herrera

One of the most memorable events of

this decade was the boxing match between

jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney on Septem-

ber 23, 1926. A crowd of 120,000 stood in

Philadelphia to watch this fight. This fight

would be the first of two, but was never for-

gotten.

Tunney had beaten Dempsey by a ten

round unanimous decision to lift the world

heavyweight title three years ago. As all

know, a rematch did happen. Gene Tunney

and jack Dempsey would step into the ring

again one year later. What transpired be-

tween the ropes that day would generate so

much debate and controversy that it will be

forever known as the “the long count.”

The beating that Tunney had adminis-

tered in their first fight was so great and de-

cisive, that Dempsey would have to fight an-

other ranked heavyweight in order to prove

himself worthy of another title shot. Jack

Sharkey, a top contender whose most note-

worthy victory was over harry wills, was

chosen as Dempsey’s opponent. The two met

in Yankee stadium on July 21, 1927.

Dempsey attacked the body viciously,

and in the seventh round landed a punch that

Sharkey claimed to be low. As Sharkey

turned to the referee to protest, Dempsey

connected with a smashing left hook that

sent his opponent crashing to the canvas for a

10 count. Despite Sharkey’s protests, the

referee upheld the decision.

For those who believed the three year

layoff had much to do with Dempsey’s per-

formance in the first fight, the fight did not

get off to a promising start. Dempsey

was easily kept at bay by Tunney’s jabs and

counterpunching. Despite Dempsey’s best

efforts, the fight was progressing much the

same as the previous one. Dempsey looked

sluggish slow and was being totally out-

classed by the superior boxer for the first six

rounds of the fight. Blow after blow con-

nected against Tunney’s chin until the cham-

pion finally collapsed onto the ground.

As Tunney struggled to regain his

composure, the crowd roared in anticipation

of seeing Dempsey crowned the first ever

two time heavyweight champion. There was

only one problem: the referee wasn’t issuing

a count. Once he knocked Tunney down,

Dempsey refused to go to a neutral corner.

By the time the referee had ushered

Dempsey refused to go to a neutral corner.

and began his count, the ringside timekeeper

had already reached the count of five. Tun-

ney rose to his feet as the referee reached the

count of nine, but it had actually been 14 sec-

onds since the champion was knocked down.

Much controversy arose from this be-

cause it gave Tunney a chance to recover and

come back to win the fight. The excitement

and shock that resulted from the seventh

round knockdown was enough to cause one

radio listener to have a heart attack. This was

that fans, final count. Boxing has been

known to injure people but this was the first

death resulting from a boxing match.

In one of the biggest trials of the decade,

The People of Massachusetts vs. Sacco and Van-

zetti, two men were convicted and sentenced to

death because of a robbery that resulted in the

death of a paymaster and a guard at a factory. In

August of 1927, Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo

Vanzetti, both Italian immigrants, were put to

death by electric chair.

Suspicions surrounding their arrest, as well

as comments made by people presiding over the

case give reason for concern. Sacco and Vanzetti

were arrested because of subscriptions to an anar-

chist newspaper; not because they were at the

scene of the crime. However, the fact that the two

men were both carrying guns at the time of the ar-

rest and could not come up with a written alibi,

helped the prosecution’s case. Judge Webster

Thayer, who supported the suppression of radical

speech, and Attorney General Palmer, served on

the case. Even after 6 years of protests and ap-

peals, they refused to retry the case, believing that

Sacco and Vanzetti “deserved no consideration”.

Because these men were Italian immigrants, anar-

chists, and had protested the Palmer raids, they

faced harsh judgments and criticisms in court.

Walter Ripley, foreman for the jury, said that re-

gardless of the men’s actual innocence or guilt,

“Damn them, they ought to hang anyway.”

Although there were some valid suspicions

surrounding the robbery and murder, Sacco and

Vanzetti’s rights were violated in court. There was

a lot of questionable material presented against the

men, such as ballistics evidence and a hat found at

the crime scene. When trying to match Sacco’s

gun shells to the artillery found at the scene of the

crime, witness reports suggest that bullets were

switched in order to indicate a match. There was

also some confusion when trying to match Van-

zetti’s gun to the crime because the bullets fired at

the guard were a different caliber than the bullets

in Vanzetti’s gun. Some possibilities of Vanzetti

stealing the guard’s gun were given, and although

there was never enough support to back it up,

the jury believed it. The last piece of evidence

was a hat found at the scene of the crime, which

was claimed to be Sacco’s. Witness reports state

that when he tried it on in court, the hat was too

small for his head, but the prosecution insisted

that it fitted and belonged to Sacco. Further-

more, no witnesses could truly clarify that it was

Sacco and Vanzetti that they saw at the scene of

the crime. Despite all these gaping holes in the

evidence, Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced

anyway, suggesting alternate motives for the

conviction.

The derogatory statements made by the

judges and attorney serving on the case suggest

that a big part of the conviction was due to the

men’s background. Because of previous bomb-

ings and the Red Scare there was a hatred of im-

migrants and radicals. During the last hearing in

April 1927, Bartolommeo Vanzetti said, “I

would not wish to a dog or to a snake, to the

most low and misfortunate creature of the earth–

I would not wish to any of them what I have had

to suffer for things that I am not guilty of. But

my conviction is that I have suffered for things

that I am guilty of. I am suffering because I am a

radical and indeed I am a radical; I have suffered

because I am an Italian and indeed I am an Ital-

ian...if you could execute me two times, and if I

could be reborn two other times, I would live

again to do what I have done already.”

The rights of Nicola Sacco and Bar-

tolommeo Vanzetti were violated during the

trial. Two, potentially innocent men, were pre-

sumed guilty and given an unfair reputation be-

fore even stepping foot in court, due to their na-

tionality. Two lives could have been saved if the

men had been given a fair chance and had all

their rights. If immigrant hatred doesn’t stop

now, how many more lives are we going to

lose?

THE SACCO VANZETTI TR IAL : V IOLATED OF THEIR RIGHTS , UNFAIR TRIAL AND EXECUTION

Page 19

By: Maggie Gross