Source: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/red.html
Alexander Mitchell Palmer was born May 4, 1872 in Moosehead, Luzerne County, Pa. The Palmer family was native to Monroe County, having descended from Obadiah Palmer, a Quaker and early settler who worked for the Stroud Family.
Palmer Raids were between 1918-1921. A great deal of social conflict happened during 1919, prohibition, woman suffrage, and the Chicago race riot. Bombings went off in Summer of June 2, 1919 in eight different cities that destroyed many homes. Palmer's men suspected self professed Communists responsible for a wide range of social ills including the bombings. Without warning or warrants Palmer and his men smashed union offices and the headquarters' of Communist and Socialist organizations. The Red Scare, the most famous act in December 1919, Palmer's agents seized 249 resident aliens which were placed on a ship, the Buford, bound for the Soviet Union. The "Red Scare" reflected how there was anxiety about free speech that had to do with the war years. There were two documents about two men who didn't get their rights. One, a Connecticut clothing salesmen was sentenced to six month in jail for simply saying Lenin was smart. Also, a Chicago sailor shot another man just for failing to rise during the national anthem. The Red Scare shows how quickly legal rights can succumb to hysterical rhetoric and also public fear. Several thousand immigrants were arrested and several hundreds were deported.
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