Beginning in the early nineteenth century there were massive waves of These "new" immigrants were largely from Italy, Russia, andIreland. There was a mixed reaction to these incoming foreigners. Whilethey provided industries with a cheap source of labor, Americans were bothafraid of, and hostile towards these new groups. They differed from the"typical American" in language, customs, and religion. Many individuals andindustries alike played upon America's fears of immigration to further theirown goals. Leuchtenburg follows this common theme from the beginning ofWorld War I up until the election of 1928. If there was one man who signally used America's fear of immigrants toadvance his own political goals it was Attorney General Palmer. The rise ofCommunism in Russia created a fear of its spread across Europe, and toAmerica. Palmer tied this fear to that of immigration. He denounced laborunions, the Socialist party, and the Communist party in America, as beinginfiltrated with radicals who sought to overturn America's political,economic, and social institutions. Palmer exasperated this fear in Americansand then presented himself as the country's savior, combating the evils ofCommunism. He mainly centered his attack on Russian immigrants. During theinfamous Palmer raids thousands of aliens were deported and even more werearrested on little or no evidence. Their civil liberties were violated,they were not told the reasons for their arrests, denied counsel, and notgiven fair trials. What followed was an investigation of Palmer led by LouisPost, which overturned many of Palmer's actions. Palmer's credibility wasshattered after in a last minute attempt to gain the 1920 presidentialnomination, he made predictions about a May Day radical uprising, the nationprepared itself, but on May 1st 1920 all was peaceful. While the raids hadstopped, the hostilities towards immigrants still remained prevalent.Immigrants were used by organized industries as ...
