The+Red+Scare+of+1919-1920

**Bombing Scares** Hostility already was building towards communism and other organizations seen as Red. This hostility was increased after a terrorist plot was foiled. Thirty-six bombs addressed to prominent anti-socialist and financial officials were discovered set to arrive on May first 1919. This date was the socialist labor day, and therefore many saw this as the Reds attempting to spread anarchy. These bombs were addressed to such people as Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, Senator Thomas W. Hardwick, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan. Further bombings continued throughout the Red Scare. Palmer's summer home was bombed and destroyed in June 1919, along with several other locations. The worst of the disasters occurred, however, on September 16, 1920. An explosion outside the New York Stock exchange killed 31 people and injured hundreds.

Inspired by the agitation against Reds, bombing scares, and strikes; Attorney General Palmer launched a campaign against the Reds known as the Palmer Raids. This campaign attempted to arrest and deport thousands of Reds from America to the Soviet Union through the use of the Espionage and Sedition Acts. Headed by J. Edgar Hoover of the Justice Department's General Intelligence Division; the Palmer Raids began on November 7th, the second anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. This first raid arrested 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists of which 249 were deported. These raids continued into January of 1920 where 6,000 people were arrested with suspicion of communist ties, and five socialist members of the New York legislature were expelled.
 * [[image:arrest.jpg width="324" height="271" align="left"]]Palmer Raids**

Originally called the SS Mississippi, the USS Buford was originally a transport ship built in 1891 to carry passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. It was renamed the USAT Buford at the beginning of the Spanish American War and was used as a transport ship. However, in 1919, the Buford was transferred to the navy and was designated for use for forced deportation. It was nicknamed the Soviet Ark by the press because it transported Reds across the Atlantic. After the first of the Palmer Raids, the Soviet Ark delivered around 250 Reds as a "Christmas present" to the Soviet Union. As these deportations became more frequent, the press began to call for a second Soviet Ark, however the Red Scare ended before this was required.
 * USS Buford**