ABSTRACT
The 1920s, consistent with the previous two decades, saw little decline in heresy hunting. The unfolding drama of the Russian Revolution would continue to nourish the possibility of a secret Bolshevik conspiracy in America, as would other events abroad: revolution in Germany, a communist government installed in Hungary, and profound radical unrest in Poland and Italy. For Americans, a Red scourge was seemingly marching across Europe. Also, to remind the reader, a succession of violent events swept post-war American society: the massive steel strike, IWW-led walkouts, militant miners under the United Mine Workers, as labor abandoned wartime restraints and bloody episodes followed in their wake, viewed by many as evidence of a revolutionary anti-capitalist undercurrent.
