Sacco and Vanzetti
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. The 1920’s was a great
time in America. Business was booming, cars were everywhere, there were
daring new fashions, and happy jazz music to listen and dance to. Despite all
the good things happening, there were some very dark times. During the early
1920’s and there was much tension and fear of foreigners in America.
Foreigners were often associated with communism and anarchism (Stark 1).
These radicals were being deported daily for fear of riots and rebellion. Raids
were led against communists and over 10,000 suspected of communism were
arrested, many times without proper warrants. Also during this time, there
was a string of bank robberies and the police were on the lookout for bandits
that were on the loose. Then on April 15, 1920 two men were shot to death
and $15,766 was stolen. The two murderers were said to be Italian
immigrants (“Sacco and Vanzetti Trial”). In panic, the police searched for
two anarchist Italian immigrants to blame the murder on. Twenty days later,
on May 5, 1920, the unlucky duo of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
were arrested while picking up a car connected with the murder
(“Sacco-Vanzetti Case”). The two men were tried and found guilty under
circumstantial evidence (Stark 1). There was obvious proof that witnesses
were lying and that Sacco and Vanzetti could not have committed the
murders, but because the trial was filled with such hatred toward the foreign
radicals, they were sentenced to the electric chair. Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti were the victims of an unfair trial based upon their
background and beliefs.
It is important to know just who Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were.
Bartolomeo Vanzetti when arrested was“[…] 34 years old. He was a student
and a prize scholar in a Catholic School in Italy, and came to this country at
the age of 20. He is a philosophical anarchist and was described as a dreamer
and idealist type. He is a frequent contributor to Italian radical papers, and
once wrote that as a result of reading St. Augustine and “the Divine
Comedy,” “humanity and equality of rights began to afflict my heart”” (Stark
2). Vanzetti’s occupations in America were fish peddler and a casual laborer
(1). Vanzetti seems like a harmless citizen. He was described as “a dreamer,”
basically saying he would never commit a crime. He believed strongly in
what he believed in, but did not look like a person that would cause any
problems.
Nicola Sacco when arrested was “[…] 28 years old. He came to this country
at the age of 17 and learned the trade of edge trimmer in a shoe factory. His
employers gave him a good character. He named his son Dante “because
Dante is a great man in my country.” In his spare time he took part in strike
agitations and in radical meetings.” Sacco also seems like a good person. He
was a hard worker and took what he could from life. He had a strong
remembrance for his home country, and that would make ...
