N O T E B O O K
C H A P T E R
G U I D E
26
Understanding Postwar
Tensions
What effects did postwar tensions have on America’s
founding ideals?
K e y
C o n t e n t
T e r m s
As you complete the Reading Notes, use these
Key Content Terms in your answers:
Sacco and Vanzetti
trial
American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU)
Palmer Raids
Anti-Defamation League
(ADL)
Red Scare
quota system
Back-to-Africa movement
• At the time of his arrest, Vanzetti had a flyer in his
pocket advertising an anarchist meeting that evening.
• Both men had been involved in labor strikes.
• The judge in the case, Judge Webster Thayer, was
64 years old and had recently disagreed with a jury
for acquitting an anarchist.
R E A D I N G
N O T E S
Sections 26.2 to 26.5
P R E V I E W
The governor of Massachusetts has summoned you to
testify in a clemency hearing for two convicted deathrow murderers. Governors convene these hearings when
they are considering granting clemency, a pardon or
lessening of a penalty. You will learn more about the
facts of the case and the clemency hearing throughout
the chapter.
1. Set up your notebook as shown below. For each section, write a cause of the postwar tension in the oval.
List three effects of the postwar tension in the corresponding rectangle.
2. In the T-chart, add at least one fact from each section
that could help or hurt Sacco’s and Vanzetti’s chances
for clemency.
1. Read about the upcoming clemency hearing in Section
26.1 and write three important facts about the Sacco
and Vanzetti case in your notebook.
26.2 Emerging Economic Tensions
3. Determine which two facts should most influence the
clemency hearing. Write a paragraph explaining your
choices.
26.3 Rising Labor Tensions
Additional Facts
26.4 Growing Political Tensions
2. Examine the following additional facts.
• At the time of the murder, Sacco was 29, and Vanzetti
was 32.
• Sacco and Vanzetti were both carrying guns at the
time of their arrest.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Causes
Effects
26.5 Increasing Social Tensions
Causes
Effects
•
•
•
•
•
•
Causes
Facts That Help
Sacco’s and Vanzetti’s
Chances for Clemency
Facts That Hurt
Sacco’s and Vanzetti’s
Chances for Clemency
Effects
•
•
•
Causes
Effects
•
26.6 Enduring Racial and
Religious Tensions
Causes
Effects
•
•
•
•
•
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P R O C E S S I N G
Although historians continue to debate the verdict of the
Sacco and Vanzetti case, most agree that it raised fundamental questions about America’s founding ideals during
the postwar period, including, What are the rights of
immigrants? Is there equality before the law? Should
liberty be denied to people who have unpopular political views?
Write a paragraph to submit to Governor Alvan Fuller
and the Lowell Committee. Choose one founding ideal
and describe whether it was advanced or restricted during the postwar period. Explain how the advancement or
restriction of this ideal may have helped or hurt Sacco
and Vanzetti in their trial.
Your paragraph should include
• a clear thesis that states your position.
• two pieces of evidence that support your topic
sentence.
• an explanation of how each piece of evidence
supports your topic sentence.
America’s Founding Ideals
equality, rights, liberty, opportunity, democracy
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Role Cards
Role Card 1: The Lowell Committee
Your group represents members of the Lowell Committee. You will run the clemency hearing by asking
witnesses from six groups a set of questions. Follow
these instructions to conduct the hearing:
Step 1: Decide who will represent Governor Alvan
Fuller. Governor Fuller will start the hearing, call
witnesses, and announce the final verdict.
Step 2: Determine who will examine each witness.
Each group member should examine at least one
witness. When a witness is called, ask him or her
the corresponding questions below.
Step 3: When your teacher tells you to begin the
hearing, Governor Fuller should make the following
statement:
As the governor of Massachusetts, I now convene the Lowell Committee to hear testimony in
the case of convicted felons Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti. After listening to the testimony, the committee will advise me whether or
not to grant clemency to these men. I first call
on ____________ to testify.
Step 4: Governor Fuller should call on witnesses
in the order below until all groups have testified.
Step 5: Once all groups have testified, vote on
whether to grant the men clemency. Governor Fuller
should then make the following statement:
The Lowell Committee has rendered its verdict
on whether Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti should be granted clemency. I have decided
to take their advice. The decision, therefore, is
that clemency [will or will not] be granted. The
Lowell Committee is now adjourned.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
American Civil Liberties Union: What is the name
and purpose of your organization? Do you believe
that the anti-immigrant sentiment of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial?
Why or why not? Should Governor Fuller grant
Sacco and Vanzetti clemency?
Nativists: What is the purpose of your group? Do
you believe that the social tensions of the period
prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair
trial? Why or why not? Should Governor Fuller
grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency?
International Workers of the World: What is the
name and purpose of your organization? Do you
believe that the labor tensions of the period prevented
Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial? Why or
why not? Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and
Vanzetti clemency?
Plymouth Cordage Company: What is the name
of your company? How do you know Bartolomeo
Vanzetti? Do you believe that the labor tensions of
the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial? Why or why not? Should Governor
Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency?
East Boston Anarchists Organization: What is the
name and purpose of your organization? Do you
believe that the political tensions of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial?
Why or why not? Should Governor Fuller grant
Sacco and Vanzetti clemency?
Official in the Palmer Raids: What is your job?
What role did you have in the Palmer Raids? Do
you believe that anarchists like Sacco and Vanzetti
are dangerous to American society? Why or why
not? Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and
Vanzetti clemency?
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Role Card 2: American Civil Liberties Union
Your group represents the American Civil Liberties Union. All group members should be ready to answer
the following questions. Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is the name and purpose of your organization?
• Do you believe that the anti-immigrant sentiment of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from
getting a fair trial period? Why or why not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate one fact from the text and the
following two facts into your response: (1) The police did not use a lineup to have witnesses identify
the suspects. Instead, they placed Sacco and Vanzetti alone in the middle of a room and had them pose as
bandits. (2) The defense produced 17 witnesses who provided alibis for Sacco and Vanzetti on the day of
the murder. One was an official at the Italian Consulate, who remembered that Sacco’s passport picture
was too large to be used.
Role Card 3: Nativists
Your group represents the Nativists. All group members should be ready to answer the following questions.
Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is the purpose of your group?
• Do you believe that the social tensions of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial?
Why or why not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate one fact from the text and the
following two facts into your response: (1) On the day of the arrest, Sacco was carrying a loaded
.32 Colt automatic rifle and had more than 20 loose shotgun shells in his pocket. Vanzetti was carrying
a .38 Harrington & Richardson rifle and had three shotgun shells in his pocket. (2) Sacco and Vanzetti
lied about their whereabouts on the day of the arrest.
Role Card 4: Industrial Workers of the World
Your group represents the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies). All group members should be ready
to answer the following questions. Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is the name and purpose of your organization?
• Do you believe that the labor tensions of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial?
Why or why not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate one fact from the text and the following two facts into your response: (1) Sacco and Vanzetti lied about their whereabouts on the day of
their arrest because they thought they were going to be labeled “radical aliens” and deported. They lied
to protect family members and friends. (2) The prosecution’s eyewitnesses provided faulty testimony. One
man claimed that Vanzetti had shouted to him in “unmistakably clear English,” yet Vanzetti spoke broken
English. Another witness said Vanzetti drove the getaway car, yet Vanzetti did not know how to drive.
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Role Card 5: Plymouth Cordage Company
Your group represents the Plymouth Cordage Company, the rope company where Vanzetti once worked and
where he had helped organize a strike in 1919. All group members should be ready to answer the following
questions. Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is the name of your company?
• How do you know Bartolomeo Vanzetti?
• Do you believe that the labor tensions of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair trial?
Why or why not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate one fact from the text and the
following two facts into your response: (1) On the day of the arrest, Sacco and Vanzetti were preparing
to hide anarchist literature from the authorities in order to help suspected subversives. (2) One witness
to the murder provided a precise and accurate description of Sacco, including details such as the length
of his hair and the size of his hand.
Role Card 6: East Boston Anarchists Organization
Your group represents the East Boston Anarchists Organization. All group members should be ready to
answer the following questions. Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is the name and purpose of your organization?
• Do you believe that the political tensions of the period prevented Sacco and Vanzetti from getting a fair
trial? Why or why not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate one fact from the text and the
following two facts into your response: (1) A fellow inmate, named Celestino Madeiros, wrote a note
confessing to the double murder. Judge Thayer refused to consider this new piece of evidence. (2) The
jury foreman, Harry Ripley, was a former police chief who detested radicals. When his friend suggested
that the two men might be innocent, Ripley reportedly responded, “They ought to hang anyway.”
Role Card 7: Official in the Palmer Raids
Your group represents an official involved in the Palmer Raids. All group members should be ready to
answer the following questions. Use the information from the chapter to prepare your testimony.
• What is your job?
• What role did you have in the Palmer Raids?
• Do you believe that anarchists like Sacco and Vanzetti are dangerous to American society? Why or why
not?
• Should Governor Fuller grant Sacco and Vanzetti clemency? Integrate the following facts about the case
into your response: (1) A gun expert suggested that one of the bullets from the murdered victim could
have been shot from Sacco’s gun. (2) The fellow inmate, Celestino Madeiros, who confessed to the crime
in 1925, could not give a detailed description of the crime or the crime scene.
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