Master American History in 1 Minute a Day by Dan Roberts

Author:Dan Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Master American History
ISBN: 9781641701723
Publisher: Familius
Published: 2019-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

SACCO AND VAN ZETTI, 1923

On April 15, 1920, F. A. Parmenter, paymaster of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts, and his twenty-eight-year-old security guard, Alessandro Berardelli, were robbed and murdered during a routine transfer of payroll funds. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested, tried, convicted, and eventually executed for the crime.

The 1920s were a time of great change for Americans. The certainties of religion, patriotism, and family values were perceived as under heavy attack from all quarters. The First World War had also unleashed powerful new ideologies that were thought to threaten the very survival of democracy. Communism had taken root in Russia, but even more menacing was anarchism, whose followers advocated the destruction of all political, economic, and religious authority. Sacco and Vanzetti both subscribed to an anarchist publication.

When brought to trial, evidence against them was largely circumstantial. Their attorneys mounted a largely incompetent defense. Judge Webster Thayer was clearly prejudiced in favor of the prosecution. There was contradictory testimony, and no witness to the event. In 1925, another felon confessed to the crime, but Judge Thayer denied the pair’s appeal for a retrial. For years, thoughtful observers have considered this a travesty of justice, a snapshot of a nation coming to grips with a changing world. (05-043, 05-044, 05-045)

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