to the fact that the government did not distinguish one of its enemies from another. One such action taken by the government prevented Wobblies who were not yet citizens from naturalization, even if they quit their organization. In 1917, the US government made a law which gave the Secretary of Labor the power to arrest or deport any alien "advocating or teaching" destruction of property or the "overthrow of government by force." Words such as "advocating" and the vague language used in the law allowed the government to use deportation as a cure for the anti-government views of its enemies, namely the Wobblies, Communists, and Socialists. After all the unfair legislation passed by the government, the scene was set for a disaster. All that was left was for someone to take advantage of the anti-radical legislation, and the bomb would soon explode. This is basically what Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer did in the years 1919-1920. Palmer used the laws set down in 1917 to deport members of the IWW. He did not only reserve his weapon for the Wobblies; the American Communists and many other radical groups were not to be left out. When the Palmer Raids began, which will be discussed in more detail later, there were two main targets: the Communist Party, and the Communist Labor Party. These groups grew out of the IWW, the Socialist Party of America, and the Socialist Labor Party. The largest of the three, the Socialist Party of America, had split because of a dilemma over World War I. This split occurred when Europe entered the war. For the most part, American Socialists opposed the war, unlike their European brethren who were much more nationalistic and supported their countries armies. However, some of the more prominent American Socialists, each for his own reasons, strongly supported the war. This break in beliefs of the Socialist Party hurt it, but did by no means destroy it. Many who w...
