Nicola Sacco

2. Nicola Sacco • Born in Torremaggiore, Italy in 1891 • At 16 Sacco emigrated to the US in 1908 to Milford, Massachusetts. 

3. Nicola Sacco - Beliefs • Sacco began attending weekly meetings of anarchist group, in 1913 • He began to subscribe to an anarchist newspaper published by Luigi Galleani.  • Sacco became a devotee of Galleani and spent the next several years writing for the paper, donating and soliciting funds for anarchist activities • In 1917, Sacco met Vanzetti shortly before the two, along with several other anarchists, moved to Mexico to avoid conscription for World War I

4. Bartolomeo Vanzetti • Vanzetti was born in Villafelletto, Italy in 1888 • Vanzetti’s mother contracted cancer and died in Vanzetti’s arms.  • To deal with the pain, Vanzetti set out for the United States in 1908.

5. Bartolomeo Vanzetti • After reading books on political philosophy, he moved toward anarchism.  • He soon began receiving the same anarchist newspaper that Sacco read and wrote for. 

6. Luigi Galleani • An Italian anarchist who advocated revolutionary violence, including bombing and assassination

7. Luigi Galleani • published a periodical that advocated violent revolution, and an explicit bomb-making manual • At the time, Italian anarchists  – in particular the Galleanist group  – ranked at the top of the United States government's list of dangerous enemies

8. First Red Scare 1919-1920 • The "Red Scare" was "a nation-wide anti-radical hysteria. • The first Red Scare began following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the intensely patriotic years of World War I. • On June 2, 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs simultaneously exploded. • One target was the Washington, D.C., house of U.S. Attorney General Palmer, where the explosion killed the bomber, whom evidence indicated was an Italian-American radical from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

9. Mass Hysteria • The Media promoted two ideals: • Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers • Hysteria, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear

10. Braintree, Massachusettes • Slater-Morrill Shoe Company, April 15, 1920 • Frederick Parmenter, a paymaster, and Alessandro Berardelli, a security guard • Robbers had approached the two men as they were transporting the company payroll in two large steel boxes to the main factory • Berardelli, was cut down as he reached for his gun on his hip; Parmenter, who was unarmed, was shot twice: once in the chest and a second time - fatally - in the back as he attempted to flee • The robbers seized the payroll boxes and escaped by climbing into a waiting getaway car, a dark blue Buick, which raced off with the robbers firing wildly at company workers nearby.

11. Arrests • Police suspicions regarding the Braintree robbery-murder centered on local Italian anarchists. • While neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had a criminal record, the authorities knew them as radical militants and adherents of Luigi Galleani. • Police speculated the robbers were motivated by the need to finance more bombings. • On May 5, 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti were both arrested. In addition to the two murders, Vanzetti was further charged with the theft of $15,776.73 from the company

12. Judge Webster Thayer • Born in 1857, Webster Thayer • He was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts in 1917

13. Judge Webster Thayer • In 1920 he rebuked a jury for acquitting an anarchist of violating a criminal anarchy statute • Boston Globe reporter said of Judge Thayer’s behavior at the trial that “[H]e was conducting himself in an undignified way, in a way I had never seen in thirty-six years.” 

14. Trial and Evidence • The main evidence against the men was that they were both carrying a gun when arrested. • Some people who saw the crime taking place identified Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco as the robbers. • Both men had alibis. • Vanzetti was selling fish in Plymouth while Sacco was in Boston with his wife having his photograph taken. • The prosecution made a great deal of the fact that all those called to provide evidence to support these alibis were also Italian immigrants. • The trial lasted seven weeks and on 14th July, 1921, both men were found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death • They requested a retrial but this was denied by Judge Thayer

15. Execution • On Sunday August 21, more than 20,000 protesters assembled on Boston Common. • Sacco walked quietly to the electric chair, then shouted "Farewell, mother." • Vanzetti, in his final moments, shook hands with guards and thanked them for their kind treatment, read a statement proclaiming his innocence, and finally said, "I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me." • Violent demonstrations swept through many cities, • including Geneva, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Tokyo. • In South America wildcat strikes closed factories. • Three died in Germany, and protesters in Johannesburg burned an American flag outside the American embassy.

16. Historical Significance • Many historians, have concluded the Sacco and Vanzetti prosecution, trial, and aftermath constituted a blatant disregard for political civil liberties. • Some critics felt that the authorities and jurors were influenced by strong anti-Italian prejudice and prejudice against immigrants widely held at the time. • Others believethe government was really prosecuting Sacco and Vanzetti for the robbery-murders as a convenient excuse to put a stop to their militant activities as Galleanists, whose bombing campaign at the time posed a lethal threat, both to the government and to many Americans.

17. Historical Question Due to national security was it justifiable to execute Sacco and Vanzetti?