Mother Earth was "A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Social Science and Literature", edited by Emma Goldman. The magazine covered topics such as the labor movement, education, literature and the arts, state and government control, women's emancipation, sexual freedom, and birth control. Mother Earth advocated against conscription and called for men to disobey government laws concerning the military draft.
Under the Espionage Act of 1917, Goldman's Mother Earth offices were searched by Federal agents, and the names of contributors and subscribers numbering over 10,000 were confiscated. Notable authors include Alexander Berkman, Man Ray, Eugene O'Neill, and Leo Tolstoy.
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Tammany Hall was a political organization that formed in 1789 in opposition to the Federalist Party. They dominated from 1854 to 1934 and were rendered extinct in 1966. The leadership of Tammany Hall was often identical to the local Democratic Party's executive committee, and Tammany used its power to get many Democratic candidates elected.
"The name Tammany Hall was synonymous with urban political disruption", according to Britannica Encyclopedia. Urban political machine refers to a party organization that exchanges patronage jobs or housing, especially among immigrant groups, for support at the polls. Tammany amassed support from immigrants by promising better housing, jobs, and even assistance in obtaining citizenship so they could vote for Tammany candidates. Irish immigrants forced their right to membership in 1817 and since then never lost ties with Tammany. Jewish Immigrants
By 1900, the Lower East Side had 700 people living per acre, making it the most crowded neighborhood on the planet. (For comparison, in 2010, there were 136 people per acre in the Lower East Side.) Over 50% of Eastern European immigrants worked in manual industries (especially the garment industry) for literally pennies a day. Some worked in sweatshops such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which caught on fire in 1911, killing 123 women and 23 men and injuring 71 people. Most victims were Jewish women from age 16 to 23. Peddling offered freedom from workplace dangers and discrimination for many Jewish immigrants. At least 1/3 of Jewish immigrants worked in retail, and 10% of these at some point worked as peddlers. Italian Immigrants 80% of Italian immigrants came from Southern Italy, 50% were literate, and 30% were women. There were at least 50 lynchings of Italian immigrants between 1890 and 1920. The largest lynching in US history took place in 1891. Sicilian immigrants were blamed for the murder of some policemen. 19 Sicilians were put on trial, though none were convicted. Taking the law into their own hands, a mob of 10,000 broke into the jail and lynched 11 of the prisoners. While Roman Catholicism was common in America at the time, "Mediterranean" Catholicism was seen as foreign. Anti-capitalist anarchism was often associated with Italian immigrants. Chinese Immigrants Under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the immigration of Chinese laborers was made illegal. The law was renewed with the Geary Act in 1892 and made permanent in 1902. This is the first time a law prohibited a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States; upon the impending creation of Trump's so-called Muslim Ban, it will not be the last. This was also the first time that illegal immigration was punishable with extreme consequences. For example, if Chinese laborers were found without a certificate of residence, they could be arrested, forced to perform hard labor, or even deported. The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the Magnuson Act in 1943. Immigrants were screened for defects upon their entrance to America, based on a popular belief that immigration politics should be based on eugenics principles to protect the "superior race".
Physical Defects
Mental Defects
Moral Defects
Mental and moral defects were of more concern to authorities--immigrants deemed mentally or morally inferior were mandatorily excluded from entrance to the US. Physical defects were also of concern, as George Lydston stated that physical defectiveness was a primary factor in the causation of crime. Head over to the image gallery from Ellis Island to see pictures of the screening process. Alexander Berkman was an anarchist leader who emigrated to the US from Lithuania in 1888 when he was 18 years old. Soon after he arrived in America, he met Emma Goldman, a fellow Russian immigrant, in 1889 at Sach's Café in the Lower East Side, the headquarters of Yiddish-speaking anarchists in New York City. This was the beginning of a lifelong relationship (and often romance) with Goldman, despite many disagreements and separations. He became a member of the Pioneers of Liberty, the first Jewish anarchist group in the US. Berkman soon came under the tutelage of Johann Most, an anarchist who advocated violence carried out to encourage the masses to revolt.
Johann Most influenced Berkman's assassination attempt on Henry Clay Frick on July 23, 1892. Goldman had a part in his plan--she was to explain his motives after he killed Frick and then himself. Berkman was unsuccessful and served 14 years in a Pennsylvania prison for his crime. While incarcerated, he edited the Prison Blossom, a secret journal, and later wrote his famous Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, describing his assassination attempt as the "first terrorist act in America". His time in prison did not do much to curb his violence; Berkman was later indicted for murder in association with the Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco. After his release from prison, there were reports that he married Goldman in New Jersey, but the marriage was never recorded, and at a later trial, they both testified as single. Berkman did serve as editor to Goldman's magazine Mother Earth, and later became editor of the Blast. Berkman and Goldman both served two years in jail for urging young men to refuse to register for the WWI draft. Under the 1918 Anarchist Exclusion Act, both were deported to Russia after they were released from prison. In the deportation documents, the government accused Berkman's and Goldman's teachings to have helped cause the assassination of President McKinley, for Czolgosz cited Goldman's writings in confession after assassination. Berkman left the Russia after three years of compiling material with Goldman for a proposed Museum of the [Bolshevik] Revolution. They even met with Lenin himself before leaving the country. Berkman would end his life in France, the struggles of his deteriorating health causing him to commit suicide in 1936. Goldman rushed to Nice, France to be at his side; he recognized her, but the bullet that he had aimed for his heart had lodged in his spinal column, paralyzing him. He died with Goldman at his side at 66 years old. |
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