Nationality Against Justice

Jordyn Katterman

Mrs. Baker

Literature Analysis and Composition 11

17 February 2017
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Jordyn Katterman

Mrs. Baker

Literature Analysis and Composition 11

17 February 2017

Sacco and Vanzetti

America is known worldwide as the great melting pot. Ever since America was

discovered, the people who live here have been from all different nationalities. In the early

1900s, two young men ventured from their homes in Italy to seek this great melting pot of people

called America. Unfortunately, rather than finding America with open arms, they found only

prejudice. These two immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti, provide a great look into the 1920s

through their background, court trial, and its impact on immigrants.

Nicola Sacco was an Italian immigrant who came to America in 1908. At first he did

well living in America. He found work in shoe factories, and he even married and had a child.

Sacco found that he felt closer to home when he moved into an Italian community in

Massachusetts. Even early on, Sacco took a great interest in the plight of the worker

(Bartolomeo). He raised money for the anarchist cause and workers rights and attended

anarchist meetings. Both were acts that were looked down upon and would affect him forever

(Bartolomeo).

Bartolomeo Vanzetti was also an Italian immigrant who came to America in hopes for a

better life. While living in Italy, Vanzetti experienced harsh working conditions and decided

America would offer better options for him. Although his hopes were high, Vanzetti was

disappointed with what he found in American cities after making the move. Unlike Sacco,
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Vanzetti had a hard time finding work or housing and was soon exposed to discrimination both

from employers and fellow employees. But like Sacco, Vanzetti moved to an Italian community,

and there he found steady work. While living in the community, he soon found himself not

only attending anarchist meetings...but leading them (Bartolomeo) and his passion for

anarchy began. Vanzetti quickly became more and more involved in the anarchist groups

(Bartolomeo).

Sacco and Vanzetti crossed paths while hiding out in Mexico. Before escaping to

Mexico, Vanzetti was unemployed, World War I was starting up, and the draft was underway.

Vanzetti and Sacco, as anarchists, felt that war was wrong and unfair and refused to accept the

draft. They joined the many anarchists who dodged the draft by moving to Mexico. This choice

proved to be fateful because, There [Mexico], Vanzetti met Nicola Sacco, a fellow Italian

anarchist whose name in three years would be forever linked to his (Bartolomeo). In late

1917, the Immigration Act was passed protecting immigrants from being drafted. Sacco and

Vanzetti now felt it was safe to return to the United States. Back in the U.S. and having met

each other, Sacco and Vanzetti became extremely involved in the anarchist movement

(Bartolomeo).

Throughout the next decade, the pair would be tried, convicted, and executed in the

famous and controversial trial. It all started with a shoe factory being robbed and the two

factory guards being killed in Braintree, Massachusetts. Witnesses claimed that the men who

committed the crime looked Italian. Shortly after this common, insignificant crime, police began

arresting people who had anarchist literature or anything linked to anarchy in their possession

due to the Red Scare. Sacco and Vanzetti devised a plan to get rid of their anarchist literature out
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in the country. They planned to borrow a car from a friend to do this. When Sacco and Vanzetti

arrived at the house to pick up the car, police were waiting there and arrested them. The vehicle

suspected of being the getaway car in the Braintree shoe factory crime was the same one Sacco

and Vanzetti planned to borrow, thus making them suspects. At the time of the arrest, Sacco not

only had his anarchy literature with him but an Italian passport and a pistol that was the same

type used in the shoe factory crime (DAttilio).

Before the Braintree trials even began, Vanzetti was also accused and found guilty of a

robbery case in Bridgewater. Soon after this, the Braintree trials began. Evidence connecting

the men to the murder case were: Sacco was absent from work the day of the murder; the car that

was planned to be borrowed was the same car that left the crime scene; and bullets found at the

crime scene matched Saccos type of gun (Sacco). Although during the trials a man named

Celestino Madeiros confessed to the robbery and murder, Sacco and Vanzetti were not freed and

the confession was struck down. With the publics view and opinion strongly against the pair,

mostly because they were immigrants and anarchists, they were eventually sentenced to death by

the electric chair seven years after their conviction. The two men died on August 23, 1927

(DAttilio).

The Sacco-Vanzetti case was a perfect example of the anti-immigrant atmosphere of the

1920s. This type of atmosphere greatly impacted Sacco and Vanzettis trial and lives.

Ultimately, the anti-immigrant feelings of the 1920s ended their lives. The early 1920s was

when the Red Scare was raging. Americans were paranoid about communists, anarchists, draft

dodgers, immigrants, and anyone else who even slightly opposed the patriotism of the average

American. Immigrants were often used as scapegoats for any wrong doings. They were a
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particular target as fear of radicals had become bound up with a fear of foreigners, (Liptak).

Being an immigrant automatically gave Sacco and Vanzetti a disadvantage in court and being an

anarchist only made matters worse. After the executions, riots and protests erupted. Many

immigrants in America and people around the world stated that Sacco and Vanzetti were not

treated with justice just as Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts said 50 years later, the

trial has been permeated by prejudice, (Shenker 36). They did not get a fair trial because they

were immigrants. They were judged in court not by actions and evidence but by their nationality

(Liptak).

Americas reputation as the great melting pot, the country of freedom, was hurt by the

Sacco-Vanzetti case. Sacco and Vanzetti came from Italy to America each looking for the same

and equal opportunity as every other human being, native or immigrant, that sets foot in

America. They did not receive the equal justice they deserved in and out of the courts. Their

nationality, more accurately Americas reaction to their nationality, corrupted their chances of a

just trial. This case will forever be a symbol to the people of America that equality and justice

must always prevail over discrimination and fear.

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Works Cited

Bartolomeo Vanzetti. UXL Biographies, 2011. Kids InfoBits,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITKE&sw=w&u=lom_accessmich&v=2.1&id=GALE%7C

EJ2108102322&it=r&asid=bb16eb5993bec110cd3f8c02d9a92cab.

DAttilio, Robert. Sacco-Vanzetti Case. Upenn,

http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis//88/sacvan.html.

Liptak, Adam. 1927 Sacco and Vanzetti: in the middle of the Red Scare, a pair of anarchists

were executed on charges of robbery and murder in Massachusetts. Was justice served,

or were they convicted because of their radical views? New York Times Upfront, 2007

Scholastic, Inc., 19 Nov. 2007, p. 18. General Reference Center GOLD,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GRGM&sw=w&u=lom_accessmich&v=2.1&id=GALE%7

CA171400173&it=r&asid=17114963460ed0819695333bf626716d.

Shenker, Israel. Sacco-Vanzetti Case Is Evoking Passions 50 Years After Deaths. The New

York Times Archives, 23 Aug. 1977, p. 36. The New York Times,

http://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/23/archives/saccovanzetti-case-is-evoking-passions-50

-years-after-deaths-the.html?_r=0.
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The Sacco and Vanzetti Case and its Impact. Arthur Ashe Learning Center, 23 Aug. 2016,

http://www.arthurashe.org/blog/the-sacco-and-vanzetti-case-and-its-impact.