Sacco and Vanzetti

Nicola Sacco (April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were two Italian anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and electrocuted in Massachusetts in 1927 on charges of murder of a shoe factory paymaster named Frederick Parmenter and a security guard named Alessandro Berardelli, and of robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll, although there was much doubt regarding their guilt. The murders and robbery occurred in April of 1920, with three robbers. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had alibis, but they were the only people accused of the crime. Judge Webster Thayer, who heard the case, allegedly described the two as "anarchist bastards". Sacco was a shoe-maker born in Torremaggiore, Foggia, Puglia. Vanzetti was a fish seller born in Villafalletto, Cuneo, Piemonte.

Background and Reactions

It was the first period of intense fear of communism in American history, the Red Scare of 1919 to 1920. Neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had any previous criminal record, nor were they communists, but they were known to the authorities as radical militants who had been widely involved in the anarchist movement, labor strikes, political agitation, and anti-war propaganda. Sacco and Vanzetti believed themselves to be victims of social and political prejudice, and as Vanzetti said in his last speech to Judge Webster Thayer:

Related Topics:
Fear - Communism - American history - Red Scare - 1919 - Criminal record - Militant - Labor strike - War - Propaganda

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:I would not wish to a dog or a snake, to the most low and misfortunate creature of the earth — I would not wish to any of them what I have had to suffer for things that I am not guilty of. But my conviction is that I have suffered for things that I am guilty of. I am suffering because I am a radical, and indeed I am a radical; I have suffered because I was an Italian, and indeed I am an Italian... If you could execute me two times, and if I could be reborn two other times, I would live again to do what I have done already. (Vanzetti spoke on 19 April, 1927, in Dedham, Massachusetts, where their case was heard in the Norfolk County courthouse.)

Related Topics:
Dog - Snake - Earth - 19 April - 1927 - Dedham, Massachusetts - Norfolk County

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Many famous intellectuals, including Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Bertrand Russell, John Dos Passos, Upton Sinclair, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, campaigned for a retrial but were unsuccessful. On August 23, 1927, after seven years of incarceration, the two men were sent to the electric chair. The execution sparked riots in London, Paris and Germany.

Related Topics:
Intellectuals - Dorothy Parker - Edna St. Vincent Millay - Bertrand Russell - John Dos Passos - Upton Sinclair - George Bernard Shaw - H. G. Wells - Riot - London - Paris - Germany

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