SACCO AND VANZETTI

The affaire of Sacco and Vanzetti is a famous affaire in the American history in the 20th century. Sacco and Vanzetti were both Italian-Americans people came in America with immigration especially by people from Europe. They were convicted of robbery and murder in 1921, between wars. There were US Anarchists. On July 14, 1921 they were convicted and sentenced to die. The Sacco-Vanzetti case draws national attention. From the beginning, public opinion was against them because of their political ideas and because they were immigrants. They both had guns when they were arrested. But at the final sentence from judges Anti-radical sentiment was running high in America at the time, and the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti was regarded by many as unlawfully sensational. They were executed by the electric chair seven years later at Charlestown State Prison. Both adhered to an anarchist movement that advocated relentless warfare against a violent and oppressive government.

In 1961, a test of Sacco’s gun using modern forensic techniques apparently proved it was his gun that killed the guard, though little evidence has been found to substantiate Vanzetti’s guilt. In 1977, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation vindicating Sacco and Vanzetti, stating that they had been treated unjustly and that no stigma should be associated with their names.

Although 61 witnesses said they had seen them, the defense had 107 witnesses alleging that they had seen them somewhere else when the crime was committed. During the court case in May 1921, Judge Webster Thayer was prejudiced against the two men. Although a man named Celestino Madeiros later admitted that he had committed the crime, Sacco and Vanzetti lost their appeal. This affair is in relation with “witch hunting” or Mc McCarthyism because we can see racism exist and still exist today all over the world and people can accuse other people without valid reasons.