How Did The Mederos Appeal In The 1920s

The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic growth in the United States. Even then there were still hundreds of impoverished immigrants “living [not] in America but under America.” Sacco and Vanzetti sought to change these capitalistic ideals with their anarchistic tactics. Sacco and Vanzetti’s case not only left an imprint in the history of the United States but also throughout the entire world. During the 1920s the United States’ fear and inwardness began to take hold shifting back towards isolationism.

This revert back to isolationism was due to a numerous amount of difficulties. One in particular is the Red Scare of 1919 and 1920 that loomed over the United States causing fear and panic. In 1917 Russia pulled out of the war shortly

Even though there was intangible and false evidence, these two Italian immigrants were given the death penalty. Many factors that contributed to their unfair trial but most of all was Judge Webster Thayer. Not only did he sentence them to death but he rejected 5 appeals in one day. Out of the five appeals the Mederos appeal was the strangest. The Mederos appeal stated that Medros confessed to the Braintree robbery and that Sacco and Vanzetti were not there. Mederos also knew all the evidence even some that wasn’t released like the fact that there were two cars involved in the crime. Not only did the Mederos appeal show strong hope at the beginning for Sacco and Vanzetti but there were also over a dozen eye witnesses who say they saw Vanzetti on the night of the crime. Sadly though, these witnesses were ruled unreliable because they were Italians. If it wasn’t for the racial prejudice at the time, Sacco and Vanzetti might have lived. Even with all the evidence Judge Thayer sentences Sacco and Vanzetti to death by electric

For example, David Kaiser (historian) states that the prosecutor used false evidence against Sacco and Vanzetti. The evidence shows that bullet 3 and shell w were indeed fired from Sacco’s colt, but they were fired after Fredrick Parmenter and Alessandro Beradelli had already been murdered. This shows once again that the prosecutor wanted these Italian anarchists to be founded guilty even through false evidence.

Lincoln Robbins (retired school teacher) knows just about all the facts about the Sacco and Vanzetti case. Lincoln Robbins has been studying the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti for over 30 years now. He can state where Sacco and Vanzetti lived before being prosecuted and the exact spot where the Braintree robbery occurred. With all the facts he has gathered over the years Lincoln Robbins also has an objective view on the