According to Boston police, it was increasingly the headquarters for the leading Italian anarchists in America, preaching the violent overthrow of capitalism and government. In 1902, future President Woodrow Wilson wrote, “but now there came multitudes of men of the lowest class from the south of Italy … having neither skill nor energy nor any initiative of quick intelligence.” Boston’s North End neighborhood was an ethnic Italian enclave. In 18, the Federal government enacted its first laws to combat immigration to America. At home, isolationism continued with an uptick in xenophobic and racist sentiments. The Great War was underway in Europe, with the United States desperate to remain on the outside of the armed conflict but still supply vital munitions and aid to its allies abroad. In 1915, the United States was a country on the brink. Through the lens of the Molasses Flood, one can dive deeper into the tumultuous early decades of the twentieth century to understand its lasting impact on our nation. Anarchists were threatening the core of American ideals, and Big Business was running unchecked throughout the country. Rampant xenophobia and racism, especially against Italians, was at a high.
#Molasses flood trial
The events of the Molasses Flood and subsequent trial illuminated and exasperated current tensions affecting America at large.
![molasses flood molasses flood](https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/torching-the-tank.jpg)
“This was one of the worst catastrophes which has visited the City of Boston in my remembrance … Cold molasses has death-dealing and destructive powers equal to the tornado or the cyclone when it is suddenly unloosed,” said Damon Hall in August 1920. This giant wave of molasses took the lives of 21 individuals while injuring 150 others. Baptisms, Weddings, & Burials show submenuĪt 12:45 pm, on January 15, 1919, a tsunami-like wave swept down Commercial Street in Boston’s North End neighborhood.Sounds of Old North: Classroom Resources.