Critical Thinking Questions   Home       If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     What "radical" opinions and beliefs did Sacco and Vanzetti apparently believe in? Why did the conviction and sentencing of Sacco and Vanzetti create such an outcry from "radicals and liberals" around the United States and abroad? The arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti had coincided with the period of the most intense political repression in American history, the "Red Scare" of 1919-20. What kind of stage did this atmosphere set for the trial, appeals, and ultimate conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti? How was their status as immigrants relevant to the case at the time and is it something that would still be an issue today? What institutions and values in the U.S. were considered "at risk" by those who sought the conviction and executions of Sacco and Vanzetti?