Routledge Revivals The Black Flag First published in 1981, this book reassesses the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists living in Boston in 1920. The pair were accused of a payroll robbery and the murder of two guards for which they were arrested and, after a long trial based on inadequate and prejudiced evidence, executed in 1927. In 1977, on the fiftieth anniversary of their deaths, the Commonwealth of Massachusettes issued a proclamation which acknowledged a miscarriage of justice. The Black Flag provides an account of the controversial trial and a re-evaluation of the celebrated case of the Commonwealth’s decision. Brian Jackson puts the trial in the social context of the period and exposes the nature of anarchism by looking at the lives of two of its exponents, resulting in a moving exploration of a series of events that continue to trouble the conscience of America. The Black Flag A look back at the strange case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti Brian Jackson First published in 1981 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd This edition first published in 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1981 Brian Jackson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact. A Library of Congress record exists under ISBN: 81005859 ISBN 13: 978-0-415-83821-4 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-78458-7 (ebk) Brian Jackson The Black Flag A look back at the strange case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti First published in 1981 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA, 39 Store Street, London WC1E 7DD and Broadway House, Neivtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1EN Set in ll/13pt Palatino by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk and printed in the United States of America © Brian Jackson 1981 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism ISBN 0-7100-0897-X ‘Man carries in his heart the principle of a morality superior to himself. This principle does not come from outside. It is secreted within him. It is immanent’ Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (‘Master of us all,’ said Michael Bakunin, surveying the leaders of anarchy) ‘Berardelli, with three bullets in him, was on his knees and coughing blood, in the gutter. A gunman stood over him, and, under a hundred eyes, shot him twice more’ Common to every other day to me. I peddled fish’ Bartolomeo Vanzetti ‘There's no story in it – just a couple of wops in a jam’ News reporter quoted by Eugene Lyons, defence lawyer For Dominic, Christian, Rebecca, Lucy, Ellen, Seth Contents Prelude Acknowledgments Part one A winter’s tale Chapter 1 Christmas Eve 1919 2 Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti 3 A crime punishable by death 4 Cross-examination 5 Eels and the electric chair 6 In Death Row Interlude A long shadow Part two Half a century later 7 In State House 8 Little secrets in little boxes 9 ‘There seemed to be no doubt at all’ 10 ‘Have you agreed upon your verdict?’ 11 Culture or anarchy 12 ‘The storming of heaven’ Background sources 1 Proclamation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Tuesday August 23, 1977 2 Other sources 1 Documentation 2 Books and papers on the case 3 Books on the social background 4 Other references cited 5 Literature on anarchy