With Occupy Wall Street gaining headway and the country seeing greater inequality than ever, anarchists and socialists protested in the streets of Lower Manhattan’s “Corner” in a rage at the banking systems. Before the turn of the century, the feelings projected toward the financial barons of New York were all but tranquil. Because the majority of the wealth among a few happened at the expense of laborers and echoed with Americans, its result lead to terrorism (King 2011).
On September 16, 1920, an explosion tore through the streets of Lower Manhattan’s “Corner”. The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 was the deadliest terror attack on American soil until the Oklahoma bombing 75 years later. The blast killed 38 people and injured hundreds of
Kennedy, was lifted clear off his feet by the concussion, as were many others” (Andrews, 2014). Stuck into the concrete wall of a building, a woman’s head was found, with her hat still on (King, 2011). A stock exchange messenger described the scene to a reporter for The Sun: “I saw the explosion, a column of smoke shoot into the air and then saw people dropping down all around me, some of them with their clothing on fire” (Bellows, 2007).
Trading at the stock exchange came to a halt for the first time ever because of violence. Within minutes of the explosion, over 1700 New York police, firemen, and 75 WWI Red Cross nurse veterans rushed to wreckage. The 22nd infantry, garrisoned on Governors Island, marched through the streets of Lower Manhattan with rifles and bayonets in hand. The rescue workers cleared the roads of debris and lined the dead corpses along the sidewalks. Other civilians helped load injured people into any form of transportation to get them to hospitals (Gross, 2001).
The financial toll of the bombing totaled two million dollars in damages. The fortress like building was riddled with craters deep enough to fit ones palm into. The columns across the street were blackened. Wreckage lay everywhere (Barron, 2011). However, the next day, New Yorkers returned to work and trading at the stock exchange returned to normal. Windows were boarded up or draped with canvases and workers sat bandaged up at their desks (King, 2011).