The history of American anarchists, including Jewish anarchists, is often overshadowed by the communist movement.

In 1919, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously changed his stance on free speech during the Abrams v. United States case, where five Russian-born Jewish anarchists were prosecuted for distributing leaflets opposing America's involvement in World War I. Holmes, influenced by progressive intellectuals like British-Jewish political scientist Harold Laski, shifted his views on free speech, emphasizing the importance of a marketplace of ideas.