Chapter 19: Safe For Democracy: The United States And World War I, 1916-1920

Espionage Act

The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited not only spying and interfering with the draft but also "false statements" that might impede military success.

What was Roosevelt famous saying in regards to the Canal?

"I took the Canal Zone"

Roosevelt Corollary

(1904) An addendum to the Monroe Doctrine that held that the United States could intervene militarily to prevent interference from European powers in the Western Hemisphere. "an international police power" -developed investment from United Fruit company to turn Honduras and Costa Rica to banana republics

In what way was patriotism coercive during the war?

-Patriotism now meant support for the government, the war, and the American economic System -American Protective League (APL) developed -schools changed curriculum to be more patirotic

Anti-German cursade

-German-Americans brute forced to become Americanized, schools could not teach foreign language -use of German and expression of German culture became targets of pro-war organizations hamburger became "liberty sandwich"

Who were the Central Powers?

-Germany -Austria-Hungary -Ottoman Empire (Turkey and middle east today)

Sussex Pledge

-Germany damaged a French ship, the Sussex -Germany promised not to sink merchant ships without providing a warning to allow passengers off

How did Americans try to upgrade the American population?

-many wanted to improve human race by discouraging reproduction of less "desirable people" -Indiana in 1907 passed law authorized doctors to sterilize insane inmates in mental institutions so could not pass on genes

What were two examples of the Roosevelt Corollary at play?

-1904 American forces seized custom houses of Dominican Republic to ensure payment of its debts to European and American investors -1906 sent troops to Cuba to oversee a disputed election - forces remained in the country until 1909

How did World War I start?

-1914 Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in A-Hungary in Sarajevo, Bosnia -because of European interlocking military alliances huge war erupted -MAIN Militarism (build up military) , Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism

What was the upheaval in America after the war?

-1919 unprecedented turmoil -4 million workers in strikes - highest ever -flu epidemic -racial violence widespread

Attorney General Palmer

-1919-1920 dispatched federal agents to raid the offices of radical and labor organizations throughout the country -5000 arrested due to patriotism -government deported immigrant radicals like Emma Goldman -later Palmer came under heavy criticism as Red Scare went away

Nineteenth Amendment

-1920 barred states from using sex as a qualification for the suffrage 27th country to allow women to vote

To what extent were these laws used?

-2000 persons charged more than half convicted -most prominent victim was Eugene V. Debs convicted under the Espionage act for an antiwar speech -ten years in jail -Debs ran for president while still in Prison -Wilson refused to release him released by future president

Violence in the South

-76 lynched in the South 1919 including blacks returning in uniforms -worse race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921

What were initial responses to the War?

-Americans sharply divided over ancestral loyalties to either British or germans or those against Russian empire -Wilson proclaimed American neutrality, but American commerce and shipping were soon swept into conflict

How were Asians discriminated?

-Asians faced worse discrimination than Mexicans -all of San Francisco Asian students in a single public school -Japanese government protested - roosevelt made city take back order -Gentlemen's Agreement instituted

What countries were part of the Allies?

-Britain -France - Russia (left early) -Japan (later) -US (later) -Italy (later)

Ottoman empire and the League of Nations "mandates"

-British had encouraged Arab nationalism as a weapon against the Ottoman empire and had also pledged to create a homeland in Palestine for the persecuted jews of Europe -in reality, victors divided into new territories Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine to be controlled by Allies under League of Nations mandates

1919 steel strike

-Chicago strike with 365,000 workers mostly immigrants who demanded union recognition, higher wages, 8 hour workday -strike met with heavy

Niagara Movement

-Dubois way of political action -gathered group of black leaders at Niagara Falls (stayed at Canadian side because no American hotel would provide accommodations) and organized Niagara movement, which sought to reinvigorate the abolitionist tradition -"every single right that belongs to a free-born American"

Red Scare of 1919-1920

-Fear among many Americans after World War I of Communists in particular and noncitizens in general, a reaction to the Russian Revolution, mail bombs, strikes, and riots. -short-lived but intense period of political intolerance inspired by the postwar strike wave and the social tensions and fears generated by the Russian Revolution

Garveyites

-Followers of Marcus Garvey, for whom freedom meant national self-determination like other populations after war -though Garvey from Jamaica was deported, movement showed betrayal felt by black community during and after the war

How did the war progress?

-German forces quickly overran Belgium and part of northern France -war evolved to a prolonged stalemate, bloody, indecisive battle succeeding one another -new technology produced unprecedented slaughter - 10 million solders and many civilians dead -war was followed by widespread famine and a worldwide epidemic of influenza that killed an estimated 21 million people more

How did WWI plant seeds for future war?

-German resentment over the terms of the peace treaty helped fuel the rise of Hitler -a new anti-Western nationalism and anti-colonial nationalism emerged in non-European nations

Creel Committee

-Journalist George Creel helped promote the war effort -"Four-Minute Me" gave speeches throughout US

Great Migration

-Large-scale migration of southern blacks during and after World War I to the North, where jobs had become available during the labor shortage of the war years. -half a million balcks migrated north more opportunities in the North included -educating children -escape from threat of lunching -prospect of voting -Chicago, New York, Detroit especially 611% increase

part of Versailles treaty that did accomplish Wilson's goals

-League of nations -applied self-determination to eastern Europe and redrew map of the region -new nations from A-Hungary, Germany, Russia created Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, HunGary, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania Yugoslavia

Overall impact of war

-On its own terms, the war to make the world safe for democracy failed. -end of Progressivism -led to conservative decades

What is the balance between security and freedom?

-President Wilson decided to get public support, felt opposition would weaken war effort -Sedition Act made any criticize illegal -Employers uses to get IWW and unions arrested -Wars for democracy go hand in hand with restriction for freedoms at hope

Fourteen Points

-President Woodrow Wilson's 1918 plan for peace after World War I; at the Versailles peace conference, however, he failed to incorporate all of the points into the treaty. -key principles included self determination -freedom of the seas -free trade -open diplomacy (no more secret treaties) - readjustment of colonial claims with colonized people given "equal weight" in deciding their futures -creation of a "general association of nations" to preserve the peace - League of Nations similar to groups created by Progressives

How else did Americans acquire the means of production?

-Railroad Administration took control of the nation's transport system -Fuel Agency rationed coal and oil -Food Administration instructed farmers on modern methods of cultivation and promoted the more efficient preparation of meals

How did Roosevelt get access to the Canal?

-Roosevelt convinced would help increase trade between two oceans -Columbia (Panama was part of Columbia in 1903) refused to cede land for the project -Roosevelt helped set up Panama uprising to get independence -When Panama was independent signed treaty giving US right to construct and operate canal and sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone

Brownsville affair

-Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington for dinner at White House and had blacks in federal offices -shocked people a small group of blacks soldiers shot off their guns in Brownsville, Texas killing one resident - none would name the group, Roosevelt dishonorably discharged three black companies --> known as Brownsville affair

Why were Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson modern presidents?

-Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson expansion of national government -to deal with big business had to be a big business -better world for American business better world for country

What three acts showed increased power of National state in regards to Americans' everyday lives?

-Selective Service Act -War Industries Board -War Labor Board

Who was against WWI?

-Socialist -Labor leaders -German-Americans (largest ethnic group)

Schenk v. US

-Supreme Court upheld conviction for encouraging people for avoiding draft, clear and present danger to the state and its citizens -it's not ok to shout fire in crowded theatre

What impact did the War have on international feelings?

-The war dealt a severe blow to the optimism and self-confidence of Western civilization. -triumph of reason and human progress along with work of socialist and labor movements thrown away -instead of "workers of the world" uniting (Socialist), they killed each other

How did Wilson mobilize support for the war?

-War took propaganda to another level by implementing it nationally -created Committee on Public Information (CPI)

What were the ironies of Wilson's moral imperialism?

-Wilson promised a new foreign policy that would respect Latin America's independence -Wilson's moral imperialism produced more military interventions in Latin American than any president before or since -1916 established military government in Dominican Republic - troops until 1924 -1915 sent marines to Haiti after government refused to allow American banks to oversee its financial dealings there until 1934

What were the controversial views of the League of nations?

-Wilson viewed the new League of Nations as the war's finest legacy. -meanwhile Wilson suffered stroke wife governed for 17 months -Opponents viewed the league as a threat designed to deprive the country of its freedom of action. -Some Progressives wanted to focus on national problems -US never joined League of Nations, Congress didn't want to give up war declaration -Article X

How did peace haunt the world in the 1900s?

-Wilson wanted peace without victory - British and France wanted Germany to pay (article 231) -Wilson idea of putting ethnic group together, didn't work that efficiently -redraw the map of empire and absorb German colonies leads to Vietnam war and Middle East - places promised indepedence

How did Wilson respond to the Mexican Revolution?

-Wilson was appalled that military commander Huerta assassinated Madero after he had overthrown Diaz -Wilson ordered American troops to land at Vera Cruz to fight Huerta's troops -Mexicans greeted the marines as invaders rather than as liberators -later war spilled over to New Mexico where it killed 17 Americans under leadership of "Pancho" Villa -Wilson sends 10,000 troops to American

Why were nationalistic movements in east Asia, the Middle East, and eastern Europe disappointed in the peace agreement at Versailles?

-Wilson went to Versailles with his 14 points, war to make world for democracy, one of points about self-determination -people of Eastern Europe deserved new nations, people in other colonies wanted to apply to us -Wilson shared racist ideas, British and French didn't want to lose empire -Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Ghandi (India) dissapointed -movement had started hopeful ended sadly

Result of election of 1916

-Wilson wins by slight margin -May 1916 Germany announced suspension of submarine warfare against noncombatants -Wilson preparedness program seemed successful created slogan "He kept us out of war" -women voted for Wilson who was against war

Wilsonian Movement

-Wilson's idea that government must rest on the consent of the governed reverberated across the globe especially among oppressed minorities and colonial peoples seeking independence -Wilson's language of self-determination raised false hopes for many peoples -British and French had no intention of applying the principle of self-determination to their own empires

Who were the supporters of Prohibition?

-an issue in women's groups since the Progressive era -employers hoped create more disciplined labor force -urban reformers promote more orderly city environment undermining political machines that used saloons as places to organize -Women hoped would protect wives and children from domestic violence -nativists saw as way as imposing "American" values on immigrants

How did Americans turn the tide once they arrived in Europe?

-before involving, help economic help materials sent -served under General Pershing -repulsed german advance near Paris in July - major Ally counteroffensive -Meuse-Argonne campaign, more than 1 million American soldiers under general John J. Pershing helped push back outnumbered German army leading to full retreat and surrender -100,000 Americans dead

The Souls of black Folk (1903)

-book by W.E.B. Dubois that was dissatisfied with accommodationist policies of Booker T. Washington to press for equal rights -believed educated African-Americans like himself must use education to challenge inequality

The Melting Pot

-book gave popular name to the process by which newcomers were supposed to merge their identity into existing American nationality

Article X of League of Nations

-called for members to give assistance to others if needed - Congress did not like - dragged to war without approval of Congress

Bailey v. Alabama

-case won by help of NAACP -Supreme Court overturned southern "peonage" laws that made it a crime for sharecroppers to break their labor contracts

How was American cause seen internationally?

-cause to secure self-determination for the oppressed peoples of the world

How did America's involvement in WWI affect civil liberties?

-civil liberties (rights of individual against government) never concern of Progressives -government expression of common good -WWI greatest repression civil liberties, super patriotism -few Progressives see problems such as banning of magazines -many cause for making world democracy and purifying American life -civil liberties expandable, pushed aside

What was the Worldwide Upsurge?

-combination of militant hopes for social change and disappointment with the war's outcome -Russian created the USSR which nationalized landholdings, banks, and factories -sent fear and hope around the world -several strikes demanding fulfillment of war promises of "industrial democracy" in the US -Spain anarchist peasants seized land -India challenged British rule as as did colonies -Soviet union survived but rest of world return to control of conservative European governments

What were examples of Paul's militaristic strategies?

-compared wilson to the Kaiser and chained with a group to to the White House fence resulting in seven month prison sentence -went on a hunger strike in prison and were forced fed

National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoplet (NAACP)

-created by reformers shocked at a lynching in Springfield, Illinois (Lincoln's home) -wanted to enforce 14th adn 15th amendments -Founded in 1910, this civil rights organization brought lawsuits against discriminatory practices and published The Crisis, a journal edited by the African-American scholar W. E. B. Du Bois. -overall Progressive era saw no progress towards racial justice

How was Taft's approach different than Roosevelt's?

-emphasized economic investment and loans from American banks, rather than direct military intervention called Dollar Diplomacy

"close ranks"

-encouragement of Du Bois through The Crises magazine to enlist in the army to later gain rights -unlike Civil War were serving helped later, no effect was felt after WWI -navy barred blacks entirely, segregated army confined blacks to supply units rather than combat

What challenges did blacks face in the North?

-experienced disappointments as were restricted in employment opportunities, exclusion from unions, housing segregation, and outbreak of violence

W.E.B. Dubois

-first african american receive PHD from harvard -full rights for blacks -founded NAACP, disagreed with Booker T. Washington accommodationist stance -"persistent, manly agitation" to get rights -In some ways, Du Bois was a typical Progressive who believed that investigation, exposure, and education would lead to solutions for social problems.

Committee on Public Information (CPI)

-government agency created to explain to America and the world importance of the war -flooded country with pro-war propaganda using 75 million pamphlets and other means like posters, newspaper advertisements, and motion pictures -used appeal of Progressive era social cooperation and expanded democracy -war would secure "industrial-democracy" including living wage and 8 hour day -often used Statue of liberty to get immigrants emotions and get them to buy bonds portrayed Germans as Huns -species of 4 minute men delivered short speeches at schools and theatres -democracy and freedom were main ideas

American Protective League

-helped Justice department identify radicals and critics of the war -went on "slacker raids" to check if men in the street had draft registration cards -employers cooperated with the government in crushing Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)- federal agents arrested hundreds of leaders and seized publications -Progressives never had problem with excessive government power

Trench Warfare

-huge ditches that are dug out, 100 yards apart -places between trenches called no man's land

Enduring impact of Wilsonian policy

-immediately country retreated from international affairs -Wilson combination of idealism and power politics enduring impact -appeals to democracy, open markets, and special American mission to instruct the world in freedom, coupled with willingness to intervene abroad military to promote American interests and values -- created model for 1900s American international relations

War Labor Board

-included representatives of government, industry, and the American Federation of Labor -pressed for establishment of minimum wage -8 hour work day -right to form Unions -union membership increased -corporate and individual income tax rose greatly - 60% for wealthiest

Randolph Bourne

-insisted that there should be respect for immigrant subcultures as American culture were the mix of several cultures to produce music and poetry -envisioned a democratic, cosmopolitan society in which immigrants and natives alike submerged their group identities in a new "trans-national" culture -"war is the wealth of the state" -war would help unity of country, one of few progressives to support war

Alice Paul

-led the National Women's Party -college educated in England during British suffrage movements -adopted a strategy that included arrests, imprisonments, and vigorous denunciations of male-dominated political system -wanted equal opportunities act for jobs - many against women protections

What was the response to the sinking of the Lusitania?

-let go of neutrality -By the end of 1915, Wilson embarked on a policy of "preparedness."- meaning army and navy were expanded greatly - Wilson favored Britain Germany seen as "the natural foe of liberty" -had been carrying arms

What was the "Race Problem"?

-major public concern, tensions due to increased diversity -nationalization of politics and economic life served to heighten awareness of ethnic and racial differences and spurred demands for "Americanization" - more homogeneous culture -public schools Americanized immigrants children -government demanded immigrants show support to US -Eugenics, which studied the alleged mental characteristics of different races, gave anti-immigrant sentiment an air of professional expertise.

What were segregation measures against Mexicans ?

-many Mexicans came in without literacy test during the war to supply labor for mine and large farmers -segregation by law and custom in schools, hospitals, theaters with Mexican population -educated in own schools -Phoenix, AX had separate public schools for Indians, Mexicans, backs and white

Why did America's entry into the war threaten to tear the suffrage movement apart?

-many suffrage supporters opposed war making them appear anti-patriotic

How did Progressives react to the war?

-many union leaders stood behind Wilson -viewed war as the possibility of reforming American society along scientific lines, instilling a sense of national unity and self-sacrifice, and expanding social justice

What was Roosevelt's involvement in international diplomacy?

-most other Progressive presidents had only interfered with the Western hemisphere to secure American economic interests, Roosevelt conducted international diplomacy - unlike predecessors -won Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating settlement of Russo-Japanese War in 1905

Birth of a Nation

-movie during WWI that glorified KKK and defender of white civilization during Reconstruction -Film that led to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan

How was Wilson racist?

-native of Virginia imposed racial segregation in federal departments -dismissed several black employees -Allowed D.W. Griffith film Birth of a Nation to premiere at the White House

What caused Wilson's administration to finally endorse woman's suffrage?

-patriotic support in the war -outrage over treatment of Paul and prisoner

Legacy of the Red Scare

-planted seeds for appreciation of importance of civil liberties as seen in 1920s -immediate impact of tearing apart labor and radical organization -idea that patriotism was American support of the status quo -IWW and Socialist party destroyed as well as moderate unions

The Color line

-referred to the idea that freedoms of the Progressive era did not apply to blacks -intellectuals were indifferent to the black condition

John Hemingway

-served as ambulance driver viewed death close up -part of Lost Generation

Violence in the North

-showed violence existed in the north too -employers recruited black workers to weaken unions which excluded blacks - dozens killed -250 killed in riots in the north -white bathers drowned black teenager who accidentally crossed unofficial dividing line between black and white beaches on Lake Michigan in Chicago, 38 person killed 500 injured

How did Women participate in the war?

-sold bonds -organized patriotic rallies -went to work in production jobs -clerical workers and nurses with American forces in Europe

What were the new technologies of World War I?

-submarines -airplanes -machine guns -tanks -poison gas -produced great slaughter

What led the Prohibition movement to become a national campaign?

-success at state caused Prohibitionist to seek national legislation - war helped -many breweries were German-American -Food Administration insisted grain be used for food not be used to make beer or liquor

Panama canal legacy

-the manner canal had been taken remained source of tension -1977 President Jimmy Carter negotiated treaties that led canal operation back to Panama in 2000

Harsh document

-though Wilson did not want vengeance or territorial acquisition, lLoyd George persuaded Wilson to agree on clause declaring Germany morally responsible for war with astronomical reparation payments with crippled German economy -guaranteed future conflict in Europe

Immigrant restriction in time of WWI

-war strengthened idea that certain undesirable people should be excluded altogether -IQ test introduced in 1916 by Lewis Terman concluded number could measure intellectual capacity first used for military recruits -tested army recruits and concluded that blacks and new immigrants were far below in scores than white protestants - should be restricted from immirating

women's era (1890-1920)

-women started to have economic opportunity -right property, contracts, wills, wages -5 million in domestic workers or light manufacturing in 1900

Total death of WWI

10 million 100,000 American

World War I dates

1914-1918

Dollar Diplomacy

A foreign policy initiative under President William Howard Taft that promoted the spread of American influence through loans and economic investments from American banks. -seemed weaker to Roosevelt strategy

Tulsa riot of 1921

A race riot that occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921, when more than 300 blacks were killed and over 10,000 left homeless after a white mob burned an all-black section of the city to the ground.

Panama Canal Zone

A ten-mile-wide strip of land on which was built a canal; its construction drastically reduced the time it took for commercial and naval vessels to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

flu epidemic

A worldwide flu epidemic in 1919 that killed between 20 and 40 million persons, including nearly 700,000 Americans.

sinking of the Lusitania

An incident in 1915 wherein a British liner was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland.

What events led Wilson to soon go before Congress for a declaration of world claiming that the world "must be made safe for democracy"?

April 2, 1917 -several American merchant vessels sunk after Germany announced intention of resuming submarine warfare against ships sailing to or from British isles early 1917 (biggest cause) -British intercepted Zimmerman Telegram made public -fall of czarist regime in Russia (fight to democracy) -Americans loaned 2 billion dollars to Britain

other members at Versailles conference besides Wilson

David Lloyd George (Britain) and George Clemenceau (France)

Christmas Truce

December 1914, fighting stopped, sing and fighting stop

What was the state of civil liberties during the war?

Despite administration's idealistic language of democracy and freedom, the war inaugurated the most intense repression of civil liberties the nation has ever known

AFL during WWI

Did not strike during war

What was the US lesson after Mexico?

Difficult to reorder the international affairs of other nations

Selective Service Act

Enacted in 1917; required 24 million men to register with the draft. -increase size army from 120,000 to 5,000,000

What was occurring in Europe before World War I erupted?

European powers were scrambling to collect colonial possessions overseas creating series of alliances seeking military domination within Europe

Zimmerman Telegram

From the German foreign secretary to the German minister in Mexico, February 1917, instructing him to offer to recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona for Mexico if it would fight the United States to divert attention from Germany in the event that the United States joined the war.

Sedition Act

In 1918, the Sedition Act made it a crime to make spoken or printed statements that intended to cast "contempt, scorn, or disrepute" on the "form of government," or that advocated interference with the war effort.

Author of the Melting Pot

Israel Zangwill

Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907

Japan agreed to end migration to the US except for the wives and children already in the country

What did Russia do after leaving war?

Lenin published secret treaties by which Allies had agreed to divide up conquered territory after the war - led directly to fourteen points as Wilson wanted to ensure peace

President order

McKinley-> Roosevelt -> Taft ->Wilson -> Harding

Fighting ends

November 11, 1918 (Veterans die)

War Industries Board

Run by the financier Bernard Baruch, the board planned production and allocation of war matériel, supervised purchasing, and fixed prices, 1917-1919. -watched over production from raw materials to manufactured goods -established standardized specification for everything (three colors of shoes produced)

"Red Summer"

Race riots in Northern cities - "Great Migration"

Roosevelt saying

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Buck v. Bell

Supreme Court upheld constitutionality of these laws that sterilized people with undesirable traits -63,000 people sterilized until 1960s when became illegal

Versailles Treaty

The treaty signed at the Versailles peace conference after World War I that established President Woodrow Wilson's vision of an international regulating body, redrew parts of Europe and the Middle East, and assigned economically crippling war reparations to Germany, but failed to incorporate all of Wilson's Fourteen Points. -seen as failure

Contenders in election of 1916

Wilson (democrat)-reelection vs Republican Hughes - now party was together again

"liberal internationalism"

Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy that rested on the conviction that economic and political progress go hand in hand.

"moral imperialism"

Woodrow Wilson's idea that Americans were "meant to carry liberty and justice throughout the world."

Why did Russia leave war efforts?

communist Vladimir overthrew Russian government and withdrew Russia from war

Response to steel stirke

counterattack by steel magnates that called for anti-immigrant sentiment to get native-born workers back to work -propaganda campaign that associated strikers with the IWW, communism , and disloyalty -as middle-class opinion turned against labor movement and police assaulted workers strike collapsed in 1920

Francis Willard

leader of Women's Christian Temperance movement -included women to vote to abolish prohibition

Chemical warfare

new, mustard gas, tear gas, chlorine, phosgene (lethal)

IWW during war

nicknamed "I won;t work"

Eighteenth Amendment

prohibiting manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquor

Jeannette Rankin

staunch pacifist, first woman member of Congress that voted against the declaration of war in WWI and WWII jeopardizing her career

Liberty bonds

war bonds that showed patriotism