Transcript America in WWI

America in
WWI
On the Home front
Free Write & Discussion
 Do you think it is patriotic or anti-
American to criticize the United States
government in a time of war?
U.S. Public Opinion
 Public opinion on WWI
was divided in the U.S.
 Some supported U.S.
entry into the war in light
of the Zimmerman
telegram and the sinking
of the Lusitania.
3
“He Kept Us Out of War”
 In 1916 President Wilson
won re-election running on
the slogan “He Kept Us Out
of War.”
 Wilson declared war in April
1917.
4
Committee on Public Information
 During WWI, the U.S. took drastic steps to
make sure people were supportive of the war
effort
 The CPI was America’s first domestic
propaganda campaign
Meanwhile…
 As the government was producing
propaganda for war –
 Also started changing laws to limit what
people could say in a time of warfare
Espionage & Sedition Acts
 Both acts suppressed anti-British,
pro-German, and anti-war
opinions.
 Over 1,500 people were prosecuted
 Over 1,000 convicted under these
laws, many for small acts of dissent.
12
Espionage & Sedition Acts
 Espionage Act: Banned any activity that hindered
military recruitment.
 Sedition Act: Much broader limitation on peoples’
free speech rights during war.
Excerpt from Sedition Act:
it was a crime to speak against the purchase of war bonds or
“willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or
abusive language about this form of US Govt., the US Constitution, or the
US armed forces” or to
“willfully urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production of things
necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war…with intent of such
curtailment to cripple or hinder, the US in the prosecution of the war.”
Unconstitutional?
First Amendment (1791)
 “Congress shall make no
law…abridging the
freedom of speech, or of
the press.”
The Sedition Act (1918)
 “Whoever shall willfully
say, print, write, or publish
any disloyal, profane, or
abusive language about
the form of government,
Constitution, military or
naval forces, or flag, shall
be punished by a fine of
no more than $10,000
and/or 20 years in prison
What do you think? Is this law unconstitutional?
Charles Schenck
 Charles Schenck was
a Socialist
 Between 1917-1918,
printed and distributed
more than 15,000 antiwar pamphlets,
including some to
drafted American men.
15
Schenck’s
pamphlet
 “To draw this country into the
horrors of the present war in
Europe,
 to force the youth of our land
into the shambles and bloody
trenches of war crazy nations,
 would be a crime the
magnitude of which defies
description. Words could not
express the condemnation
such cold-blooded
ruthlessness deserves.
 In this world crisis where do
you stand? Are you with the
forces of liberty and light or
war and darkness?”
The Supreme Court’s Decision
Schenck v. US (1919) Ruling:
• In ordinary times the 1st Amendment would have
protected it
• BUT every act of speech must be judged by the
circumstances in which it was spoken
• If an act of speech posed a clear and present
danger, then Congress had the power to restrain
such speech
• Upheld Schenck’s conviction
The state of the war
 Germany initially doing well against British and
French troops
 By May of 1918 they were just 50 miles from Paris
America to the rescue
 American troops jumped in and saved Paris
 Turned the tide of war
 250,000 American troops arriving in France each
month
America’s contribution
 In total, 1.5 million American troops arrived in
Europe in the last 6 months of the war
Surrender begins
 Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire surrendered in the
fall of 1918
 Finally Germany surrendered on Nov. 11, 1918
Influenza Epidemic
 Last months of the war
 Killed more people worldwide than all battles of the
war
Progression of the Great Influenza
 First detected in Kansas
 Then carried to Europe by American soldiers
 The influenza killed within a few days
 30 million people died
Consequences of War
 Deaths: Killed 14 million
 9 million combatants and 5 million civilians
 Politically
 Downfall of 4 empires, led to Bolshevik rise to power in
Russia, triumph of fascism in Italy
 Other consequences
 Mass murder of Armenians in Turkey
 Influenza epidemic that killed 25 million people
Consequences for America
 Europe’s leading creditor
 Most industrialized nation
 Comparatively few deaths
 Leads to America becoming a major world power
The Peace
 European Allies wanted to make Germany pay for
the damage of war
 President Wilson, instead, thought the treaty
should lay the groundwork to “end all wars”
 Wilson brought his “Fourteen Points” to Paris
League of Nations
 Wilson’s 14 Points called for a League of Nations,




an international governing body
This became part of the Treaty of Versailles
But Congress refused to ratify the treaty
Disliked the idea of “internationalism” wanted to
stay out of the conflicts of Europe
Instead wanted to focus on America & its interests