Consequences of War

Committee on Public Information

Government agency responsible for coordinating pro-war propaganda

Distributed pamphlets, arranged public speakers, recorded songs, and made short patriotic films

Government assumed new role of manipulating public opinion, controlling what information about the war the public had access to

Espionage Act of 1917

Prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, support America's enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or interfere with military recruitment

Sedition Act of 1918 Limited freedom of

speech by making it illegal to publicly express any opposition to the war

Government could (and did) prosecute anyone who criticized the government

Schenck v. US (1919)

Charles Schenck, a socialist, had been sending pamphlets to men urging them not to report if drafted

Schenck was convicted of violating the Espionage Act

Supreme Court upheld Schenck’s conviction and ruled that an individual’s freedom of speech can be limited by the government when it presents a “clear and present danger,” such as during times of war

Eugene V. Debs 1855 – 1926 5-time Socialist

candidate for US President

Gave an anti-war speech in 1918 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating the Sedition Act (only served 3 years)

Appealed to the Supreme Court; the result of Debs v. US was the same as Schenck v. US

National War Labor Board

Federal agency which acted to mediate and quickly settle labor disputes to avoid disrupting the war effort

Pressured industry to keep workers happy with increased wages, shorter workdays, and respect for unions

Population Shifts European immigration

halted during the war This created

employment opportunities for minorities

Many blacks left the South for factory jobs in the North (The Great Migration)

Many Mexicans entered the US to fill the labor shortage on farms in the Southwest and in factories in the North

Post-war Inflation As regular factory

production resumed, demand for consumer goods skyrocketed, driving up prices

Inflation in 1919 alone was over 15%

Rising cost-of-living led to increased wage demands by labor

Seattle General Strike

Shipbuilders in Seattle went on strike for better wages, inspiring other workers in Seattle to follow suit

60,000 workers went on strike, but gained little before returning to work

Still, the size of the strike and its effect on the city were alarming

Boston Police Strike

1919: 75% of police went on strike for higher pay, leading to rioting and looting due to lawlessness

Gov. Calvin Coolidge sent in the National Guard to restore order

When policemen tried to return to work, they were fired and replaced with new hires, with Coolidge’s approval

The Steel Strike 350,000 steel workers

went on strike US Steel blamed the

strike on foreign immigrants, painted the strikers as un-American

Hired African-Americans and Mexican immigrants to replace the workers and keep the steel mills running

Despite several violent clashes, the striking workers gained nothing

The Red Scare of 1919-20

Labor unrest led to fears that Communists were trying to create a revolt in the US similar to the one in Russia

April 1919: dozens of bombs were sent through the US Mail to important government officials and business leaders, further encouraging the belief that communists were plotting against the US

The Palmer Raids Federal agents raided

the headquarters of various radical organizations, trying to identify the terror bombers

No evidence was ever found, but hundreds of immigrants were deported due to suspicion

Agents entered homes without search warrants, jailed individuals without charges, and refused lawyers – all violations of basic civil rights

A. Mitchell Palmer 1872 – 1936 US Attorney General Became an

assassination target of anarchists, survived two bomb attacks

Organized a new branch of the Justice Department – the General Intelligence Unit (GIU) – to investigate “radical” organizations

J. Edgar Hoover 1895 – 1972 Hand picked by

Palmer to head the GIU, remained in charge until his death in 1972 (the GIU became the FBI in 1935)

Well known for using extralegal methods

Sacco & Vanzetti Ferdinando Nicola Sacco

(1891–1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888–1927)

Italian immigrants 1920: Convicted of armed

robbery and murder in a highly controversial trial, many believed they were blamed simply due to the fact that they were immigrants and associated with anarchists

Executed in 1927, despite a confession to the crime by another individual

Urban Race Riots Violent racism erupted

in Northern cities as WWI veterans returned to work only to find themselves competing with blacks and Mexican immigrants for jobs

Worst was in Chicago where a two-week long riot killed 38 and injured hundreds

The Ku Klux Klan The KKK was reborn in

1915 as a much more formally structured organization

Preached on the purification of America, practiced racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, nativism, and antisemitism

Strongest in Midwestern cities like Detroit & Chicago

May have reached membership of 15 million

Anti-German Sentiments

Sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage,” hamburger became “Salisbury steak”

Schools stopped teaching German

Orchestras refused to play works by German-born conductors like Beethoven

American Protective League

Private citizens’ group founded in 1917 (with the approval of the DOJ) to monitor German-Americans for signs of anti-war sentiments and to report draft dodgers

Officially disbanded in 1919, but local branches continued to operate in conjunction with other racist groups such as the KKK

18th Amendment The push to ban

alcohol in the US was also motivated by discrimination

Vodka was a Russian drink, while beer was a German drink – both groups who were out of favor in the United States

A “Return to Normalcy”

Election of 1920 was won by Republican Warren G. Harding

Harding campaigned on a return to simpler times

Americans had tired of the reforms of Progressivism, the unrest of war and labor disputes

Washington Naval Conference

1922: Meeting in Washington DC between the US, Great Britain, Japan, and other nations with interests in the Pacific

Purpose of the conference was to defuse potential future conflicts in the Pacific

All parties agreed to limit the sizes of their navies, restrict certain types of armaments, and to not fortify islands in the Pacific

This agreement made it easier for Japan to expand its empire

Dawes Plan 1924: When

Germany could not meet its reparation debts from the Treaty of Versailles, the US loaned Germany the money to refinance its debt

US wanted to avoid the possibility of a new conflict in Europe