Download Name: Date: ______ Xenophobia After World War I Warm

Name: _________________________________
Date: _____________
Xenophobia After World War I
Warm-up: Is there anything that scares you so much that you alter your life to avoid it? Many
people are scared of certain things and do whatever they can to avoid them. What is the thing
you most want to avoid?
Anti-German Sentiment and the Sedition and Espionage Acts
Examine the documents contained within this packet. Answer the questions below.
Anti-German Sentiment
How do the pictures depict Germany and Germans?
Why do you think people were worries about Germans in the country during World War I?
Name some of the anti-German things that the US does to spread its message.
Sedition and Espionage Acts – USE “SEDITION AND ESPIONAGE” VIDEO
What were things that one could be arrested got under these new laws?
List some of the actual punishments that were given out for breaking these laws.
Why would the US pass these laws? What are they trying to prevent?
Quick Review
Nativism - _____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Based on what you know about nativism and World War I, do you think Nativism would be
increasing or decreasing by the end of the war?
Xenophobia - __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
The Red Scare – USE TEXTBOOK PAGES 481-483 TO COMPLETE
Communism - _________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How is communism very UNLIKE the system in America?
Explain the main points of each of these events, and how they are similar:
Sacco and Vanzetti
Both
The Palmer Raids
What do these events show about the US fear of people overthrowing the government?
Do you think the government was behaving appropriately? Why or why Not?
Closure
Evaluate the US’ actions following the war. Do you think that they are necessary actions? Why
of why not?
Predict how the culture of the US will change as a result of the focus on American ways of life.
Anti German Sentiment In the United States
When the United States entered the war in 1917, some German Americans were looked
upon with suspicion and attacked regarding their loyalty. Some men were convicted and
imprisoned on charges of sedition, for refusing to swear allegiance to the United States war
effort.
In Chicago, Frederick Stock was forced to step down as conductor of the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra until he finalized his naturalization papers. Orchestras replaced
music by German composer Wagner with French composer Berlioz.
The town, Berlin, Michigan, was changed to Marne, Michigan (honoring those who fought
in the Battle of Marne).
German street names in many cities were changed. German and Berlin streets in
Cincinnati became English and Woodward. In Chicago Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg
streets were renamed Dickens, Charleston, and Shakespeare. In New Orleans, Berlin Street
was renamed for General Pershing, head of the American Expeditionary Force.
Businesses changed their names. In Chicago, German Hospital became Grant Hospital. In
New York, the giant Germania Life Insurance Company became Guardian.
Many schools stopped teaching German language classes. The City College of New York
continued teaching German courses, but reduced the number of credits students could
receive for them. Books published in German were removed from libraries or even burned.
In Cincinnati, the public library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves.
In Iowa, in the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor prohibited all foreign languages in
schools and public places. Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English,
but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in 1923.
Vocabulary changed. Sauerkraut came to be called "liberty cabbage", German measles
became "liberty measles", hamburgers became "liberty sandwiches" and dachshunds
became "liberty pups".
The response of German Americans to these tactics was often to Americanize names (e.g.
Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller) and to limit the use of the German language in public places,
especially churches