Download Rev. 12/11 CHAPTER 6-WORLD WAR I—1912

Rev. 12/11
CHAPTER 6-WORLD WAR I—1912-1920
THE ELECTION OF 1912—what is the proper role of government in an industrial age? [see
map on p. 532]
A major challenge to the two-party system as two other well-known candidates ran
Woodrow Wilson (42%)—the first PhD to be elected president, a segregationist
Democrat who later endorsed The Birth of A Nation, based on a novel written by Thomas Dixon,
Jr., who was Wilson’s college friend at JHU in 1883, when it was released in 1915—promoted
states rights and promised to protect small businessmen and farmers from the big corporations—
government was “the steward of the people” to regulate the giant corporations—his “New
Freedom” promoted antimonopoly policies to restore competition and small business—supported
by WEB DuBois, he received more black votes than any previous Democratic candidate but
defended segregation in federal employment—
Teddy Roosevelt (27%)—TR wanted the republican nomination but Taft controlled the
party machinery so Taft got the nomination even though TR had a huge majority in the delegate
elections—“Taft’s belief that power was properly enshrined in
the judiciary was a betrayal of everything Roosevelt had tried to
do as president; Woodrow Wilson was slow to arm the country.”
(Geoffrey C. Ward. NY Times, 11/28/10)--TR bolted the party to
create the Progressive Party—his nomination, with Hiram
Johnson as VP, was seconded by Jane Addams—came to the
convention and proclaimed he felt “as strong as a bull moose”-the Progressive Party became known as “the Bull Moose
Party”—refused to seat blacks at the convention because TR
thought he could carry some of the southern states—“Hamiltonian means to achieve Jeffersonian
goals”—proclaimed “the New Nationalism,” with a belief in federal planning and regulation,
including
 Labor’s right to organize
 A promise to curtail campaign spending
 Promote conservation
 Provide federal insurance for the elderly, sick and unemployed
TR campaign speech “The Farmer and the Businessman” (4:17)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TM79amu5Bw
William Howard Taft (23%)
Eugene Debs (6%) —33 cities had socialist mayors, who advocated “sewer socialism,” or
public ownership of utilities—his votes were largest for a socialist party nationally—in 1910,
Victor Berger of Wisconsin was one of two socialists elected to Congress—he was re-elected
but could not take his seat in 1918 because he had been arrested for violation of the Espionage
Act of 1917—
Alice Paul and the Suffragettes—began demonstrations as soon as Wilson was elected
and planned a counter-parade at his inaugural—[see documents on pp. 554-555 on the
achievement of suffrage]
Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson (Bill Jamison show--10 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yn2D1ukQC4
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Women Vote - "Night of Terror" (Women`s Suffrage/Woman`s Rights—3:38)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeOHPfsCtFo&feature=related
THE WILSON PRESIDENCY
Mostly remembered for WWI, Wilson was a “progressive,” only the second Democratic
President since Reconstruction, who
 Appointed Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court, who once stated: “We can have
democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the
hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
 Advocated for lower tariffs, with the Underwood tariff—compensated by a
modest federal income tax—
 Federal Reserve Act of 1913—estavblished a national banking system and
government control over moguls like J.P. Morgan, whose company had 341
directorships, with assets of $ 22 billion—became a shaper of fiscal policy and
released the money supply from the gold supply, leading indirectly to the debt
crisis of 2011—became one agency that tried to “control” the economy to avoid
depressions
 Clayton Anti-Trust Act (January, 1914)—controlled price discrimination—
established the Federal Trade Commission, which could prosecute corporations
for “unfair trade practices”—Wilson wanted to regulate but not to break up the
major corporations—most importantly, it specifically stipulated that unions and
farmers’ organizations would not be considered “conspiracies in restraint of
trade,” an advance since the Sherman Anti-Trust act was used against unions,
notably in the Pullman strike
 Supported rural credits
 Workers compensation
 Keating-Owens child labor law (1916), which indicated the first moves of the
federal government o regulate the workplace
 William Jennings Bryan became secretary of state
Segregation was a continuing issue-- at a meeting about integration in the Federal Mail
service—segregation had never been the custom in federal government offices in Washington,
D.C. However, faced with strong pressure from his fellow Southerners, Wilson allowed
segregation in the capital--Here is an excerpt of an article about the meeting with Monroe Trotter
about segregation in federal employment-- http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5719/ --there were
also hundreds of lynchings
LABOR ISSUES
Commission on Industrial Relations (1915)—held a series of hearings to publicize
“industrial feudalism”—the concentration of wealth provoked labor violence—
Seaman’s Act (1915)—eliminated “oppressive financial arrangements and semi-military
discipline inflicted on merchant sailors” (WBA, p. 246)
Adamson Act (1916)—railroad workers got the 8-hour day, the first time private workers
conditions came under federal legislation
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The Lawrence textile strike, or “the bread and roses strike” (January, 1912)—after a
state-mandated reduction in wages, workers found their pay cut and within a week, more than
20,000 workers were out—IWW took over the strike and printed leaflets in 19 different
languages-The Patterson silk strike (February 1-July 28,
1913)—another IWW strike for the 8-hour day and
higher wages—the Madison Square Garden pageant was
a famous part of the strike, produced by John Reed
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
Threat from Mexican Revolution—began in 1910
1914—The European Crisis: The Triple Alliance
(German, Italy, Austria-Hungary) v. The Triple Entente
(Great Britain, France, Russia)
April 21, 1914—US invaded Vera Cruz to
prevent Germans from getting oil—Wilson also did not support Huerta, who controlled the port
and who had been promised weapons by the Germans in exchange for oil—supported by
Secretary of State Bryan (a pacifist) and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels—after a brief
skirmish, the US withdrew even as Carranza threatened to invade the US as a response
WORLD WAR I
History of World War I (Parts 1 and 2—18 minutes total)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7kp3vf1uKA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjlGoe1mnw0&feature=related
June 28, 1914—assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, in Sarajevo by a Bosnia Serb—on July 18, Austria declared war on Serbia, then
Germany attacked Russia and France and Great Britain declared war on Germany—[see map of
alliances in June, 1914 on p. 544]
Wilson wanted neutrality and to keep trading with all countries—
unusual support came from Eugene Debs--usually a radical, and an opponent of the US
nationalistic ideology, Debs was in 1914 constrained to seriously compromise his principles and
vote to support the wartime budget when the Great War began. He was the leader of a mass
party, the country's main opposition, with a substantial representation in Congress and realistic
aspirations to eventually win power. As such, Debs - whatever his private reservations - could
not ignore the widespread support for war among the party's electorate. This was especially due
to the fact that many of the working-class Socialist strongholds were close to either a
Confederate border or a Canadian one, making the party's supporters apprehensive of an enemy
invasion and tending to support an aggressive US war to pre-empt such threats. Debs' conduct in
1914 was similar to that of Socialist leaders in other countries such as Britain, France and
Germany - all of whom shifted from an earlier anti-war position to supporting the war when it
became inevitable—but Debs eventually became, once again, an outspoken opponent of the war,
as demonstrated in the Canton speech
Even old socialists like Clarence Darrow, Jack London and Upton Sinclair eventually
supported the US war effort
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January 10, 1915—Women’s Peace Party—“the pathetic belief in the regenerative results
of war”— DuBois stated that the war was fought over imperialist control of Africa, which he
called “the Land of the Twentieth Century,” due to wealth of cocoa, diamonds, rubber, ivory and
palm oil-1914-1917—blockades while US trade with Germany disappeared—[see map on p. 545]-trade with Great Britain increased 400%--by 1916, US was providing 40% of England’s war
materiel—the war increased the US gross national product by 20% from 1914-1917, pulling the
country out of the 1913 recession and giving the US major overseas markets—US foreign
investment increased from $700 million (1897) to $31/2 billion (1914)--J.P. Morgan & Co. alone
placed more than $ 3 billion of war orders for England and France—the Allies borrowed more
than $2 billion from US banks so the USD became, for the first time, a “net lender” and a world
power—as the European countries were at war, the US also expanded exports to Latin American
countries
In 1907, Wilson stated in a lecture at Columbia University:”Concession obtained by
financiers must be safeguarded by ministers, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be
outrages in the process. . . the doors of nations which are closed must be battered open” (Zinn, p.
353)
An estimated 10 million people died on the battlefields and another 20 million died of
hunger and disease related to the war (Zinn., p. 350)—[see casualties graphic on p. 550]
U-Boat blockades to stop the transport of US-produced war materials—May 7, 1915—
torpedoes Luisitania-1,198 passengers died—May 10, 1917—Wilson still held neutrality—“too
proud to fight”—
1914—First Battle of the Marne—aircraft used for reconnaissance—the French blocked
the German advance on Paris and each side had 500,000 casualties—“All Quiet on the Western
Front”-May, 1915—sinking of the British liner Lusitania—1.198 people died, including 124
Americans—while the US government claimed the liner was an innocent passenger ship, in fact
the Lusitania carried shells, boxes of cartridges and 2,000 cases of small arms ammunition, not
listed in the cargo manifest—[see map on p. 545]
July, 1915—first German “synchronized” plane, the Fokker was operational so pilots
could use machine guns in the front of the plane
April 24, 1916—Easter Rising in Dublin—Irish patriots tried to take advantage of
British involvement in Europe—Roger Casement had been arrested on April 16 on the coast
after leaving a German submarine—he had tried for several years to negotiate the sale of arms to
the Republicans—Casement never really trusted the Germans and the Rising failed but opened a
“second front” for the British—The Irish are eccentric: they don’t wish to be English” –Winston
Churchill
March 14, 1916—February 7, 1917—General John J.
“Black Jack” Pershing led an “expeditionary force” of 4,600
men into Mexico to hunt for Pancho Villa, who had attacked the
town of Columbus, NMEX during the Mexican Revolution—
[see map on p. 544]--he never caught Villa and by April, 1917,
was sent to Europe to head the US forces after the declaration of
war-- General Pershing was permitted to bring into New Mexico
527 Chinese refugees who had assisted him during the
expedition, despite the ban on Chinese immigration at that time
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due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese refugees, known as "Pershing's Chinese," were
allowed to remain in the U.S. on the condition that they work under the supervision of the
military as cooks and servants on bases. In 1921, Congress passed Public Resolution 29, which
allowed them to remain in the country permanently under the conditions of the 1892 Geary Act.
Most of them settled in San Antonio.
July 22, 1916—the Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco—a parade of more
than 50,000 people to promote the imminent entry of the US into WWI—radicals in the Bay area
opposed the war and the parade—a suitcase bomb exploded, killing 10 and wounding 40—
Alexander Berkman, who had been released from prison in 1906 and relocated to the Bay area in
late 1915 to publish an anarchist magazine, was the first suspect but Warren Billings, a
watchmaker, a Tom Mooney, a molder and socialist agitator, were arrested for the crime—both
were convicted and later pardoned—questions of perjured testimony and anti-radical hysteria
1916 election—
“He kept us out of war”—Wilson was opposed by Charles Evans Hughes—at one point,
TR wanted to run again on the Progressive Party ticket but withdrew because he was concerned
that his candidacy would guarantee the re-election of Wilson, whom he disliked and thought was
allowing Europe to “bully” the US—some newspapers claimed that Hughes was secretly
planning to get the US involved in the war—Wilson got 49.2% of the votes--a popular legend
from the 1916 campaign states that Hughes went to bed on Election Night thinking that he was
the newly-elected president. When a reporter tried to telephone him the next morning to get his
reaction to Wilson's comeback, someone (stories vary as to whether this person was his son or a
butler or valet) answered the phone and told the reporter that "the President is asleep." The
reporter retorted, "When he wakes up, tell him he isn't the President."
Allen Louis Benson (Socialist), author of the 1904 pamphlet Socialism Made Plain: Why
the few are rich and the many poor got 3.2% of the votes for President after Debs withdrew—
Debs was temporarily discredited because of his 1914 support for the defense
budget but regained his stature in 1918 with the Canton, OH speech
July 1—November 16, 1916—Battle of the Somme on both banks of
this river—in one 3-day battle at the beginning of the siege, French/British had
600,000 dead/wounded and the Germans 500,000—wiped out the
Newfoundland brigade—first use of a tank in war
January 1917—Germany expanded blockade
February 15, 1917—the Zimmerman Telegram—a coded telegram German proposal to
Mexico urging the country to declare war on the US and reclaim territory lost during the
Mexican-American War and the Gadsden Purchase (the states of Texas, New Mexico and
Arizona)—the telegram was intercepted and decoded and published in the US on March 1, and
became a factor in the US declaration of war on April 6—President Carranza, in any case, was
not ready to take Mexico into a war with the US, partly because Mexico’s internal situation was
still so unsettled—
March, 1917—German sink five US ships off coast of England-March, 1917—Russain tsar overthrown and Kerensky government takes power—referred
to with approval in Wilson’s declaration of war as a kind of worldwide change-April 2, 1917—US declares war—note that Wilson recognizes that he does not have the
authority to act with Congress (Document )—Congress also declared a draft after only 73,000
volunteered in six weeks when 1 million soldiers were needed—[see enlistment poster on p.
546]—4 million men were in the military—the US was involved in a military capacity until 11
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November, 1918, about 1 ½ years [see photo on p. 548]—major social changes--labor shortages
helped the growth of unionism
The secrets of World War I (History Channel—10 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FAOk4uMp8
O.A. Hilton. “Public Opinion and Civil Liberties in Wartime, 1917-1919.”
Southwest Social Science Quarterly, 1947.—“the use of pressure tactics to coerce the
minority into line had reached a high state of refinement”—“the influence of public
opinion in extending or restricting civil liberties”—the protections that were thought to be
“automatic” under the Bill of Rights were curtailed—a public opinion that was “nearly
hysterical at times”—created state councils of defense, usually appointed by the
governor—in SDAK, the council described anyone who did not buy Liberty Bonds as a
“slacker”—the county councils were even empowered to subpoena “delinquents” to
“interrogate them about their ability to buy bonds”—some state councils sent letters to
individuals who opposed the war to inform them “emphatically that such conduct will not
be tolerated”—Liberty Loan committees checked up on individual donations-Profiteering was now permitted—in the Food Administration, penalties for
violation of the law were stricken and a company who was caught simply had to express
remorse or make a charitable contribution—a real apparatus of social “terror,” with
inquests at a city level—
The Nonpartisan League was an organization of farmers in the northwest,
opposed to millers and other middlemen—advocated a form of agrarian socialism and
insisted that it was a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,” as the Socialist Party
stated—questioned both the motives for the war and the methods for paying for it—the
CPI routed speakers specifically through the area—the Public Safety Commission
indirectly approved the use of forced against the League to break up meetings—in
Montana, the state council ordered the public schools to stop using a textbook ion ancient
history because it gave “too favorable a treatment of the Teutonic tribes prior to the year
812 A.D.”—many states agitated against the use of German language and in SDAK, the
only place German could be used was at a funeral—some council who were to “pass
upon the loyalty of suspected persons” complained that the laws were not strong
enough—eventually used the Espionage Act—states councils “frequently represented the
most intolerant points of view”—tarring and feathering of pro-Germans in Montana—
saw most of the violence in the Middle West and the Rocky Mountains—includes the
Bisbee deportation—also the hanging of Frank Little on August 1, 1917—
American Protective League—enrolled 250,000 citizens at the height of “spy
mania” over possible German infiltration to spy on neighbors for evidence of “sedition
and treason”—as George Creel stated, “Never has a country been so
thoroughly counter-espionaged”—looked for anyone who was not “a
100 percenter”—the laws looked at intent and the courts generally
found, despite the objections of Justice Learned Hand, that anything
“which tended to dampen the war enthusiasm was a violation”—antiwar platforms and Socialist pamphlets were regularly introduced as
“evidence”—membership in the IWW of Socialist Party was almost
clearly evidence of guilt—actually prohibited to blame the war on
“profiteers,” even though historians have recognized the “economic
entanglements” as factor in US involvement—
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Hilton complains that the Department of Justice has refused to allow researchers
to look at the archives of the WWI period—a lot of mob violence—people were
prosecuted for opposing the sending of troops to help the White Russians-The US Committee on Public Information (CPI) headed by George Creel, a
newspaperman and muckraker who became a strong supporter of Wilson and the war effort-assembled “four minute men” to give speeches about the War at social events for an ideal length
of four minutes, considering that the average human attention span was judged at the time to be
four minutes--they covered the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory gardens and why America
was fighting--It was estimated that by the end of the war, they had made more than 7.5 million
speeches to 314 million people--in 1920, wrote a book How We Advertised America: The First
Telling of the Amazing Story Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of
Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe--later ran against Upton Sinclair for governor of
California as a Democrat-April, 1917—Food Administration—headed by Herbert Hoover
Railroad Administration
Fuel Administration
May 18, 1917—conscription—2.8 million inducted, along with 2 million who
volunteered—370,000 black soldiers—supported by du Bois—integrated in France and Pershing
warned about “spoiling” them—German leaflet targeted them as well—
Two WWI songs by Ann Gibson (7:45)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljm6FDaQgQ4
June 13, 1917—US troops led by Pershing arrived in France with the American
Expeditionary Force (AEF)—[see map on p. 549]--difficult relations with French and British, so
US kept troops separate—in the summer,1918, with a final offensive planned, US still refused to
merge troops into a unified command—effort to maintaining both military and political
independence—
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljm6FDaQgQ4&feature=related –two great WWI
songs, one pro-war and the other against it
War Revenue Act
Teddy Roosevelt came to White House to request permission to raise a troop of
volunteers, even though he was overweight, half-blind and suffering from various ailments that
would kill him in two years—one biographer thinks TR wanted Wilson to “grant him his
desperate desire , , , nothing less than death in battle.”—his son, Quentin, was shot down over
France and TR was devastated—still wanted to campaign for the presidency in 1918 but died
“and the country got Harding”
112,000 US soldiers died [see graphic on p. 550]-As a kind of first act, many of the famous military figures of World War II got their first
experiences. In the book Brothers, Rivals and Victors, (2011) Jonathan W. Jordan describes
 Dwight D. Eisenhower—was so skilled at staff work that the War Department
refused to send him to France
 George Patton—a rich, politically connected former polo player (and possible
psychopath), was on the Western Front in the middle of combat
 Omar Bradley—was stationed in Montana where he commanded infantry used to
break strikes at copper mines in Butte--by 1914, Butte's union solidarity was
fractured by mine owners who employed a rustling card system to identify
"troublemakers." A compliant government was quick to call out troops to impose
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martial law. Private detectives hired by mine owners soon arrived to infiltrate and
sabotage unions.
 Douglas MacArthur—was Chief of Staff of the Rainbow Division on the western
front and rose to Brigadier General--
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OPPOSITION TO THE WAR
Congress is not preparing to defend the people of the United States. It is planning to protect the
capital of American speculators and investors.... Incidentally this preparation will benefit the
manufacturers of munitions and war machines.... Strike against war, for without you no battles
can be fought! Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of
murder! Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings!
Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction! Be heroes in an army of construction!
Helen Keller at Carnegie Hall --January 5, 1916
June 15, 1917--Espionage Act—while it was apparently designed to prevent the
spreading of false rumors or spying, Wilson really wanted to
block any anti-war movement—abrogated the First
Amendment—the argument was that in times of war, the
Constitution could be temporarily suspended--passed by
Congress in 1917, prescribed a $10,000 fine and 20 years'
imprisonment for interfering with the recruiting of troops or
the disclosure of information dealing with national defense-additional penalties were included for the refusal to perform
military duty—a tide of xenophobia—O.A . Hilton, in his
article "Public Opinion and Civil Liberties in War-Time, 19171919," states that many of the complaints received by the
Justice Department “were hardly more than saloon squabbles or neighborhood quarrels”—the
Act was ruled constitutional in 1919 in the Schenck v The United States case, and in Sugarman v
U.S., both cases of men eligible for the draft being urged to oppose it—Justices Brandeis and
Holmes were dissenters and wrote minority opinions which by the 1930s were considered the
majority in defense of “free speech”—the arguments were a narrow legal one: that no one can
advocate the breaking of a law, the true social majority stomping on dissenters- In 1918, Debs was arrested for his anti-war speech, given on June 16, 1918, in
Canton, OH, and called by Wilson “a traitor to his country”—on September 14,
1918, Debs was found guilty in a “trial” in Cleveland of violating the Espionage
Act and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison where, as “Convict 9563” he
ran for president in 1920, even though he had been disenfranchised with his
conviction—Mark
Ruffalo
reads
the
Canton
speech
(4:32)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuGp-0G1p4M
 E.e. cummings and William Slater Brown were arrested in France and sent to a
prison camp for expressing hatred for the Germans—cummings wrote The
Enormous Room about his experience
 75 papers were blocked by Postmaster General, including Socialist publications—
 IWW paper banned-- Most enforcement activity occurred in the Western states
where the I.W.W. was active
 Socialist Kate Richards O'Hare gave the same speech in several states, but was
convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 5 years for delivering her speech in
North Dakota.
 Victor Berger--in 1910 he became the first of two Socialists elected to the United
States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 5th congressional
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district and was reelected in 1918, but was barred from his seat in the House due to
his trial and conviction under the 1917 Espionage Act for his public remarks
opposing U.S. intervention in the First World War. A special election was called,
in which Berger again won but he was denied the seat and it was declared vacant-Berger was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but later reversed on a technicality
 Charles Schenck, a Philadelphia socialist, printed and passed out 15,000 leaflets
opposing the draft law and the war effort—repeated the 13th Amendment
prohibition against “involuntary servitude”—he was arrested and his case later
became a Supreme Court precedent
 Criticized as unconstitutional, the act resulted in the imprisonment of many of the
anti-war movement. This included Rose Pastor Stokes who was sentenced to ten
years in prison for saying, in a letter to the Kansas City Star that "no government
which is for the profiteers can also be for the people, and I am for the people while
the government is for the profiteers."
 In United States v. Motion Picture Film (1917), a federal court upheld the
government's seizure of a film called "The Spirit of '76" on the grounds that its
depiction of cruelty on the part of British soldiers during the American Revolution
would undermine support for America's wartime ally. The producer, Robert
Goldstein, a Jew of German origin, was prosecuted under Title XI of the Act, and
received a ten-year sentence plus a fine of five thousand dollars. The sentence was
commuted on appeal to 3 years
 In some kind of a new record, Daniel Ellsberg was arrested in June, 1971, along
with his former coworker at the RAND Corporation, Anthony Russo, for violation
of the Espionage Act, with a possible sentence of 115 years, for releasing material
that was popularly known as The Pentagon Papers, which he had helped to
compile in 1968—Ellsberg was the classic civil disobedient—“I felt that as an
American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in
concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own
jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision.”
 The record could be extended because, in October, 2010, there was talk of
indicting Julian Assange, the public face of Wikileaks, for violation of this law
after the release of documents about US actions in Afghanistan
 In December, 2011, PFC. Bradley Manning, originally from Montgomery
County, was brought up for a possible court martial for releasing “classified”
material about US military actions and behavior in Iraq--a video that surfaced on
Wikileaks under the name “Collateral Murder” appears to show an Apache attack
helicopter firing on unarmed journalists in Iraq—Manning could also be
prosecuted under The Espionage act
Committee for Public Information
July 28, 1917--War Industries Board—headed by Bernard Baruch to coordinate the
purchase of war supplies—mass production techniques and allocation of supplies
October, 1917--Trading with the Enemy Act
October, 1917—Russian Revolution—immediate opposition from the White Armies in
southern Russia and in Siberia—supported by 5,000 US troops, sent in November, 1918, by
President Wilson over the objections of the war department, as soon as WWI is over
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April 13, 1919—Debs reports to federal prison—“While the flower of American youth
was pouring out its blood to vindicate the cause of civilization, this man, Debs, stood behind the
lines sniping, attacking, and denouncing them....This man was a traitor to his country and he will
never be pardoned during my administration.”
November 2, 1917—The Balfour Declaration, a letter from British Foreign Secretary
Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild, the “unofficial leader of the British Jewish
community,” according to Jonathan Schneer in The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict (2010)—the letter became “the foundation stone of the state of Israel; it is
considered the original sin by Israel’s opponents”—beginning in 1916, the British hoped that, in
exchange for Zionism, “the Jews” would help finance the war effort, which was “not going well
for the British”—“the Arabs were as invisible to the early Zionists as the Africans had been to
the Boers in South Africa, or Indians to the French and English colonists in North America”—
another contention is that the British promised Palestine to the Turks first to break up the
Ottoman Empire and get it out of the war—the declaration of “the Jewish homeland” created the
conflicts of 2010—
HISTORIOGRAPHY
The Balfour Declaration—opposed (3:22)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJoq8o0UAzA
In his campaign of 2011, distinguished “historian” Newt Gingrinch declared that the
Palestinians have no rights to a separate state because they were always part of the Ottoman
Empire and therefore have no claim to any land in the Middle East
March, 1918—Treaty of Brest-Litovsk—Russia out of the war
March 31, 1918—A.J. Muste, the minister of Central Congregational Church,
Newtonville MA who would later become prominent in the strikes of 1934, on Easter Sunday
preached on the futility of war shortly after one of the prominent sons of the church had been
killed in World War I. The congregation called a congregational meeting following the service
and terminated Rev. Muste. He and his family had to move out of the church parsonage that very
afternoon. He was famously quoted saying that, "There is no way to peace—peace is the way."
April 8, 1918—War Labor Board-- War Labor Board—chaired by William Howard
Taft unionized workers grew from 2 million in 1916 to 3.2 million in 1919. By the end of the
decade, 15% of the nonagricultural work force was unionized--Until its demise on 31 May 1919,
the board ruled on 1,245 cases. Almost 90 percent of them sprang from worker complaints, and
five skilled trades accounted for 45 percent. Of the cases, 591 were dismissed, 315 were referred
to other federal labor agencies, and 520 resulted in formal awards or findings. In reaching their
decisions the board was aided by an office and investigative staff of 250 people. Approximately
700,000 workers in 1,000 establishments were directly affected—began the development of the
policy of federal regulation of labor relations issues, with the war as the “crisis” that made it
possible
NWLB judgments were informed by principles that aimed to balance labor agitation for
change with employer support for the status quo, yet its judgments generally favored labor's
position. According to board policy, workers had the right to organize and bargain collectively
and could not be dismissed for "legitimate trade union activities" so long as they rejected
"coercive measures" in recruitment and bargaining. The eight-hour day was upheld where
currently mandated by law, though otherwise it was open to negotiation. Wages and hours were
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set with regard to "conditions prevailing in the localities involved" rather than a national
standard. Women hired during the war were to receive equal pay for equal work, and all workers
had a right to "a living wage" sufficient to guarantee "the subsistence of the worker and his
family in health and reasonable comfort."
May 16, 1918--Sedition Act--passed by Congress in
1918. The law made it a crime to criticize by speech or
writing the government or Constitution. During the Red
Scare (1919-20) A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general
and his special assistant, J(ohn) Edgar Hoover, used the
Sedition Act and the Espionage Act (1917) to launch a
campaign against radicals and left-wing organizations. Under
these two laws 1,500 people were arrested for disloyaltymost were eventually released but Emma Goldman,
Alexander Berkman, Mollie Steimer and 245 other people,
were deported to Russia—
On July 3, 1919, a bomb exploded at Palmer’s house
in Washington, DC, across the street from FDR’s house, as
part of a series of anarchist-sponsored incidents in the group
led by anarchist Luigi Galleani, a revolutionary anarchist
who first settled in Patterson, NJ and then moved to Barre,
VT-- by all accounts, Galleani was an extremely effective
speaker and advocate of his policy of revolutionary violence.
Carlo Buda said of him, "You heard Galleani speak, and you
were ready to shoot the first policeman you saw."--the mail
bombs were wrapped in bright green paper and stamped "Gimbel Brothers - Novelty Samples."
Inside was a cardboard box containing a six-inch by three-inch block of hollowed wood about
one inch in thickness, packed with a stick of dynamite. A small vial of sulfuric acid was fastened
to the wood block, along with three fulminate-of-mercury blasting caps. Opening one end of the
box (the end marked "open") released a coil spring that caused the acid to drip from its vial onto
the blasting caps; the acid ate through the caps, igniting them and detonating the dynamite. The
Galleanists intended their bombs to be delivered on May Day—the bombings have been cited as
a cause for the Palmer Raids in 1920 and the red scare but it is clear that these movements would
have happened in any case
MILITARY ACTIVITY
May 25, 1918—Battle of Cantigny—the first American offensive of the war
May 31-Jun 4, 1918—Chateau-Thiery
June 6-June 25, 1918—Belleau Wood –“Retreat Hell—we just got here”
July 10-August 5—Second battle of the Marne
September 1918—Eleanor Roosevelt discovers FDR’s relationship with Lucy Mercer and
threatens divorce-November, 1918—revolt against the Kaiser, who goes into exile in Holland
11/11/18—armistice—US in the war for 19 months—112,000 soldiers died of wounds
and disease
Cultural changes--known elsewhere in the world as chips or potato wedges, french fries
actually originated in Belgium. American soldiers who ate the treat during World War I called
12
them "french fries" because that was the Belgian army's official language, although "french"
refers to the style of cut, not the nation
THE HOMEFRONT—
Increasing power of federal government---Booming economy with demand for war materiel
Labor shortages
Union growth
John Dewey:”Recognize the social possibility of war”—
April 20, 1914—the Ludlow Massacre—two women and 11 children burned to death by
local militia at a tent colony established by UMWA strikers at Colorado Fuel & Iron, owned by
Rockefeller—the site of the tent colony is now a National Historical Marker
Margaret Sanger prosecuted-- in 1914. Sanger was arrested for publishing The Woman
Rebel, a monthly newspaper which took a radical stand on many women's issues, including birth
control, and Family Limitation, a pamphlet describing birth control methods. While her trial was
pending, Sanger fled to Europe. She returned to the United States a year later, and ultimately the
charges against her were dismissed. Her husband, William Sanger, was not so lucky. He was
convicted of violating the act for distributing a copy of Family Limitation.
Sen. Robert LaFollette campaigned against the war
February 8, 1915—Birth of a Nation opens in Hollywood—portrays Reconstruction as a
disaster—during one election, whites are shown being turned away while blacks stuff the ballot
boxes. The newly elected black legislature passes laws requiring white civilians to salute black
officers and allowing mixed-race marriages—a white woman, pursued by a freed slave jumps to
her death so masked whites kill him—depicts the forming of the Klan—great controversy over
comments allegedly made by Wilson, who supposedly remarked commented of the film that "it
is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is
all so terribly true" after showing the movie in the White House,
although other Wilson biographers deny the incident—in his History
of the American People (5 volumes--1902), Wilson wrote the Klan
"began to attempt by intimidation what they were not allowed to
attempt by the ballot or by any ordered course of public action."--the
NAACP demonstrated against the movie in several cities—
1915—The revival of the Klan—after The Birth of A Nation,
especially its showing in Atlanta, William J. Simmons in Georgia led
the resurgence and appointed himself the new Imperial Wizard—in
August 1915, the lynching of factory owner Leo Frank (the only Jew
known to have been lynched in the US) in Marietta, GA, by a group
called Knights of the Mary Phagan, (named for the 13-year-old girl
that Frank was convicted of raping and murdering in a rigged trial),
with anti-Semitic support—on Thanksgiving night, 1915, Simmons
and 15 other members of the Knights of Mary Phagan burned a cross at Stone Mountain, GA and
proclaimed the rebirth of the Klan—according to Kevin Boyle, in his review “The Not-SoInvisible Empire,” the Klan stagnated for five years because Simmons had no idea except to turn
the Klan into “sort of a Rotary for white supremacists.” In the 1920s, Elizabeth Tyler and
Edward Young Clarke “knew a thing or two about marketing” and added “an aggressive political
pitch by supporting “family values,” Prohibition, anti-Catholicism and general bigotry
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/the-not-so-invisibleempire.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Kevin%20Boyle&st=cse
1916—US Congress passed the first estate tax, representing the progressive movement’s
desire to “share the wealth”—when John D Rockefeller died in 1937, his estate was taxed at a
70% rate—in the Harding administration, the rate was reduced as part of the pro-business
movement and by the 1980s, however, as a part of Reagonomics, the tax was further reduced and
in 2009, it was allowed to lapse completely—estimated loss in 2010 of at least $25 billion—
According to the IRS web site:
In 1916 Congress for the first time levied a tax upon the transfer of a
decedent's net estate. The Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of
Representatives explained that a new type of tax was needed, because the "consumption
taxes" in effect at that time bore most heavily upon those least able to pay them. The
Committee further explained that the revenue system should be more evenly and equitably
balanced and "a larger portion of our necessary revenues collected from the incomes and
inheritances of those deriving the most benefit and protection from the Government."
September 5, 1917—48 IWW halls raided for violation of the Espionage Act—165 IWW
members arrested—trial before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who later became baseball
commissioner during the Black Sox scandal, in April, 1918—101 found guilty and 15, including
Haywood, were sentenced to 10 years in prison—Haywood left the country in 1921
High agricultural prices and wages, the 8-hour day, equal pay for women and collective
bargaining--the AFL membership rose
25,000 women served in France—
Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor
The Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL)—helped women workers organize and
provided “middle-class support”—Jane Addams and Eleanor Roosevelt were members—had
helped with the Lawrence strike and were founding members of the NAACP—
Women’s suffrage—Alice Paul picketed the White House and by 1918, Wilson
supported the 19th amendment as vital to winning the war [see photo and map on p. 552 and
graphic on p. 553]—IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS—on pp. 554-555 on suffrage movement
1918—new musical, The Beast of Berlin opened on Broadway
Anti-German sentiment—“the scum of the melting pot”—“German toast” became
“French toast,” sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage”-ELECTION OF 1918—Republicans gained a majority in Congress, leaving a divided
political class as Wilson tried to negotiate the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles—
Wilson’s 14 Points
1. Open covenants openly arrived at
2. Absolute freedom of navigation on the seas
3. Free trade with no barriers
4. Reduction of armaments
5. Impartial adjustment of all colonial claims
6. Evacuation of Russian territory
7. Evacuation of Belgium
8. Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
9. Readjustment of Italian frontiers
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10. Autonomy for Austria-Hungary
11. Romania, Serbia and Montenegro evacuated and Serbia guaranteed access to
sea
12. Breakup of the Ottoman Empire though Turkey was protected—Dardanelles
became an open sea
13. Independent Polish state
14. League of Nations-- general association of nations must be formed under
specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political
independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. General
association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose
of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial
integrity to great and small states alike.
The Paris Peace Conference—at the Palace of Versailles. In the Hall of Mirrors—
complicated negotiations because each of the major powers, and several minor ones, all wanted
different things—one big issue was the breaking up of German colonial possessions and the
shifting of national borders in central Europe, displacing ethnic groups [see photo on p. 557]
The Treaty of Versailles—was controversial at the time and led almost directly to
World War II—Allies demanded reparations-- The total cost of these reparations was assessed at
132 billion Marks (then $31.4 billion, £6,600 million) in 1921 which is roughly equivalent to $
385 billion in 2011, a sum that many economists at the time, notably John Maynard Keynes,
deemed to be excessive and counterproductive and would have taken Germany until 1988 to pay
off [see diagram on p. 558]—the treaty was the equivalent of ”the bloody shirt” which created
more resentment and enduring social conflicts
In his book To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918, Adam
Hochschild claimed that the armistice was “a mere truce in a long terrible conflict that almost
sent civilization into total eclipse and that did not really terminate until the peaceful and
democratic reunification of Germany after November 1989”—he also claims that the post-1918
countries established from the Ottoman Empire are still a source of conflict (NY Times, May 15,
2011)
US Congress and the Treaty—there was a strong faction in the US who wanted no further
involvement in Europe because of the horrors of the war, and demanded a renewal of isolationist
policies--the Republican Party, led by Henry Cabot Lodge controlled the United States Senate
after the election of 1918, but the Senators were divided into multiple positions on the Versailles
question. It proved possible to build a majority coalition, but impossible to build a two thirds
coalition that was needed to pass a treaty.
An angry bloc of 12-18 "Irreconcilables," mostly Republicans but also representatives of
the Irish and German Democrats, fiercely opposed the Treaty. One block of Democrats strongly
supported the Versailles Treaty, even with reservations added by Lodge. A second group of
Democrats supported the Treaty but followed Wilson in opposing any amendments or
reservations. The largest bloc, led by Senator Lodge, comprised a majority of the Republicans.
They wanted a treaty with reservations, especially on Article X, which involved the power of the
League Nations to make war without a vote by the United States Congress. All of the
Irreconcilables were bitter enemies of President Wilson, and he launched a nationwide speaking
tour in the summer of 1919 to refute them. However, Wilson collapsed midway with a serious
stroke that effectively ruined his leadership skills-- Among the American public as a whole, the
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Irish Catholics and the German Americans were intensely opposed to the Treaty, saying it
favored the British [see cartoon on p. 559]
Germans of all political shades denounced the
treaty—particularly the provision that blamed Germany
for starting the war—as an insult to the nation's honor.
They referred to the treaty as "the Diktat" since its
terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leaveit basis. Germany's first democratically elected
Chancellor, Philipp Scheidemann, refused to sign the
treaty and resigned. In a passionate speech before the
National Assembly on 12 March 1919, he called the
treaty a "murderous plan" and exclaimed, “Which hand,
trying to put us in chains like these, would not wither? The treaty is unacceptable.” Other
government leaders who did sign the treaty were called “the November criminals” and the stabin-the-back issue was prominent in Nazi agitation
Conservatives, nationalists and ex-military leaders in Germany condemned the peace and
democratic Weimar politicians, socialists, communists, and Jews were viewed by them with
suspicion, due to their supposed extra-national loyalties. It was rumored that the Jews had not
supported the war and had played a role in selling out Germany to its enemies. Those who
seemed to benefit from a weakened Germany, and the newly formed Weimar Republic (19191933), were regarded as having "stabbed Germany in the back" on the home front, by opposing
German nationalism, instigating unrest and strikes in the critical military industries or
profiteering. The Nazi propaganda depicted the Weimar Republic as "a morass of corruption,
degeneracy, national humiliation, ruthless persecution of the honest 'national opposition' fourteen years of rule by Jews, Marxists and 'cultural Bolsheviks', who had at last been swept
away by the National Socialist movement under Adolf Hitler and the victory of the 'national
revolution'
of
1933.
In March 1935, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by introducing compulsory military
conscription in Germany and rebuilding the armed forces. This included a new Navy
(Kriegsmarine), the first full armored divisions (Panzerwaffe), and an Air Force (Luftwaffe).
From the Ottoman Empire the British received mandates, or territories, in Palestine, TransJordan, and Iraq, and the French received Syria and Lebanon, but desires of the population for
national independence has created problems into 2011 (the Kurds, for example)
Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia (which were parts of Austria-Hungary), northern Macedonia
(which was part of Bulgaria), Serbia and Montenegro made one country, called Yugoslavia. It
was made to be a Slav homeland, but there were many religious, language and national
differences-- new countries by the Baltic Sea called Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania were
created.
The World Zionist Organization, founded in 1897, submitted its draft resolutions for
consideration by the Peace Conference on February 3, 1919, shortly following the Conference's
decision that the former Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire should be separated from it and
the newly conceived mandate-system applied to them.
The statement included five main points
 Recognition of the Jewish people's historic title to The Land of Israel and their right to
reconstitute their National Home in Israel.
 The boundaries of Israel were to be declared as set out in an attached Schedule.
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
The sovereign possession of Israel would be vested in the League of Nations and the
Government entrusted to Great Britain as Mandatory of the League.
 Other provisions to be inserted by the High Contracting Parties relating to the application
of any general conditions attached to mandates, which are suitable to the case in
Palestine.
 The mandate shall be subject also to several noted special conditions, including the
provision relating to the control of the Holy Places.
T.E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, becomes an important figure, though
partly through self-promotion in his autobiography and party through the 1962 movie, Lawrence
of Arabia—he was a field archeologist in the Negev Desert who began to work with the Arab
Bureau of Britain's Foreign Office. The Arab Bureau had long felt it likely that a campaign
instigated and financed by outside powers, supporting the breakaway-minded tribes and regional
challengers to the Turkish government's centralized rule of their empire, would pay great
dividends in the diversion of effort that would be needed to meet such a challenge. The Arab
Bureau had recognized the strategic value of what is today called the "asymmetry" of such
conflict. The Ottoman authorities would have to devote from a hundred to a thousand times the
resources to contain the threat of such an internal rebellion compared to the Allies' cost of
sponsoring it.
POST-WAR SOCIAL CONFLICTS
[see graphic on p. 560—Native American soldiers]
Seattle General Strike (February 6-11, 1919)—started
in the shipyards where workers wanted wage increased to catch
up on war inflation----on January 21, 35,000 shipyard workers
struck, and got support from the Central Labor Council and 110
other unions voted to strike in support and sympathy—workers
acted on their own initiative to create new institutions. Milk
wagon drivers, after being denied the right by their employers
to keep certain dairies open, established a distribution system of
35 neighborhood milk stations. A system of food distribution
was also established, which throughout the strike committee distributed as many as 30,000 meals
each day. Strikers paid twenty five cents per meal, and the general public paid thirty five cents.
Beef stew, spaghetti, bread, and coffee were offered without charge. Army veterans created an
alternative to the police in order to maintain order. A group called the "Labor War Veteran's
Guard" forbade the use of force and did not carry weapons, and used "persuasion only."
Peacekeeping proved unnecessary. The regular police forces made no arrests in actions related to
the strike, and general arrests dropped to less than half their normal number. Major General John
F. Morrison, stationed in Seattle, claimed that he had never seen "a city so quiet and orderly."
The strike collapsed because the mayor Ole Hanson added thousands of police and even
hired University of Washington students—AFL officials urged the members to go back to
work—members began to trickle back, starting with the streetcar operators--Hanson took credit
for ending the strike and was hailed by some of the press. He resigned a few months later and
toured the country giving lectures on the dangers of "domestic bolshevism." He earned $38,000
in 7 months, 5 times his annual salary as mayor. He agreed that the general strike was a
revolutionary event. In his view, the fact that it was peaceful proved its revolutionary nature and
intent. He wrote:
17
The so-called sympathetic Seattle strike was an attempted revolution. That there was no
violence does not alter the fact... The intent, openly and covertly announced, was for the
overthrow of the industrial system; here first, then everywhere... True, there were no flashing
guns, no bombs, no killings. Revolution, I repeat, doesn't need violence. The general strike, as
practiced in Seattle, is of itself the weapon of revolution, all the more dangerous because quiet.
To succeed, it must suspend everything; stop the entire life stream of a community... That is to
say, it puts the government out of operation. And that is all there is to revolt–no matter how
achieved.
Boston police strike (September 9, 1919)—demand by police for union recognition, as
well as for improvements in wages and working conditions, and affiliation with AFL, which had
granted charters to 37 police locals in 1919—from 1913 to May 1919, the cost of living rose by
76%, while police wages rose just 18%. --police officers worked long 10 hour shifts and often
slept over at the station without pay in case they were needed. Officers were not paid for court
appearances and they also complained about the conditions of police stations, including the lack
of sanitation, baths, beds and toilets. They typically worked between 75 and 90 hours per week-the strikers were called “deserters,” “traitors” and “agents of Lenin by Governor Calvin
Coolidge, who sent in militia even though the Boston mayor tried to mediate with an anti-union
police chief, Edwin Upton Curtis—union responded to Coolidge: “Among us are men who have
gone against spitting machine guns single-handed, and captured them, volunteering for the job.
Among us are men who have ridden with dispatches through shell fire so dense that four men fell
and only the fifth got through. Not one man of us ever disgraced the flag or his service. It is bitter
to come home and be called deserters and traitors. We are the same men who were on the French
front. Some of us fought in the Spanish war of 1898. Won't you tell the people of Massachusetts
in which war you served?”
Commissioner Curtis announced on September 13 that he planned to recruit a new force.
He fired roughly 1,100 and hired 1,574 replacement police officers from a pool of unemployed
World War I veterans. Members of the United Garment Workers Union refused to sew uniforms
for the new hires, who had to report for work in civilian clothing
Coolidge talks about strike (4:58) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKuZYCbRlY
Steel strike 1919 (September 22, 1919—January 8, 1920)--350,000 workers—started by
conservative Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin workers but driven by industrial
unionists and the Communist Party—an attempted comeback after the crushing at Homestead in
1892-- traveling along the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania, Mother Jones gave numerous
speeches and held rallies in support of the union--when the steel corporation forbade meetings,
Mother Jones led workers to Ohio, where the steel corporation had less power. The United States
Steel Corporation, led by President Elbert Gary, used every possible intimidation tactic to remain
in control of its workers and to create distrust of the union. Mother Jones was arrested in
Homestead in the middle of a speech. Workers rallied around the county jail to demand her
release. After a quick trial, Mother Jones was heavily fined, but she continued her unionization
efforts. Her work, along with the efforts of other union organizers, succeeded in bringing over
100,000 workers into the union by the summer of 1919. President Gary, however, repeatedly
refused to negotiate, even though President Wilson himself urged Gary toward arbitration. Union
members voted to strike if efforts to negotiate were met with refusal, and the strike started on the
22nd.
18
The owners quickly turned public opinion
against the AFL--the post-war Red Scare had swept
the country in the wake of the Russian revolution of
October 1917—started in the Pittsburgh area and
demanded to meet with Elbert Gary, chairman of US
Steel, who refused—also tried to get support from
Wilson, who was touring in support of the League of
Nations--the September strike shut down half the
steel industry, including almost all mills in Pueblo,
Colorado Chicago, Wheeling, WVA; Johnstown, PA;
Cleveland, Ohio; Lackawanna, NY and Youngstown, OH The steel companies had seriously
misjudged the strength of worker discontent—immediately the red scare started, especially
targeting National Committee co-chairman William Z(ebulon) Foster— as the strike began,
they published information exposing his past as a Wobblie and syndicalist, and claimed this was
evidence that the steelworker strike was being master-minded by communists and
revolutionaries--PA state police arrested hundreds of strikers and offered to release them only if
they agreed to give up the union—the strikers felt even more isolated, and the Pennsylvania Coal
and Iron Police saw plenty of opportunity to use their authority mercilessly. Guards even chased
children so that they would be too intimidated to venture out of their homes. Continuous raids,
which resulted in the murder of twenty-six union organizers and strikers, further prevented the
strike from being successful--30,000 black and Mexican-American scabs--company officials
played on the racism of many white steelworkers by pointing out how well-fed and happy the
black workers seemed now that they had “white” jobs, noting that a large number of steelworkers
were immigrants--only Wilson's stroke on September 26, 1919, prevented government
intervention, since Wilson's advisors were reluctant to take action with the president
incapacitated—
The Black Sox Scandal—just as sports were becoming
national, the Chicago White Sox--the conspiracy was the brainchild of
White Sox first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, who had longstanding ties
to petty underworld figures. He persuaded Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, a friend
and professional gambler that the fix could be pulled off. New York
gangster Arnold Rothstein supplied the money through his lieutenant Abe
Attell, a former featherweight boxing champion-- Gandil enlisted several
of his teammates, motivated by a dislike of club owner Charles
Comiskey whom they perceived as a tightwad, to implement the fix;
Comiskey had developed a reputation for underpaying his players for
years-- At last, in September 1920, a grand jury was convened to
investigate--two players, Eddie Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson,
confessed their participation in the scheme to the Chicago grand jury
on September 28, 1920.
The Red Scare—documents point to the absurdity of hysteria of the red scare--in the
case of "The Most Brainiest Man," a Connecticut clothing salesmen was sentenced to sixth
months in jail simply for saying Lenin was smart. A story that same year in the Washington Post
noted with approval how in Chicago, a sailor shot another man merely for failing to rise during
the national anthem [see graphic of IWW button on p. 560]
Palmer Raids (January, 1920) named for A. Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General,
nicknamed (ironically) “The Fighting Quaker” who had turned down the offer to become
19
Secretary of War because of his religious convictions—had previously sponsored pro-labor
legislation but was ambitious and used the red scare as a political campaign for the presidential
nomination in 1920----although there were only about 70, 000 self professed Communists in the
United States in 1919, Palmer viewed them as responsible for a wide range of social ills,
including the bombings. Encouraged by Congress, which had refused to seat the duly elected
socialist from Wisconsin, Victor Berger, Palmer began a series of showy and well publicized
raids against radicals and leftists. Striking without warning and without warrants, Palmer's men
smashed union offices and the headquarters' of Communist and Socialist organizations. They
concentrated whenever possible on aliens rather than citizens, because aliens had fewer rights. In
December of 1919, in their most famous act, Palmer's agents seized 249 resident aliens, who
were placed on board a ship, the Buford, bound for the Soviet Union. Deportees included Emma
Goldman, the feminist, anarchist and writer who later recalled the deportation in her
autobiography
Palmer Raids (2:31) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQOxH-yoB0g
The Great Migration—before the war 9/10ths of blacks lived in the south—the war
created labor shortages because of the military and the end of immigration—500,000 blacks
(about 10% of the south’s black population) moved north—Ford was a big recruiter—July, 1917
riot in East St. Louis—in 1917, Zora Neale Hurston attended Morgan High School, a division
of Morgan College, whose establishment as a black college was opposed by neighborhoods in
NE Baltimore like Lauraville [see photo on p. 562]—recommend The Killing Floor—census
figures in 2011 indicate that there is now a reverse migration, with many blacks moving from the
north to the south
Mexican migration into California—almost ¼ million emigrated between 1910-1920—
were ¾ of all California farm laborers—some were fleeing the upheavals of the Mexican
Revolution [see photo on p. 563]—
1920 ELECTION
Wilson insisted that it would a referendum on the League of Nations—he had a stroke
and could not even speak while TR’s health had collapsed and he died in 1918—both parties
turned to unknown candidates--Warren G. Harding, an Ohio newspaper publisher, selected by
the Republicans over Leonard Wood, was elected over James M. Cox,
who selected the governor of New York, FDR, for VP [see election
map on p. 565]-- Harding virtually ignored Cox and essentially
campaigned against Wilson, calling for a return to "normalcy"; with an
almost 4-to-1 spending advantage, he won a landslide victory.
Harding's victory remains the largest popular-vote percentage margin
(60.3% to 34.1%) in Presidential elections- Harding's nomination, said
to have been secured in negotiations among party bosses in a "smokefilled room," was engineered by Harry M. Daugherty, Harding's
political manager and political boss of “the Ohio Gang,” who after
Harding's election became United States Attorney General and was forced to resign in 1924 after
taking kickbacks from bootleggers--
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