Hello readers. I'd like to take a minute to wish you all a happy new year. I hope your 2019 is off to a great start. I know mine is. I have my manuscript for The History Press due in July, I'm in the process of applying for research fellowships, so we'll see what happens in that department, and I'm looking at universities in the US and the UK for PhD programs. In the meantime, I hope to continue researching and putting out content here and on the Facebook page for the blog here.
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| Source: Mary Harrsch, Mural of Trench Warfare of WWI at Bardstown, Kentucky; https://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/2337046167/ |
Last month, I wrote about the reasons why the U.S. joined World War I. This post will examine the actions the U.S. took at home for a successful war effort.
The United States entered the Great War on the side of the Allies in 1917. Before that, however, the U.S. spent time gearing up for their impending entry in a number of ways. In 1916, passage of the National Defense Act and the Navy Act began the expansion of the U.S. armed forces; also in 1916, the 1916 Revenue Act was passed to pay for the military expansion.
While the U.S. was expanding the armed forces, there remained a question of how exactly the country would raise an army. This was a subject that was heavily debated at the time as there was support for a draft but also opposition for a draft. Those who supported the draft saw it as a way to be fair and democratic with Anericans from various walks of life serving the country together; those who opposed the draft did so under the belief that military service should be voluntary saw a draft as the rich and educated exercising their power over the poor, the working class, and immigrants just as has been done during the Civil War when a draft has been enacted. Despite the opposition, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May 1917 which established a draft. All males between the ages of 18 and 45 had to register with the Selective Service, an act that is still in practice today. The constitutionality of the Selective Service Act was challenged but was upheld by the Supreme Court.
To get the nation's economy geared up for war, certain economic operations were centralized and concentrated through a series of governmental agencies. Relying on the broad wartime powers of the president, Woodrow Wilson used the Council of National Defense to oversee these agencies.
Whereas the U.S. typically had a laissez-faire economy, government control of the economy in the U.S. increased during World War I. For the first time, the government entered such fields as housing and labor relations; the government also supervised various public utilities, including the telephone and telegraph. About 16 percent of male workers went into the military and their jobs would be taken over by women and African Americans.
To President Wilson, WWI was a crusade. He believed that the Allies were fighting the 'war to end all wars', a war to make the world "safe for democracy". These idealistic goals helped make President Wilson the Allie's moral leader. These goals also helped to mobilize the American people to support the first conflict the U.S. had fought outside of the Western Hemisphere. With Wilson's words, and a busy propaganda machine organized by the Committee on Public Information urging the public to purchase war bonds and the conservation of resources, the nation geared up for war with patriotic enthusiasm.
Wartime Constitutional Issues
As the U.S. prepared for war, there continued to be opposition to the nation's entry and to the role the U.S. would play in the role.
Many people, including notable Americans of the time such as Progressives Jane Addams and Robert La Follette, were against the U.S. entry into the First World War. Due to the widespread opposition, the vote to declare war followed intense congressional debate. Once committed to the war effort, however, the nation's social climate was one of patriotism and nativism.
These emotions sometimes led to actions that restricted some people's civil rights, usually in the name of national security. In addition to those of German background and immigrants in general, socialists, pacifists, and anyone who questioned the war, became suspect as possible traitors. Nativism was expressed in a 1917 law passed over President Wilson's veto that required a literacy test for immigrants. The law's objective was to restrict immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe; however, it turned out that most immigrants could read and write, if not in English than in their native language.
The emotions of patriotism and nativism would also lead to the passing of two broadly worded acts which served to control and punish those who opposed the war effort. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it a crime to interfere with the draft and allowed the postmaster general to bar "treasonous" materials from the mail. The Sedition Act of 1918 made it a crime to speak or publish anything "disloyal, profane...or abusive" about the government, Constitution, flag, or military services of the United States.
Under these acts, the government prosecuted more than 2,000 Americans and sent 1,500 of them to jail. Pacifists, socialists, and others seen as extremists suffered the most. A special target was the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical union active in the West. Its leaders were arrested, its strikes broken up, and many of its members interred.
In 1918, the Sedition Act of 1918 was up for question as, just like previous stated, the Act made it a crime to speak or publish anything that could be seen as disloyal about the government, Constitution, war effort, etc. In a court case known as Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that free speech could, in fact, be limited during wartime. In a unanimous decision, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "Free speech would not protect a man from falsely shouting 'fire' in a theater and causing a panic". Holmes would go on to say that Congress has the right to prevent words that would cause a "clear and present danger". That same year, the Supreme Court would also uphold the Sedition Act.
The actions the U.S. would take towards the war effort would seem to have been worth it, as the First World War would result in an Allied victory in November 1918. However, this series of posts on WWI is not yet finished. Next time on the blog, we'll examine some of the major battles of World War I.
Wartime Constitutional Issues
As the U.S. prepared for war, there continued to be opposition to the nation's entry and to the role the U.S. would play in the role.
Many people, including notable Americans of the time such as Progressives Jane Addams and Robert La Follette, were against the U.S. entry into the First World War. Due to the widespread opposition, the vote to declare war followed intense congressional debate. Once committed to the war effort, however, the nation's social climate was one of patriotism and nativism.
These emotions sometimes led to actions that restricted some people's civil rights, usually in the name of national security. In addition to those of German background and immigrants in general, socialists, pacifists, and anyone who questioned the war, became suspect as possible traitors. Nativism was expressed in a 1917 law passed over President Wilson's veto that required a literacy test for immigrants. The law's objective was to restrict immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe; however, it turned out that most immigrants could read and write, if not in English than in their native language.
The emotions of patriotism and nativism would also lead to the passing of two broadly worded acts which served to control and punish those who opposed the war effort. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it a crime to interfere with the draft and allowed the postmaster general to bar "treasonous" materials from the mail. The Sedition Act of 1918 made it a crime to speak or publish anything "disloyal, profane...or abusive" about the government, Constitution, flag, or military services of the United States.
Under these acts, the government prosecuted more than 2,000 Americans and sent 1,500 of them to jail. Pacifists, socialists, and others seen as extremists suffered the most. A special target was the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a radical union active in the West. Its leaders were arrested, its strikes broken up, and many of its members interred.
In 1918, the Sedition Act of 1918 was up for question as, just like previous stated, the Act made it a crime to speak or publish anything that could be seen as disloyal about the government, Constitution, war effort, etc. In a court case known as Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that free speech could, in fact, be limited during wartime. In a unanimous decision, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, "Free speech would not protect a man from falsely shouting 'fire' in a theater and causing a panic". Holmes would go on to say that Congress has the right to prevent words that would cause a "clear and present danger". That same year, the Supreme Court would also uphold the Sedition Act.
The actions the U.S. would take towards the war effort would seem to have been worth it, as the First World War would result in an Allied victory in November 1918. However, this series of posts on WWI is not yet finished. Next time on the blog, we'll examine some of the major battles of World War I.
