CHAPTER 19-- THE US & WWI

Focus Question #1: In what ways did the Progressive presidents promote the expansion of American power overseas?

1. An Era of Intervention

• Progressive presidents were not reluctant to project American powers outside the country’s borders

• first confined their intervention to the Western Hemisphere

“I took the Canal Zone” 

• Roosevelt divided the world into civilized & uncivilized nations

• Felt he had obligation to establish order in unruly world 

  • Roosevelt negotiated a settlement of Russo-Japanese War of 1905

• Roosevelt engineered for the separation of Panama from Colombia to create the canal that links the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

  • Canal would allow the movement of naval and commercial vessels

• 1903: Colombia refused to cede land for project → uprising led by Philippe Bunau-Varilla (Panama Canal Company); set up by Roosevelt 

  • American gunboat prevented Colombian army from stopping rebellion 

• Panama’s independence → Panama Canal Zone 

  • Treaty gave the US both the right to construct and operate a canal & gave sovereignty over the land through which the route would run

  • Largest construction project in American history 

  • Like transcontinental railroad (1860), canal led to widespread use of immigrant labor 

• Segregation policies still remained intact– best jobs reserved for whites

• Eradicated mosquitoes that carried diseases 

• The US controlled the Canal for a long time, which built tension between Panama → 1977: President Jimmy Carter negotiated treaties that the US would gradually give Panama the control of Canal zone → full control in 2000

The Roosevelt Corollary

• Roosevelt Corollary– stated that the US had the right to exercise “an international police power” in the Western Hemisphere

  • Significant expansion of Monroe’s pledge 

  • In Roosevelt’s term, British, Italian, and German naval forces blockaded Venezuela bc of debt payments → withdrawal

    • Financial instability from NW would cause intervention from OW 

    • Sent American forces to Dominican Republic custom houses (where taxes on imports/exports were collected) to ensure the country paid debts to European & American investors

    • “executive agreements” gave American banks control of Dominican finances 

• Dollar Diplomacy– William Howard Taft emphasized economic investments & loans from banks rather than direct military intervention to spread American influence → aimed for revenue, stable govt, & land/labor 

Moral Imperialism 

• Missionary zeal & moral righteousness 

  • Woodrow Wilson refused Dollar Diplomacy & promised a new foreign policy that would respect Latin America’s independence and free it from foreign economic domination

• Moral Imperialism– Wilson believed the export of American manufactured goods and investments went hand in hand w/ the spread of democratic ideals 

  • Expanding American economic influence served more purpose than profit

  • More military intervention in Latin American than ever before or since

Wilson & Mexico

• 1911: Revolution in Mexico that Wilson was unaware of

  • Led by Francisco Madero → overthrow govt of dictator Porfiro Diaz

  • Victoriano Huerta assassinated Madero & seized power

• Wilson was appalled → would “teach” Latin Americans “to elect good men”

• When civil war broke out in Mexico, Wilson ordered American troops to land at Vera Cruz to prevent arrival of weapons for Huerta’s forces

  • Mexicans greeted marines as invaders rather than liberators 

• Huerta resigned in 1914 & fled → factions turned on one another 

• Emiliano Zapata (peasant uprising) demanded land reform but Wilson administration offered support to Venustiano Carranza, who was devoted to economic modernization

• 1916: men loyal to Francisco “Pancho” Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico → 17 Americans dead

  • w/ Carranza’s approval, Wilson ordered 10k troops on an expedition into Mexico that unsuccessfully sought to arrest Villa

Focus Question #2: How did the United States get involved in WWI?

2. America and the Great War

• June 1914: Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand 

• The Allied/Triple Entendre: Russia, France, and Britain, (Japan later on)

• The Triple Allies/Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Ottoman empire

• New military technologies created much slaughter

• Germany (Kaiser) and Russia (Czar Nich II) make the decision for the war to start 

• Karl Marx supported “workers of the world” to unite against oppressors; communist countries killed each other

Neutrality and Preparedness 

• Americans divided 

  • Many sided w/ Britain, seeing Germany as oppressive

  • Most immigrants siding w/ nationalities 

  • Feminist & others opposed involvement altogether, pushing for peace

• Neutrality until War of 1812 

  • British declared naval blockade on Germany & began to stop American merchant vessels 

  • Germany launched submarine warfare against ships entering/leaving British ports 

  • May 1915: German submarine sank British’s passenger ship Lusitania (also carrying arms) → death of 1,198 passengers, which 124 Americans died in 

    • Outraged American public opinion and strengthened the support for joining the war if necessary 

    • “Preparedness” – crash program to expand the American army and navy (expanding the military)

The Road to War

• May 1916, Germany announced the suspension of submarine warfare against noncombatants 

• Preparedness program → slogan: “He kept us out of war” 

• Women's votes paved the way for why Wilson was reelected 

• Jan 22, 1917: “peace without victory” – world order including freedom of the seas, restrictions on armaments, and self-determination for nations

  • Germany resumed submarine warfare against ships sailing to/from the British Isles → they wanted to strangle Britain economically before the arrival of American troops 

• March 1917: British spies intercepted and made public of the Zimmerman Telegram 

  • German Arthur Zimmerman promised Mexico would gain territory if they entered the war as Germany’s allies against the United States

• April 2: Wilson called for war to “make the world safe for democracy”

The Fourteen Points

• Shortly after Russian Revolution, Lenin withdrew Russian from war & published the secret treaties the Allies had made to divide conquered territory after the war… embarrassing for Wilson bc he vouched for peace

• Jan 1918: Assure US the war was being fought for a moral cause → Fourteen Points

  • Included provisions advocating for self-determination of all people

  • Colonies should have a say in their future, not be controlled 

  • Creation of a “generation association of nations” to preserve peace

  • Freedom of the seas, free trade, and open diplomacy

  • Established the agenda for the peace conference after the war

• The US threw manpower & economic resources into the war, turning the tide of the battle

  • Helped stop a German attack near Paris 

  • Joined a major Allied counteroffensive (Meuse-Argonne Offensive)

    • Pushed back German army → German Kaiser resigned from the throne on Nov 9, 1918 → 2 days later Germany surrendered → end of WWI

Focus Question #3: How did the United States mobilize resources and public opinion for the war effort?

3. The War at Home

The Progressives’ War

• Progressives saw war as a way to advance the nation scientifically, promote national unity and sacrifice, and expand social justice 

• The New Republic – John Dewey urged progressives to realize that if they joined the war it would create many social inequalities for Americans

The Wartime State

• Selective Service Act – law passed in 1917 that required men to register with the draft 

• War seemed to bring the US into a “New Nationalist state” 

• War Industries Board – run by Bernard Baruch; production & distribution of goods; standardization

• New federal agencies moved to regulate industry, transportation, labor relations, and agriculture

  • Railroad administration controlled national transportation; Fuel agency rationed coal and oil; Food administration taught farmers modern farming & promoted efficient meal prep

  • Hoover managed American food shipments to the Allies 

  • These agencies made sure government suppliers earned big profits & big businesses worked together by pausing antitrust laws

• The War Labor Board and the AFL urged for min wage, 8-hour workday, and the right to form unions

• Wages rose and working conditions improved during the war

• Corporate and individual income taxes rose enormously to finance the war

The Propaganda War

• Wilson admin decided that patriotism was too important to leave to the private sector

• IWW & Socialist Party opposed American participation

  • Socialist party became a rallying point for antiwar sentiment 

• April 1917– Wilson admin created the Committee on Public Information (CPI) to explain that America fought to protect its freedom and way of life

  • Various fields come together to create pro-war propaganda

  • Four minute men– speeches in multiple languages to promote

• CPIs proved it was easy to change the beliefs/habits/policies of the people 

“The Great Cause of Freedom”

• CPI framed its appeal as social cooperation & expanding democracy

  • Worldwide this meant national self-determination 

  • At home it meant improving “industrial democracy”

• Liberty bonds – us govt sold loans to raise money for WWI → ppl bought bonds, govt used $$$ for war, govt paid them back later w/ public interest

  • Buying liberty bonds was a form of American patriotism 

The Coming of Woman Suffrage

• Entry to war threatened to hurt the suffrage movement 

• First Congresswoman– Jeannette Rankin, MT

  • Voted against the war; many suffrage felt the same

  • Would later participate in the March on Washington against Vietnam War at age 85

• Many women enlisted in war effort, as they believed wartime services would earn them equal rights at home

• Alice Paul

  • More ‘violent’ approach; arrests and publicly shaming a male-dominated political system

  • Thought it was hypocritical that American was fighting for democracy abroad but denying it to women at home

  • Compared wilson to the Kaiser; followers chained themselves to White House → 7 months of jail

• Because of women’s help in the war → 19th Amendment (ratified in 1920)

  • No one shall be denied the right to vote, regardless of sex

Prohibition

• Distribution of birth control

• War opened many campaigned women had been fighting for → prohibition

• 18th Amendment – prohibited the manufacture & sale of intoxicating liquor 

  • Disciplined workforce

  • Order & safety for cities 

  • Protect wives/children from the abuse of their husbands

  • German-Americans owned many breweries, so alcohol was seen as ‘unpatriotic’ 

Liberty in Wartime

• Civil liberties restricted or altered during wartime

• Suppression of dissent 

  • Disagreement meant that you were against American values → treason

Espionage & Sedition Acts

• Federal government enacted laws to restrict freedom of speech

• Espionage Act 1917– no spying or interfering with the draft; no ‘false statements’ to impede military success 

  • No newspapers critical of the Wilson admin (no foreign language publications)

• Sedition Act– crime to make a spoken or printed statement that intended to speak out against the govt

  • Eugene Debs convicted for anti-war speech

    • Was in prison longer than Germans accused of same crime in Germany

Coercive Patriotism

• State and local levels were worse

  • Flag was to be respected and often used to force people to display their patriotism 

  • Patriotism = support for the govt

    • People investigated for not investing in Liberty Loans 

    • Teachers forced to sign ‘loyalty oaths’

• American Protective League (APL) worked with Justice Department to identity & investigate people who seemed disloyal 

  • Vigilante groups took matters into their own hands

  • IWW faced suspicion of unpatriotism or even sympathetic to the enemy 

• Some people believed free speech wasn’t secure or strong enough 

  • Progressives surprisingly didn’t do much to resist this bc they believed a strong govt came from solidarity 

    • Focused more on unity and national strength

Focus Question #4: How did the war affect race relations in the US?

4. Who Is An American?

• “Progressivism bore more resemblance to 19th century thinkers than to later 20th century liberals”

The “Race Problem”

• The Dictionary of Races of People – 45 races were listed with its own inborn characteristics 

• Eugenics – selective breeding to advance humankind

  • Intellectual, white men

Americanization and Pluralism 

• “Americanization” – the creation of a more homogenous national culture

• Public and private groups tried to Americanize new immigrants

• Ford Motor Company's sociological department entered immigrant homes to evaluate clothing, furniture, and food preferences & enrolled them in English-language courses

• Ford fired those who failed to adapt to American standards after a reasonable amount of time learning it 

• Randolph Bourne: “There is no distinctive American culture”

• CPI renamed the 4th of July as Loyalty Day and asked ethnic groups to participate in patriotic pageants 

The Anti-German Crusade

• Many high school students studied the German language before there were restrictions on the foreign language due to the war

• Hamburger was liberty sandwich because Americans did not even want to use a German term 

• Decline in German culture 

Toward Immigration Restriction

• IQ was introduced & new immigrants scored lower → encouraged immigration restriction

• Congress required that immigrants be literate in English or another language 

• War strengthened the idea that certain kinds of undesirable people should be excluded 

  • Buck V. Bell – sterilizing insane inmates so defective genes were not passed onto children

Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Asian-Americans

• Mexicans in the Southwest

  • Exempt from literacy tests so they could come work in mines & farms 

  • Forced to Americanize, but were also discriminated and segregated 

• Puerto Rico

  • Considered US citizens to limit support for independence, but couldn’t vote

• A Gentleman's Agreement

  • Deal between US & Japan

  • Japan agreed to stop sending workers (migrants) to the US to ease tensions and avoid official laws limiting immigration from Japan

The Color Line

• Few black people could participate in American democracy and had little industrial freedom

• The race issues were ignored by many Americans, even progressives – “segregation was ok” 

  • Many blacks were left out of progressive reforms due to the nature of their work and how poor they were

    • Could not be employed, therefore could not consume

Roosevelt, Wilson, and Race

• Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to the White House and appointed blacks to federal office

  • Still believed in ‘racial destiny’ thought 

  • NAACP (1909)

• Wilson’s administration imposed racial segregation in federal departments and dismissed numerous black federal employees 

• Birth of a Nation showed at the White House in 1915

  • Controversial and racist film that glorified the KKK & portrayed African Americans in a negative light → public outrage 

  • Racial violence (lynching & attacks) was still prominent 

W.E.B. Du Bois & the Revival of Black Protest

• Well-educated

• Disagreed with Booker T Washington's approach that African Americans should accept segregation & focus on economic self-improvement, rather than demanding civil rights

• Talented Tenth – described the top 10% of AA who were well-educated and talented 

  • Believed these people should use their education to fight for civil rights, higher education, and social equality

  • Declaration of Principles

    • Total equality of opportunity 

• Du Bois joined with a group of mostly white reformers to create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• Bailey V. Alabama (1911)

  • Alabama law forced people to work off debts by breaking work contracts

  • Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional because it violated 13th amendment → overturned the law 

  • People cannot be stopped from living in certain places bc of race

Closing Ranks

• Most black leaders saw American participation in the war as an opportunity to make real promise of freedom 

• Navy barred blacks; the US Army tried to persuade the French not to treat black soldiers as equals

The Great Migration & the Promise Land

• Great Migration – the movement of blacks from South to North (500k)

  • motivated by higher wages in Northern factories, education opportunities, escape from lynching threat, and suffrage 

• Migrants spoke of a second emancipation and of leaving the realm of pharaoh for the promised land

• Migrants encountered disappointment– restricted employment, union exclusion, housing segregation, and violence outburst

Racial Violence, North & South

• East St. Louis & Chicago 

  • Employed recruit black workers to weaken unions; riots break out → black people killed (St. Louis)

  • Black teenager drowned in Chicago after accidentally crossing the dividing line between black and white beaches on Lake Michigan

    • Five day riot that National Guard had to settle 

• Southern Riots

  • 76 lynching after WWI ended, including veterans in uniform 

  • Tulsa Riot – a group of black veterans tried to prevent the lynching of a youth who had accidentally tripped and fallen on an elderly women (elevator operator) → 300 blacks killed and 10k homeless after a white mob burned an all-black section of the city to the ground 

The Rise of Garveyism

• Marcus Garvey – Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) 

  • Movement for African independence & black self-reliance

    • Focused on separatism rather than integration

    • Goal was to unify Africa and remove colonial rule

  • Many believed this approach hurt the broader civil rights movement 

  • Du Bios and other black leaders disliked Garvey → govt soon deported him after a convection for mail fraud

Focus Question #5: Why was 1919 such a watershed year for the US & the World?

5. 1919

Worldwide Upsurge

• The Russian Revolution → the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

  • Nationalized all landholdings, banks, factories

    • Socialist dream… in theory 

    • US Wanted to maintain an ally, but they feared communism so Wilson refused to extend diplomatic recognition to Lenin’s govt

    • Russia was not invited to Versailles

  • Anti Communism will drive American foreign policy moving forward

• Uprisings happened all over the world– both at home & abroad

Upheaval in America

• Flu Epidemic kills over 20 million people worldwide 

• Waves of labor strikes are back because nothing is fixed

  • Despite efforts of strikes for industrial democracy, they are crushed every time by the National Guard, federal troops, or court injunctions

The Great Steel Strike

• Wartime rhetoric of economic democracy and freedom helped to inspire the era’s greatest labor uprising– the 1919 Steel Strike in Chicago 

  • Amalgamated Association (homestead ppl) and won 8 hr work day

    • Went back to the old ways post-war → again, fighting for better working conditions 

• Strike collapses when associate strikes are compared to IWW/communism 

The Red Scare

• Wilson administration dismantled the agencies that had established controls over industrial production and the labor market 

• Repression of dissent continue 

• Red Scare 1919-1920

  • Political intolerance inspired by striked and social tensions around Russian Revolution

    • Essentially– we’re all afraid of communism 

  • Raids of political offices led by attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer

    • Palmer Raids were conducted to make sure that corporations were not communists

    • Thousands were rested without warrants

    • Comes under fire by press & congress for abusing civil liberties 

    • Socialism dies

The Fourteen Points

• Wilson’s vision for “new world order”

  • Sovereignty, no more colonialism, open navigation of the seas

  • “Open covenants, openly arrived at” yet the treaty was held in secret

Treaty of Versailles

• Held in France, 1918 post-war

• Wilson, David Lloyd George & George Clemenceau 

• Proposed 14 points

• League of Nations – A body of leaders that would set a new international order & rebuild the map of Europe 

• Literally wrote the script for WWII

  • Reparations for Germany were outrageously high

  • Forced to demilitarize 

  • Lose territory

    • Alsace-Lorraine: strip of land between Germany and France

• Countries were created like Austria, Hungary, Finnland

• Some countries enjoyed ethno-linguistic unity, while others comprised unstable combinations of diverse nationalities 

Wilsonian Movement

• Wilson believed colonized people weren’t ready for independence yet and needed more time/guidance to learn before they could have independence

  • Wilson’s ideas were praised internationally except from colonies

  • France & Britain also had no intention of applying this principle to their own empire because… well… they’re colonizers

Treaty Debate 

• Americans thought the league of Nations would get us too involved in conflict

• Wilson suffered a stroke and his wife headed the govt for the next 17 months

• Country retreated from international involvements after the war

• Wilson’s combination of idealism and power politics had an enduring impact